PART FORTY-FOUR

The Broughton Gifford to Connecticut Line – 1590 to 1960

Another large gathering of the Colletts of Broughton Gifford

can be found within Part 35 -The Melksham to Wisconsin & Ontario Line

Updated August 2025

Thanks to information received during 2014 from Carol Lyn Davis of Fort Worth in Texas, a whole branch of a South Wraxall family, previously included here in Part 44, has now been removed, and inserted in its rightful place within the new Part 31 – The New Wiltshire-Somerset Line. That has greatly reduced this particular family line and resulted in the need to change the name.

This file also received two major updates in 2012. The first in May, following information received from Martin Chapman who confirmed that John and Drinkwater Collett were indeed brothers, and that their grandfather was Thomas Collett (Ref. 44J12). The second was in October, when it was proved by Martin Collett in New Zealand that William and Joseph were brothers and not cousins and that they were the sons of Henry and Martha Collett of Trowbridge. Joseph has therefore been removed from this family line and placed within his correct family in Part 62 – The Trowbridge to New Zealand Line.

The primary focus of this family line are the Wiltshire villages of Monkton Farleigh, South Wraxall and Atworth near Broughton Gifford. The Colletts of Broughton Gifford are also featured in Part 35 – The Melksham to Wisconsin Line, and Part 62 – The Trowbridge to New Zealand Line, while South Wraxall and Atworth also feature in Part 31 – The New Wiltshire-Somerset Line.

Earlier information suggested that Thomas Collett, who previously started this family line, may have been linked to the Collett families of Kempsford in Gloucestershire as detailed in Part 1 – The Main Line. However, the information received from Maureen Collett dispels this theory

Other Collett records which have been found that specifically relate to Broughton Gifford, but which have so far not been included in the main body of this file are:

William and Mary Collet whose son William was baptised on 20^th August 1671 and William, baptised on 27^th July 1677, the son of ‘Will Collet’ Edward Collett, whose son Edward, and daughter Jane were both baptised on 15^th October 1666 John Collett, whose son Nicholas was baptised on 22^nd March 1667, whose own daughter Edith was baptised on 2^nd December 1694 who married Wm Gay on 12^th May 1714 at Broughton Gifford. She may have had a sister Ann Collett who married Timothy Gay there on 12^th April 1701 John Collett, whose son John was baptised on 19^th February 1671 Robert and Mary Collett’s daughter Anne was baptised on 28^th December 1686, while their other daughter Mary was baptised on 23^rd December 1688. Curiously, after Robert died, his widow Mary Collett, at the age of 50, was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 6^th January 1712.

44F1

Anthony Collett was born during the 1580s and he married Catherine Browne at Cherhill, a village and civil parish midway between Calne and Avebury, on the road to Marlborough. The day of their wedding was 12^th November 1610, placing Anthony’s birth in the early to mid-1580s. As Katherine Browne, the daughter of Thomas Browne, his bride was baptised at Kingston-St-Michael, to the north of Chippenham, on 5^th April 1584. The couple are known to have lived at Great Chalfield, where their only known children were born, although they were baptised at nearby Broughton Gifford.

44G1

John Collett

Born circa 1611 at Great Chalfield

44G2

Daniel Collett

Born circa 1617 at Great Chalfield

44G1

John Collett was born very likely born at Great Chalfield, while he would have been around twenty-one years old when he married Amy Barrett at Broughton Gifford on 16^th June 1632. Their daughter Amy Collett was baptised at Broughton Gifford in 1635 and was buried there on 20^th January 1690. John Collett was also buried at Broughton Gifford, either on 13^th August 1667 or 28^th September 1670.

44H1

Amy Collett

Baptised in 1635 at Broughton Gifford

44G2

Daniel Collett was born either in late 1617 or early in 1618 in the very small hamlet of Great Chalfield, just one mile from Broughton Gifford, where he was baptised on 17^th January 1618. He was the second child of Anthony Collett and Katherine Browne of Great Chalfield. Daniel was married and is known to have had at least two sons who were born and baptised at Broughton Gifford, although no record of his wife’s name has so far been discovered.

44H2

William Collett

Born in 1638 at Broughton Gifford

44H3

Luke Collett

Born in 1640 at Broughton Gifford

44H2

William Collett was born at Broughton Gifford in 1638, the son of Daniel Collett. He is known to have married Elizabeth at Broughton Gifford in 1663, and it was also there that Elizabeth, who was some years younger than William, presented him with seven children, all of whom were born/baptised at Broughton Gifford. Elizabeth Collett, the wife of William Collett senior, was buried at Broughton Gifford on 6^th September 1704. Fifteen years later William Collett ‘the senior’, was buried at Broughton Gifford with his wife on 10^th July 1719.

44I1

William Collett

Born in 1665 at Broughton Gifford

44I2

William Collett

Born in 1666 at Broughton Gifford

44I3

Elizabeth Collett

Born in 1667 at Broughton Gifford

44I4

Thomas Collett

Born in 1671 at Broughton Gifford

44I5

Daniel Collett

Born in 1673 at Broughton Gifford

44I6

William Collett

Born in 1677 at Broughton Gifford

44I7

Francis Collett

Born in 1682 at Broughton Gifford

44I8

Edward Collett

Born in 1687 at Broughton Gifford

44H3

Luke Collett was born at Broughton Gifford and most likely between 1640 and 1645. He was the second son of Daniel Collett of Great Chalfield and Broughton Gifford.

Prior to the January 2010 update of the Collett Family History website, Luke Collett was the first member of the family listed in Part 35 – The Melksham Line. As a result of the update to this file in January 2010 Part 35 and Part 44 are now known to originate from the same family. However, the task of combining these two large files would be a major logistical exercise so, for the time being at least, they will be retained as separate files.

Further details of the extension of this family line from Luke Collett (Ref. 35H1) can therefore be found in Part 35 – The Melksham to Wisconsin and Ontario Line

44I1

William Collett was born at Broughton Gifford during the first half of 1665, the first-born son of William and Elizabeth Collett. It was also at Broughton Gifford where he was baptised on 11^th June 1665, the parish register confirming that he was the son of William Collett. Tragically, two months later he died and was buried at Broughton Gifford on 3^rd August 1665. Just over a year later, his mother gave birth to her second child, who was also given the name William.

44I2

William Collett was born at Broughton Gifford in 1666, the son of William and Elizabeth Collett, who was baptised there on 10^th September 1666 and confirmed as the son of William Collett. William Collett from Broughton Gifford was in his late twenties when he married Sarah Butler of the parish of Westbury on 24^th March 1694 at Westbury in Wiltshire, with whom he had at least four children who were baptised at Broughton Gifford. The parish register confirmed that the parents were William Collett, a dissenter, and his wife Sarah. An outbreak of smallpox at Broughton Gifford took the life of dissenter William Collett senior who died there on 17^th April 1725 and was buried there the following day. The Will, and an Inventory, of William Collett, yeoman of Broughton Gifford, was proved in Wiltshire (Ref. P2/C/1065).

The burial of two Sarah Colletts at Broughton Gifford were recorded there after William died there, with the first of them on 25^th November 1740, and the second on 31^st May 1745.

Footnote: Less than two years before the smallpox death of William Collett, the death of his younger brother Francis Collett (below) from smallpox, resulted in him being buried at Broughton Gifford on 14^th November 1723, when he was described as “not worshipping God”.

44J1

John Collett

Born in 1695 at Broughton Gifford

44J2

William Collett

Born in 1700 at Broughton Gifford

44J3

Sarah Collett

Born in 1703 at Broughton Gifford

44J4

Isaac Collett

Born in 1704 at Broughton Gifford

44I3

Elizabeth Collett was born at Broughton Gifford during the latter half of 1668 and was baptised there on 27^th January 1669, the only known daughter of William and Elizabeth Collett.

44I4

Thomas Collett was born at Broughton Gifford in 1672 and it was there that he was baptised on 10^th January 1673, the son of William and Elizabeth Collett. Thomas later married Alice Brind at Marlborough in Wiltshire on 29^th July 1694.

44I5

Daniel Collett was born at Broughton Gifford, either at the end of 1673 or early in 1674, and was baptised there on 15^th March 1674, the son of William and Elizabeth Collett. He later married Jane Collett with all their children baptised at Broughton Gifford. Thanks to David Hankey, towards the end of 2023, we know that Jane, whose surname was previously unknown, was in fact the daughter of Henry Collett and was baptised at Chiseldon in Wiltshire on 14^th October 1673. Henry Collett (Ref. 23I9) was the second of the five children of yeoman farmer William Collett and Mary Komm (Combe) whose family are featured in Part 23 – The Newbury & Wiltshire Line to Australia. When Jane Collett died at Broughton Gifford, where she was buried on 18^th December 1727, she was already a widow.

44J5

Jane Collett

Born in 1694 at Broughton Gifford

44J6

Ann Collett

Born in 1696 at Broughton Gifford

44J7

Margaret Collett

Born in 1701 at Broughton Gifford

44J8

Mary Collett

Born in 1704 at Broughton Gifford

44I6

William Collett was born at Broughton Gifford in 1677, where he was baptised on 27^th July 1677, a son of William and Elizabeth Collett, when his father was referred to simply as Will Collett. It seems rather odd that he was born eleven years after his older brother of the same name, who was buried at Broughton Gifford on 18^th April 1725. See William Collett (above). Which raises the question, was he the son of an alternative William and Elizabeth Collett.

44I7

Francis Collett was born at Broughton Gifford in 1682 and was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 22^nd November 1682, another son of William and Elizabeth Collett. It was also at Broughton Gifford that he married Joan Hutton on 6^th April 1702, just thirty months before the death of his mother, where all their children were baptised. At the time of the death of Francis Collett from smallpox, he was described as “not worshipping God” when he was buried at Broughton Gifford, with his son Thomas, on 14^th November 1723. His widowed survived him by twenty-eight years, when Joan Collett nee Hutton was buried at Broughton Gifford on 14^th September 1751.

Footnote: Francis’ older brother William Collett (above), was a dissenter, who also died from the outbreak of smallpox in Broughton Gifford, where he was buried on 17^th April 1725.

44J9

Elizabeth Collett

Born in 1704 at Broughton Gifford

44J10

Ann Collett

Born in 1711 at Broughton Gifford

44J11

Thomas Collett

Born in 1714 at Broughton Gifford

44J12

Thomas Collett

Born in 1716 at Broughton Gifford

44J13

Daniel Collett

Born in 1718 at Broughton Gifford

44J14

Sarah Collett

Born in 1722 at Broughton Gifford

44I8

Edward Collett was born at Broughton Gifford in 1687, where he was baptised on 24^th July 1687, the last child of William and Elizabeth Collett. Tragically, only ten days later, Edward Collett, the son of William Collett, was buried at Broughton Gifford on 4^th August 1687.

44J1

John Collett may have been born at Westbury, where his parents were married in 1694, or at Broughton Gifford, the first-born child of William Collett and Sarah Butler. It is most likely that he was some years old when he was baptised Broughton Gifford on 22^nd November 1698, when he was named as the son of William and Sarah Collett. It would appear that John was still in his teenage years when he married Eleanor who was born in Wiltshire around 1695. They had at least six children, the second of which died shortly after being born. The baptism of five of those children named the parents as John and Ellenor Collett. Sadly, for the family, Eleanor Collett died during the birth of the couple’s last child, and was buried at Broughton Gifford on 16^th December 1722, one week after the child was baptised there. Seven years after being made a widower, John Collett died and was buried with his wife at Broughton Gifford on 28^th September 1729.

44K1

Isaac Collett

Born in 1711 at Broughton Gifford

44K2

unnamed Collett

Born in 1714 at Broughton Gifford

44K3

Martha Collett

Born in 1716 at Broughton Gifford

44K4

Sarah Collett

Born in 1720 at Broughton Gifford

44K5

William Collett

Born in 1720 at Broughton Gifford

44K6

John Collett

Born in 1722 at Broughton Gifford

44J2

William Collett was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 8^th February 1701, another son of dissenter John and Sarah Collett.

44J3

Sarah Collett was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 7^th June 1703, the only known daughter of John Collett, a dissenter, and his wife Sarah. Daughter Sarah was 13 years old when she died and was buried at Broughton Gifford on 14^th April 1716.

44J4

Isaac Collett was baptised at Broughton Gifford 7^th January on 1706, the last known child of John Collett and Sarah Butler. It is very likely that Isaac was a poorly child because, it was during the following day that he was buried at Broughton Gifford on 8^th January 1706.

44J5

Jane Collett was the first of the four known children of Daniel Collett of Broughton Gifford and Jane Collett of Chiseldon. She was born at Broughton Gifford and baptised there on 1^st April 1694, the daughter of Daniel and Jane Collett.

44J6

Ann Collett was another daughter of Daniel and Jane Collett who was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 1^st November 1696.

44J7

Margaret Collett was born at Broughton Gifford and was baptised there on 19^th May 1701, one of the four known daughters of Daniel Collett and his wife Jane. Margaret married (1) William Pocock with whom she had six children, one of which was John Pocock born in 1730. Upon the death of her husband in 1740, Margaret married (2) William Redman in 1752. All her life would appear to have been spent at Broughton Gifford, where she was buried in 1767 at the age of 66. Her son John Pocock went on to marry Sarah Butler whose daughter, Elizabeth married George Freegard at Melksham on 11^th February 1801, George being the 4^th great uncle of David Hankey – a contributor to this family line.

Footnote. It was also at Broughton Gifford on 27^th December 1736 that Joseph Collett (Ref. 35J6) married Anne Redman and where Anne was buried on 7^th January 1750, immediately following the birth of the couple’s fifth daughter. William Collett (Ref. 44K10) also married Hester Redman at Melksham in 1780. In addition to this, Joseph Collett (Ref. 62K2) was born at Trowbridge around 1750 and he later married Jane Redman at Melksham in 1772.

44J8

Mary Collett was born at Broughton Gifford where she was baptised on 25^th July 1704, the last known child of Daniel Collett and his wife Jane whose maiden-name was also Collett. She was just short of reaching her fourteenth birthday, when she died and was buried at Broughton Gifford on 16^th June 1718, when Mary Collett was again confirmed as the daughter of Daniel Collett.

44J9

Elizabeth Collett was born in 1704 and was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 1^st January 1705, the eldest child of Francis Collett and his wife Joan Hutton.

44J10

Ann Collett was another daughter of Francis and Joan Collett and who was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 21^st October 1711. There is a chance that she never married, as the death of Ann Collett happened towards the end of 1766, when she was buried at Broughton Gifford on 7^th December 1766. Unlike other parish records, she was not described as the wife of anyone.

44J11

Thomas Collett was born at Broughton Gifford, where he was baptised on 31^st March 1714, the son of Francis Collett and Joan Hutton, although the baptism record only recorded the name of his father. Just less than ten months after being baptised, Thomas Collett, the son of Francis Collett, was buried at Broughton Gifford on 23^rd January 1715.

44J12

Thomas Collett was born at Broughton Gifford in 1716, following the premature death of his brother and namesake above. It may have been the tragic death of his brother that resulted in his father being referred to as ‘not worshipping God’ when he died from smallpox, when Thomas was only six years old.

It was later, that Thomas Collett married twenty-year-old Jane Woodman at Melksham on 25^th April 1739. The couple then settled there, and it was there also that all their children were born and baptised, the baptism records confirming only the father’s name as Thomas Collett. One month after the death of their eldest son Thomas, at the age of six years, his place in the family was taken by the couple’s next child, also called Thomas, the father was described as Thomas Collett (widow). This probably indicates that his wife had died during the ordeal, although no record of her death has been found. After that sad event, when Thomas was only 30, it is likely that he was married for a second time, that second marriage producing the hitherto undiscovered missing son John Collett, who later married Hester Little.

Footnote: What is known, from the information provided by Martin Chapman in 2012, and referred to in the introduction, is that one of the sons of Thomas Collett, John, survived well into old age and gave birth to possibly five sons. In 2019, it was confirmed that their known grandsons John and Drinkwater Collett were members of a family of seven children born at South Wraxall to John Collett and Hester Little. Only the eldest sibling Jonathan, together with John and Drinkwater, survived beyond infancy. In the previous version of this family line, it was incorrectly stated that it was Thomas and Jane’s son William and his wife Hester Redman who were the parents of John and Drinkwater Collett, hence the reason for the non-discovery of the brother’s baptisms, or those of their older siblings.

44K7

Thomas Collett

Born in 1740 at Melksham

44K8

Henry Collett

Born in 1741 at Melksham

44K9

Sarah Collett

Born in 1743 at Melksham

44K10

William Collett

Born in 1745 at Melksham

44K11

Thomas Collett

Born in 1746 at Melksham

Below is the missing son of Thomas Collett, the father of Thomas’ grandsons John & Drinkwater Collett

44K12

John Collett

Born circa 1760

44J13

Daniel Collett was born in 1718 and was baptised on 23^rd November 1718, at Broughton Gifford, another daughter of Francis and Joan Collett.

44J14

Sarah Collett was the last child born to Francis Collett and Joan Hutton and was baptised on at Broughton Gifford on 27^th May 1722.

44K1

Isaac Collett was born at Broughton Gifford in 1711, the first-born child of John Collett and his wife Eleanor, who was baptised there on 18^th February 1711.

44K2

An unnamed Collett child died before it could be baptised and was buried at Broughton Gifford on 18^th May 1714, the child of John and Eleanor Collett.

44K3

Martha Collett was born at Broughton Gifford in 1716 and was baptised there on 20^th April 1716, the third child of John and Eleanor Collett. She was 12 years of age when she died, following which Martha was buried at Broughton Gifford on 2^nd May 1728.

44K4

Sarah Collett was born at Broughton Gifford in 1720, where she was baptised on 1^st January 1721 with her twin brother William (below), another two children of John and Eleanor Collett. One week later, Sarah Collett, daughter of John Collett, was buried at Broughton Gifford on 8^th January 1721.

44K5

William Collett was born at Broughton Gifford in 1720, the twin brother of Sarah (above), who were baptised together at Broughton Gifford in a joint ceremony on 1^st January 1721, the children of John and Eleanor Collett, also confirmed in the Bishops Transcripts.

44K6

John Collett was born at Broughton Gifford in 1722 and was baptised there on 10^th December 1722, the last child of John and Eleanor Collett, his mother not surviving the ordeal of his birth. He later married (1) Anne Suddery at Holt – two miles south-west of Broughton Gifford, on 25^th November 1740, with whom he possibly had four children who were all born and baptised at Broughton Gifford. The death of John Collett took place at Broughton Gifford, after which he was buried there on 24^th February 1752. By then three of his four children, Mary, William and Sarah, had suffered infant deaths and, seventeen months later, Anne Collett, the wife of John, was buried at Broughton Gifford on 23^rd September 1753. Ten years later, and following the death of son John, he too was buried at Broughton Gifford in 1763.

44L1

Mary Collett

Born in 1743 at Broughton Gifford

44L2

William Collett

Born in 1745 at Broughton Gifford

44L3

John Collett

Born in 1748 at Broughton Gifford

44L4

Sarah Collett

Born in 1750 at Broughton Gifford

44K7

Thomas Collett was baptised at Melksham on 30^th April 1740, the eldest of the five children of Thomas Collett and Jane Woodman. He was six years of age when he died and was buried at Melksham on 14^th September 1746.

44K8

Henry Collett was baptised on at Melksham 20^th December 1741, another son of Thomas and Jane Collett. Curiously, the burial of Henry Collett took place at Melksham on 6^th February 1747, when he was described as a stranger.

44K9

Sarah Collett was baptised at Melksham on 18^th September 1743, the only daughter and third child of Thomas and Jane Collett. Although not confirmed, after consulting the parish burial records at Melksham, one source states she was buried there on 12^th October 1746. If proved to be true, that sad event happened a month after her older brother Thomas (above) had died and four months before the death of her brother Henry (above). However, at nearby Broughton Gifford on 24^th April 1768, Sarah Collett married Stephen Bevan of North Bradley to the south of Trowbridge.

44K10

William Collett was baptised at Melksham on 2^nd July 1745, the son of Thomas Collett and Jane Woodman, although it was only his father’s name that appeared on the baptism record. In an earlier version of this family line, William Collett was said to have married Hester Redman at Melksham on 28^th March 1780. However, that William Collett was the son of Henry and Martha Collett (Ref. 62J1) who start Part 62 – The Trowbridge to New Zealand Line. William (Ref. 62K3) and his older brother Joseph, both married daughters of John Redman and Elizabeth Fox, Esther Redman, and Jane Redman, respectively.

44K11

Thomas Collett was baptised at Melksham on 26^th October 1746, the youngest son and last child born to Thomas Collett and his wife Jane Woodman. As with his brother William (above), it was only his father’s name that was recorded at the baptism, but unlike before, on that occasion the parish register recorded him as Thomas Collett (widow), which indicated that his mother had died, mostly likely during the birth. It was at Melksham on 17^th November 1771 that Thomas married the much younger Mary Jones who was born at Trowbridge on 19^th March 1755. Mary, who was not yet seventeen years old when she married Thomas, was expecting the couple’s first child on their wedding day, who was baptised at Melksham just two months later. Four more children were added to their family over the following twelve years, and all of them were also born and baptised at Melksham.

44L5

Mary Collett

Born in 1772 at Melksham

44L6

Sarah Collett

Born in 1774 at Melksham

44L7

James Collett

Born in 1778 at Melksham

44L8

Catherine Collett

Born in 1781 at Melksham

44L9

Thomas Collett

Born in 1784 at Melksham

44K12

John Collett, whose date and place of birth or baptism has not been determined, must have been the son of Thomas Collett whose known grandchildren were John and Drinkwater Collett of South Wraxall. It was at Corsham, a few miles north-east of South Wraxall, on 4^th July 1785, that John Collett married Hester Little. On that day, John Collett was described as a butcher of South Wraxall. Twenty-three years earlier, as Esther Little, she was baptised at Biddestone, near Corsham, on 23^rd May 1762, the daughter of James Little, named as a bondsman and a yeoman at the wedding of his daughter to John. Once married, the couple settled in South Wraxall where their children were born and baptised, and where some of them were buried. On every occasion bar one, the parish baptism record gave John’s occupation as a butcher, while on the baptism of his second child he was described as a baker.

Upon the occasion of his passing, John Collett was buried at South Wraxall on 19^th June 1812, when he was recorded as being 47 years old, which places his year of birth around 1765. After twelve and a half years as a widow, Hester Collett was living at nearby Atworth, most likely with her married son John when she died, after which she was buried with her later husband and their children at South Wraxall on 13^th February 1825. The parish burial recorded noted that she was 62 years of age, confirming her year of birth around 1762, making her slightly older than her husband.

44L10

Jonathan Collett

Born in 1786 at South Wraxall

44L11

William Little Collett

Born in 1788 at South Wraxall

44L12

Drinkwater Collett

Born in 1790 at South Wraxall

44L13

Hester Collett

Born in 1795 at South Wraxall

44L14

William Collett

Born in 1796 at South Wraxall

44L15

John Collett

Born in 1799 at South Wraxall

44L16

Drinkwater Collett

Born in 1802 at South Wraxall

44L1

Mary Collett was born at Broughton Gifford and was baptised there on 11^th September 1743, the first-born child of John Collett and Anne Suddery of Holt. Mary was only three months old when she died at Broughton Gifford, where she was buried on 18^th December 1743.

44L2

William Collett was born at Broughton Gifford, where he was baptised on 19^th April 1745, the second child and eldest son of John and Anne Collett. Tragically four days later, the parish register at Broughton Gifford confirmed that he was buried there on 23^rd April 1745.

44L3

John Collett was born at Broughton Gifford in 1748 and was the third child of John and Ann Collett, following which he was baptised there on 4^th April 1748, as confirmed in 2019 with the receipt of the parish register for Broughton Gifford from Stephen Carpenter of the Wiltshire Family History Society. By the time he was four years old, his father had died, with three of his siblings having already suffered infant deaths and, in the autumn of 1852, John was made an orphan following the death of his mother. It is not known what happened to John after those tragic incidents except, that within the parish registers for 1763 is recorded the death of John Collett junior at Broughton Gifford on 30^th January 1763. Unfortunately, perhaps because he was an orphan, there was no note to say whose son he was.

The same day that John Collett was buried at Broughton Gifford, so too was Henry Collett who had been baptised there on 5^th July 1761, the only known child of John and Sarah Collett. Tragically, like John and his three older siblings and both of his parents, Henry did not survive and was buried at Broughton Gifford on 30^th January 1763. Who John Collett and wife Sarah were, remains a mystery.

It was previously written here that it was believed John was the sole survivor of his family who was twenty-six when he married Elizabeth Knapp on 9^th May 1774 at St James’ Church in Trowbridge, five miles south of Broughton Gifford. Elizabeth, who was recorded as Betty Knapp, was the eldest of the six children of John Knapp and Mary Tucker and was baptised at Trowbridge on 16^th August 1749 and, on the day of her wedding, Betty would have been with-child. John and Betty are known to have been living at Trowbridge when their marriage was blessed with the birth of three children. In addition, the Ahnentafel Report confirms that John Collett and Elizabeth Knapp were the parents of the three children described below. By the time their daughter was eight years of age, John Collett had died and his widow Betty Collett was married to widower Job Holloway, their wedding taking place at St James’ Church in Trowbridge on 9^th May 1888.

44M1

John Collett

Born in 1774 at Trowbridge

44M2

Thomas Collett

Born in 1777 at Trowbridge

44M3

Mary Collett

Born in 1780 at Trowbridge

44L4

Sarah Collett was born at Broughton Gifford in 1750, and it was there that she was baptised on 26^th December 1750, another daughter of John and Anne Collett and Anne Suddery of Holt. Just seventeen days later she died and was buried at Broughton Gifford on 13^th January 1751 with her two older siblings.

44L5

Mary Collett was born at Melksham in 1772 and was baptised there on 12^th January 1772, the daughter of Thomas and Mary Collett.

44L6

Sarah Collett was born at Melksham in 1774 where she was baptised on 11^th December 1774, the second of the four known children of Thomas and Mary Collett. Sarah later married James Gingell at St Michael’s Church in Melksham on 8^th June 1794 with whom she had two daughters, Sarah and Susannah Gingell, who were born during 1797 and 1799, although both were baptised at Melksham on the same day, that being 14^th April 1799. It was Susannah Gingell who later married Jacob Silverthorne at Melksham on 16^th October 1821, whose present-day descendent is David Hankey from Leicestershire, who kindly provided these new details, plus further details in 2017 and 2018.

44L7

James Collett was born at Melksham and it was there that he was baptised on 22^nd March 1778 as James Collett the eldest son of Thomas and Mary Collett.

44L8

Catherine Collett was born at Melksham in 1781 and was baptised there as Catherine Collett on 19^th August 1781, the daughter of Thomas and Mary Collett.

44L9

Thomas Collett was born at Melksham in 1784 where he was baptised as Thos Collett on 21^st March 1784, the last known child of Thomas and Mary Collett. Another Thomas, the son of Henry & Mary Collett was born around the same time but was baptised at nearby Broughton Gifford on 30^th May 1784. To avoid any confusion, it seems likely that he died in 1830 at the age of 45 and was buried on 10^th November 1830 in the churchyard of St Michael’s & All Angels Church in Melksham.

It was at St Michael Church in Melksham on 26^th August 1805 that Thomas Collett was married to (1) Maria Spencer following the reading of banns. The witnesses were Harry Collett, most likely Thomas’ uncle - the older brother of his father, and Caleb Angel. The five known children born to Thomas and Maria, and confirmed in Bishop’s Transcripts, were Stephen born in 1807 and baptised at Broughton Gifford, as was William at the start of 1809, and Thomas born in 1811, while Harriet born in 1813 was baptised at St Michael’s Church in Melksham, followed there by Harry in 1816.

When son Harry was six years old, Maria Collett nee Spencer, died in 1822 and was buried in the churchyard of St Michael & All Angels Church in Melksham. She was possibly the daughter of Anthony and Elizabeth Spencer, who was born on 3^rd August 1784 and who was baptised on 19^th December 1784 at Biddestone near Chippenham, to the north of Melksham. Her son Harry remains a man of mystery, since the only later record of Harry of Melksham was during the summer of 1858 when his death was recorded there (Ref. 5a 56).

The second marriage of Thomas Collett, widower, and much younger (2) Jane Marks, took place at Winsley to the west of Braford-on-Avon on 16^th September 1823 and recorded in the Bishop’s Transcripts, when the witnesses were William Bolwell and John Godwin junior. The bride and groom were both recorded as residing in Winsley, while Jane was the daughter of John and Ann Marks, who had been baptised at St Michael’s Church in Melksham on 3^rd May 1795. It is just under eight miles to Winsley from Melksham, which makes you think the couple may have been secretly married there that day, perhaps without her parents’ consent, with Thomas being eleven years older than Jane.

Two more children were added to Thomas’ family, with the birth of John in 1824 and Jacob in 1826, both baptised at St Michael’s Church in Melksham. The next sighting of a Thomas Collett from England was in America when he applied for citizenship at the Superior Court in New Haven County, Connecticut on 1^st April 1837. Whether or not, that was granted, we do not know. However, on 28^th February 1843, Thomas Collett from Wiltshire born in 1785 (?) submitted a second application for American Citizenship at the Police Court of Lowell in Middlesex, Massachusetts, signing the form as Thomas Collett junior. Two supporters signed the form, Jerimiah Bishop and Bezer Amos, who stated they had known the applicant as living in the State of Connecticut for more than five years, who was now currently residing in Lowell.

The subsequent US Census in 1850 included Thomas Collett from England who was 65 and with no occupation, who was living in the City of Bangor, Penobscot, Maine, with his wife Jane Collett from England who was 54. Living with the couple was their daughter Emma Collett aged nine and born in Maine, plus Samuel Jordan from England who was 36 and also described as having no job of work. That same day in 1850, two of Thomas’s sons Thomas and John (half-brothers) were living next door to each other in Hamden, New Haven. After a further ten years, the census conducted in 1860 identified Thomas and Jane residing in Hamden, New Haven County, Connecticut, where he was 75 and she was 65, when the value of their real estate was $1,000, the same as their personal estate. Three years later Thomas Collett died at St Louis in Missouri on 3^rd July 1863, at the age of 89. Twelve months earlier, Jane Collett died at Bangor City on 23^rd July 1862.

44M4

Stephen Collett

Born in 1807 at Broughton Gifford

44M5

William Collett

Born in 1809 at Broughton Gifford

44M6

Thomas Collett

Born in 1811 at Broughton Gifford

44M7

Harriet Collett

Born in 1813 at Melksham

44M8

Harry Collett

Born in 1816 at Melksham

The following are the two children of Thomas Collett by his second wife Jane Marks:

44M9

John Collett

Born in 1824 at Melksham

44M10

Jacob Frank Collett

Born in 1826 at Melksham

44M11

Emma Collett

Born circa 1841 in Maine, USA

44L10

Jonathan Collett was baptised at South Wraxall on 4^th June 1786, the first-born child of butcher John Collett and Esther Little.

44L11

William Little Collett was baptised at South Wraxall on 24^th February 1788, the second son of baker John and Esther Collett. Almost exactly seven years later, William Collett, son of John and Hester, was buried at South Wraxall on 20^th February 1795.

44L12

Drinkwater Collett was born at South Wraxall, where he was baptised on 14^th February 1790, another son of John Collett, a butcher, by his wife Esther. He survived for just under seventeen months, when he died and was buried at South Wraxall on 5^th July 1791.

44L13

Hester Collett was the only daughter of John Collett and his wife Hester Little, and was baptised at South Wraxall on 26^th July 1795. Tragically, she was fifteen years of age when she died, following which she was buried at South Wraxall on 2^nd August 1810, the daughter of John and Hester Collett.

44L14

William Collett was born at South Wraxall, where he was baptised on 20^th November 1796, another son of John and Hester Collett. Unlike nearly all his older siblings, no early death or burial record as been found for William Collett at South Wraxall, so it is unclear what happened to him after he was baptised.

44L15

John Collett was baptised at South Wraxall on 4^th August 1799, one of the surviving sons of John and Hester Collett, and one of the known grandsons of Thomas Collett and Jane Woodman. It is also known that, on 29^th October 1823, at Kington St Michael, John Collett of Bradford-on-Avon married Elizabeth Pinnigar from Kington Langley, just north of Chippenham. Once married, the couple settled in the village of Atworth, where their children were all born. Furthermore, the baptism records at Atworth confirm the children’s parents were John and Elizabeth Collett, and that John was a labourer. It seems highly likely that John’s widowed mother Hester was living with him and his family at Atworth when she passed away in 1825, although she was buried at South Wraxall with other members of the family.

By the time of the Atworth census in 1841 John and Elizabeth had six children living there with them. The couple’s rounded ages did not reflect their true age, with John being 35 rather than 40, and his wife was 30 when she was also nearer forty. Their children at that time were Eliza Collett aged 14, John Collett aged 12, Mary Collett who was nine, George Collett who was seven, Alfred Collett who was four, and Henry Collett who was not yet one year old. The couple’s eldest son Thomas Collett had already left home to make his own way in the world in South Wales, where he was later reunited with his younger brother John.

The family was still living within the Chapelry of Atworth in 1851 when agricultural labourer John Collett from South Wraxall was 51, his wife Elizabeth from Kington Langley was 50, and their four children on that occasion were Eliza Collett who was 24, John Collett who was 22 and a cabinet maker, Henry Collett aged ten years, who was attending the local school, as was his brother Edwin Collett who was five years old. Sadly, for the family, it would seem the three missing children [Mary, George, and Alfred] did not survive beyond childhood, since no further record of any of them has been found.

It would appear that Elizabeth Collett nee Pinnigar died sometime during the next decade, since by 1861 John Collett, aged 60, was a widower living in Atworth with just his youngest child Edwin Collett, aged 15, living there with him. After a further ten years widower John Collett from South Wraxall was still living at Atworth in 1871 when he was 71 years old and a cottager. Living there with him was his eldest son Thomas who was a bachelor of 46 and a servant not in employment. It is interesting to note that at Atworth in 1871 there were three Collett households in a row, with just the elderly Marriott couple separating John and Thomas from Henry Collett (Ref. 35M53) of Broughton Gifford and his two young children Sarah Ann and Thomas, who were living next door to Rose Cottage, the home of his sister-in-law Sarah Halstead Collett, the widow of his brother John Collett (Ref 35M52) from Broughton Gifford and her two Atworth born children Sarah and John.

Shortly after that John and Thomas moved into the town of Bradford-on-Avon, where they were residing at the time of the next census. According to the census in 1881, widower John Collett was 81 and was working as a general labourer, while living at Main Street in Bradford-on-Avon. Living with him was his unmarried son Thomas Collett who was confirmed as having been born at Atworth. It was the same situation in 1891 except that by then John Collett, aged 91 and living on his own means, was once again living in Atworth at Bath Road with just his eldest son Thomas for company, who was 66 and also living on his own means. It was one year later that the death of John Collett aged 92, was recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. 5a 115) during the first quarter of 1892.

44M12

Thomas Collett

Born in 1824 at Atworth

44M13

Eliza Collett

Born in 1826 at Atworth

44M14

John Collett

Born in 1828 at Atworth

44M15

Mary Anne Collett

Born in 1831 at Atworth

44M16

George Collett

Born in 1833 at Atworth

44M17

Alfred Collett

Born in 1836 at Atworth

44M18

Henry Collett

Born in 1840 at Atworth

44M19

Edwin Collett

Born in 1845 at Atworth

44L16

Drinkwater Collett was born at South Wraxall in 1802, the youngest son of John Collett, a butcher, and Hester Little, and was baptised there on 10^th July 1802. He was certainly the younger brother of John Collett of South Wraxall (above) and the grandson of Thomas Collett and Jane Woodman. It was at nearby Atworth on 30^th November 1828 that Drinkwater Collett married Ann Reynolds, with whom he had four children, all of them born at Atworth. When their first two children were baptised at Atworth, Drinkwater’s occupation was stated to be that of a labourer. It was also at Atworth, around that time, when the family of Drinkwater’s brother John Collett, and his wife Elizabeth, were living there with their family, the children of both families having similar names.

In the Atworth (parish of Great Bradford) census of 1841, Drinkwater Collett was listed with a rounded age of 40, as was his wife Ann, while their children were John Collett, aged 14, Hannah Collett, who was five, and Thomas Collett who was one year old. Staying with the family that census day was Jane Reynolds, who was 25 and Ann’s younger brother. Their son Thomas tragically died during the months shortly after the census day in 1841, and the loss to the family was offset by the birth of another son, William. However, further tragedy struck the family over the following years when first, the couple’s last child suffered a premature death and, at the end of the decade, Drinkwater’s wife Ann Reynolds passed away and was buried at South Wraxall on 7^th April 1850. Her death was recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. viii 189) during the second quarter of the year.

One year later, Drinkwater was incorrectly recorded as being 42 years of age in the Bradford-on-Avon census of 1851, when he would have been around 50, having regard for his given age ten years later in the census of 1861. The census return for 1851 described Drinkwater Collett as a widower who was working as an agricultural labourer, while he was living at Upper Wraxall. His place of birth was confirmed as South Wraxall. The only member of his family still living with him at Upper Wraxall was his daughter Hannah who was 17 and born at Atworth. She was described as being ‘at home’, presumably because she was looking after her father as his housekeeper.

Hannah may have married during the next ten years since, ten years later in 1861, Drinkwater Collett was a lodger at the home of James Pearce in Lower Street in Chalfield-by-Wraxall. He was described as a widower of 60 years of age from South Wraxall, at which time he was still working as an agricultural labourer.

44M20

John Collett

Born in 1829 at Atworth

44M21

Hannah Tabitha Collett

Born in 1836 at Atworth

44M22

Thomas Collett

Born in 1840 at Atworth

44M23

William Collett

Born in 1841 at Atworth

44M1

John Collett was born at Trowbridge in 1774, the first-born child of John Collett and Elizabeth (Betty) Knapp who were married at St James’ Church in Trowbridge on 9^th May 1774, where John was baptised on 11^th September 1774. As to who his father was, is now the subject of a query, with the John Collett of Broughton Gifford who was born there in 1748, now believed to have died there in 1763.

44M2

Thomas Collett was born at Trowbridge in 1777, another son of John and Betty Collett, who was baptised there on 10^th August 1777. As to who his father was, is now the subject of a query, with the John Collett of Broughton Gifford who was born there in 1748, now believed to have died there in 1763.

44M3

Mary Collett was born at Trowbridge in 1780, the last of the three children of John Collett and Betty Knapp, where she was baptised during April that year. When she was twenty-one years of age, Mary married John Watts on 5^th August 1801 at St James’ Church in Trowbridge. As to who her father was, is now the subject of a query, with the John Collett of Broughton Gifford who was born there in 1748, now believed to have died there in 1763.

44M4

Stephen Collett was born in 1807 one year after his parents Thomas Collett and Maria Spencer were married in Melksham, where Stephen later said he was born. It was at St Mary’s Church in Broughton Gifford that he was baptised on 30^th August 1807. His mother died in 1822, after which his father was remarried to a much younger second wife who presented Stephen and his four siblings with two half-brothers. As the eldest child in the family, Stephen was in his mid-to-late-twenties when his father and his stepmother sailed to America with their two children. It was also around that time when Stephen married Maria, shortly after which she gave birth to daughter Harriet at Melksham, who was baptised there on 29^th May 1836 as confirmed by the Bishop’s Transcript for St Michael’s Church.

No record of any member of the family has been found in the census for 1841, but in 1851, 14-year-old Harriet Collett was staying with her uncle William Collett (below) and his wife and child in Melksham. Eight years later the marriage of Harriet Collett aged 23 and the daughter of Stephen Collett, and 25-year-old Henry Bishop, the son of John and Rachel Bishop, took place at St Paul’s Church in Worcester on 29^th October 1859. By 1871 they and their four children were living in the Battersea area of South London. Henry Bishop from Yeovil in Somerset was 37, Harriet Bishop from Melksham was 35, and their children were Alice M Bishop who was eleven, Henry J Bishop was eight, Louise Bishop was six, and George Bishop was four years of age. All the children had been born in Worcestershire.

When daughter Harriet was with her family in London, her father Stephen Collett from Melksham was 63, a widower and a lodger at the Bristol St Mary Redcliffe home of Joseph and Maria Groves. Three years later he was still residing within the same area of Bristol when he died on 14^th April 1874 at the age of 67.

44N1

Harriet Collett

Born in 1836 at Melksham

44M5

William Collett was born at Broughton Gifford early in 1809, another son of Thomas and Maria Collett, who was baptised there on 12^th February 1809. In 1822 his mother died with his father remarrying not long after. Sometime after the birth of two half-brother they and William’s father and stepmother headed off to a new life in America. That was the reason why, when William married Elizabeth Kendall Gunstone at St Michael’s Church in Melksham on 8^th October 1840, the witnesses were Jane Gunstone and Enoch Isaac. Elizabth was one of the daughters of John Gunstone and Sarah Kendall, and was baptised at Melksham on 16^th August 1812.

By June 1841, the Wiltshire born couple was living at Town Tything in Melksham where Stephen was 31 and Elizabeth was 28. That census day Elizabeth was expecting the birth of the couple’s first child and gave birth to daughter Sarah Maria, named after her maternal and paternal grandmothers, who was baptised at Melksham on 17^th September 1841. In the Melksham census of 1851, the same three member of the family were still living in Melksham where William Collett was 40, Elizabeth K Collett was 38, and Sarah Maria was nine years of age. Staying with the family that day was niece Harriet Collett who was 14, the eldest child of William’s older brother Stephen (above) and his wife Maria.

Within the following four months, and ten years after the birth of their daughter, Elizabeth gave birth to a son at Melksham, Thomas William Collett, who was baptised there on 31^st August 1851, when the parish record confirmed he was the son of William Collett and Elizabeth Kendall Collett. However, when his birth was registered at Melksham (Ref. viii 383) during the third quarter of 1851 his name was recorded at William Thomas Collett. Tragically, William died four months before his son celebrated his fourth birthday, with the death of William Collett recorded at Melksham on 25^th April 1855 at the age of 46. Furthermore, thirteen years after being made a widow, Elizabeth suffered the loss of her son when the death of William Thomas Collett aged seventeen was recorded at Melksham (Ref. 5a 60) during the summer of 1868.

As regards her daughter, Sarah Maria Collett married George Young at Melksham on 8^th May 1871 when they were both of full-age (Ref. 5a 185). Sarah was named as the daughter of William Collett and George the son of Stephen Young, when the witnesses were John Gunstone and Elijah Linger, and two other members of the Gunstone family, Sarah Jane and Mary Jane, were also in attendance, perhaps as bridesmaids. George and Sarah had two children at Melksham; Henry Charles Young born on 14^th June 1872 and baptised on 10^th July 1872, and Georgina Emily Young born on 14^th March 1874 and baptised on 27^th May 1874.

44N2

Sarah Maria Collett

Born in 1841 at Melksham

44N3

Thomas William Collett

Born in 1851 at Melksham

44M6

Thomas Collett was born at Broughton Gifford in 1811 where he was baptised on 2^nd June 1811, the third son of Thomas Collett and Maria Spencer. Towards the end of the 1830s, Thomas married Ann and in 1841 they were residing at a street in Broughton where Thomas had a rounded age of 25, and Ann had a round age of 20. No obvious record of the couple has been found in England after that census day, while it is now known that their daughter Harriet was born in America at Connecticut, in 1848, with Thomas and Ann following Thomas’ father and stepmother there between 1841 and 1847. That situation was confirmed in the Connecticut census of 1850.

By then, half-brothers Thomas and John Collett (below) were recorded residing in adjacent dwellings at Hamden, New Haven County, where they were both working as butchers. Thomas Collett from England was 37, his English wife Ann Collett was 34, and their daughter Harriet A Collett was two years of age and born in Connecticut. The couple’s second child was born at Hamden just a few weeks after that census day, with a second son born there two years later.

Thomas Collett was born on 7^th July 1850, although he was later referred to as Daniel Thomas Collett when he died at Hamden in 1922 aged 72 and was buried there in the Central Burying Grounds. His younger brother Stephen was born at Hamden on 3^rd October 1852, and in both cases the parents were confirmed as Thomas and Ann Collett.

Ten years later the same five member of the family were again recorded in the Hamden census of 1860, by which time John was no longer living alongside the family. Thomas was 47 and still a butcher, Ann was 45, Harriet was 12, Daniel was nine, and Stephen was seven. The census form also stated that Thomas’ real estate was $2,000, with his personal estate valued at $475. The couple’s daughter and young son had moved out of the family home in Hamden during the 1860, with just son Daniel aged 19 still living there with them. By then Thomas was 59 and a farmer, having real estate of $3,500 and personal estate of $530, and Ann was 55, who had son Stephen living nearby in Hamden having the same occupation as brother Daniel.

44N4

Harriet Ann Collett

Born in 1848 at Hamden, New Haven

44N5

Daniel Thomas Collett

Born in 1850 at Hamden, New Haven

44N6

Stephen Collett

Born in 1852 at Hamden, New Haven

44M7

Harriet Collett was born during 1813 and was baptised at Melksham 19^th December 1813 and was the fourth child of Thomas Collett and Maria Spencer and their only daughter. Harriet was nine years old when her mother died, after which her widowed family was married for a second time in 1823.

44M8

Harry Collett was born at Melksham during 1816 where he was baptised on 29^th September 1816, the fifth and last child of Thomas Collett and Maria Spencer.

44M9

John Collett was born at Melksham in 1824 and was baptised there on 21^st November 1824, the first child of Thomas Collett and Jane Marks, his second wife. Sometime after 1826 his parents took him and his brother Jacob (below) to America where they were living in 1837 at New Haven County in Connecticut. Thirteen years later married John Collett from England was residing in Hamden, New Haven on the day of the US Census in 1850. Upon the registering of the birth of his second child, John was described as John M Collett.

At that time in his life John Collett was 25 and a butcher, his wife Ann A Collett from Maine was also 25, and their two children were Charles H Collett from Maine who was approaching two years of age, and Jason J Collett who was four months old and born after the family settled in Connecticut. That same census day, John’s parents and younger sister Emma Collett were recorded in Bangor, Maine, where Emma had been born, while John’s next-door-neighbour was his older half-brother Thomas Collett (above) from England, another butcher, with whom he may have been working.

A minimum of four more children were added to their family during the next decade, two more born in Connecticut, and two after settling in Princeton, Bureau County, Illinois, as confirmed in the Princeton census of 1860. By then John from England was 35 and a drover, Ann A Collett was 36, Charles was 12, and Jason was ten years old. The four new children were Mary E Collett who was eight, Emma J Collett who was six, John H Collett who was four, and one-year-old George Collett. On that day the family had Mary Conder from Germany who was 16 years of age and helping with the housekeeping.

By 1870 only the four youngest children were still living with John and Ann, but at Bacon Township in Vernon County, Missouri. John from England was a farmer aged 48, whose real estate was valued at $3,200 and his personal estate at $500. Ann A Collett was keeping house and 46, and the four children were Mary who was 18, Emma who was 16, John H who was 14, and George who was seven, a mistake for eleven.

Just over thirty years later, and still in Vernon County, John Collett was 77 when he died on 6^th July 1902 at Walker in Vernon County, Missouri.

44N7

Charles H Collett

Born in 1848 at Bangor, Maine

44N8

Jason S Collett

Born in 1850 at Hamden, New Haven, Con.

44N9

Mary E Collett

Born in 1852 at Hamden, New Haven, Con.

44N10

Emma J Collett

Born in 1854 at Hamden, New Haven, Con.

44N11

John H Collett

Born in 1856 at Princeton, Illinois

44N12

George E Collett

Born in 1859 at Princeton, Illinois

44M10

Jacob Frank Collett was born at Melksham on 28^th June 1826, the second of the three children of Thomas Collett and Jane Marks, who was baptised there one month later, on 23^rd July 1826. By the time was ten years old Jacob and his parents were living in 1837 in Connecticut in the USA. It is only from the record of his death at the age of 76 that we know he was a married man living at 75 Marshall Street in Somerville, Middlesex County in Massachusetts, when he died on 23th August 1902. The record also confirmed that: he was the son of Thomas Collett and Jane Marks, both born in England; the cause of death was hepatic abscess and prostatitis; and was buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Mass.

44M12

Thomas Collett was born at Atworth in 1824, where he was baptised on 20^th February 1825, the eldest child of John Collett and Elizabeth Pinnigar. By the time of the census in 1841, Thomas had left the family home in Atworth, possibly to make room in the house for his six younger siblings and, although no actual record of him has been located, he would have been around 16 years of age. Ten years later, in 1851, he was confirmed as having been born at Atworth and was 26, when he was residing at Maesteg near Bridgend in South Wales.

The only possibly record of Thomas in 1861 was the one who was 36 years of age, who was living alone in the Bath Lansdown registration district. What is known for sure, is that just after that he was back living at Atworth in 1871, where he was looking after his elderly widowed father John who was 71. Thomas Collett from Atworth was still a bachelor at the age of 46, when he was described as a servant out of employment. During the next few years Thomas and his father left Atworth and moved into the town of Bradford-on-Avon and it was there, in Main Street, that they were residing in 1881 when Thomas was described as a former domestic servant, perhaps indicating that he had retired from that work to care for the needs of his father. He was still unmarried by that time when he was 56.

With his father’s advancing years, Thomas and his father may have decided it was time to return to their home village of Atworth since, it was there at Bath Road, that they were still living together in 1891, when Thomas was 66 and also living on his own means like his father John Collett who was 91. His father passed away within the next eleven months, with Thomas surviving him by six years. Like his father, the death of Thomas Collett was recorded at Bradford-on-Avon register office (Ref. 5a 88) during the first three months of 1898, when he was 73 years old.

44M13

Eliza Collett was born at Atworth near the end of 1826, after which she was baptised there on 18^th February 1827, the daughter of John and Elizabeth Collett. Eliza was 14 by the time of the census in 1841, when she was living at Atworth with her family, where she was also living ten years later in 1851 when she was 24. It is assumed that she was married shortly after that, as no record of her as Eliza Collett has been found in 1861.

44M14

John Collett was born at Atworth, towards the end of 1828, where he was baptised there on 22^nd March 1829, another son of John and Elizabeth Collett. In the Atworth census of 1841 John Collett, aged 12 years, was living there at the home of his parents John and Elizabeth Collett. He was single and was still living with his family in the Chapelry of Atworth in 1851, when he was a cabinet maker, aged 22 and from Atworth. Prior to 2019, it was thought that John Collett from Atworth had settled in South Wales, but he was the eldest son of Drinkwater Collett (Ref. 44L16) and his wife Ann Reynolds, as confirmed by his marriage certificate of 1864 at Bridgend in Glamorganshire. Therefore, all of the details for the John from Atworth, who moved to Wales in the 1850s, can be found under Ref. 44M12. What happened to John Collett, the cabinet maker of Atworth, after 1851, is currently not known, as is the case with some of his younger siblings.

44M15

Mary Anne Collett was born at Atworth in 1831 and was baptised there on 21^st August 1831, the daughter of John and Elizabeth Collett. She was nine years old in the Atworth census of 1841, but was not living with her family at Atworth in 1851 when she would have been 19. At that age she may have been too young to be married, so her absence might mean that she did not survive.

44M16

George Collett was born at Atworth in 1833, where he was baptised on 16^th February 1834, the son of John and Elizabeth Collett. In the Atworth census of 1841 George was seven years of age, although no further record of him has been found in any later census return.

44M17

Alfred Collett was born at Atworth in 1836, and it was there also that he was baptised on 26^th February 1837, the son of John and Elizabeth Collett. Like his brother George (above), Alfred was living at Atworth at the age of four in 1841, but was not living there with his family ten years later. Nor has any record of him been found after that time.

44M18

Henry Collett was born at Atworth in 1840, and baptised there on 7^th March 1841, the son of John and Elizabeth Collett. Unlike his two older siblings George and Alfred (above), Henry was recorded living with his family at Atworth in two consecutive censuses. He was under one year old in 1841, and was 10 years of age in 1851. However, just like his older siblings, no further record has been found for him, so he too may have suffered a childhood death.

44M19

Edwin Collett was born at Atworth where he was baptised on 10^th August 1845, the youngest child born to John and Elizabeth Collett. By the time of the Atworth census in 1851 Edwin was five years old when he was living there with his family. During the next decade Edwin’s mother died, so in the census of 1861 he was living with his widowed father John Collett at Atworth at the age of 15. No further record of this particular Edwin Collett has been found after 1861. He should not be confused with Edwin Collett (Ref. 31P14) of the same age, who was born at Monkton Farleigh to William Collett and Ellen Cottle.

44M20

John Collett was born at Atworth in 1829, where he was baptised on 9^th August 1829, the eldest of the four known children of Drinkwater Collett and his wife Ann. In the previous version of this file, the details for this John Collett of Atworth were placed under the name of John Collett of Atworth (Ref. 44M6), the two of them being born with six months of each other, who is now known to be the son of John Collett and Elizabeth Pinnigar. In the Atworth (Bradford-on-Avon) census of 1841 John’s age was incorrectly recorded as being 14, when he was still living there with his family. Ten years, John Collett from Atworth was said to be 19 and an agricultural labourer who was living with the family of John and Mary Pickett at their home on Dark Lane in Upper Castle Combe near Chippenham in Wiltshire.

Perhaps it was the lure of better wages in South Wales, that encouraged John to move to Glamorganshire sometime during the 1850s. That situation was confirmed in the census conducted in 1861, when John Collett from Atworth in Wiltshire was 31 and unmarried, who was employed as an iron ore labourer. At that time in his life, he was a lodger at a property on McGard Row in Llangynwyd, Glamorganshire, two miles south of Maesteg.

Just before Christmas, three years later, John Collett married widow Ann Jones on 13^th December 1864 at Llangynwyd, the event recorded at Bridgend (Ref. 11a 729) during the last quarter of that year. The record of their wedding day, confirmed that John was the son of Drinkwater Collett and that Ann was the daughter of John Jones. Although, not determined, it seems likely that Ann was a widow who already had a daughter from her previous marriage. That child was living with the couple on the day of the next census in 1871 at Cwn Du, to the east of Maesteg. John Collett from Atworth was 43 and a hauler, Ann Collett was 48 and her daughter Mary A Collett was 14 years of age, mother and daughter both recorded as having been born at Llancaen Crilwyn in Cardiganshire. Living with the three of them were William D Jones, who was four years old and described as John’s stepchild, and boarder George James from Cheltenham.

Sometime during the next decade, perhaps after the wedding of Ann’s daughter, the couple move to 2 Concrete Cottages in Cwmdu, where they were living in April 1881. John’s occupation was that of a carter and haulier at the age of 52, while Ann was 58. No place of birth was given for either of them in the 1881 Census, by which time their married daughter Mary Ann Evans was also living nearby at Cwmdu, with her young family. Not further record of John or Ann has been found after that time.

44N13

Mary Ann Collett formerly Jones

Born in 1856 at Llancaen Crilwyn

44M21

Hannah Tabitha Collett was born at Atworth in 1836 and was baptised there on 25^th September 1836, the only daughter of Drinkwater and Ann Collett. It was as Hannah Collett, aged five years, that she was recorded living with her family at Atworth in 1841. Over the following years, the family was struck by the triple tragedy of the deaths of her mother and two of her three brothers so, by 1851, Hannah Collett, aged 17 and from Atworth, was ‘working at home’, keeping house for her widowed father in Upper Wraxall, Bradford-on-Avon.

44M22

Thomas Collett was born at Atworth in 1840 and it was there also that he was baptised on 14^th June 1840. He was the son of Drinkwater and Ann Collett and was listed with them in the Atworth census of 1841, as being one year old. The death of Thomas Collett at Atworth was recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. viii 169) during the third quarter of 1847.

44M23

William Collett was born at Atworth just after the census day in 1841, the last child of Drinkwater Collett and Ann Reynolds. His mother died in 1850 and William was not living with his widowed father in 1851, so may also have suffered a premature death.

44N5

Daniel Thomas Collett was born on 7^th July 1850 at Hamden, New Haven County in Connecticut, but simply as Thomas Collett, the eldest son and second child of butcher Thomas Collett and his wife Ann. He was more commonly referred to in later records as Daniel Collett, or Daniel T Collett, and it was as Daniel that he was nine years of age in the Hamden census of 1860. His father was a farmer by 1870 when Daniel was the only child still living with his parents at Hamden, when he was 19 and working at an auger shop, the same as his younger brother Stephen (above), maybe even working alongside each other.

Daniel married Adele Jane Bryan the daughter of Henry Bryan and Celestia Smith of Connecticut, who was born on 23^rd September 1856 at Woodmont, Connecticut. She gave birth to two sons, George in 1875, and Edwin Stephen in 1877 at Hamden, with the latter’s birth registered at New Haven County, confirmed as the son of Thomas Collett and Adele J Bryan. Both boys were recorded with the couple in the next New Haven census of 1880. On that day Dan Collett was 29 and a retail grocer, Adele was 23, George was five, and Edwin was two years old.

On that same census day, George H Collett aged five years was also recorded at the Milford, New Haven County, Connecticut home of his uncle and head of the household, 27-year-old Charles H Bryan a farmer who had taken over his late father’s farm. Living there with him was his widowed mother Celestia Bryan who was 52, and his unmarried sister Susan M Bryan who was 20, while George was described as nephew and a boarder. Milford lies ten miles south-west of New Haven.

By the time of the census in 1900 Daniel and Adele were divorced, with the head of the household at 45 Summer Street in the City of New Haven being Adela Collett aged 41 (sic). Still living there with her, were her two sons whose ages were also incorrect, George aged 22 (his brother’s age), and Edwin was 19. The two of them were both working as dealers in a bicycle store, with George recorded as born in May 1878, and Edwin in August 1880, which was after the day of the census in 1880. Their mother was obviously confused since it was George who was born in May 1875, and Edwin in August 1877.

Daniel Thomas Collett was 72 when he died at Hamden in 1922 and was buried there in the Central Burying Grounds. Sixteen years later Adele Jane Bryan Collett passed away at St Petersburg, Pinellas in Florida on 9^th December 1938 and was buried at Royal Palm Cemetery on 12^th December 1938. Her last place of residence was 100 20^th Avenue South in St Petersburg. The record of her death also confirmed her former late husband was Daniel Collett.

Although very little is known about the couple’s eldest son, it was as George Henry Collett from New Haven, residing at 20 Upton Avenue in Providence, Rhode Island, with his wife Adele Florence Collett, when he died at Little Compton Road on 4^th August 1928 from diphtheria and double pneumonia. The record of his death confirmed he was a son of Daniel T Collett and Adele J Bryan, with his wife named as the informant of his passing. During his life he was a general agent for an insurance company.

44O1

George Henry Collett

Born in 1875 at Hamden, New Haven

44O2

Edwin Stephen Collett

Born in 1877 at Hamden, New Haven

44N6

Stephen Collett was also born at Hamden in New Haven County on 3^rd October 1852, the youngest child of Thomas and Ann Collett from England. It would appear from the subsequent census returns that he spent much of his life in Hamden. He was seven years of age in 1860 and was 17 in 1870, by which time he had left the family home but was still living in Hamden. That day Stephen was staying at a lodging house in Hamden when he was described working in an auger shop. During the following decade he married Mary Torpey and by 1880 the childless couple was residing with Stephen’s in-laws.

The census of 1880 for Hamden identified them living at Mill River Branch in Hamden where Stephen Collett was 27 and a butcher like his father. His wife Mary Collett was also 27 when they had a room in the home of Michael A Torpey, aged 55, a stonemason from Ireland and his Irish wife Anna. Completing the household were four of the couple’s unmarried children. The son of Stephen and Mary was born at Hartford, Connecticut in 1882, on whose behalf an application was made to the Social Program during November 1936, when he was confirmed as the son of Steven Collett and Mary Torpey. The form stated that he was also known as Fred S Collett.

44O3

Alfred Steven Collett

Born in 1882 at Hartford, Connecticut

44N7

Charles H Collett was born at Bangor in Maine during 1848, the elder of the two sons of John and Ann Collett, who was two years old in the census of 1850. After spending a few years in Connecticut, the family moved to Princeton in Illinois, where they were recorded in 1860, when Charles H Collett from Maine was 12 years old. After another ten years, Charles Collett from Maine said he was 24, when he was one of two clerks employed at a grocer’s store, who were lodging at the St Clair Township, Illinois home of bar keeper James E Owen from New York who was 30. The other clerk was Dan Gardside from England aged 30 years.

It was during the following year when Charles H Collett married the much younger Della from New York. Unfortunately, no record of the couple has been found in 1880 or 1890 but, by 1900 when Charles H Collett from Maine was 52 years old, his wife Della was recorded as being on 36, which must be a recording error, when they had been married for 29 years. On that day they were residing at 2318 La Fayette Street in Precinct 5, Denver City, Arapahoe County in Colorado. Charles was a clerk with a railroad company who had been born in June 1848, the son of an English father, with Della having been born during the month of February in 1864 – a mistake?

If he was this Charles H Collett, he was buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery in St Louis, Missouri, on the state border with Illinois during 1901, when the year of his birth was recorded as 1849, by which time he would have been 53. No later record of his wife has been found, so being that much younger, there is every chance that she remarried and died under a different surname. In fact, a Della G Collett married Frank E Johnson at Denver, El Paso County, Colorado on 29^th October 1904, three years after the assumed her of Charles H Collett.

44N8

Jason S Collett was born at Hamden in New Haven County, Connecticut on 28^th January 1850 another son of John M Collett and his wife Ann. An alternative record, suggests the year was 1851, which it could be not, since he was four months old in the Hamden census for the previous year. That year was selected in error from the 1880 census when he said he was 29 years of age. Four years prior to that, the marriage of Jason S Collett, aged 26, and Mary A Hill, aged 18, took place at St Clair Township, St Clair County, Illinois on 21^st October 1876. On the day of the census in 1880 Jason Collett from Connecticut was living in Belleville, St Clair County, where he was a conductor on the railroad. His wife Mary Collett from Illinois was 21, and their daughter Irene Collett was two years of age and had been born in Illinois.

Upon the later marriage of their daughter Irene Collett, aged 18, and Joseph Howard Goetz, aged 25, at Freeburg, St Clair County on 12^th August 1896, her parents were confirmed as Jason J Collett and Mary A Hill. Joseph was the son of James Gaetz and Susan McFarland. Fourteen years after their wedding day Jason and Mary were residing in Smithton in Clair County where Jason S Collett was 60 and a general farmer with his own account. His wife of 33 years, Mary was 51 and had given birth to two children, neither of them living. Living in their care was their grandson Howard Goetz who was 12 years of age.

Nine years after that census day, Jason S Collett died at Nevada, Vernon County in Missouri on 4^th November 1919 at the age of 69 and was buried at Newton Burial Park in Nevada. Twenty-seven after being made a widow, Mary Ada Collett, nee Hill, was 88 years old when she passed away at Freeburg on 28^th March 1947 and was buried three days later at the Ryder Cemetery in Belleville, St Clair County. The record of her death stated she was born on 7^th September 1858 at Freeburg, the daughter of Peter Hill and Emily Thrift, whose husband was Jason Collett.

44O4

Irene Collett

Born in 1878 at Belleville, Illinois

44N11

John H Collett was born at Princeton, Bureau County, Illinois in 1856, the fifth child of John and Ann Collett. He was four years old in 1860 at Princeton and, by the time he was 14, he and his family were recorded Bacon Township in Vernon County, Missouri. After a gap of forty years, and simply as John Collett from Illinois, the son of an English father, whose mother was born in Maine, he was 54 years old and a general farmer with his own account at Blue Mound Township, in Vernon County. His wife of seventeen years was Ida Collett aged 37, and their only child was Emma Collett who was 14 and born in Arkansas like her mother.

Ten years before that, the three members of the family were recorded in Benton Township, Fulton County in Arkansas, where John Collett from Illinois, the son of parents born in England and Maine, was 45 and a farmer with his own account. On that day his wife of seven years was Laura Collett from Arkansas who was 27, and their Arkansas born daughter Emma Collett was five years old. On that census form was recorded at Laura ‘Ida’ had given birth to three children with Emma being the only one to survive.

Those two census returns pinpointed that John was married to Laura in 1893, and that enable the search to be narrowed down. It is now known that John H Collett married Laura I McNair (aka Ida) by licence at Fulton Township on 12^th March 1893 when he was 36 and she was 21 when, prior to the event, the bride and the groom were living at Camp in the County of Fulton, six miles north-east of Salem. The death of John H Collett was recorded at Vernon County in Missouri in 1912 at the age of 56.

44O5

Emma Collett

Born in 1896 at Belleville, Illinois

44N13

Mary Ann Collett was born at Llancaen Crilwyn, in Cardiganshire, during 1856 as Mary Ann Jones, the daughter of Ann Jones. Upon her widowed mother’s marriage to John Collett from Atworth in 1864, the child took up the Collett surname and it was as Mary A Collett, aged 14, that she was living at Cwmdu, east of Maesteg in 1871, with John and Ann Collett. Just before her twentieth birthday she married coal miner James Evans who was four years older than Mary and who had been born at Carew in Pembroke. In 1881 the couple was living at 3 MacGregor Row in Cwmdu, where Mary Ann Evans was 24 and her husband was 28. On that occasion, Mary’s place of birth was said, in error, to be Maesteg. Their three Maesteg (Cwmdu) born children were Edith Alice Evans who was five, James John Evans who was two, and Eliza Jane Evans who was just six months old.

44O2

Edwin Stephen Collett was born on 6^th August 1877 at Hamden, New Haven County, when he was confirmed as the son of Thomas Collett and Adele Jane Bryan. He was two years old in the New Haven census of 1880, and was 19 (sic) in the New Haven census of 1900 when he and his older brother George were living at 45 Summer Street in the City of New Haven with their mother who, by then was divorced from their father. Edwin S Collett and George H Collett were working as dealer in bicycles.

During the latter half of the following decade, Edwin married Louise Hyde and by 1910 the pair of them and their only child were living at 1517 Blue Hill Avenue, Boston, Suffolk County in Massachusetts, the third family at the address, Family Visitation No. 203. Edwin S Collett continued to give the census enumerator incorrect details when he said he was 29, Louise Collett was 26, and daughter Elise Collett was five months old. Edwin was then employed as a mail clerk for the railway, with the three members of his family having been born in Connecticut.

Ten years after that day, the family was staying at 65 Bank Street, Attleboro City in Bristol County, Mass. That was the rented home of Eugene A Hyde, a salesman in the retail trade, who was 71 and Edwin’s father-in-law. Edwin S Collett was 42 and commercial trader in automobiles, Louise Collett was 36, and Elise G Collett was 10. Louise’s mother was Ida M Hyde, aged 68, and completing the family group was Louise’s younger unmarried sister Elise Hyde who was 34.

During the 1920s, the family travelled south to Florida where, in 1930, they were recorded at 867 18^th Avenue North, St Petersburg City in Pinellas County, a rented property. Edwin was 50 (sic) and had married when he was thirty years old (sic). Louise was 44 (sic) and was twenty-two when she was first married, and Elise was 20. That day Edwin was not credited with a job of work. And it was nineteen years later that the death of Edwin Stephen Collett was recorded at Pinellas County in 1949.

44P1

Elise G Collett

Born in 1910 at Connecticut

44O3

Alfred Stephen Collett was born at Hartford in Connecticut on 22^nd January 1882, the only known child of Stephen Collett and Mary Torpey. It is curious that, apart from 1940, no other US Census record of his has been found, only the random information listed below, which indicates that he never married. Furthermore, nothing is known about his parents after 1880.

On 10^th September 1918 a Draft Registration Card for Stephen Collett was completed at New Haven City, Connecticut, which confirmed his date of birth, as above, when he was residing at the home of Mrs L J Torpey, his nearest relative, at 225 Lloyd Street in New Haven at the age of 36. At that time in his life he was working as a stock clerk for New Haven Clock Company at 131 Hamilton Street in New Haven. He signed the card in his full name, as in bold type above. He was physically disqualified from military service for the reason his right leg was short.

On submission of a Social Program Application during November 1936 for Alfred, both his and his father’s name were recorded at Steven, when his mother was confirmed as Mary Torpey. The form also confirmed his date and place of birth as indicated above. Four years later, the census in 1940 revealed 57-year-old Alfred Collett from Connecticut was a lodger with no stated occupation, living with the family of Henry and Lillian Hull with their four young children at 546 Winchester Avenue in New Haven.

By the time the WW2 Draft Registration Card for Alfred Steven Collett was filled out in 1942, he was residing at the Corine Hotel, 6 State Street in New London, Connecticut, at 60 years of age. His date and place of birth was again repeated exactly as above, when the person who would always know his address was Mrs Hull of 546 Winchester Avenue in New Haven. His employer’s name was Mr Gould at the U S Submarine Base, Groton, New London. On that day he signed as Alfred S Collett. When he died on 2^nd June 1960 at the age of 78, he was living in New Haven City, and described as Alfred S Collett, single.