PART SIX

The New Zealand Line - 1815 to 2008

This family line commences with Elizabeth Collett & Henry Collett from Part One

Updated July 2011

The information provided for the previous update of this file

was gratefully received from Ron & Sue Payne in Perth, Australia

The information provided for the previous updates was gratefully received

from Tania Bryant whose mother was Janis Patricia Collett (Ref. 6R5) of New Zealand

This is the family line of Jennifer Alison Collett (Ref. 6S2) whose

husband Martin Gregory kindly provided details of their family

6N1	ELIZABETH COLLETT (Ref. 1N53) was baptised on 20.03.1817 at Leonard Stanley. She later married her cousin Henry Collett (Ref. 1N61) on 13.07.1840 at St Mary de Lode Church in Gloucester. He was born on 27.04.1818. These pictures of the couple, taken much later in their lives, are from a collection at the Lower Hut City Library, about a mile from where they were living at Petone, in New Zealand, towards the latter part of the nineteenth century. Supplied by Ron Payne.
	One month after the wedding the couple emigrated to New Zealand when they sailed out of Gravesend on the British barque HMS London on 13^th August 1840. The barque London was chartered by the New Zealand Company and sailed from the Port of London bound for Port Nicholson with 228 emigrants aboard.
	The voyage took four months to complete and the ship eventually arrived at Port Nicholson in New Zealand on the 12^th December 1840. There had been four infant deaths during the voyage and six new births. Astonished by the number of settlers arriving on their shores, the local Maori asked if the 'whole tribe' had come out from England, not realising that this was only the beginning of the settlement of New Zealand.
	One account of the ship’s arrival, given by one of the passengers on board the London, was as follows: "Rising at dawn, we crowded the ships rails, anxious to get a first glimpse of the land which was to be our new home. The sea was calm as we sailed into Port Nicholson on that warm sunlit December morning in 1840 and soon shelters and shacks could be seen dotted along the waterfront. Presently, native canoes came paddling out from the shore; there must have been a score or more coming to greet us. Our long journey from England was coming to an end."
	Twenty years after their arrival in New Zealand, Elizabeth and Henry and their family were living at 81 Hutt Road in Petone, near Wellington, where their last child was born. Many homes were erected along Hutt Road for various members of the Collett family. This photograph was taken in 1874 and shows the Collett farm. It was also on this day that the first railway train ran between Wellington and Napier, along land previously owned by the Collett family and purchased from them in 1873. From 1842 Henry Collett was an established wheelwright and had associations with the company of Collett, Styles and Dean of Lower Hutt in Petone, which was formed by his son Aaron Collett (below).
	Two of Henry’s other sons eventually took over the family business which became Collett Brothers in 1887, of which further details are provided under Edward Henry Collett and Albert William Collett.
	Henry was also acknowledged as one of the early pioneers and even had pride of place in the Pioneer Muster Roll celebration (the Jubilee of Colonisation) that was held in Wellington on 22^nd January 1890.
	Elizabeth Collett died at the family home on the old Hutt Road in Petone on 25.10.1881 at the age of sixty-three, and was followed thirteen years later by her husband Henry who died at Petone on 12.09.1894 at the age of seventy-six.
	Elizabeth was buried at the old Taita Cemetery in the Hutt Valley just north of Wellington, which was formerly known as Christ Church Graveyard.
	Following the death of their parents, the children of Elizabeth and Henry Collett sold off the paddock land to the rear of the family homestead in 1901, and this ultimately became part of the Riddlers Crescent development.
	It is well established that Elizabeth and Henry had with them on their sea voyage from England, some rose plants which they planted in the garden of their home on the old Hutt Road, and which survive at the Collett home to this day. This is at 36 Riddlers Crescent in Petone, formerly 81 Hutt Road, and in 2000 the house was placed on the New Zealand Historic Places Register.
	See further property notes under Mabel Elizabeth Jane Collett (Ref. 6P11).
	The following is an extract taken from The Chairman’s Report for the Petone Community Board which was presented at a meeting of the board on 6^th April 2009. The same report included a reference to Francis Brown, the daughter of Mabel Collett (Ref. 6P11), who died at 36 Riddlers Crescent in 1989.
	“The Colletts are one of Petone’s founding families and came to Petone in 1845, having purchased land on the Hutt Lane. Henry Collett was in business as a wheelwright. The family business closed in 1895, following his death a few months earlier. At that stage it operated as a partnership and was based in Petone and Lower Hutt under the trading name of Collett Brothers. The partners were two of Henry’s sons, Edward Collett and Albert Collett. Besides wheelwrights, Collett Brothers also were general blacksmiths and undertakers.
	The undertaking business was continued by Edward Collett, although the Lower Hutt business in Railway Avenue (then Main Road) was leased to Messrs Purser & Ridley, taking effect on 1^st April 1895. A 1897 report published in the Cyclopedia of New Zealand states that the former Collett business in Lower Hutt trades under the name of Purser & Co. The business is described as coach builders and general smiths.
	In 1873 the Government took part of the Collett property of 9 acres for the Napier to Wellington railway, together with a strip of flat land between the railway and the hill which was later leased to Sir James Hector. The first sub-divisions on the Collett property were along the Hutt Road where a number of houses were erected for members of the Collett family.
	The Colletts sold the remaining piece of paddock land behind the homestead in 1901. This was subsequently included in the Riddlers Crescent sub-division. Other pieces of the homestead block were sold or built on for family members in the next thirty years or so. Collett House, at 36 Riddlers Crescent, now on a much reduced section, went out of the Collett family in 1989 and, eleven years later, was placed on the New Zealand Historic Places Register.”
	In a subsequent report by the same Chairman, Gerald Davidson, in August 2009, he made reference to the need to protect trees and shrubs on various properties in Riddlers Crescent, two of these being former homes of the Collett family. The first of these was 28 Riddlers Crescent, which contained a magnolia grandiflora and a mulberry tree, and the second was Collett House, which had two rose bushes brought over from England and planted in the 1840 and an escallonia hedge along the length of the driveway which was planted in 1874.
	6O1	Edward Henry Collett				Born on 17.04.1841
	6O2	Thomas George Collett				Born on 22.03.1843
	6O3	Elizabeth Collett				Born on 05.05.1845
	6O4	JAMES COLLETT				Born on 25.10.1847
	6O5	Martin Collett				Born on 31.10.1849
	6O6	Mary Jane Collett				Born on 02.12.1851
	6O7	Aaron Collett				Born on 02.01.1854
	6O8	Charles Samuel Collett				Born on 09.01.1856
	6O9	Albert William Collett				Born on 06.06.1858
	6O10	Ellen Maria Collett				Born on 01.05.1860
6O1	Edward Henry Collett was born at Wellington on 17.04.1841 almost exactly nine months to the day after his parents Henry and Elizabeth had married. He never married and was a founder member of the Manchester Unity Loyal Petone Lodge and in his early days he was an enthusiastic church worker.
	Together with his brother Albert (below), Edward took over his father’s business in 1887 and founded Collett Brothers, a wheelwright, general smith, and funeral business at Lower Hutt, the premises of which are shown in the photograph on the right. The brothers’ partnership was dissolved in early 1895, and this may have directly related to the fact that their father Henry, who had established the original wheelwright business in 1842, had died during September of the previous year.
	A formal announcement to this effect was placed in the local newspaper and read as follows:
	‘We, Edward Henry Collett and Albert William Collett, trading as Collett Brothers at the Lower Hutt and at Petone, a wheelwrights, general smiths, and undertakers, hereby give notice that we have this day dissolved the partnership. Edward Henry Collett will carry on the undertaking business and Albert William Collett will carry on the wheelwright and general smith business at Lower Hutt and pay and receive all debts due to and by that branch of the business. Dated this day 29^th March 1895’
	An earlier announcement in the Evening Post referred to the establishment of the company in 1887 as follows:
	‘To the residents of Lower Hutt and district. E H & A W Collett beg to notify that having taken over the business carried on by Mr A Collett [their brother Aaron] near the Hutt Railway Station, have opened a Wheelwright’s Shop in connection therewith, and hope to receive a continuation of past favours. The business will in future be carried on under the style of Collett Bros Lower Hutt and Petone.
	Edward died on 04.12.1916 and was buried at Lower Hutt in New Zealand.
6O2	Thomas George Collett was born at Wellington on 22.03.1843, the son of Henry and Elizabeth Collett. He married Mary Ann Russell of Mangaroa, who had been born at Lower Hutt, and established a farm on the eastern side of the Mangaroa Valley. The farm was later worked by Thomas’ daughter Elsie and her husband.
	Mary Ann Collett nee Russell died at Lower Hutt on 22^nd April 1902. Only thirteen days prior to her death she had made a Will leaving her estate, of approximately £300, to be divided equally among Thomas, her husband, and their four sons. The Will, signed and dated on 9^th April, gave the names of her four sons as Henry Edward, Albert George, Charles William, and William Herbert, whereas prior to the discovery of the document, only the last two sons were previously known and listed here with her daughter.
	Thomas George Collett out-lived his wife by over twenty-eight years, when he died during the month of June in 1930, following which he was buried at Trentham (Upper Hutt) in New Zealand.
	6P1	Henry Edward Collett				Date of birth unknown
	6P2	Albert George Collett				Date of birth unknown
	6P3	Charles William Collett				Born in 1876
	6P4	William Herbert Collett				Date of birth unknown
	6P5	Elsie Collett				Date of birth unknown
6O3	Elizabeth Collett was born at Wellington on 05.05.1845, the eldest daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Collett. She married William Buick and started her married life and her family at Buick Farm. She was known as Mrs W Buick of Petone, and Elizabeth Street in Petone is named after her.
	Elizabeth Buick nee Collett died on 01.08.1926 and was buried at Masterton in New Zealand.
6O4	JAMES COLLETT was born at Petone in New Zealand on 25.10.1847, the son of Henry and Elizabeth Collett. He married Elizabeth Fox of Taita on 11.09.1867 and they lived all their life at 89 Hutt Road in Petone with James’ brother Charles Collett (below) living next door.
	James worked at Percy’s Flour Mill and later worked as a quarryman at Ngahauranga. His last job was with Petone Borough Council. He lived a very long life and died in 1930 aged eighty-two, following which he was buried at Lower Hutt.
	On 5^th December 1870, when James was around twenty-three years old, he had the honour of being a drummer in the band that played at the historic funeral of the Maori chief Honiana Te Puni at Pito-one (which later became Petone). Thirty years earlier, at the time of the arrival of James’ parents at Port Nicholson in 1840, Honiana Te Puni and hundreds of Maori natives with tattooed faces were anxiously awaiting the arrival of six pioneer vessels from a far off land.
	Over the following years, chief Honiana Te Puni became an old and well tried friend to many of the 1840 settlers, and it was he who was one of the signatures to the Treaty of Waitangi which was signed in 1840. A memorial to the great Maori chief can be found today on the beach front at Petone.
	6P6	Ethel Ellen Collett				Born in 1882
	6P7	Ernest James Collett				Born in 1884
	6P8	HAROLD AARON COLLETT				Born in 1886
	6P9	Elsie Jane Collett				Born in 1893
6O5	Martin Collett was born at Petone on 31.10.1849, the son of Henry and Elizabeth Collett. He was married and made his home at Waipawa, where he was woodworking tradesman. He lived at Petone until his death in February 1936.
	6P10	Henry Charles Collett				Born in 1876
6O6	Mary Jane Collett, who was known as Jane, was born at Petone on 02.12.1851, the daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Collett. When her mother knew she was dying, she made Jane promise to look after her father, and this may well have been the reason why she never married.
	She lived at Riddlers Crescent in Petone was a staunch supporter of St Augustine’s Church and a Sunday School Superintendent until she was 60 years of age. She died in 1916 and was buried at Lower Hutt. Her Last Will and Testament was made on 4^th June 1914 and signed that day at the Wellington office of Solicitor J W McLeod, who also signed the document, as did civil servant M W Watson. A full transcript of the Will can be found on the website in the folder Legal Documents.
	A clause in the Will enabled the house in Riddlers Crescent to be occupied by her married niece Mabel Elizabeth Jane Evans nee Collett, the eldest child of Mary’s younger brother Aaron Collett (below). Prior to her marriage to William Evans in 1901, Mabel had lived for many years with Mary in the house at Ridlers Crescent.
	Other beneficiaries under the terms of the Will were her nephews William Aaron Collett (Ref. 6P12), Albert Edward Collett (Ref. 6P17), and Augustus Henry Collett (Ref. 6P13).
6O7	Aaron Collett was born at Petone on 02.01.1854, the son of Henry and Elizabeth Collett. He later married Elizabeth Jane Mason, of Middlesex in England, and after they were married Aaron and Elizabeth lived in a property close to his business. During his life he was a blacksmith and builder of horse-drawn coaches for which he entered into a partnership with his brother Charles (below).
	However, on the first day of 1886 a public notice in the Evening Post announced that the partnership had been ended. This read as follows:
	‘The partnership hitherto existing between the undersigned, as Blacksmiths & Co, is this day dissolved by mutual consent. All accounts owing to the late firm to be sent to the Hutt Shop at once. Mr Wiles is authorised to receive all accounts owing to the late firm, or they may be paid at the shop. As witness our hands this day 1^st January 1886 – Aaron Collett of Hutt and Charles S Collett of Petone.
	The Hutt branch will still be carried on by Mr Aaron Collett, and the Petone branch by Mr Charles S Collett. In reference to the above notice, Mr Aaron Collett begs to thank his numerous friends and public generally for the support given in past time, and hopes that he will get a fair share of support in future. Patrons may depend upon everything being done in a workmanlike manner. Orders for wheelwright work taken as usual and punctually attended to.’
	During the following year the separate business that Aaron had established was taken over by his brothers Edward and Albert when it became Collett Bros, at which time there was an announcement to that effect in the local newspaper – see under Edward Henry Collett (above).
	At one time the company set up by Aaron was called Collett Coachbuilders, and this later became Collett, Styles and Dean on the site of Dux Engineering in Railway Avenue at Lower Hutt.
	Aaron Collett died on 04.12.1901 at the age of 57, and was buried at Lower Hutt, and it was around four years later that his wife passed away at Lower Hutt at the age of 61. It is interesting that sixteen years later, at the time his son William Aaron Collett applied to join the army during the First World War, he stated on his entry form that he was a self-employed coachbuilder working out of premises in Railway Avenue in Lower Hutt.
	6P11	Mabel Elizabeth Jane Collett				Born in 1878
	6P12	William Aaron Collett				Born in 1879
	6P13	Henry Augustus Collett				Date of birth unknown
	6P14	Ellen Collett				Died when 18 months old
	6P15	Edgar Arnold Collett				Date of birth unknown
6O8	Charles Samuel Collett was born at Petone on 09.01.1856, the son of Henry and Elizabeth Collett from Gloucestershire in England. Charles married Ruth Archer and he built his home at 87 Hutt Road alongside that of his brother James Collett (above). The house was still in good order in the early days of the 21^st Century. He was paralysed for much of his life which, it was rumoured, was due to competition amongst the brothers to lift the family anvil.
	It seems very likely that he became paralysed in 1885 and was unable to work, at a time when he was in partnership with his brother Aaron (above). On the first of January in 1886 the partnership between the two brothers was dissolved through an announcement in the local newspaper, as detailed above.
	Charles Samuel Collett died in October 1929 and was buried at Masterton. His wife Ruth died during the 1918 influenza epidemic while working as a volunteer nurse, so was sadly not alive to witness her daughter being married in Wellington on 23^rd December 1918.
	Details of another Charles Collett, who was born in 1862, are included in an appendix at the end of this family line since, at this time it is not established where he might be linked to this family line.
	6P16	Winifred Collett				Born in 1888 at Petone
6O9	Albert William Collett was born at Petone on 06.06.1858, the youngest son of Henry and Elizabeth Collett. It was in 1884 that he married Henrietta Gover, who was known as Ettie, and was the English born daughter of farmer Henry Gover and his wife Beatta who had emigrated to New Zealand in 1882. Ettie had been born at Bishop Sutton near Bath in Somerset, and had been baptised at St Augustine of Hippo’s Church at Clutton on 07.11.1858. Albert Collett was an engineer, and once they were married, the couple lived at Petone for some years.
	Albert followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming a wheelwright and, together with his older brother Edward (above), established Collett Brothers, a wheelwright, general smith and funeral business. During the spring of 1895 the business was dissolved and this was accompanied by an announcement in the local newspaper – the article is reproduced here under Edward Henry Collett’s name above.
	Despite the announcement stating that Albert would continue with the wheelwright business, only two days later he had changed his mind when the following announcement was printed in the newspaper:
	‘I, Albert William Collett hereby give notice that I have leased my wheelwright, general smith and farriery business at Lower Hutt to Messrs Purser & Ridley. I take this opportunity of thanking the public for their liberal support in the past, and trust that it will be extended to my successors. Dated this day 1^st April 1895.’ The item was signed by Albert Collett, and Cruwys Dee Purser and William Vincent Ridley
	It was perhaps at this time in his life that he became involved in the making and supplying of timber-milling equipment. The companies with which he was involved were (1) Colletts and (2) Dannervirke & Colletts of Taumaranui.
	While at Petone he was a member of the first Petone Borough Council, and in 1889 he was a member of the Council that voted in favour of a new property tax of one shilling in the pound which was introduced on first June that year. He was also an organist at the Taumaranui Anglican Church. Despite being seriously injured in two incidents he lived to see his eighty-third birthday.
	Henrietta Collett nee Gover from Dannevirke passed away while attending Porirua Mental Hospital on 22.08.1916 at the age of 58, and was buried at Danniverke Cemetery, Mangatera on 25^th August 1916. She died intestate and it was determined that the value of her estate was under £1500. She was survived by her husband Albert William Collett (who was also the informant) and sons Albert, age 28, and Frederick who was 26. The cause of death was reported by the Coroner, W G Riddell, as "Death from Cerebral Haemorraghe".
	It was nearly twenty-five years later that Albert William Collett died in February 1941, following which he was buried at Taumerau (Taumarunui?).
	6P17	Albert Edward Collett				Born in 1887
	6P18	Frederick John Gover Collett				Born in 1890
6O10	Ellen Maria Collett was born on 01.05.1860 at 81 Hutt Road in Petone, the youngest child of English cousins Henry Collett and his wife Elizabeth Collett.
	She married William Henry Greenfield on 14.01.1885 at Wellington Registry Office. Ellen was twenty-four and both of them were listed as residents of ‘Petoni’, where William was a labourer. The marriage produced four children for the couple, including Harold Greenfield and Frederick William Greenfield. Fred was their third child and was born in 1889, and all of them born at Petone.
	For many years Ellen and William lived at 48 Richmond Street in Petone. William Henry Greenfield was a labourer for much of his life but in 1889 when his third child was born his occupation was described as ‘ganger’. It was at their home in Richmond Street that William died on 03.04.1904. He was forty-nine and was buried at Taita Cemetery in the Hutt Valley.
	It was also while she was living at Richmond Street that Ellen died on 22.09.1924 at the age of sixty-four. It is understood that she was buried at the new Taita cemetery in Wellington, although no record to confirm this has yet been found.
	6P19	Hilda Maria Greenfield				Born on 20.08.1886
	6P20	James Henry Greenfield				Born on 14.08.1887
	6P21	Frederick William Greenfield				Born on 24.07.1889
	6P22	Alfred John Greenfield				Born on 30.05.1893
6P3	Charles William Collett was born at Naenae in Lower Hutt on 22.04.1876, the son of Thomas George and Mary Ann Collett. He was thirty-eight at the start of the First World War, and it was during February 1917 that he completed his enlistment form (Attestation for General Service) with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. At that time he was a labourer with the company of Whiteman Brothers in Akatarawa, and his next-of-kin was named as his sister Mrs C Dicks of Brown Street in Upper Hutt, Wellington.
	Other details included on the form were: his current address, which was simply stated as Upper Hutt, his age at 40 years and 10 months, that he was single, 5 feet 7¼ inches tall, and weighed 161 lbs, with brown hair, blue eyes and of a fair complexion. The only distinguishing mark noted was a ‘grating right shoulder’, with the result he was passed as ‘Fit A’ on 2^nd February 1917.
	It was on 9^th June 1917 that Charles eventually sailed from New Zealand to join the campaign in Europe with B Company of 28^th Regiment NZEF. The troop disembarked at Devonport on 16^th August and on 5^th November they set sail for France, marching into camp there, on 8^th November. Over the following months he was treated many times in the field hospital, and in January 1918 he was taken ill while at Rouen in France, and was later admitted to hospital with trench fever. After a period of two weeks convalescents at the end of February/beginning of March that year, Charles was back on frontline duties by 15^th March.
	Private C W Collett 47622 was with 2^nd Battalion of the Wellington Regiment when he was killed in action in the field on 25.08.1918 at the age of 42. He was buried at the Adanac Military Cemetery at Miraumont. His death came during the battle for the villages of Miraumont and Pys which started on 24^th August 1918. The cemetery, the name which derives from Canada in reverse, contains 3186 commonwealth burials.
	The award of his medals was completed on 27^th September 1923 when they were presented to his executor Mr J W Connell, schoolmaster of Upper Hutt. Two years earlier his Plaque and Scroll had been sent to his next-of-kin Mr J G Collett at Mangaroa, who signed to confirm receipt.
6P4	William Herbert Collett, whose date of birth is not known, married Ellen Agnes. The only other known fact about William was that he died in 1972.
6P5	Elsie Collett, whose date of birth is not known, is thought to have married Mr Benje. The farm set up by her father on the eastern side of the Mangaroa Valley was later managed by Elsie and her husband. However, as the only known sister of Charles William Collett, she was referred to as Mrs C Dicks when she was recorded as his next-of-kin within his military records in 1917. Following his death in 1918, the next-of-kin had changed by the time of the issue of his Plaque and Scroll, when it was Mr J G Collett of Mangaroa, who may have been Frederick John Gover Collett, Charles’ cousin.
6P6	Ethel Ellen Collett was born in 1882, the eldest child of James Collett and his wife Elizabeth Fox. She later married, when she became Ethel Ellen Bull, and she and her husband had two children, George Bull, and Joyce Ethel who was later married to become Joyce Ethel Smith.
6P7	Ernest James Collett was born in 1884, the eldest son of James and Elizabeth Collett. It is known that he married Miss D Richards, with whom he had three children.
	6Q1	Ida Jane Collett				Date of birth unknown
	6Q2	Velda Collett				Date of birth unknown
	6Q3	Tui Collett				Date of birth unknown
6P8	HAROLD AARON COLLETT was born in 1886, the third child of James and Elizabeth Collett. He married Violet Prince and they had three children. Harold Aaron Collett died during 1969.
	6Q4	Ernest Collett				Date of birth unknown
	6Q5	EDGAR JAMES COLLETT				Born in 1915
	6Q6	Raymond Hector Collett				Born in 1921
6P9	Elsie Jane Collett was born in 1893, the youngest of the four child of James Collett and his wife Elizabeth Fox. She later married A Henson, to become Elsie Jane Henson, and she died in 1959.
6P10	Henry Charles Collett was the only known child of Martin Collett and his wife, and was born on 02.04.1876. His father established the family home at Waipawa, where Henry was very likely born. He later married (2) Annie Mildred Amner, and served with the army during the Boer War. He was also a captain with the New Zealand Army during the First World War. Henry Charles Collett later became the Mayor of Waipawa, where he lived.
	There are many missing dates and details in the remainder of this line as no other information has been provided by this particular New Zealand family, which is very disappointing following a face-to-face meeting at the Shepton Mallet Collett Reunion in 1996.
	However, the recently acquired military records of Captain Henry Charles Collett 27686 of 19^th Reinforcement Regiment, A Company, 3^rd Battalion of the Auckland Regiment provide a few more details. He married (1) Rebecca Jessie Willon at Waipukurau on 03.05.1910 when he was thirty-four. From the original information above, it may appear that Rebecca died during the First World War or just after, to allow Charles to marry Annie Amner.
	His married to Rebecca produced three children, as listed below, and all of them were born at Waipawa. His next-of-kin was named as Mrs H C Collett, wife, while the address was simply stated as Otane, Hawkes Bay, which is four miles south of Hastings. Henry’s occupation was given as a clerk, working for A E Tull, while his last address was stated as being Waipawa, Hawkes Bay.
	His time with the regiment commenced on 30^th May 1916, and was concluded on 17^th February 1919. Of his total service of 2 years and 264 days, a total of 2 years and 67 days were spent overseas, in Western Europe. His address on discharge from service was again Waipawa, Hawkes Bay.
	He arrived in London on 20^th October 1917, before being sent to Rouen six days later. He was made Platoon Commander on 5^th February 1918, but on 26^th August that year he sustained a severe injury to his abdomen and the following day was placed on the dangerously ill list, resulting in him being removed from the frontline and admitted to hospital in London. He was still dangerously ill one week later, although his condition had improved slightly, but it was only on 13^th September that he was finally removed from the danger list, following which he was returned to France.
	After peace was declared, Henry was declared unfit for duty for up to the next twelve months. That happened on 8^th December 1918, but it was not until 20^th January 1919 before he boarded the ship ‘Ruahine’ for the return journey back from England to his family in New Zealand.
	Henry Charles Collett died on 2^nd October 1963, when he would have been 87 years of age.
	6Q7	Albert Eccles Collett				Born on 21.04.1911 at Waipawa
	6Q8	Gwyneth Mary Collett				Born on 24.01.1913 at Waipawa
	6Q9	Jane Willon Collett				Born on 27.01.1916 at Waipawa
	The following are the children of Henry Charles Collett and his second wife Annie Mildred Amner:
	6Q10	Maxwell Amner Collett				Date of birth unknown
	6Q11	Henry William Amner Collett				Born in 1922
6P11	Mabel Elizabeth Jane Collett, known as May, was born in 1878 at Lower Hutt, the eldest child of Aaron Collett and Elizabeth Jane Mason. As a young child she often visited her maiden aunt Mary Jane Collett (Ref. 6O6) where she eventually made her home. She attended Petone School and became a teacher there after attending Welling Girls College.
	She married William Grant Deville Evans in 1901, and following the death of her father at the end of that she, she and William lived in the old Collett home until 1950. She was often seen attending the graves of her older relatives. Her marriage to William produced a number of children for Mabel, one of whom was a daughter by the name of Francis Evans who was born around 1913. In 1916, and following the death of her aunt Mary Jane Collett, Mabel was granted free occupation of the house at Riddlers Crescent, in which she had lived with her aunt before the end of the nineteenth century, until she herself passed away, when it would be sold by the public trustee.
	Mabel died in 1973 but her son Terence (Terry) Evans was still living in a house on the original nine acre Collett estate until his death in 1989. From that time onwards it was Terry’s sister Francis who became the only occupant of the original Collett land holding.
	At some time in her life Francis had married and became Francis Brown. An article published in April 2009 made the following announcement:
	‘The last of the Collett Family who resided at 36 Riddlers Crescent (previously 81 Hutt Road) has died. She was Francis Brown and was aged ninety-six. Her grandparents landed in Wellington in 1840. Mrs. Brown was a third generation Collett and has the distinction of having the first name on the Hutt Valley High School roll when it opened. Her mother was Mabel Evans nee Collett and her brother was Terry Evans, who died in 1989.’
6P12	William Aaron Collett was born at Lower Hutt on 17.08.1879, and the eldest son of Aaron Collett and Elizabeth Mason. He was a coach builder at Lower Hutt, and he married Doris Mary Pocknall at the Church of Christ in Lower Hutt on 18.08.1915. The marriage provided only the one known child listed below, although there may have been others born after the Great War.
	In 1916, and following the death of his aunt Mary Jane Collett, William Aaron Collett was named as a beneficiary under the terms of her Will of 4^th June 1914, and through which he eventually received the sum of £400.
	It was during the following year, on 15^th June 1917 at Wellington, that William enlisted with the NZEF. At that time the records show that he was a self-employed coachbuilder, still working from premises in Railway Avenue in Lower Hutt. Although he was married, he gave his place of residence as Victoria Street in Lower Hutt, while the address given for his wife and their two months old daughter was William Street in Alicetown, Lower Hutt.
	Further information given by William during his medical examination was that he had previously served with No 5 Company Field Engineers, and that his father, Aaron of Petone, and his mother, Eliza Jane from London, were both deceased. The entry form described him as being 37 10/12 years old, 5 feet 6½ inches, weighing 136 lbs, with brown hair, brown eyes, and a dark complexion.
	Upon being pronounced fit for duty he was assigned to the 4^th Company, 2^nd Battalion of the Otago Infantry Regiment. He served a total of 1 year and 197 days from 23th August 1917 to 7^th March 1919, when he was discharged as no longer physically fit for service on account of wounds received in action, they being to his chest and right leg.
	One year and 52 days had been spent fighting in Western Europe, having sailed from Wellington on 21^st November 1917, arriving at Liverpool in England on 8^th January 1918. From Liverpool the battalion made their way into France, and it was there during September that he sustained the injury to his chest. Following the declaration of peace, William returned to Liverpool, where the same ship that had brought him to England, the SS Maungaranui, was waiting to take the men back home to Wellington on 2^nd December 1918.
	After the war, and at the time he was presented with his campaign medals, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal, on 19^th May 1922, William was living at Raglan in Waikato. It was thirty years later that William Aaron Collett died at Wellington on 01.09.1952.
	6Q12	Ruby Mabel Collett				Born in 1917 at Lower Hutt
6P13	Henry Augustus Collett, who was referred to as Harry by the family, later married V Glennie, and he died in 1969. The only other known fact regarding Henry is, that in 1916, and following the death of his aunt Mary Jane Collett, Augustus Henry Collett, an accountant of Lower Hutt, was named as the final beneficiary under the terms of her Will of 4^th June 1914.
6P15	Edgar Arnold Collett was referred to as Jack by the family. He married (1) Louise Amy MacMammon around 1910 and in August 1940 was living at Gisborne in Auckland, and a little while later he married (2) G Fannin.
	Edgar died in 1955.
	6Q13	Wilfred Ira Collett				Born in 1912
6P16	Winifred Collett was born at Petone on 27.10.1888, the only known child of Charles Samuel Collett and his wife Ruth Archer. She was thirty years old when she married Charles Edward Rogers in Wellington on 23.12.1918. The couple lived all of the life at Masterton where Winifred died on 28.09.1975. The announcement of their marriage in the Evening Post published on 15^th January 1919 read as follows: “ROGERS-COLLETT. On the 23^rd December 1918, at The Terrace Congregational Church Wellington, by the Rev. J Reed Glasson, Charles Edward, the third son of the late J F Rogers, to Winifred, only daughter of C S Collett, Petone.”
6P17	Albert Edward Collett was born on 08.11.1887, the eldest of the two sons of Albert and Ettie Collett. On leaving school he worked as an engineer with his father in the company of Collett & Son, originally founded by his father and his uncle Edward Collett as Collett Brothers. Albert married spinster Jessie Floaline Peebles at Hastings on 28.11.1916. The marriage produced no children for the couple. Albert was also confirmed as being an engineer at Dannevirke, to the north-west of Palmerston North, in the Will of his aunt Mary Jane Collett who died during 1916, and in which he was bequeathed £400
	However, at the start of 1915 he had suffered with an industrial accident, when a splinter of manganese steel had perforated his left eyeball, causing the loss of his sight in that eye. Around the time of his marriage he was undergoing a medical examination with the NZ Expeditionary Force, and the documentation gave his address as Gordon Street in Dannevirke, his occupation as an engineer, and his next-of-kin as his wife J F Collett.
	His NZEF Attestation for General Service form included the following personal details. Born at Petone on 8^th November 1887 to parents Albert William Collett of Petone and Henrietta Collett from England. He was 5 feet 4½ inches tall, weighed 147 lbs, with black hair and blue eyes, and a dark complexion. His religion was Anglican. Despite having a glass eye, it was recommended that he was fit for service in the NZEF in and beyond New Zealand.
	At the start of May 1917 Albert was assigned to 28^th Reinforcement Regiment, and was initially placed with B Company on 2^nd May as Private A E Collett 54331, based at Trentham Camp. Nine days later he was transferred to C Company of the 28^th. After five weeks he was complaining of a frequent pain and impaired vision in his right eye, following which it was recommended that he be transferred to the Home Service.
	On 27^th June 1917 he was attending Featherston Military Hospital at which time the medical report started that he had an artificial left eye and only 6/12 vision in his right eye. The final recommendation was that he be discharged from service with no pension.
6P18	Frederick John Gover Collett was born in 1890, the younger of the two sons of Albert William Collett and his wife Henrietta Gover. He later married Beatrice Pearl Robinson. A few years after the death of his cousin Charles William Collett (above) in France during the Great War in 1918, the Plaque and Scroll were given to his next-of-kin, who was named as Mr J G Collett of Mangaroa. In the absence of any better information, it is assumed that J G Collett was Frederick John Gover Collett.
	6Q14	Nola Marion Collett				Date of birth unknown
	6Q15	John Albert Collett				Date of birth unknown
	6Q16	David Frederick Collett				Date of birth unknown
6P19	Hilda Maria Greenfield was born at Petone on 20.08.1886 and very likely while her parents were living at Richmond Street. She married Albert Johnson on 28.08.1907 with whom she had two children, one of which was stillborn in 1916. Hilda she died on 24.03.1969 aged 82 years, while he son Eric Albert Johnson who was born on 04.09.1907 died on 27.07.1991.
6P20	James Henry Greenfield was born at 48 Richmond Street in Petone on 14.08.1887, but sadly he died eleven days later on 25.08.1887.
6P21	Frederick William Greenfield was born at 48 Richmond Street in Petone on 24.07.1889. He married a Mabel Annie Bertaud on 07.04.1915 at St James Church in Newtown, Wellington. At the time of their marriage Frederick’s occupation was that of a painter. The witnesses at the wedding were Frederick’s younger brother Alfred (below), and Mabel’s older brother David Henry Bertaud.
	The marriage produced five children for the couple born between 1916 and 1932 although their second child who was born on 07.05.1918 was stillborn. The surviving children were Harold William (05.07.1916-10.09.2007), Pearl Hazel (06.01.1920-03.12.2009), Ethel Ellen (06.01.1923-27.04.1991), and Frederick John who was born in 1932.
	The couple’s youngest son Frederick John Greenfield married Joan Frances Payne (born in 1941) at Lower Hutt on 15.10.1960. Joan presented her husband with three children, two girls and a boy. At the start of 2010 the couple lived at Palmerston North in New Zealand.
	It was the brother-in-law of Frederick John Greenfield, Ron Payne of Perth in Australia, who kindly provided the information that has enabled this family line to be updated.
6P22	Alfred John Greenfield was born at 48 Richmond Street in Petone on 30.05.1893. He was the youngest son of Ellen Collett and William Greenfield and the only known fact about him is that he died on 22.05.1976.
6Q1	Ida Jane Collett, whose date of birth is not known, married Mr Turvey of 13 Simla Terrace at Hawkes Bay.
6Q2	Velda Collett, whose date of birth is not known, married Mr Horler.
6Q3	Tui Collett, whose date of birth is not known, married Mr McFarlane.
6Q4	Ernest Collett, whose date of birth is not known, married Irene Stace with whom he had one daughter. Ernest died in 1951.
	6R1	Dianne Collett				Date of birth unknown
6Q5	EDGAR JAMES COLLETT was born in 1915 and he married Mavis Reid, the marriage producing three children for the couple.
	6R2	BRUCE JAMES COLLETT				Date of birth unknown
	6R3	Bryan Collett				Date of birth unknown
	6R4	Helen Collett				Date of birth unknown
6Q6	Raymond Hector Collett was born in 1921. He later married Joan Margaret Hanson who was known as Peggy. The marriage produced two children for the couple.
	Raymond died in 1989 and was followed nine years later by Peggy who died in 1998.
	6R5	Janis Patricia Collett				Date of birth unknown
	6R6	Clifford Raymond Collett				Date of birth unknown
6Q10	Maxwell Amner Collett, whose date of birth is not known, married Noeline Culling. He was a Spitfire Pilot with 485 NZ Squadron of the New Zealand Air Force and joined the Second World War around the time of the D-Day landings.
	6R7	William Noel Collett				Date of birth unknown
	6R8	Rosemary Ann Collett				Date of birth unknown
	6R9	Vivienne Noeline Collett				Date of birth unknown
	6R10	Dianne Mary Collett				Date of birth unknown
6Q11	Henry William Amner Collett was born in 1922. He was a Sergeant 412468 and an observer with 101 Squadron of the Royal New Zealand Air Force and was killed in action during the Second World War.
	He died on 16^th November 1942 and was buried at Tywyn Cemetery – Grave 287, Row 6, Class 2. He was the sole New Zealander killed during the war as listed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
	The name ‘Sgt H W A Collett’ killed in the UK appears immediately above that of ‘Sqn Ldr W I Collett’ also killed in the UK (below), on a memorial stone in New Zealand.
6Q12	Ruby Mabel Collett was born at Lower Hutt on 28.03.1917, the daughter of William Aaron Collett and his wife Doris Mary Pocknall. It is assumed that it was Ruby, the only known child of William and Doris, who was later married to become Mrs Pelham, who was the mother of Julia Pelham who married David Forsyth. And it was Julia Pelham who made contact during 2010, and provide some details about her Collett family.
6Q13	Wilfred Ira Collett was born in 1912. He was Pilot Squadron Leader 34232 with 75 Squadron of the Royal Air Force. On 4^th April 1940 the squadron was transferred to the Royal New Zealand Air Force as 75 (NZ) Squadron and was based at Feltwell in Norfolk, England where it was equipped with Wellington Bombers. And as such, it was the first Commonwealth squadron to be formed in Bomber Command.
	Tragically while on a bombing offensive against enemy-occupied territories Wilfred was killed on 04.08.1940 and was buried at St Nicholas Church in Feltwell. Before the war Wilfred had married Doreen Williamson who was listed as his next-of-kin, along with his parents Edgar and Louise Collett of Gisborne in Auckland.
6Q14	Nola Marion Collett, whose date of birth is not known, married James Riddell.
6Q16	David Frederick Collett, whose date of birth is not known, married (1) Maureen Haines. He later married (2) Carol Ashton. David was presented with one child from each of his two wives.
	6R11	Russell Sherilyn Collett				Date of birth unknown
	6R12	Julie Collett				Date of birth unknown
6R1	Dianne Collett, whose date of birth is not known, married Mr Pavent.
6R2	BRUCE JAMES COLLETT, whose date of birth is not known, married Alison Willshire in 1965.
	6S1	STEVEN JAMES COLLETT				Born on 24.05.1972
	6S2	Jennifer Alison Collett				Born on 14.10.1974
6R3	Bryan Collett, whose date of birth is not known, married Margaret Thomas in 1970.
	6S3	Michael Leslie Collett				Date of birth unknown
	6S4	Catherine Collett				Date of birth unknown
6R4	Helen Collett, whose date of birth is not known, married Peter Jackson in 1972 with whom she had two daughters Grace and Fiona.
6R5	Janis Patricia Collett, whose date of birth is not known, married Colin Robertson in 1977 and their marriage produced two children for the couple.
	6S5	Tania Rae Robertson				Born in 1978
	6S6	Jason Roy Robertson				Born in 1981
6R6	Clifford Raymond Collett was born in 1951 and was married in 1972.
	6S7	Bradley Collett				Born in 1975
	6S8	Daniella Emma Collett				Born in 1978
6S1	Steven James Collett, who was born on 24.05.1972, married Martha Fenwick.
6S2	JENNIFER ALISON COLLETT, who was born on 14.10.1974, married Martin Gregory. In 2008 Jenny and Martin were living at Botley in Oxford and it was Martin that kindly supplied the new information that has resulted in the update to this family line.
6S5	Tania Rae Robertson was born in 1978. She later married Martyn Bryant in December 2005 and they now have a daughter Nikkita Emma Bryant who was born in 2008. And it was Tania that kindly provided the information relating to her family.
	Appendix – Another Charles Collett
	Charles Collett was a farmer and firewood merchant at Mokotua who was born in 1862 at Invercargill where he was educated. For around twenty years he worked for Messrs McCallum and Company, saw millers. He also had a farm of about 130 acres, but his time and attention were principally devoted to the firewood business. His plant consists of an eight horse-power traction engine for cutting and hauling the fire wood, and a large saw-bench with two saws, one three feet and the other four feet six inches. He used to send from 400 to 500 cords of wood each year to Invercargill. Charles Collett was married to a daughter of Mr W. Hamilton with whom he had seven sons and three daughters. Mrs Collett's brother was Doctor Hamilton who settled at Petone.
	FOOTNOTE
	It is understood that Captain Clive Franklyn Collett R.F.C., Military Cross and Bar was in some way related to this line of the Collett family, but as yet no direct link has been found
	More recent information suggests that his family originated in the Wiltshire area of England. As a result, the initial details relating to his known family, previously contained within Part 6A – The Pilot Line, have been merged into a revamped Part 31 which is now entitled ‘The Wiltshire to New Zealand Line’.
	The detailed military history of Clive Franklyn Collett (Ref. 31O5) can be found in the file of that name on the website, in addition to which there is a brief statement in Notables