PART FORTY-FIVE

 

The Worcestershire Connection

 

Updated July 2010

 

 

This is the family line of Paul Collett (Ref. 45S5) of Towcester in Northamptonshire

 

 

45N1

THOMAS COLLETT was born around 1781.  He married Robina (Rebecca) who was two years younger having been born in 1783.  This information has been extracted from the Droitwich & Worcester census for 1841 when Thomas Collett was fifty-nine and his wife Robina (Rebecca) was fifty-seven.

 

 

 

Living with them at that time were their two youngest children Christeven who was nineteen and Jane who was fourteen.  It is very likely that there were older children born into the family, but as yet no details have been discovered.

 

 

 

45O1

CHRISTEVEN COLLETT

Born in 1823

 

45O2

Jane Collett

Born in 1826

 

 

 

 

45O1

CHRISTEVEN (Christopher Stephen) COLLETT was born at St Helen’s in Worcester on 23.04.1823.  The registration of his birth confirmed that he was Christopher Stephen Collett, the son of Thomas and Rebecca Collett.  It would appear that during the early years of his life he was referred to as Christopher.

 

 

 

During his life he worked as a currier and a leather-stainer and in June 1841 when he was nineteen years old and he was living with his parents in the census registration district of Droitwich & Worcester.  Later that same year Christopher Stephen Collett married Eliza Matthews on 22.11.1841 at Whittington on the eastern outskirts of Worcester.  Almost exactly two years later the couple’s known son was born.

 

 

 

It has not been determined at this time whether or not there were any other children born into the family, but by 1851 Elizabeth Collett and her seven years old son Richard were still living in the Worcester area, the census that year listing them within the St Martin Worcester North registration district.

 

 

 

At that same time, a Christopher Collett from Worcester was living and working in the St Thomas area of Birmingham.  Ten years later he gave his name as Stephen Collett and his age as forty, when he was living within the Kidderminster registration district.  By this time it would appear that Stephen and his wife were separated, although there is a possibility that she may have died.  However, it is known that their son Richard was seventeen and was living and working in Worcester in April 1861.

 

 

 

Also in April 1861, there was Elizabeth Collett who was thirty-five who was living in Worcestershire in the Pershore registration district, and she may have been Stephen’s estranged wife.

 

 

 

Sometime after 1861 Stephen Collett left Worcestershire and moved north to Staffordshire where, around 1868 he entered into a relationship with Jane Spriggs.  Jane was born at Walsall around 1850 and was considerably younger than Stephen and is believed to have been the eldest daughter of William Spriggs and his wife Sarah.

 

 

 

The later events in the lives of Stephen and Jane cast some doubt as to whether they were ever actually married, and this may have been because Stephen’s first wife was still alive, and that they were only separated due to a irretrievable break-down of their marriage.

 

 

 

Either way, the relationship between Stephen, who would have been around 46, and eighteen years old Jane produced three children for the couple, all three having been born while the family was living at Walsall.

 

 

 

According to the Walsall census of 1871, Jane Spriggs was twenty-one and was living there with her two years old son Stephen Spriggs, but without Stephen Collett.  Curious fact #1 – the use of the Spriggs surname for both Jane and her son perhaps indicates she was not married and that her son was base-born.  However, the boy’s birth certificate gave his father’s name as Stephen Collett, a currier.

 

 

 

Ten years later at the time of the census of 1881, Stephen Collett, Jane Collett and their three children had left Walsall and had returned to Worcestershire where they were described as inmates at the Kidderminster Workhouse.

 

 

 

Curious fact #2 - whilst all five family members had the surname of Collett, Stephen and Jane were not recorded as being husband and wife.

 

 

 

Stephen Collett, whose age was stated as being 56 and whose place of birth was Worcester, was employed as a leather-stainer.  His ‘companion’ Jane Collett, who was confirmed as being 30 years old and born at Walsall, was working as a domestic servant possibly within the workhouse.

 

 

 

The census also confirmed that the couple’s three children were also born at Walsall, and these were listed as Stephen Collett who was 12, Alice Collett 9, and Alfred Collett who was seven years old.  At that time the Kidderminster Workhouse in Kidderminster Foreign was home to twenty-five adults and children.

 

 

 

By 1891 Stephen Collett at the age of sixty-nine was still living in the workhouse in Kidderminster, where he was also recorded ten years later in March 1901 by which time he was eighty.  The census that year confirmed his birthplace as being Worcester.  Not long after 1901 it must be assumed that Stephen died.

 

 

 

The November 1891 marriage certificate of Stephen’s and Jane’s eldest son Stephen Collett gave his father’s name as Stephen Collett and his occupation as that of a leather-stainer.

 

 

 

45P1

Richard Stephen Collett

Born in 1843

 

45P2

STEPHEN SPRIGGS COLLETT

Born 24.12.1868

 

45P3

Alice Collett

Born in 1871

 

45P4

Alfred John Collett

Born in 1873

 

 

 

 

45P1

Richard Stephen Collett was born in 1843 and was baptised at St Peter’s Church in Worcester on 29.11.1843.  The baptism record confirmed that he was the son of Christopher and Eliza Collett.  By 1851 Richard was seven years old and was living with his mother Elizabeth in the St Martin district of Worcester North.

 

 

 

Ten years later in 1861 Richard S Collett of St Peters in Worcester was seventeen and was working as a grocer’s apprentice with William Ponting while living at the Ponting’s home at 62 High Street in Worcester St Nicholas in the parish of St Swithins.

 

 

 

William Ponting from Wells in Somerset was 39 and a grocer employing three young men and two boys.  Richard Collett was the most junior of the three young men, the other two being assistant grocers Delabee Walker 23, and Frederick Jenkins who was 21.

 

 

 

William Ponting and his wife Ann, who was 30, had a one year old son Theophilus Ponting and they were supported by two servants, Elizabeth Allen 22, and Ann Bradley 15. 

 

 

 

By this time in 1861 it would appear that the marriage of Richard’s parents had broken down, since his father Stephen was living in Kidderminster while his mother was possibly living in Pershore.  Richard’s father later moved north to Walsall where he entered into a new relationship from which was born three further children.

 

 

 

Around four years later Richard married Matilda who may have been Matilda Matthews.  It is not clear where the marriage took place but the couple’s first two children were born in the Bordesley area of Birmingham.  Perhaps because of health reasons, only the second child was baptised at Bordesley.

 

 

 

After the birth of their second child, the family left Birmingham and moved south to Cheltenham where the remainder of Richard’s and Matilda’s children were born which was also where they were baptised in a joint ceremony with the couple’s oldest child.

 

 

 

By 1871 the family was recorded as living in Cheltenham where it comprised Richard S Collett 27, his wife Matilda 30, and their four children Archibald Collett 4, Millicent E Collett 3, Blanche M Collett 2, and Emily B Collett who was not yet one year old.

 

 

 

No further children were added to the family, so according to the census of 1881, the family of six was living at 71 Upper Regent Street in the hamlet of Barton St Mary within the parish of Gloucester St Mary de Lode.  The census confirmed that Richard Collett was 37 and a grocer from Worcester, his wife Matilda M Collett was 40 and from Chertsey in Surrey.

 

 

 

The four children were listed as Archibald R M Collett who was 14, and Millicent E Collett who was 13, both of them born in Birmingham, while Blanche M Collett 12, and Emily B Collett 10 were born at Cheltenham.  Staying with the family was fourteen years old Henry W Harbour of no occupation who was from the Isle of Wight and simply described as a visitor.

 

 

 

During the next decade Archibald left the family home to make his way in the world, although by 1891 he was still living within the Gloucester area, not far from his family who were still living at Barton St Mary in the South Hamlet registration district of the city.

 

 

 

On that occasion Richard was 47 and Matilda was 50, and still living with them were their three daughters Millicent E Collett who was 23, Blanche M Collett 22, and 20 years old Emily B Collett.

 

 

 

By around the middle of the next decade Richard’s eldest daughter Millicent had left home to be married, following which she settled in Gloucester where she and her husband raised a family of their own. 

 

 

 

By March 1901 the family living in Gloucester was reduced to just Richard S Collett of Worcester who was 56, his wife Matilda M Collett of Surrey who was 58, and their two unmarried daughters Blanche and Emily. While the census correctly gave the girl’s place of birth as Cheltenham their age in case was incorrectly records as twenty-eight and twenty-six, when they would have been 32 and 30.

 

 

 

During the next decade Richard’s wife must have passed away since she was absent from the family home in Gloucester by April 1911.  In this Richard Stephen Collett was 67, and once again the ages of his two unmarried daughter were wrong.

 

 

 

Blanche Matilda Collett was 34 instead of 42, and Emily Beatrice Collett was 32 instead of 40.

 

 

 

45Q1

Archibald Richard Matthews Collett

Born on 09.09.1866

 

45Q2

Millicent Eliza Collett

Born in 1867

 

45Q3

Blanche Matilda Collett

Born on 29.01.1869

 

45Q4

Emily Beatrice Collett

Born on 29.01.1870

 

 

 

 

45P2

STEPHEN SPRIGGS COLLETT was born at John Street in Walsall on 24.12.1868.  He was original known as Stephen Spriggs, being the son of the unmarried Jane Spriggs, and was listed as such in the 1871 Census for Walsall.  At that time he was three years old and was living with his mother.

 

 

 

It has not been confirmed that his father was Stephen Collett but there is a strong possibility that he was.  And certainly it would appear that he and Jane had two further children over the next few years.

 

 

 

So by April 1881 Stephen was listed in the census record as Stephen Collett aged 12 living at the Kidderminster Workhouse with his mother Jane Collett, his likely father Stephen Collett, and his two younger siblings Alice Collett and Alfred Collett.

 

 

 

Stephen later joined the army and may have been stationed at garrison in Aldershot in the late 1880s since it was there that he married Eliza East on 18.12.1891.  Eliza was born at Feltham in Middlesex, probably in 1862 making her six younger older than her husband.

 

 

 

Eliza East of Feltham was living there with her mother Elizabeth East in the census of 1871 and was aged 8 years.  Ten years later she was 18 and was working as a domestic servant at the home of grocer Harry Atkins at Uplands Road in Camberwell.  Her place of birth was again confirmed as Feltham.

 

 

 

Ten years after that she was located in the 1891 Census as was living in Farnham in Surrey, just to the south-west of Aldershot.  Her age at this time was 28 and in line with the previous two censuses.

 

 

 

However, nearly nine months later, at the time of her marriage to Stephen at Aldershot she gave her age as 27, perhaps because she was conscious that she was older than her husband.

 

 

 

It would appear from the birth place of their first child that Stephen and Eliza stayed at Aldershot only for a short while before being posted to India for three years where, at Meerut, their next three children were, two of which were twins. 

 

 

 

The family then returned to England before the end of the century and may have been visiting members of Stephen’s family in Staffordshire when their fifth child was born.  By the time of the 1901 Census Eliza was aged 36 (another reduced age) and was living back at Farnham with her five children.

 

 

 

Her children were Stephen aged 8 who was born at Aldershot and who was a honeymoon baby, Albert aged 6, the twins Alfred and Florence aged 4, who were confirmed as having been born at Meerut in India, and Mabel who was two years old and born at Wade in Staffordshire.

 

 

 

No record of Stephen has been found in either 1891 or 1901 so he is likely to have been abroad and possibly taking part in the Boer War for the latter date which started on 10th October 1899.  What is known about him was that he was a private with the Fifth Dragoon Guards when his second son was born in 1894 and had been promoted to the rank of corporal by the time the twins were born in 1896.

 

 

 

It is also well established that the Fifth Dragoon Guards were lead by Lieutenant Colonel Robert Baden-Powell and were part of the besieged force at Ladysmith in January 1900.

 

 

 

Two further children were born into the family over the four years after the turn of the century and both were born while they were living in the Farnham area of Surrey.

 

 

 

By the time of the census of April 1911 Stephen had returned from his travels and was back living with his family at Farnham.  Two members of the family were notable by their absence, and these were daughters Florence and Mabel.

 

 

 

The remainder of the family were Stephen who was 44 and born at Walsall, his wife Eliza 45 and from Feltham, and their children Stephen 19 who was born at Aldershot, Albert 17 and Alfred 15 who were both born in India, Henry 9 who was born at Farnham, and seven years old Winifred who was born at Cove near Farnborough.

 

 

 

45Q5

STEPHEN STANLEY COLLETT

Born on 10.09.1892

 

45Q6

Albert Victor Collett

Born on 07.10.1894

 

45Q7

Alfred Ernest Collett     twin

Born on 14.11.1896

 

45Q8

Florence Ruth Collett   twin

Born on 14.11.1896

 

45Q9

Mabel E Collett

Born in 1898

 

45Q10

William Henry Collett

Born in 1901

 

45Q11

Winifred Maud Collett

Born on 04.01.1904

 

 

 

 

45P3

Alice Collett was born at Walsall in 1871 and was the daughter of Stephen Collett and Jane Spriggs.  Around the middle to late 1870s Alice and her unmarried parents, together with her two brothers Stephen (above) and Alfred (below), moved to Kidderminster.  Times were obviously very hard then, and the five of them could only find accommodation in the Kidderminster Workhouse.

 

 

 

Alice was just nine years old and her birthplace was confirmed as Walsall.  Living conditions in the workhouse would not have been ideal for a young girl and it seems very likely that during the next few years Jane Spriggs removed herself and her three children from the Kidderminster Workhouse.

 

 

 

By 1891 when Alice was twenty years old she was living and working in the Kings Norton registration district five miles to the south of the centre of Birmingham, while her brother Alfred was not far away at Harborne with Kings Norton.

 

 

 

Ten years later it would appear from the overview of the census of 1901 that both Alice who was then thirty, and her brother Alfred, were still living in Kings Norton.  However, ten years after that, in 1911 it is known that Alfred was married, and since no record of Alice Collett has been found it may be assumed that she too was also married by then.

 

 

 

 

45P4

Alfred John Collett was born at Walsall in 1873 and was the son of Stephen Collett and Jane Spriggs.  Not long after he was born he and his family left Staffordshire and moved south of Birmingham to Kidderminster where, in 1881, they were inmates at the Kidderminster Workhouse.

 

 

 

According to the census return, Alfred was just seven years old and his parents were not listed as being married.  This may have been a contributing factor to the future break-up of the family, since by 1891 the family had separated, with each of the five members going their own way in life.

 

 

 

In 1891 Alfred Collett was fifteen and living in the Harborne & Kings Norton district just south of Birmingham, and a few miles from where his sister Alice (above) was living and working.  Ten years later both siblings may have been reunited as both of them were living in Kings Norton.

 

 

 

On that occasion bachelor Alfred Collett from Staffordshire was twenty-seven and he was employed as a general farm labourer. It seems very likely that he was married during the next few months after the census, with the couple’s only child being born either at the end of that year or at the beginning of the following year.

 

 

 

By April 1911 the family of three was living in the Alcester registration district of Warwickshire to the west of Stratford-on-Avon.  The census return recorded the family as Alfred John Collett who was 36, as was his wife Emiline Collett, and their son Alfred John Collett who was nine years old.

 

 

 

45Q12

Alfred John Collett

Born in 1901 after 31st March

 

 

 

 

45Q1

Archibald Richard Matthews Collett was born in Birmingham on 09.09.1866 and this may have taken place at Bordesley where his sister Millicent (below) was born during the following year.  For some reason Archibald was not baptised there and at that time like his sister, but was baptised when he was five years old in a joint ceremony with his two youngest sisters.

 

 

 

When Archibald was two years old, and just a few months after his sister Millicent was baptised in Bordesley, his parents left Birmingham and moved south to Cheltenham where his two youngest sisters were born.

 

 

 

By the second of April in 1871 the Collett family was complete and was living in Cheltenham where Archibald was four years old.  Five months after the census day the baptism of Archibald and his two sisters took place at Christ Church in Cheltenham on 06.09.1871 when the children’s parents were confirmed as Richard and Matilda Collett.

 

 

 

During the next ten years the family moved into the city of Gloucester where they were living in 1881 when Archibald R M Collett of Birmingham was fourteen and was living with his family at 71 Upper Regent Street in the hamlet of Barton St Mary within the parish of Gloucester St Mary de Lode

 

 

 

It would appear that Archibald never married and at the age of twenty-four in 1891 he had left the family home in Barton St Mary, although he was still living and working in the Gloucester parish of St John the Baptist, within central area of the city, at that time. 

 

 

 

Over the next ten years Archibald left Gloucester and acquired a job in Coventry.  The position as chemistry drug assistant to Thomas Fellows also came with accommodation.  So by March 1901 Archibald Collett from Birmingham was thirty-three years old and was living at 7 Cross Cheaping near the centre of Coventry the home of chemist and druggist Thomas Fellows 58 and his wife Catherine.

 

 

 

Cross Cheaping lies within the parish of Holy Trinity and number seven may well have been a pharmacy as well as being a residential property.  In addition to employing Archibald Collett, Thomas Fellows was also employing 26 years old Thomas Lancaster at that time, who was also described as a chemistry drug assistant.

 

 

 

Also listed as supporting the household, was Ann Keys who was 50 and the cook, and sixteen years old servant girl Margaret Court.

 

 

 

Archibald was still a bachelor ten years later in April 1911 when he was still living in Coventry, although he was no longer living with the mister and misses Fellows.  The census that year listed him as Archibald Richard Matthews Collett aged forty-four years.

 

 

 

 

45Q2

Millicent Eliza Collett was born at Birmingham in 1867 and was baptised at the Church of St Paul in Bordesley on 06.11.1867.  The baptism record confirmed that she was the daughter of Richard and Matilda Collett.  Shortly after this her parents travelled south from the Birmingham area and settled in Cheltenham where Millicent E Collett was listed as being three years old in the census of 1871.

 

 

 

Sometime during the next decade the Collett family left Cheltenham and moved again, this time to the county town of Gloucester where, in 1881, they were living at 71 Upper Regent Street in the Barton St Mary district of the city.  The census recorded that Millicent E Collett had been born in Birmingham and that she was thirteen years old.

 

 

 

The family was still living at Barton St Mary within the South Hamlet registration district in 1891, but by then the family’s only son Archibald (above) had left the family home to make his own way in the world.  The census return that year recorded the unmarried Millicent E Collett as being twenty-four.

 

 

 

It was around five years after this that Millicent married Albert William Healey with whom she had five children during the following ten years and all born in Gloucester.  Albert Healey was a carriage builder who was born in Gloucester in 1868 and who was still living there with his young family in 1901.

 

 

 

The census that year confirmed that Albert William Healey was 32, and that his wife Millicent Eliza Healey was also 32 and born in Birmingham.  Living with them were the first three of their five known children.  These were Albert who was three, Millicent who was two, and Charles who was not one year.

 

 

 

The remaining two children were born during the next few years so by 1911 the Gloucester family comprised Albert William Healey 42, his wife Millicent Eliza 43, and their five children Albert Reginald Collett Healey 13, Millicent Christine Healey 12, Charles Norman Healey 10, Basil Archibald Collett Healey 9, and Victor Lionel Collett Healey who was five years old.

 

 

 

It is not known why three out of the five children were given the Collett-Healey name, when the other two were not.

 

 

 

45R1

Albert Reginald Collett Healey

Born in 1897 at Gloucester

 

45R2

Millicent Christine Healey

Born in 1898 at Gloucester

 

45R3

Charles Norman Healey

Born in 1900 at Gloucester

 

45R4

Basil Archibald Collett Healey

Born in 1901 at Gloucester

 

45R5

Victor Lionel Collett Healey

Born in 1905 at Gloucester

 

 

 

 

45Q3

Blanche Matilda Collett was born in Cheltenham on 29.01.1869 and was recorded as being two years old in the Cheltenham census of 1871.  Five months after the census day Blanche, and her brother Archibald (above), and her sister Emily (below), were all baptised in a joint ceremony in Cheltenham.

 

 

 

This took place on 06.09.1871 at Christ Church on Malvern Road in Cheltenham at it junction with Christ Church Road when all three youngsters were confirmed as the children of Richard and Matilda Collett.

 

 

 

Ten years later in 1881 Blanche and her family were living at 71 Upper Regent Street in the hamlet of Barton St Mary just south of Gloucester city centre, when Blanche M Collett was twelve years old and her place of birth was confirmed as Cheltenham.

 

 

 

And it was also there that the family was still living ten years later in 1891 when Blanche M Collett was twenty-two.  By March 1901 Blanche and her sister Emily were still living in Gloucester with their parents Richard S Collett of Worcester and Matilda M Collett of Surrey.

 

 

 

It seems rather strange that on the day of the census that year, both of the sister’s ages was incorrectly recorded, when school teacher Blanche M Collett from Cheltenham said she was 28 instead of 32, leading to Emily say she was two years younger than her sister.  Not long after this Blanche’s mother died, leaving her and her sister to look after their widowed father.

 

 

 

The family of three was still living together in Gloucester ten years later in April 1911, when Blanche again gave an incorrect age.  At this time she was recorded as being thirty-four years old Blanche Matilda Collett from Cheltenham, when in actual fact she was forty-two, and yet again her sister Emily was recorded as being two years younger than Matilda.

 

 

 

 

45Q4

Emily Beatrice Collett was born at Cheltenham on 29.01.1871 and was two months old by the time of the census that year.  Emily was just seven months old when she was baptised at Christ Church in Cheltenham on 06.09.1871 in a joint baptism with her brother Archibald who was five years old and her sister Blanche (above) who was two and a half years old.

 

 

 

How long her family lived in Cheltenham is not known, but during the following few years the family moved into the city of Gloucester where they were living in 1881.  Emily’s father was grocer Richard Collett and the whole family was living at 71 Upper Regent Street in the Barton St Mary part of the city.

 

 

 

Emily B Collett was ten years old and the census confirmed that she had been born at Cheltenham.  Ten years later the family was still living in Barton St Mary where by early April in 1891 she was listed as Emily B Collett at twenty years of age.

 

 

 

With the death of her mother sometime during the first decade of the new century, Emily and her sister Blanche remained unmarried and continued to live with their widowed father in Gloucester until his death sometime after 1911.  In the two censuses for 1901 and 1911 it would appear that Emily simply followed her sister in completing the return when, in each case, she said she was two years younger than her sister.

 

 

 

However, on both occasions her older sister Blanche recorded an incorrect age, so in 1901 Emily B Collett from Cheltenham was 26, and in 1911 she was Emily Beatrice Collett from Cheltenham who was 32

 

 

 

 

45Q5

STEPHEN STANLEY COLLETT was a honeymoon baby born at Aldershot on 10.09.1892, almost nine months after his parents were married there. 

 

His birth was registered at Farnham that same month and the following month he was baptised at the Church of All Saints in the garrison at Aldershot on 07.10.1892. 

 

This took place prior to the family of three leaving England for a period of military service in India.

 

 

 

The family lived at Meerut in Bengal for around five years where Stephen’s father was a private and then a corporal with the 5th Dragoon Guards.  On their return to England the family settled in Farnham near Aldershot where they lived for a short while before moving to Cove near Farnborough where they were living in early 1904.

 

 

 

Stephen of Aldershot was listed as being aged eight in the census of 1901 and nineteen in the April census of 1911 when he was living with his family in the Farnham registration district of Surrey.

 

 

 

Just of three years later he married Mary Pearl Stewart on 31.05.1914 at the Church of Our Lady Help of Christians in Farnborough.  Whether by coincidence or not, Mary was born at Muttra in India on 08.09.1895, so may have been a longstanding family friend.

 

 

 

During his life Stephen was an air mechanic with the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War.  He was later a bus driver with the Aldershot and District Traction Company and a driver for the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME).

 

 

 

It would appear that the couple lived all there life at Aldershot since it was there that all of their children were born and where Stephen died on 05.10.1950.  Less than eight years after the death of her husband Mary also died at Aldershot on 22.05.1958.

 

 

 

45R6

Stephen John Collett

Born on 13.04.1915

 

45R7

Stanley Roland Collett

Born on 28.03.1917

 

45R8

Ernest Henry Collett

Born on 19.03.1919

 

45R9

RICHARD LOUIS COLLETT

Born on 28.03.1921

 

45R10

Lawrence William Collett

Born on 18.06.1923

 

45R11

Albert Dennis Terence Collett

Born on 01.06.1927

 

45R12

Ralph Thomas James Collett

Born on 20.05.1930

 

 

 

 

45Q6

Albert Victor Collett was born at Meerut in the Bengal area of India on 07.10.1894 at a time when his father Stephen Collett was a private with the 5th Dragoon Guards.  In both 1901 and 1911 he was living with his family in the Farnham registration district of Surrey aged 7 and 16 respectively.

 

 

 

During the following year, and two years before the outbreak of World War One, Albert joined the Royal Flying Corps and was based at Farnborough near to where his family was living at that time.

 

 

 

It would appear that it was during the war that he met and married Hannah Pam who was born at Philadelphia in North America in 1897.  Hannah was referred to as Nan by the family.

 

 

 

In 1918 Albert and Nan were living at Reading where their first child was born.  It was also in 1918 that the Royal Flying Corps became amalgamated into Royal Air Force.  Five years after the war Albert was still in the air force and at the time of the birth of the couple’s second child he was station at RAF Halton near Wendover in Buckinghamshire, the child having been born in the RAF Hospital there.

 

 

 

Five years later in 1928 Albert had achieved the rank of Flight Sergeant and by 1930 he was a Warrant Officer.

 

 

 

Albert died during March 1964 and was followed four year after by Nan who died in 1968.

 

 

 

45R13

a Collett son

Born in 1918

 

45R14

a Collett son

Born in 1923

 

 

 

 

45Q7

Alfred Ernest Collett was one of twins born on 14.11.1896 at Meerut in the Bengal area of India.  In the two years since the birth of his older brother his father had gone from a private to a corporal with the 5th Dragoon Guards.

 

 

 

Alfred was baptised at Meerut on 16.12.1896 in a joint christening with his twin sister Florence (below).  Not long after this the family returned to England, initially to Staffordshire, but ultimately back to Farnham near Aldershot and three years later to Cove near Farnborough.

 

 

 

In the Farnham census of 1901 he was four years old and ten years later, still living with his family in the Farnham registration district, he was 15.

 

 

 

The only other facts known about Alfred are that he married Doris who was born in 1911 and that he died in June 2002.  It is not established if he ever had any children from his marriage to Doris.

 

 

 

 

45Q8

Florence Ruth Collett was the other half of the twins born on 14.11.1896 at Meerut in Bengal.  And it was also there, just over a month later that she was baptised in a joint ceremony with her twin brother Alfred (above) on 16.12.1896.

 

 

 

As Florence L Collett she was listed living with her family at Farnham in Surrey in 1901 at the age of four, although curiously there is no record of her in the census of 1911 when she would have been fourteen.  This then raises the question as to whether or not she had died during the first decade of the new century.

 

 

 

 

45Q9

Mabel E Collett was born after the family had returned from their time in India and was born at Wade in Staffordshire in 1898.  Apart from her inclusion in the census of 1901 at the age of two years no further record of her has so far been located.  It might therefore be assumed that she died while still a child and may have been subject to the same fate as befell her older sister Florence (above).

 

 

 

 

45Q10

William Henry Collett was born at Farnham in the second half of 1901, where his family was living on the thirty-first of March of that year.  By the time of the census of 1911 William was aged nine and living with his parents within the Farnham registration district in Surrey, although he was recorded as being Henry Collett.

 

 

 

William never married and was a member of the Royal Air Force.  He also worked as a conductor with the Aldershot & District traction Company, at sometime worked at the War Service Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough. 

 

 

 

During his life he was referred to as Bruiser Collett, which might indicate he was a boxer or just handy with his fists.  The only other detail so far known about him is that he died in 1970.

 

 

 

 

45Q11

Winifred Maud Collett was born at Cove near Farnborough on 04.01.1904.  She was referred to as Rus within the family and was listed as being seven years old in the census of 1911 when he place of birth was confirmed as being Cove in Hampshire.

 

 

 

She later married George Gordon who was born on 21.01.1901 and was a Regimental Sergeant Major with the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders.

 

 

 

The marriage produced four children for the couple.  Their eldest son married Francis lives in Keynsham near Bristol, the second child lives in Canada, the third child married Gwenda and remained living at Farnborough where he worked at the Royal Aircraft Establish, and their youngest child was Jean Gordon.

 

 

 

George Gordon died in June 1979 and was followed almost immediately by Rus Gordon nee Collett who died on 13.07.1979.

 

 

 

 

45R6

Stephen John Collett was born at Aldershot on 13.04.1915.  Stephen attended East End Boys School and later married Violet Ivy Leach in 1942. d. 06.09.1963.  Violet was born on 18.01.1915 and also at Aldershot, and was known as Vi within the family.. 

 

 

 

The marriage produced two children for the couple, the first having been born while they were living in Aldershot and the second when they were living in Farnborough.

 

 

 

As well as being born within a few months of each other in 1915, Stephen and Vi died within a month of each other.  Vi died on 05.08.1963 followed by Stephen on 06.09.1963.

 

 

 

45S1

Patrick Rowland Collett

Born in 1944

 

45S2

Janet Stephanie Collett

Born on 22.10.1947

 

 

 

 

45R7

Stanley Roland Collett was born at Aldershot on 28.03.1917 where he was baptised one month later at St Joseph’s Church on 29.04.1917.  He too attended East End Boys School and later enlisted with the Royal Navy at the outbreak of war, but was discharged on medical grounds.  He died shortly after on 03.02.1940, the cause of death being certified as pneumonia.  He never married.

 

 

 

 

45R8

Ernest Henry Collett was born at Aldershot on 19.03.1919.  Like his two brother before him, Ernest was also a pupil at East End Boys School.  He was a soldier with the 2nd and 4th Battalion Hampshire Regiments and may have seen action in Europe during the Second World War. 

 

 

 

What is known is that he married a young lady with the surname Hertzog who was born at Klagenfurt in Austria in May 1917.  After the war Ernest worked for F W Woolworth and his marriage produced two children for the couple.

 

 

 

Their first child was born in Austria and the second while the family was still living in Aldershot.  Sometime later in their lives Ernest and his wife moved to Cambridge where Ernest died in November 1969.  His widow is still living in 2008.

 

 

 

45S3

a Collett daughter

Born before 1951

 

45S4

a Collett son

Born in 1951

 

 

 

 

45R9

RICHARD LOUIS COLLETT was born at Aldershot on 28.03.1921 and it was there that he was baptised on 08.05.1921. 

 

Unlike his older brothers he was educated at Farnborough Grammar School. 

 

During World War Two he served with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps at Agra in India and was Warrant Officer R L Collett No. 10538126.

 

And when not serving his country his working life was spent in the employment of the high street store of F W Woolworth.

 

 

 

Within a year of the end of the war Richard met and married Eileen Mary Lenehan.  Eileen was born on 19.09.1920 at Carbury in County Kildare in Ireland and the couple were married at St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in Aldershot on 13.07.1946.

 

 

 

Richard died on 02.02.1987 at Helmdon in South-Northamptonshire from lung cancer.  And it was at Helmdon that he was buried a week later on 09.02.1987.

 

 

 

45S5

PAUL ANTHONY COLLETT

Born on 18.02.1947

 

45S6

Catherine Ann Collett

Born on 02.05.1950

 

 

 

 

45R10

Lawrence William Collett was born at Aldershot on 18.06.1923 and was quickly baptised three days later on 21.06.1923 due to a defect at birth.  However, despite being brain damaged from birth he survived for over twenty-nine years when he died at Aldershot on 11.11.1952.

 

 

 

 

45R11

Albert Dennis Terence Collett was born at Aldershot on 01.06.1927.  As with other male siblings of his family he was educated at East End Boys School.  He later entered service with REME where he was trained as a motor mechanic.

 

 

 

On 04.06.1955 Albert married Maureen Mitchell just after her twentieth birthday, she having been on 22.06.1935 at Aldershot.  Once married the couple remained living in Aldershot where their four children were born.

 

 

 

And it was at Aldershot that Albert died from cancer on 17.10.1999 and where he was buried on 29.10.1999.  The cause of death was cancer.

 

 

 

45S7

Adrian Collett

Born on 30.03.1958

 

45S8

Frances Teresa Collett

Born on 30.03.1965

 

45S9

Christopher Collett       twin

Born on 14.09.1966

 

45S10

Sarah Louise Collett     twin

Born on 14.09.1966

 

 

 

 

45R12

Ralph Thomas James Collett was born on 20.05.1930 at 4 Lynford Villas off Highland Road in Aldershot and was baptised at St Joseph’s Church in the town on 29.06.1930.  On leaving school he joined the Royal Navy and later become a police inspector.

 

 

 

At some stage in his early working life he moved to Dorset and initially settled in Weymouth where he married Patricia Ann Lawrence at St Joseph’s Church on 24.07.1954.  It was also while the couple were living at Weymouth that the first of their two daughters were born.

 

 

 

His wife was less than three weeks difference in age from Ralph, and had been born on 08.06.1930 at Dorchester where the family was living when the couple’s second daughter was born.

 

 

 

During the later years of their life together Ralph and Patricia left Dorchester and moved the 23 miles east to Wimborne Minster where Ralph died on 08.07.1986 and where he was buried.  It was at Wimborne that Patricia also passed away.

 

 

 

45S11

Carole Susan Collett

Born on 20.10.1957

 

45S12

Janet Christine Collett

Born on 20.11.1960

 

 

 

 

45R13

A living Collett son, the child of Albert Collett and Hannah Pam was born at Reading in 1918.  He married Marjorie with whom he had three children.  It seems very likely that the couple were married in Reading where they settled for the first few years of their lives together.  It was while at Reading that their first child was born.

 

 

 

Shortly after the family of three moved to High Wycombe where the second child was born and shortly after that another move took the family to Blackpool where their third and last child was born.

 

 

 

45S13

a Collett son

Born in 1961

 

45S14

a Collett son

Born in 1963

 

45S15

a Collett son

Born in 1966

 

 

 

 

45R14

A living Collett son, another child of Albert Collett and Hannah Pam was born in 1923 at the Royal Air Force Hospital at RAF Halton near Wendover in Buckinghamshire.

 

 

 

In August 1941 he married Lorna MacPherson who was born at Port Sunlight in Cheshire in 1922.  The couple spent almost sixty-five years together before Lorna passed away in June 2006 at the age of eighty-four.

 

 

 

Her husband is retired schoolteacher, and during his life he was an official of the Youth Hostels Association and founder of the Kendal Athletic Club.

 

 

 

45S16

a Collett daughter

Born on 29.11.1947

 

45S17

a Collett son

Born on 14.03.1950

 

45S18

a Collett daughter

Born on 12.02.1959

 

 

 

 

45S1

Patrick Rowland Collett was born at Aldershot in 1944.  He married Carol Lesley Gregory in 1964 with whom he had two children while the couple were living at Farnham in Surrey.  Tragically he died in a drowning incident in 1976 when he was only 32 years old.

 

 

 

45T1

Tracy Jane Collett

Born in 1966

 

45T2

Gavin Patrick Collett

Born in 1968

 

 

 

 

45S2

Janet Stephanie Collett was born at Farnborough on 22.10.1947.  She married (1) Barry Michael Finch on 12.07.1969.  Barry was born at Shoreham-by-Sea in West Sussex and was the father of Janet’s two children.  After they were married the couple initially settled in Shoreham and it was during that time that their first child was born and baptised at Shoreham.

 

 

 

Less than two years after the birth of the child the family moved five miles west of Shoreham to Worthing where their second child was born.  The family remained living at Worthing for the next twenty years and it was there on 11.07.1992 that Janet married (2) Leonard Roy Rogers.

 

 

 

Leonard was ten years older than Janet having bee born in London on 19.05.1937 and was baptised at Dulwich just over a month later on 27.06.1937.

 

 

 

45T3

Jason Thomas Finch

Born on 04.01.1970 at Shoreham

 

45T4

Benjamin Nicholas Finch

Born on 02.03.1972

 

 

 

 

45S3

A living Collett daughter, the child of Ernest Collett and Ms Hertzog, was born before 1951 in Austria.   She married (1) Mr Haley but the marriage produced no children and the couple were later divorced.

 

 

 

She later returned to Austria where she married Mr Schreiber with whom she had one child who was born in 1979.

 

 

 

 

45S4

A living Collett son, another child of Ernest Collett and Ms Hertzog, was born at Aldershot in 1951.  He married Miss Tennant and in the 1970s they had two children, the second of which was born at Wigan.

 

 

 

45T5

a Collett child (living in 2008)

Born before 1979 possibly at Wigan

 

45T6

a Collett child (living in 2008)

Born at Wigan in 1979

 

 

 

 

45S5

PAUL ANTHONY COLLETT was born at Farnborough on 18.02.1947 and was baptised that same day. 

 

Sometime in his early life he left Hampshire and moved north to Lancashire where he met Angela Mary Holden.

 

The couple were married at Farnworth, north-west of Manchester, on 30.08.1969 where Angela was born on 07.10.1948.  Once they were married the couple moved south and settled in Hornchurch where their first two sons were born. 

 

 

 

Sometime during the mid-1970s it would appear that the family then moved to Northamptonshire since it was at the Barrett Maternity Hospital that Paul’s and Angela’s third son was born.

 

 

 

In 2008 Paul and Angela are living at Towcester in Northamptonshire and it was Paul who kindly provided the information that has enabled this family line to be constructed.

 

 

 

45T7

Richard Paul Collett

Born on 05.08.1970

 

45T8

Simon Anthony Collett

Born on 04.01.1972

 

45T9

Timothy Edward Collett

Born on 25.05.1978

 

 

 

 

45S6

Catherine Ann Collett was born on 02.05.1950 at Farnham in Surrey where she was baptised on 18.06.1950.  She was a schoolteacher and it seems likely that it was through her work that she met fellow teacher Malcolm Cramp who was born at Chatham in Kent on 15.01.1949.

 

 

 

Catherine was thirty-three when she married Malcolm at Maidstone in Kent on 23.12.1983.  And it was whilst the couple were living at Maidstone that their two children were born.

 

 

 

45T10

Lucy Cramp

Born on 25.10.1986

 

45T11

Joseph Cramp

Born on 06.08.1989

 

 

 

 

45S7

Adrian Collett was born at Aldershot on 30.03.1958.  He married Pamela Mary Birkett at the Aldershot Registry Office on 30.03.1989.  Pamela was born at Mitcham in Surrey on 14.07.1948.

 

 

 

 

45S9

Christopher Collett was one half of a set of twins born at Aldershot on 14.09.1966.  He lived all his life at Aldershot where he married Gwenn on 03.07.1993 at the Aldershot Registry Office.

 

 

 

Tragically he died less than two months before his thirty-sixth birthday on 21.07.2002 at Aldershot where he was buried on 01.08.2002.

 

 

 

45T12

Damien Collett

Born on 21.12.1993

 

 

 

 

45S10

Sarah Louise Collett was the other half of a set of twins born at Aldershot on 14.09.1966.  Thirty years later she married Ra Watene in New Zealand on 20.12.1996.  Sarah and Ra have two children, Jordan Watene born at South Auckland on 21.01.2002 and Lana Watene born on 30.03.2004.

 

 

 

 

45S11

Carole Susan Collett was born at Weymouth on 20.10.1957 and was baptised there the following year on 16.02.1958.  She married (1) Kenneth Edwards but later married (2) Colin Jarvis on 24.09.1983 at Wimborne in Dorset where her parents were living at that time.

 

 

 

Colin was born at St Austell in Cornwall on 26.07.1952 where he was baptised five years later on 08.05.1957.  The marriage produced two children for Carole and Colin, and both were born at Poole Hospital although the couple were living at Wimborne where the two children were later baptised.

 

 

 

45T13

Paul Stephen Jarvis

Born on 02.05.1986; baptised on 03.08.1986

 

45T14

Sarah Michelle Jarvis

Born on 15.05.1988; baptised on 31.07.1988

 

 

 

 

45S12

Janet Christine Collett was born at Dorchester in Dorset on 20.11.1960 and it was there that she was baptised during the following year.  She married Keith Michael Hickling at Wimborne on 12.06.1993.  Keith was born in Birmingham on 01.05.1959.

 

 

 

At the time of the birth of their two children, Janet and Keith were living at Frimley Park just north of Farnborough.

 

 

 

45T15

Katie Jane Hickling

Born on 14.10.1994

 

45T16

Lucy Ann Hickling

Born on 11.02.1997

 

 

 

 

45S13

A living Collett son, the grandson of Albert Collett and Hannah Pam, was born at Reading in 1961.  In the first half of the 1980s he married Ms Hardwick who was born in 1960 at Ashover which lies midway between Matlock and Clay Cross in Derbyshire.

 

 

 

45T17

a Collett child (living in 2008)

Born on 29.05.1987

 

45T18

a Collett child (living in 2008)

Born on 08.01.1989

 

 

 

 

45S14

A living Collett son, the grandson of Albert Collett and Hannah Pam, was born at High Wycombe in 1963.  Within two years of his birth the family had move north and were living in Blackpool.  It was there that he met and married Ms Bickerstaff during the early 1990s.  She was born in the village of Wesham midway between Blackpool and Preston in Lancashire.

 

 

 

45T19

a Collett child (living in 2008)

Born on 15.10.1996

 

 

 

 

45S15

A living Collett son, the grandson of Albert Collett and Hannah Pam, was born at Blackpool in 1965.  He married Ms Bradbury who was born in 1966 at Chester.

 

 

 

 

45S16

A living Collett daughter, the granddaughter of Albert Collett and Hannah Pam, was born on 29.11.1947.

 

 

 

She was married four times during her life, the first time to Mr Burford, on the second occasion to Mr Pearce, the third was Mr Forrest and the fourth was Mr Collins.  Her first three husbands are all still living in 2008 so on each occasion the separation was the subject of a divorce.

 

 

 

 

45S17

A living Collett son, the grandson of Albert Collett and Hannah Pam, was born on 14.03.1950.  At sometime in his life he travelled north to Scotland where in Aberdeen he met and married Ms Robertson.  She was born in Aberdeen on 07.06.1957 and their wedding took place on 01.11.1986.

 

 

 

The couple’s first child was born while they were still living in Aberdeen.  However, their second child was born after the family had moved to Singapore.

 

 

 

45T20

a Collett child (living in 2008)

Born on 29.11.1988

 

45T21

a Collett child (living in 2008)

Born on 07.11.1994

 

 

 

 

45S18

A living Collett daughter, the granddaughter of Albert Collett and Hannah Pam, was born on 12.02.1959.  She first married (1) Mr Sahni who was born at Pinner near Harrow on the outskirts of north London.  A divorce followed some years later and in 1993 she married (1) Mr Soady.

 

 

 

 

45T1

Tracy Jane Collett was born at Farnham in 1966 and she later married Nigel Davies.  The marriage produced the children for the couple and these were Natalie Davies, Matthew Davies, and Zoe Davies.

 

 

 

 

45T2

Gavin Patrick Collett was born at Farnham in 1968.

 

 

 

 

45T4

Benjamin Nicholas Finch was born at Worthing on 02.03.1972 and baptised at Shoreham-by-Sea.  He married Victoria Jane Bolingbroke at Lewes in East Sussex on 04.01.1997.  Victoria was born on 23.09.1970 at Brighton where she was also baptised.

 

 

 

The marriage produced two children for the couple, Maria Finch born in November 1998 and Peter Thomas Finch who was born at Worthing on 11.11.2004.

 

 

 

 

45T7

Richard Paul Collett, who is referred to as Alf, was born at the Rush Green Hospital in Hornchurch in Essex on 05.08.1970.  He was baptised at Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church at Farnworth in Lancashire.  He was educated at Bristol University from where he graduated in November 1994, from which time he has gone on to become a schoolteacher in Thailand.

 

 

 

Richard married Alice Ruth Orton at Edinburgh Registration Office on 21.12.2002.  Alice was born on 01.03.1978 at Woolwich in the British Hospital for Mothers and Babies.  The witnesses at their wedding were Richard’s brother Simon Collett (below) and Kirsty Orton, Alice’s sister.

 

 

 

 

45T8

Simon Anthony Collett was born at the Rush Green Hospital in Hornchurch on 04.01.1972 and was baptised at nearby Upminster in St Joseph’s Church.  He later met Lucy Jayne Jones who was born at Pembury in Kent on 19.12.1978 and with whom he now has a son and a daughter who were both born at Milton Keynes Hospital.

 

 

 

45U1

Louis Owen Maximus Collett

Born on 20.02.2007 at Milton Keynes

 

45U2

Darcy Rebeca Collett

Born on 23.07.2009 at Milton Keynes

 

 

 

 

45T9

Timothy Edward Collett was born at the Barrett Maternity Hospital in Northampton on 25.05.1978, and was baptised at St Thomas Moore’s Roman Catholic Church in Towcester. 

 

 

 

Tim met Sarah Barrett who was born at Weymouth on 14.12.1969 whom he married at Towcester Register Office on 22.08.2009.  They now have two daughters who were both born while the couple was living in Hammersmith, the first child having been born at Queen Charlotte’s Hospital in London.

 

 

 

45U2

Megan Rose Collett

Born on 15.12.2006 at Hammersmith

 

45U4

Matilda Mae Collett

Born on 25.05.2009 at Hammersmith

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

APPENDIX - OTHER COLLETTS BORN IN WORCESTERSHIRE

 

 

 

Firstly in Part 2 – The Secondary Line there are three connections to Bromsgrove in Worcestershire.  These are:

Thomas Collett (Ref. 2J20) born at Bourton-on-the-Water who died at Bromsgrove (1718-1790)

Richard Collett (Ref. 2K12) born in Gloucestershire who died at Bromsgrove (1754-1808), and

John Collett (Ref. 2L25) who was born at Bromsgrove in 1775 and who went to Newfoundland in 1815 and who is the subject of Part 32 – The Newfoundland Line.

 

 

 

Others, so far unconnected, are:

 

 

45/Ap1

Thomas Collett of Bromsgrove was born around 1785 and who died around 1866.  Thomas married Jane Cooper and he was the great great great great grandfather of Wendy Collett of Australia.

 

 

 

Thomas and Jane appeared in all of the census returns for 1841, 1851, and 1861 and in the first of these they still had living with them at Bromsgrove, their three youngest children.  Thomas and Jane both had a rounded age of fifty-five, while listed with them were Sarah 15, Thomas 13, and Harriet 10.

 

 

 

In the subsequent census records for 1851 and 1861 Thomas and Jane no longer had any children living with them and were aged 65 and 75.  

 

 

 

It seems highly likely that Thomas and Jane had other children prior to the mid 1820s, one of which was probably George who was born in 1824, since in 1851 a George Collett and his family were living at Catshill near Bromsgrove and his oldest child was Thomas Collett named after his grandfather.

 

 

 

45/Ap1/1

George Collett

Born in 1823

 

45/Ap1/2

Sarah Collett

Born in 1825

 

45/Ap1/3

Thomas Collett

Born in 1827

 

45/Ap1/4

Harriet Collett

Born in 1831

 

 

 

 

45/Ap1/1

George Collett was born at Dodderhill near Droitwich in 1823.  Unlike his sister Sarah (below), no record of his baptism has so far been found.  George married Ann towards during the first half of the 1840s when he was just over twenty years of age.

 

 

 

In 1851 George and Ann were living just to the north of Bromsgrove at Catshill where they both had a recorded age of 27.  Living with them were their first two children, Thomas who was four, and John who was two years old.  It would also appear from later census returns that all of George’s and Ann’s children were born while the family was living at Catshill.

 

 

 

Ten years later the family was still living within the Catshill ecclesiastical district of Bromsgrove, and not far from George’s parents.  The census in 1861 revealed that the family was living at Brimstone Lane to the west of Catshill where George of Dodderhill was 36 and employed as an agricultural labourer.  Working with him were his two eldest sons, Thomas fourteen, and John who was twelve.

 

 

 

The rest of the family were George’s wife Ann Collett of Bromsgrove who was also 36, and the couple’s three youngest children, George Collett who was seven, Sarah A Collett who was four, and one year old Joseph Collett.

 

 

 

George’s and Ann’s daughter Virtue was missing from the family in both the 1861 and 1871 Census records, but she was back living with her parents by 1881. 

 

 

 

By 1871 the family had reduced in size, but was still living in the Bromsgrove area of Worcestershire.  Rather strangely though, George’s age from this time onwards conflicted with his actual age, although Ann’s age was close to her real age in each census.

 

 

 

Having both been 36 in 1861, in 1871 George gave his age as being 53, while his wife was 47.  The only children still living with them were sons John 22 and Joseph 11, and daughter Sarah who was fourteen.  Also living not far away within the Bromsgrove area were the couple’s other two sons Thomas who was 24 and George who was 16.

 

 

 

Sometime during the next few years George and Ann left the Bromsgrove area and moved north to Dudley where, in 1881, they were living at 3 Waterloo Place in the town.

 

 

 

Once again, where up to 1861 George and Ann were the same age, on the occasion of the census of 1881 George gave his age as 62, instead of around 56 as Ann did.  Three of their children were still living with them, although it was a different three from ten years earlier.  This time it was son John who was 30, had been joined by Virtue who was 28, and George who was twenty-seven.

 

 

 

George and his two sons were all employed as farm labourers, while his daughter Virtue was described as unemployed, and all of them were described as having been born at Bromsgrove rather than Dodderhill and Catshill.

 

 

 

45/Ap1/1/1

Thomas Collett

Born in 1846

 

45/Ap1/1/2

John Collett

Born in 1848

 

45/Ap1/1/3

Virtue Collett

Born in 1851

 

45/Ap1/1/4

George Collett

Born in 1853

 

45/Ap1/1/5

Sarah Ann Collett

Born in 1856

 

45/Ap1/1/6

Joseph Collett

Born in 1859

 

 

 

 

45/Ap1/2

Sarah Collett was born at Dodderhill near Droitwich in 1825 where she was baptised on 06.06.1825, the daughter of Thomas and Jane Collett.

 

 

 

 

45/Ap1/3

Thomas Collett was born at Bromsgrove in 1827 and was baptised there on 19.12.1828, the son of Thomas and Jane Collett.  At the time of the Bromsgrove census of 1841 Thomas was thirteen years old and was still living with his parents and two youngest sisters Sarah Collett who was 15, and Harriet Collett who was ten.

 

 

 

Just prior to or around 1860 Thomas married Elizabeth and over the next fifteen years the marriage produced four children for the couple, and all of them born at Smethwick.  By 1881 the family was living at Broomfield in Harborne where Thomas Collett of Bromsgrove was a shoemaker at the age of fifty-three.

 

 

 

His wife Elizabeth was fifty and from Upton Warren in Worcestershire, and with them were their four children William 18, Jane 13, Laura 10, and Minnie who was six years old.  Also living with the family was Elizabeth’s older widowed sister Mary Whitehouse who was a dressmaker.

 

 

 

45/Ap1/3/1

William Collett – a turner in 1881

Born in 1862 at Smethwick

 

45/Ap1/3/2

Jane Collett

Born in 1867 at Smethwick

 

45/Ap1/3/3

Laura Collett

Born in 1870 at Smethwick

 

45/Ap1/3/4

Minnie Collett

Born in 1874 at Smethwick

 

 

 

 

45/Ap1/4

Harriet Collett was born at Bromsgrove in 1831 where she was baptised on 16.11.1831, the daughter of Thomas and Jane Collett.

 

 

 

 

45/Ap1/1/1

Thomas Collett was born at Catshill just north of Bromsgrove in 1846, and was baptised at Catshill on 03.01.1847 the eldest son of George and Ann Collett.  At the age of four Thomas and his family were still living at Catshill where they remain until around 1860.

 

 

 

The following year, according to the census in 1861, Thomas was fourteen and he and his family were living in Brimstone Lane near Catshill where Thomas was working with his father and brother John (below) as an agricultural labourer.

 

 

 

Where he was after 1861 has not been determined, but in March 1901 Thomas Collett from Bromsgrove was 56 and was living in Dudley where his occupation was described as a ‘binder lader coke’ (?).  No record of him has been found in 1911.

 

 

 

 

45/Ap1/1/2

John Collett was born at Catshill in 1848 and it was there that he was baptised on 26.01.1849, the second son of George and Ann Collett.  In 1851 the family was still living at Catshill where John was two years old.

 

 

 

In 1861 he was twelve years old and was already working as an agricultural labourer alongside his father and older brother Thomas (above) while living with his family at Brimstone Lane to the west of Catshill.  He was still there ten years later when he was twenty-two.

 

 

 

By 1881 John and his parents had moved to 3 Waterloo Place in Dudley where John was still working with his father, when both of them were described as farm labourers.  Whilst his father’s age was incorrect, so too was John’s, who said he was thirty instead of thirty-two.

 

 

 

Ten years later John Collett was forty-three and in March 1901 he was fifty-three and was employed as a domestic groom while he was still living in Dudley.  On this latter occasion he had living with him his younger unmarried sister Virtue Collett, who was still living with him in 1911 when John Collett was sixty-three.

 

 

 

 

45/Ap1/1/3

Virtue Collett was born after the end of March in 1851, but so far no baptism record for her has been found, nor has she been identified in the census records for 1861 or 1871.  However, Virtue Collett was 28 and still living with her parents at 3 Waterloo Place in Dudley in 1881.

 

 

 

She also appeared in the census returns for Dudley in 1901 when she was 46, and again in 1911 when she was 56.  On each occasion her place of birth was confirmed as Bromsgrove, and in both censuses she was acting as housekeeper for her brother John Collett (above).

 

 

 

 

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George Collett was born in 1853 and very likely at Catshill like most of his siblings.  His family moved to Dudley during the 1870s and in 1881 they were living at 3 Waterloo Place in Dudley where George was 27 and a farm labourer like his father and older brother John.

 

 

 

About a year or so later George married Elizabeth with whom he had two children before 1891.  In that year’s census the family was still living in Dudley where George of Bromsgrove was 35, Elizabeth was 33, and their two sons were James William who was 8, and George who was five.

 

 

 

The Dudley census of 1901 confirmed that George from Bromsgrove was married to Elizabeth who was 43 and from Sedgley, and that it was while they were living at Sedgley that their two sons James 18 and George 15 were born, before the family moved to Dudley.

 

 

 

George Collett was working as a domestic groom, like his older brother John (above), while his two sons were a bricklayer’s labourer and an assistant in a boot and shoe shop, respectively.

 

 

 

Ten years later in 1911 George was 53 and Elizabeth was 52, and they were still living in Dudley, but by which time their two sons had left the family home.

 

 

 

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James William Collett

Born in 1882 at Sedgley

 

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George Collett

Born in 1885 at Sedgley

 

 

 

 

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Sarah Ann Collett was born at Catshill in 1856 and it was there also that she was baptised on 31.05.1857, the daughter of George and Ann Collett.

 

 

 

 

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Joseph Collett was born at Catshill in 1859 where he was baptised on 29.05.1859, the son of George and Ann Collett.  In the following Census returns Joseph was one year old and eleven years old in 1871 when living with his family in Brimstone Lane near Catshill.

 

 

 

A few years later Joseph and his family moved to Dudley and it was there that Joseph met his future wife.  Just prior to the census in 1881, Joseph married Ann who was born at Dudley in 1859 and, according to the census that year, the childless couple were living at Pensnett Road in Dudley.

 

 

 

Joseph Collett of Bromsgrove was 22 and his occupation was that of a carman and horse driver.  His wife was Ann M Collett, also aged twenty-two, from Dudley.

 

 

 

What happened to Ann is not known but by the middle of the 1890s Joseph had married Caroline from Brierley Hill in Dudley and before the end of the century their marriage had produced two children.  Caroline was 29, her daughter Lottie A M Collett was 6 and her son George Collett was two.  The children’s father was not listed with them at that time.

 

 

 

However, in April 1911 the family was complete.  Joseph Collett from Bromsgrove was 51 and his wife Caroline who was 41, were living in Dudley with their two children, Lottie Collett who was fifteen, and George Collett who was twelve.

 

 

 

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Lottie A M Collett

Born in 1894 at Dudley

 

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George Collett

Born in 1898 at Dudley

 

 

 

 

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Thomas Collett of the parish of St. Lawrence, Evesham married Mary Hyde of the parish of Hampton near Evesham in Worcestershire by banns on the 19th June 1809.

 

 

 

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Ann Deborah Collett

Born on 27.08.1815

 

 

 

 

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Ann Deborah Collett who was born at Hampton near Evesham where she was baptised at Great Hampton on 27.08.1815, the daughter of Thomas and Mary Collett.  Ann married George Phipps of Upper Slaughter on 28.08.1839 when her father was again confirmed as Thomas Collett.