Part 70 The Colletts of Shudy Camps in Cambridgeshire

PART SEVENTY

The Colletts of Shudy Camps in Cambridgeshire

Updated June 2025

The village of Shudy Camps in Cambridgeshire, which includes the hamlet of Mill Green, is situated two miles west of Haverhill in Suffolk. The parish church is the Church of St Mary, while the nearby village of Withersfield lies just to the north of Haverhill.

This is the family line of Kate McIvers who supplied some of the details in 2009 which were only developed further during the spring of 2015. Further information


	It is hoped that what appears to be two pairs of brothers (70N1 & 70N2 and 70N3 & 70N4) were in fact the four children of the same parents. In fact, it very much looks like the parents of brothers Samuel and John were John and Hannah Collett, with Samuel baptised at Ashdown in Essex which lies in the middle of area of bounded by Withersfield and Haverhill to the east and Chesterford and Saffron Walden to the west, which also includes Shudy Camps.


70L1	John Collett was married to Mary and their two sons were baptised at Horseheath in Cambridgeshire, not far from Haverhill and the village just west of Withersfield.

	70M1		William Collett		Born in 1749 at Horseheath, Cambridgeshire
	70M2		John Collett		Born in 1751 at Horseheath, Cambridgeshire


70M1	William Collett was baptised at Horseheath near Withersfield on 27^th August 1749, the son of John and Mary Collett. Nothing is currently known about him except that he was twenty-two years of age when he married Hannah Mills at Heveningham in Suffolk on 3^rd December 1771. He may also have been the William Collett who died in early 1839 at Linton, just a few miles west of Horseheath, the death recorded at Linton during the first three months of that year.


70M2	John Collett was baptised at Horseheath near Withersfield on 10^th November 1751, the son of John and Mary Collett. He later married Hannah and the first two sons listed below are certainly their children, while the latter two children may be the sons from a second marriage for John.

	70N1		Samuel Collett		Born in 1794 at Chesterford, east of Haverhill
	70N2		John Collett		Born in 1795 at Chesterford, east of Haverhill
	70N3		William Collett		Born in 1810 at Withersfield, north of Haverhill
	70N4		Joseph Collett		Born in 1812 at Withersfield, north of Haverhill


70N1	Samuel Collett was, according to later census records, was born at Chesterford in 1794, and was baptised at Ashdon in Essex on 9^th November 1794 when he was named as the son of John and Hannah Collett. He first married (1) during the late 1810s and that relationship produced at least three children before Samuel’s wife passed away, perhaps during the birth of a subsequent child. It seems Samuel lived the life of a widower with his three children for the next ten years, until that is, Samuel married (2) Rebecca Watson at Saffron Walden on 23^rd September 1834 with whom he had a further three children.

	Their first child was baptised at Great Bradley, just north of Withersfield, on 18^th February 1836 when the parents of Samuel Collett junior were listed as Samuel and Rebecca Collett. That child would appear to have suffered an infant death, since the Samuel who was living with the family in 1841 was only eleven months old. At the baptism of their second son named Samuel Collett, who was baptised at Sturmer on 17^th July 1840, the boy’s parents were named in error as Daniel and Rebecca Collett, while at the baptism of their fourth child, Thomas Watson Collett at Sturmer on 14^th May 1844, the parents were again recorded as Samuel and Rebecca Collett.

	By the time of the first national census in June 1841 Samuel Collett was living at Couples Farm within the Parish of Sturmer in Essex, just south of Haverhill, where his occupation was that of a farm bailiff. He was 45 and had not been born in Essex, while his wife Rebecca Collett, aged 35, had been. The four children living with them were Mary Ann and Hannah, both of whom had a rounded age of 20, Moses Collett who was 15 and Samuel Collett who was only 11 months old. Two more children were added to the family over the next three years, although it is possible that Rebecca and her last child did not survive the ordeal of the birth, as neither of them featured in the next census.

	Samuel Collett was 58 in the census of 1851 when he was visiting Charles Watson at Leahouse Lane in Saffron Walden, who was most likely the brother of his later wife Rebecca. Samuel was described as a yeoman from Little Chesterford, while Charles Watson was a master baker and a widower of 50 years. Living at the same address was his married son Charles Watson who was 25 and a journeyman baker, and unmarried Ruth Watson who was 23 and a housekeeper. At that same time in 1851 Samuel’s son Moses Collett from Great Bradley, north of Withersfield, was 27 and a farm bailiff, as his father had been, and was employed by bachelor James Osborne, aged 43, a farmer of 350 acres employing 15 men, at Burton End in Haverhill.

	For the next census in 1861 Samuel Collett from Great Chesterford was residing in Great Bradley, where two of his sons had been born many years earlier. At that time in his life, he was 69 and a farmer of two acres with a grocer’s shop and home, where he was living with his third wife (3) Mary who was 47 and born in Kidderminster. The only other person living with them was Mary’s mother Elizabeth Lurcott who was 72 and from Kidderminster in Worcestershire. Nine years later, the death of a Samuel Collett aged 78 was recorded at Lambeth in London (Ref. 1d 274) during the final three months of 1870. By a sheer coincidence, his son and namesake Samuel Collett had already died during the previous year when Samuel passed away in 1870.

	70O1		Mary Ann Collett	Born in 1819 but not in Essex
	70O2		Hannah Collett	Born in 1821 but not in Essex
	70O3		Moses Collett	Born in 1823 at Great Bradley, nr Withersfield
	The following are the children of John Collett and Rebecca Watson:
	70O4		Samuel Collett	Born in 1836 at Great Bradley, nr Withersfield
	70O5		Samuel Collett	Born in 1840 at Sturmer, Essex
	70O6		Charles Watson Collett	Born in 1843 at Sturmer, Essex
	70O7		Thomas Watson Collett	Born in 1844 at Sturmer, Essex


70N2	John Collett was, according to later census records, born around 1795 at Chesterford to the east of Haverhill and near Duxford. He may have been the older brother of William and Joseph Collett (below) from Withersfield and, following his marriage to Mary Ann, who was born at Helions Bumpstead just south of Haverhill, all his children were born at Withersfield. According to the census of 1841 the family was living at Button Green in Withersfield where John Collett was 45 and an agricultural labourer, his wife Mary Collett was 30, and their three children were Aaron Collett who was 12, Mary who was seven, and Sarah who was five.

	At least three more children were added to the family during the 1840s and according to the next Withersfield census in 1851 they were still living at Button Green. John Collett from Chesterford was 55 and was still working as an agricultural labourer. His wife Mary Ann Collett was 43 and the children with them that day were Aaron who was 21, Hannah who was eight, Mary Ann who was four, and Martha who was just two months old.

	Ten years later John Collett was 67 and Mary Ann Collett was 54, while still living there with them were their three daughters. Hannah S Collett was 18, Mary Ann H Collett was 12 and Martha Ann Collett was 10 years of age, all three of them confirmed as having been born at Withersfield, where the family was still living. Although no record of their son Aaron has been found in Britain after 1851, the couple’s daughter Mary Ann Collett was a spinster of 68 years who was still residing in the Withersfield area on the day the census was conducted in April 1911.

	70O8		Aaron Collett	Born in 1828 at Withersfield
	70O9		Mary Collett	Born in 1833 at Withersfield; died after 1841
	70O10		Sarah Collett	Born in 1835 at Withersfield
	70O11		Hannah S Collett	Baptised on 4^th June 1843 at Withersfield
	70O12		Mary Ann H Collett	Born in 1846 at Withersfield
	70O13		Martha Ann Collett	Born in 1851 at Withersfield


70N3	William Collett was born at Withersfield in 1810, the older brother of Joseph Collett. In the census of 1851 William was 40 years old and an agricultural labourer and a drillman living at Button Green in Withersfield, and with him was his wife Elizabeth Collett from Withersfield who was 38. The only other occupants of the dwelling were William Potter, a servant of 16, and widower Joseph Fobersham who was 35 and a lodger and another agricultural labourer. They were both still there in 1861 when William was 47 and Elizabeth was 45. However, William died during the next decade, leaving widow Elizabeth Collett aged 57 from Withersfield still living in the village but at a time in her life when she was in lodgings at the home of James and Sarah Jacobs.


70N4	Joseph Collett was born at Withersfield in Suffolk, near Haverhill, on 3^rd March 1812, the son of John Collett. He married Ann Webb at Haverhill on 26^th February 1839, Ann having been born there on 10^th May 1820, the daughter of Nathaniel Webb and Mary Wiseman. It was also in Haverhill that the couple first lived, where their first seven children were born, though only six of them survived. It was at Haverhill that the young family was residing for the census in 1841 when Joseph was curiously named as John Collett, who had a round age of 25, his wife Ann was 20 and their daughter Emma was two years old.

	By the time the census of 1851 was conducted the family was residing in the hamlet of Mill Green within the parish of Shudy Camps. Joseph Collett was a servant at Stubbing Farm and was described 36 and born at Withersfield in Suffolk. It may have been out of embarrassment for the eight years difference in age between himself and his wife that he said he was younger than he was. His wife Ann Collett was accurately described as 30 years of age and born at Haverhill. Their five Haverhill born children on that occasion were recorded as Hannah Collett who was eight, Harriet Collett who was seven, Kitty Collett who was six, John Collett who was two years of age and William Collett who was ten months old.

	Perhaps because of overcrowding in the family home, and more children to be later added to the family, Joseph’s and Ann’s first-born child Emma Collett was staying with her maternal grandparents at Braintree in Essex. Nathaniel Webb was 56, his wife Mary was 51, and their granddaughter Emma Collett from Haverhill was 10 years of age. None of the children of Joseph Collett was baptised in Haverhill, instead they were all baptised at St Mary’s Church in Shudy Camps when the family was living at Mill Green.

	One year and five years after the census in 1851 the family was still living at Mill Green, although it was in nearby Linton where the births of their two sons Harry and Alfred were recorded. Furthermore, it was still at Mill Green, within the parish of Shudy Camps, that the enlarged family was recorded in the next census of 1861. By that time Joseph Collett was working as a gardener who, that day acknowledged his correct age of 48, when Ann was 41, and living with them were seven of their twelve surviving children. They were Kitty Collett who was 15, William Collett who was 10, Harry Collett who was nine, Ambrose Collett who was seven, Alfred Collett who was five, Dick Collett who was two years of age and Ellen Collett who was seven months old. Kitty and William were the only ones who had been born at Haverhill, with all the other children born at Shudy Camps.

	Sometime after the birth of their last child and prior to the next census day, Joseph and Ann left Mill Green when they moved to Hertfordshire and Stansted Mountfitchet, just north-east of Bishop’s Stortford. That was confirmed in the census of 1871 when Joseph Collett was 59 and working as a gardener at The Willows in the Bentfield End area of Stansted Mountfitchet. Included in the census return with Joseph, was his wife and five of their children. Ann was 51, daughter Catherine was 25 and from Haverhill, son Alfred was 15 and an agricultural labourer from Shudy Camps, as was son Dick who was 13. The two youngest children were Ellen who was 10, and Sarah Ann who was eight, both attending the local school, while their place of birth was also confirmed as Shudy Camps.

	In the next census of 1881 Joseph Collett was still living at Stansted Mountfitchet in a cottage. He was 68 and had been born at Withersfield in Suffolk and, while his status was said to be married, the only person living there with him was his daughter Ellen who was 20 and a general domestic servant, presumably acting as housekeeper for her father. In fact, his wife, Anna Collett from Suffolk who was 61, was then boarding with their married daughter Catherine (Kate Marsh) at 14 Weddington Road near Camden Town.

	It was also at Stansted where Joseph Collett died on 4^th April 1891, one day before the census was conducted that year. The census return completed that day listed head of the household as the widow Ann Collett from Haverhill who was 70, who still had living with her on that sad day, her daughter Ellen Collett from Shudy Camps who was 30. The pair of them was still in Stansted ten years later when Ann Collett aged 80 and from Haverhill was living on her own means, supported by her unmarried daughter Ellen Collett from Shudy Camps who was 40.

	70O14		Emma Collett	Born in 1839 at Haverhill
	70O15		Hannah Collett	Born on 30.09.1840 at Haverhill; died 26.04.1841
	70O16		Hannah Collett	Born in 1842 at Haverhill
	70O17		Harriet Collett	Born in 1843 at Haverhill
	70O18		Catherine (Kitty) Collett	Born in 1846 at Haverhill
	70O19		John Collett	Born on 17.07.1848 at Haverhill
	70O20		William Collett	Born in 1850 at Haverhill
	70O21		Harry Collett	Born in 1852 at Mill Green, Shudy Camps
	70O22		Ambrose Collett	Born in 1854 at Mill Green, Shudy Camps
	70O23		Alfred Collett	Born in 1856 at Mill Green, Shudy Camps
	70O24		Richard Collett	Born in 1858 at Mill Green, Shudy Camps
	70O25		Ellen Collett	Born in 1860 at Mill Green, Shudy Camps
	70O26		Sarah Ann Collett	Born on 1863 at Mill Green, Shudy Camps


70O4	Samuel Collett was born at Great Bradley near Withersfield in 1836, the son of Samuel Collett by his second wife Rebecca Watson. He was baptised there at Great Bradley on 18^th February 1836, but sadly died not long after that.


70O5	Samuel Collett was born at Sturmer, just south of Haverhill, in late June or early July 1840 and was named in honour of his older brother who had died before he was born. It was also at Sturmer that he was baptised on 17^th July 1840. Samuel was eleven months old on the day of the census in June 1841 when he and his family were still residing in Sturmer. However, by the time of the next census in 1851 Samuel’s mother, Rebecca Collett nee Watson, had already passed away.

	At the age of 10 years Samuel Collett and his brother Charles (below) were staying with relatives at Button Green in Withersfield. Both were described as from Sturmer, the nephews of Ambrose Jefferies 53 and his wife Mahalah Jefferies 49 from Withersfield. It is therefore possible that Mahalah was the sister of Rebecca, the boys’ late mother. According to the census in 1861 Samuel Collett from Bradley was 20 years old when he was an apprentice living with the large Whitmore family at Gazeley in Suffolk to the east of Newmarket. It was eight and a half years after that when Samuel Collett died in Suffolk on 26^th October 1869, with probate resolved at Bury St Edmunds on 4^th March 1870. His death preceded that of his father who death was recorded in London at the end of 1870.


70O6	Charles Watson Collett was born at Sturmer in 1843, although his birth was recorded at nearby Risbridge (Ref. 12 395) during the second quarter of that year. Charles W Collett was eight years of age in census of 1851 when he and his brother Samuel (above) were staying with Ambrose and Mahalah Jeffries at Button Green in Withersfield, their aunt and uncle, following the premature death of the boys’ mother. Ten years later, in the census of 1861, Charles W Collett from Sturmer in Essex was an apprentice at the age of 17 when he was living within the Parish of St Peter in Sudbury, Suffolk. He was the only Collett living within that registration district and, by that time, Charles’ father had also passed away.


70O7	Thomas Watson Collett was born at Sturmer in 1844, where he was baptised on 14^th May 1844, the last child born to Samuel Collett and Rebecca Collett. Either at the time of his birth or shortly thereafter his mother died. With no record of Thomas in any later census, it is possible that he too did not survive.


70O14	Emma Collett was born at Haverhill on 19^th April 1839, the eldest of the thirteen children of Joseph Collett and Ann Webb. She was two years old in the Haverhill census of 1841 and it was in 1850 that the family left Haverhill when they settled at Mill Green in Shudy Camps. By that time Emma was the eldest of the six children and, perhaps for reasons of overcrowding in the family home, she was staying with her mother’s parents at Braintree in Essex on the day the census was conducted in 1851. Emma Collett from Haverhill was 10 years old when she was with Nathaniel Webb, aged 56, Mary Webb, aged 51, and their three children Sarah who was 20, Joseph who was 18, and Hannah who was 16. After a further ten years Emma Collett was 21 when she was the only Collett living within the Hedingham and Halstead area to the north-east of Braintree in Essex.


70O16	Hannah Collett was born at Haverhill on 20^th November 1842, the third daughter of Joseph Collett and Ann Webb and the second child of that name for the couple, following the death of her sister during the previous year. It was ten years later, after her family had settled in nearby Shudy Camps, that she was baptised at St Mary’s Church on 4^th July 1852 in a joint ceremony with her sisters Harriet and Catherine (Kitty) Collett and her brothers John, William, and Harry Collett. The census conducted during the preceding year included Hannah Collett aged eight years living at Mill Green in Shudy Camps with her family. What happened to Hannah after 1851 is not clear because no record of her has been found in the next two census returns in 1861 or 1871.

	It was then around two years later that she married James Allsworth and by 1881 they and their children were living at St Leonards Square in St Pancras, London. Her husband was James was a general labourer from Cambridgeshire who was 36. Their five St Pancras born children were listed as twins Robert Allsworth and Herbert Allsworth who were six, George Allsworth who was four, Frederick Allsworth who was three, and Ellen Allsworth who was under one year old. Visiting the family were two of Hannah’s brothers, Ambrose Collett, and Richard Collett (below).


70O17	Harriet Collett was born at Haverhill on 19^th March 1843, another daughter of Joseph and Ann Collett. She was eight years of age when she was baptised with five of her siblings at Shudy Camps on 4^th July 1852, while one year earlier she was seven years old in the Mill Green, Shudy Camps census of 1851. Like her sister Hannah (above) Harriet too has not been identified in the census returns for 1861 and 1871, but by 1881 she was still unmarried at the age of 37. The census that year recorded her as having been born at Haverhill, when she was employed as the cook at the home of retired solicitor Richard Fisher and his wife Mary at Hill Top, a private house, in West Lavington, Sussex. Harriet never married and, following the death of her widowed mother during the first few years of the new century, Harriet Collett aged 67 moved to Stansted Mountfitchet in Essex to live with her younger unmarried sister Ellen Collett (below).


70O18	Catherine (Kitty) Collett was born at Haverhill on 27^th January 1846, another daughter of Joseph and Ann Collett. She was six years old when she was baptised with five other members of her family on 4^th July 1852. Although in later life she was known as Kate, it was as Kitty that she was included in the census returns for 1851 and 1861 when she was living with her family at Mill Green in Shudy Camps at the ages of six and 15 respectively. It was in London on 29^th May 1870 that Catherine married George Marsh who had been born at Ashdon in Essex on 12^th October 1845, the son of Richard Marsh and Mary Jepps. The couple’s first four children were born in England before the family emigrated to Huron County in Ontario, Canada.

	In 1881 the young family was recorded at 14 Weddington Road to the north of Camden Town in London. George Marsh was a general labourer at the age of 35, as was his wife Kate Marsh from Suffolk. Their four children were Anne Marsh who was eight, Henry Marsh who was six, Arthur Marsh who was three, and Minnie Marsh who was one year old. Also living with the family was Kate’s mother Ann (Anna) Collett who was 61 and described as a married boarder.

	The details for their six children are as follows: Annie Marsh was born in London during the third quarter of 1872 and died on 12^th April 1949 at Pickford in Michigan, USA. Harry S Marsh was born on 4^th March 1875 at Ashdon in Essex and died on 21^st March 1955 at Royal Oak in Oakland County, Michigan. Arthur Marsh was born on 10^th July 1877 at Kentish Town and died on 22^nd July 1962 at Manitoba in Canada. Minnie Marsh was born on 21^st January 1880 at Ashdon and died on 11^th December 1977 at Dungannon in Ontario. Willey Marsh was born on 9^th May 1885 at Hullett Township in Huron County, Ontario and died on 26^th November 1983 at Goderich in Ontario. And lastly Bertie Marsh was born on 18^th March 1890 at Hullett Township and died on 28^th November 1979 at Auburn in Ontario and was buried at Ball's Cemetery in Huron County. Catherine Marsh nee Collett died on 24^th July 1930 at Auburn in Ontario and was buried at Ball's Cemetery in Huron County. George Marsh died seven years later, on 26^th June 1937 at West Wawanosh in Ontario and was buried with his wife on 29^th June 1937.


70O20	William Collett was born at Haverhill on 18^th May 1850 and shortly after he was born his family moved to Mill Green in Shudy Camps where he was baptised on 4^th July 1852 in a joint ceremony at St Mary’s Church which included five of his siblings. He was ten months old in the census of 1852 and was 10 years old in the census of 1761. During the next decade his family left Shudy Camps when they moved to Stansted Mountfitchet, although William did not move there with them, nor has he been identified within the following census in 1881. The reason for that might be that he was serving with the British Army in India with the 44^th Foot and 56^th Foot, those two units referred to in the military records for most of his children.

	Not long after that he married the much younger Margaret Riley, probably in India, where she had been born on 1^st January 1865 at Meerut and baptised at Bengal on 17^th January 1865, the daughter of Michael and Alice Riley. After being posted to Aden in Yemen, under auspices of the Bombay Presidency, it was there that the first of the nine known children was born. On returning to England shortly after the birth, William was based at the East India Company’s Warley Barracks near Brentwood in Essex, where they were recorded in the census of 1891, and where the couple’s next seven children were born between 1886 and 1897. On that census day in 1891 William Collett from Haverhill was 39 and a colour sergeant with the infantry, Margaret Collett from India was 25, Edith Annie Collett was six and also born at India (sic), John William Collett was four, Sydney Collett was two, and Joseph Collett was one year old. Their three sons were confirmed as born at Warley Barracks.

	Four more children were added to the family during the 1890s, all born at Warley Barracks, after which William left the army with his next occupation taken up at the Kynoch Explosives Factory which opened in 1897. It was for that reason that the large family had to move east to Corringham in Essex where the factory was built at Kynoch Town. The Corringham census in 1901 for Kynoch Town confirmed that William Collett from Haverhill was 49 and employed at the explosive works where he was a patrol security guard. At the height of production, leading up to and during the First World War, the factory of George Kynoch from Scotland employed 4,000 people, mostly women, working twelve-hour shifts each day.

	William’s wife Margaret was 36 in 1901 when she said she had been born at Portsmouth, although no record of her birth there has been found. Seven of the couple’s eight children were still living at Cottingham there with them and they were: Edith who was 16 and was also working at the explosives factory when her birthplace was simply described as one of the colonises in Asia; Sydney was 13; Joseph was 11; Margaret was nine; Jessie was seven; Harry was five; and William was three years old. The absent child was eldest son John who would have been 14 who was already working away from home. On that day Margaret was very close to giving birth to her ten child whose birth at Kynoch Town was recorded Orsett during April-June 1901, having already suffered the infant death of her ninth child in 1900.

	Curiously, that next census did not provide details of Margaret living with her family that day, having lost her eleventh and last child in 1903. However, William Collett from Haverhill was then living at Fobbing, just north-east of Corringham, at the start of April in 1911, when he was described as 60 years of age, a married man of twenty-seven years during which time he and his wife had given birth to eleven children, with nine of them still living, who was an army pensioner. Living with him that day was just his daughter Jessie Collett who was 17, and his three sons Harry Ernest Collett who was 15, William Collett who was 13, and Samuel Collett who was 10 years of age.

	In 2025 the identity of the couple’s two missing children was unearthed, the first of them being Alice Dorothy Collett whose birth was recorded at Orsett register office (Ref. 4a 575) near the end of 1899. Her premature death was also recorded there (Ref. 4a 271) in 1900. The couple’s last child was Beatrice Wilhelmina Collett whose birth was also recorded at Orsett register office (Ref. 4a 648) towards the end of 1902. It was during the following year that the death of baby Beatrice Wilhelmina Collett was recorded at Orsett register office (Ref. 4a 260).

	70P1		Edith Alice Annie Collett	Born in 1884 at Aden, Yemen
	70P2		John William Collett	Born in 1886 at Warley, Essex
	70P3		Sydney Collett	Born in 1888 at Warley, Essex
	70P4		Joseph Harris Collett	Born in 1890 at Warley, Essex
	70P5		Margaret Ellen Collett	Born in 1892 at Warley, Essex
	70P6		Jessie Mildred Collett	Born in 1893 at Warley, Essex
	70P7		Harry Ernest Collett	Born in 1895 at Warley, Essex
	70P8		William Collett	Born in 1897 at Warley, Essex
	70P9		Alice Dorothy Collett	Born in 1899 at Kynoch Town, died 1900
	70P10		Samuel Collett	Born in 1901 at Kynoch Town, Essex
	70P11		Beatrice Wilhelmina Collett	Born in 1902 at Kynoch Town, died 1903


70O21	Harry Collett was born at Mill Green in Shudy Camps on 18^th March 1852, one of the sons of Joseph Collett and Ann Webb, who was baptised at St Mary’s Church on 4^th July 1852. The birth of Harry Collett was registered at Linton, Cambridgeshire (Ref. 3b 487) during the second quarter of 1852. He was nine years old in the Shudy camps census of 1861, while ten years later he had left the family home and was a ledger at Oadby near Leicester when he was recorded as Harry Collett from Shudy Camps who was 18. On that occasion he was working as a groom and was staying with John and Mary Swanson who were 36 and 31 respectively. It was not long after that when he married Ellen Staples from Leicester, the wedding taking place around 1872 or 1873, with their first child born in 1873. According to the census in 1881 the family of Harry and Ellen Collett was living at 27 Thomas Street within the Leicester parish of St Margaret.

	Harry was 29 and a coachman from Cambridge, Ellen was also 29 and their first four children were Alice Collett who was seven, George Collett who was five, Ellen Collett who was two and Ambrose Collett who was six months old. All four children had been born in Leicester. Over the next decade a further four children were added to the family, three of them when they were still living in Leicester and the fourth at Bassett Street in South Wigston near Oadby, to the south of Leicester, where the family was recorded in the census of 1891. Harry was once again described as a groom, at the age of 38, as was Ellen who was expecting the birth of the couple’s ninth child. All eight children were still living there with the couple, and they were Alice 17, George 15, Ellen 12, Ambrose 10, together with Ethel Collett who was eight, Gertrude who was six, Harry who was three and Emily Collett who was one year old.

	Two more children were added to the family, the first of them in the following year, and five years after that Ellen gave birth to the tenth child, when she was around forty-six years of age. The census return for Wigston in March 1901 listed the family at Kirkdale Road as Harry Collett aged 49 and a coachman and beer house keeper from Cambridge, Ellen Collett who was 49, George H Collett who was 25 and a hosier over-looker, Ellen Collett who was 22 and a hosier framework knitter, Ethel Collett who was 18, Gertrude Collett who was 16 and may have been helping her mother, Harry Collett who was 13 and a shoe polisher, Emily Collett who was 11, Alfred B Collett who was nine and Frank E Collet who was three years of age.

	It was at Bakewell House, 12 Kirkdale Road in South Wigston within the parish of Wigston Magna that Harry, aged 59 and a domestic coachman, was living with his wife Ellen, who was also 59, together with six of their children, in April 1911. Ethel was 28, Gertrude was 26, Harry was 23, Emily was 21, Basil was 19, and Frank Edward Collett was 13. Harry spent the remainder of his life at 12 Kirkdale Road in South Wigston, since it was at that address where he died on 22^nd November 1926 when administration was granted to George Henry Collett, a hosiery manufacturer foreman and Frank Edward Collett, a grocer’s assistant. The estate of Harry Collett was valued at £1,001 8 Shillings and 10 Pence and his death was recorded at Blaby register office (Ref. 7a 58) during the last three months of 1926 when he was 73.

	70P12	Alice Collett					Born in 1874 at Leicester
	70P13	George Henry Collett					Born in 1876 at Leicester
	70P14	Ellen Collett					Born in 1878 at Leicester
	70P15	Ambrose Collett					Born in 1880 at Leicester
	70P16	Ethel Collett					Born in 1882 at Leicester
	70P17	Gertrude Collett					Born in 1885 at Leicester
	70P18	Harry Collett					Born in 1887 at Leicester
	70P19	Emily Collett					Born in 1890 at Wigston
	70P20	Alfred Basil Collett					Born in 1892 at Wigston
	70P21	Frank Edward Collett					Born in 1897 at Wigston


70O22	Ambrose Collett was born at Mill Green in Shudy Camps on 1^st April 1854, a son of Joseph and Ann Collett, with his born registered at Linton in Cambridgeshire (Ref. 3b 495). It was just one month later when he was baptised in the parish Church of St Mary in Shudy Camps on 7^th May 1854, the son of Joseph and Ann. He was six years old in the census of 1861, the only time he was recorded with his family in Mill Green. By the time he was 15 Ambrose was the only Collett recorded within the Cold Newton & Billesdon census of 1871 for Leicestershire. However, after a further ten years it was Ambrose and his younger brother Richard who were staying with their older married sister Hannah Allsworth at St Leonards Square in St Pancras, London.

	Ambrose Collett was 27 and a coachman who, with his brother Richard Collett aged 22, was visiting the Allsworth family, both born in Cambridgeshire. During the next couple of years Ambrose married the much younger Elizabeth whose children who were all believed to have been born at Hackney, but later revealed not to be correct. Curiously, within the census of 1891, no children were listed with the couple, nor have any searches revealed their whereabouts. On that occasion Ambrose Collett, an undertaker’s coachman and groom was 36 when he and his wife Elizabeth from Islington, who was 27, were residing at 23 Smith Street in Mile End Old Town.

	The full family was recorded in the next census of 1901 as living at 4 St Thomas Square in Hackney, where they were also recorded in the Electoral Role of 1903, whereas it was at number 2 St Thomas Square that the family was recorded in 1910. In March 1901 Ambrose Collett from Cambridgeshire was 46 and a bus driver. Elizabeth was 37 and their four children were named as Annie Collett who was 16, Harriet Collett who was 14, Ernest Collett who was eight and Elsie Collett who was three years of age. Tragically, the couple’s three-year-old daughter Elsie Adelaide Collett died within the next six months, her death recorded at Hackney (Ref. 1b 338) during the third quarter of 1901.

	It may have been Ambrose’s occupation that resulted in another move for his family during 1910, since it was within the Edmonton area of London that they were recorded in the April 1911. Ambrose was 57 from Shudy Camps, Elizabeth was 47 and from Islington, Ethel was 27 and born at Leyton, Harriet was 24 and born at Stepney, and Alfred was eight years old and born at Hackney. It was also at Hackney (Ref. 1b 552) where his birth was recorded during the last quarter of 1903. Their son Ernest Ambrose Collett was 18 and was serving with the army at Woolwich at that time. In 1914, a certain Frank Ambrose Collett, born in 1893, entered military service with the Royal Field Artillery, service number 940320, with 379^th Battery of the 96^th Brigade.

	70P22		Ethel Annie Collett	Born in 1884 at Leyton, Essex
	70P23		Harriet Collett	Born in 1886 at Stepney; died 09.02.1964
	70P24		Ernest Ambrose Collett	Born in 1893 at Hackney
	70P25		Elsie Adelaide Collett	Born in 1898 at Hackney
	70P26		Alfred William Collett	Born in 1903 at Hackney


70O23	Alfred Collett was born at Mill Green in Shudy Camps on 7^th March 1856, a son of Joseph Collett and Ann Webb, whose birth was recorded at Linton in Cambridgeshire (Ref. 3b 506) during the first quarter of that year. It was also at the parish church in Shudy Camps that he was baptised on 6^th April 1856 when his parents were confirmed as Joseph and Ann. It was the Bishop’s Transcripts which confirmed his date of birth on the baptism record, when his father’s occupation was that of a gardener. He was five years old and 15 years of age in the next two census returns, on each occasion when he was living with his family at Mill Green. By the time he was 25, Alfred Collett from Shudy Camps was employed as a domestic servant and a groom for Justice of the Peace and farmer of 148 acres William Trolter at Horton Manor House in Epsom, Surrey.

	Around seven months after that census day, the marriage of Alfred Collett and Amelia Ann Hicks was recorded at St Pancras (Ref. 1b 66) during the last three months of 1881. By the time of the next census in 1891 their marriage had resulted in the birth of four children. The family of six was recorded in the St Pancras & Kentish Town registration district of London, when they were living at Weedington Road in the Gospel Oak electoral ward, within the parliamentary constituency of Holborn and St Pancras. The births of all their children were registered at St Pancras. Alfred who was 35 and from Shudy Camps was employed as a stableman, Amelia from Hillingdon was 34, Alfred E Collett who was seven, Amelia M Collett who was six, Mary E Collett who was four and Annie Collett who was two years old. The next census in 1901 revealed that Alfred Collett from Shudy Camps was 45 and still working as a stableman and a groom, when he and his family were living at Elaine Grove in Gospel Oak, just north of Weedington Road. His wife Amelia A Collett from Hillingdon was 44 and their two eldest children were named as Alfred E Collett who was 17 and a compositor’s apprentice from Kentish Town, and Amelia M Collett also from Kentish Town who was 16 and a cook stamper. The three younger children were still attending school and they were Mary E Collett who was 14, Annie E Collett who was 12, and latest arrival Ellen M Collett who was only seven years old, all three of them also born at Kentish Town.

	The family was still living within the same area of London in April 1911 when Alfred Collett from Shudy Camps was 55 and a stableman working for a wine merchant. Amelia Ann Collett was 54, Alfred Ernest was 27 and a printer’s compositor, Amelia Margaret was 26 and a machinist working for the same wine merchant as her father, Mary Emily Collett was 24 and employed by a local stationery as a playing card sorter, and Ellen May was 17 and working for a stationer, but in the education section. Five years later, and two years into the First World War, Alfred and Amelia were residing at 15 Christchurch Avenue in Wembley when they received the sad news from the War Department that their son Alfred Ernest Collett had been killed in action on Flanders Field on 13^th November 1916.

	By the autumn of 1922, Alfred and Amelia were living at 10 Montpelier Road, East Finchley in London W2, from where the couple’s youngest daughter Ellen sailed to Canada, where she was married early in 1923. However, perhaps after Ellen had left the family home, the couple returned to live in the Wembley area, where Amelia Ann Collett, nee Hicks, died on 5^th July 1928 at the age of 72, after which she was buried at nearby Alperton Cemetery in the London Borough of Brent. The death of Amelia A Collett was recorded at Middlesex register office (Ref. 3a 267).

	70P27		Alfred Ernest Collett	Born in 1883 at Kentish Town
	70P28		Amelia Margaret Collett	Born in 1884 at Kentish Town
	70P29		Mary Emily Collett	Born in 1886 at Kentish Town
	70P30		Annie Edith Collett	Born in 1889 at Kentish Town
	70P31		Ellen May Collett	Born in 1894 at Kentish Town


70O24	Richard Collett was born at Mill Green in Shudy Camps on 27^th May 1858, another son of Joseph and Ann Collett. It is interesting that his birth was recorded using the name Dick Collett at Linton (Ref. 3b 500) during the second quarter of 1858. He was baptised at St Mary’s Church in Shudy Camps when he was fourteen months old on 24^th July 1859 and he and his family were still living in Mill Green for the census of 1861 when, as Dick Collett, he was two years old. During the 1860s the family moved to Essex and by 1871 Dick Collett, aged 13 and an agricultural labourer from Shudy Camps, was still with the family at The Willows, at cottage in Bentfield End in Stansted Mountfitchet. At the time of the next census in 1881 Richard Collett, aged 22 and a labourer, was accompanying his brother Ambrose (above) when they were visitors at the St Leonards Square in St Pancras, London, the home of their married sister Hannah Allsworth nee Collett. Although no record of Richard or Dick has been found in England after 1881, it is reputed that he later married and had two children, Joyce and John, about whom nothing is known.

	70P32		Joyce Collett	Date of birth unknown
	70P33		John Collett	Date of birth unknown


70O25	Ellen Collett was born at Mill Green in Shudy Camps on 18^th August 1860, the twelfth child of Joseph Collett and Ann Webb, whose birth was registered at Linton, Cambridgeshire (Ref. 3b 466). She was baptised at St Mary’s Church in Shudy Camps on 25^th November 1860, when she was confirmed as the daughter of Joseph and Anne Collett. On the day of the census the following year, Ellen Collett was seven months old, but sometime after that the family left Shudy Camps and by 1871 were residing at The Willows, a cottage at Bentfield End in Stansted Mountfitchet when Ellen Collett was 10 years of age. Part of the family was still living at Stansted in 1881 when Ellen was 20 and a general domestic servant looking after her father in the absence of her mother who was away visiting Ellen’s married sister Kate Marsh in London.

	Almost exactly ten years later Ellen’s father passed away and in the 1891 census for Stansted conducted the following day Ellen Collett from Shudy Camps who was 30, the only person living with her widowed mother Ann. It was the same situation in march 1901 when Ellen Collett from Shudy Camps was 40 and was looking after her 80-year-old mother from Haverhill who was living on her own means. After her mother died during the next few years Ellen continued to live in the family home at Stansted Mountfitchet where she subsequently joined by her older unmarried sister Harriet Collett. That was confirmed by the next census in 1911 when Ellen Collett, aged 49, was living with Harriet Collett who was 67.


70O26	Sarah Ann Collett was born at Mill Green in Shudy Camps on 2^nd March 1863 with her birth registered at Linton in Cambridgeshire (Ref. 3b 542). She was baptised at Shudy Camps on 24^th May 1863 the last child born to Joseph Collett and his wife Ann Webb. Saran Ann was eight years old in the census of 1871, by which time she and her family had moved to The Willows in the Bentfield End area of Stansted Mountfitchet where her father was a gardener. On leaving school Sarah entered domestic service and in 1881 she was recorded in that year’s census as Sarah Collett from Cambridgeshire who was 18 and a housemaid at the 17 Parkhurst Road in London, the home of Doctor of Science Oliver Joseph Lodge, an assistant professor of physics at London College.


70P1	Edith Alice Annie Collett was the first-born child of career soldier William Collett and his India born wife Margaret. Her mother may have been Margaret Riley who was born at Meerut, Bengal in India on 1^st January 1865, who was baptised in Bengal on 17^th January 1885, the daughter of Michael and Alice Riley. William and Margaret were probable married in India or in Aden, Yemen, the latter then under the rule of the Bombay Presidency. Although only known as Edith Annie Collett back in England, she was born at Aden (Bombay Presidency) India on 26^th September 1884, where she was baptised on 24^th October 1884. The baptism record confirmed her parents were William and Margaret Collett.

	It was at Warley Barracks in Essex that Edith and her family were living in 1891 when she was six years of age. By 1901 her father had retired from the military, moving the family to Kynoch Town in Corringham where he was employed at the Kynoch Explosives Factory, where Edith also worked as a cordite packer when she was 16. Six years later the marriage of Edith Alice Annie Collett and Harry William Blanks was recorded at Strood register office in Kent (Ref. 2a 1222) during the second quarter of 1907. William had been born at Northfleet in Kent on 17^th March 1881 and was 30 years old and a publican at an inn in Limehouse, London in 1911. His wife Edith Alice Blanks was 26 and assisting her husband in the family business. The census form did not give her place of birth. The census form included their daughter Doris Edith Blanks who was three years old and born at Limehouse, and a general domestic servant Mabel Sturgeon who was 16 and from Whitechapel.

	The death of Edith A A Blanks aged 72 was recorded at Woolwich register office (Ref. 5d 765) following her passing of 13^th May 1957. Four years after being widowed Harry W Blanks died at Welling in Kent on 26^th December 1961 at the age of 80, but with his death recorded at Middlesex register office (Ref, 5e 305). Harry was the youngest child of licence victualler Thomas Blanks and his wife Mary A Blanks.


70P2	John William Collett was born at Warley Barracks to the south of Brentwood in Essex during the summer of 1886, the second child and eldest son of William and Margaret Collett, whose birth was recorded at Romford (Ref. 4a 351) during the third quarter of the year. His father was a member of the British Army who was a sergeant with the infantry in 1891, when the family was living at Warley Barracks where John William Collett was four years old. On his father’s retirement from the army, the family moved to Corringham in 1897 where his father and one of John’s sisters found employment with the George Kynoch Limited Explosives Factory at Corringham (today Stanford-le-Hope) in Essex. After leaving school John William Collett from Warley, aged fourteen years, was a boarder at The Unicorn Inn on Magdalene Street in Colchester, run by Samuel and Hannah Bloomfield, from where he was working as a cashier in a shop. That census day in 1901 identified the remainder of his family forty-four miles away in Corringham.

	No record of him has been found within the census of 1911, or at any other time thereafter. However, he was 47 years old when the death of John W Collett was recorded at Essex register office (Ref. 4a 5) during 1933.


70P3	Sydney Collett was born at Warley Barracks in 1888, the third child of William and Margaret Collett. His birth was recorded at Romford register office (Ref. 4a 367) during the second quarter of that year. He was two years of age in the Warley census of 1891, and was around nine years old when his father left the army in Warley and moved the family to Kynoch Town in Corringham in Essex, where Sydney was 13 in 1901. Four years later, Sydney had followed his father by enlisting with the British Army who, at the age of 17, was serving with the Essex Regiment from 1906 to 1915, as he was in 1911, with that year’s census confirming Sydney Collett was 24 and serving overseas.

	The above end-date of 1915 coincided with the wedding of Sydney Collett and Mary Ann Elizabeth Wyatt which was recorded at Essex register office on 1^st August 1915. It seems likely that the couple had three children in London, one at Stepney and two at Limehouse where Mary was born, with their first child possibly born earlier in Suffolk just to the north of Essex and during the final year of the First World War. In all four cases the mother’s maiden-name was Wyatt.

	There were: Sydney V Collett in Qrt 1 1918 (Ref. 4a 1450); William C Collett in Qrt 1 1920 (Ref. 1c 633); Thomas R Collett in Qrt 4 1921 (Ref. 1c 430); and Lilian M A Collett in Qrt 4 1923 (Ref. 1c 425). Two years prior to the start of the Second World War, William C Collett was only seventeen years of age when he died, with his premature death recorded at London register office (Ref. 1c 235) in 1937.

	Sydney was 44 when he died at Stepney in London during 1933, when his death was recorded at London register office (Ref. 1c 415). Mary was 43 when she passed away at Stepney on 14^th August 1935 two years after losing her husband, with her death also recorded at London register office (Ref. 1c 217) which also recorded that she was born at Limehouse on 15^th November 1891. Her birth was recorded at Stepney register office (Ref. 1c 433) during the last three months of that year.

	70Q1		Sydney V Collett	Born in 1918 at Woodbridge, Suffolk
	70Q2		William C Collett	Born in 1920 at Stepney, London
	70Q3		Thomas R Collett	Born in 1921 at Limehouse, London
	70Q4		Lilian M A Collett	Born in 1923 at Limehouse, London


70P4	Joseph Harris Collett was born at Warley Barracks in 1890, another child of William and Margaret Collett, whose birth was recorded at Romford register office (Ref. 4a 367) during the second quarter of that year. Simply as Joseph Collett he was one year old in the Warley census of 1891 and, after his family moved to Kynoch Town in Corringham around 1897, he was eleven years of age in 1901. Where he was in 1911 has still to be discovered. Later records of the only Joseph Harris Collett born around 1891 suggest he raised his family in South Africa, where his body was found in Durban Bay on 16^th August 1947. Once he was identified, and following the results of the inquest into his death signed by the Durban magistrate on 4^th November 1947, the following details were released.

	He was around 55 and married, with his home address as 107 5^th Avenue, Greyville, Durban, and was buried at Stellawood Cemetery Durban. “His sudden death was due to asphyxia due to drowning, probably accidental. The evidence discloses the fact that the deceased at the time of his disappearance was under the influence of liquor and whilst in that condition accidentally fell into the bay”

	Also recorded at Durban was the birth of his daughter Enid Joan Collett (as Euid?) on 25^th August 1925, when the parents were confirmed at Joseph Harris Collett and Catherine Emily Collett, who was later baptised at St John’s Church in Durban on 3^rd January 1926. On that day the couple was living at Cato Manor in Mayville, near Durban, where Joseph was a tram conductor, and when the witnesses were William and Gladys Rolleston, and Ruth Bell. There is some doubt that this Joseph Harris Collett is the one born at Warley Barracks because, at his tragic accident it was thought he may have been born in Eire. It is also curious that his wife was not named on the inquest report.


70P5	Margaret Ellen Collett was born at Warley Barracks, the fifth child of William and Margaret Collett. Her birth was recorded at Romford register office (Ref. 4a 435) during the first three months of 1892. It was as Margaret E Collett that she was listed as one of the children of William Collett of the 44^th and the 56^th Foot with the British Army. When her father retired from the army in 1897, the family left Warley and settled in Kynoch Town in Corringham where Margaret Collett was nine years of age in 1901. That was the only occasion when she was recorded with her family. By 1911, nineteen-year-old Margaret Ellen Collett was a domestic servant with the elderly married couple James Webster, a boot importer, and his wife Maria, at their home in the Wandsworth area of south London.


70P6	Jessie Mildred Collett was born at Warley Barracks in 1893, another daughter of William and Margaret Collett. Her birth was also recorded at Romford register office (Ref. 4a 415) during the last quarter of the year. In the following two census returns for Kynoch Town in Corringham she was simply named as Jessie Collett from Warley who was seven and seventeen years old, respectively, by which time she was employed at the Kynoch Explosives Factory where her father had been a security guard. On that day in April 1911 Jessie Collett from Warley Barracks was the eldest of the four children of William Collett, an army pensioner, residing in the village of Fobbing, near Corringham.

	It was later that same year when young Jessie M Collett married Percy J Gorham with the wedding recorded at Orsett Essex register office (Ref. 4a 1089) during the last three months of 1911. Their marriage produced six children over the next decade, when all the births were recorded at Billericay register office. They were Leslie A W Gorham in 1912, Norman A Gorham in 1913, Bernard J Gorham in 1914, Lillian M Gorham in 1916, Mabel E Gorham in 1917, and Edward A Gorham in 1921. Jessie Mildred Gorham, nee Collett died in 1942, when her death was recorded at Brentwood Essex register office (Ref. 4a 755) at the age of 48. Twelve years after losing his wife, the death of Percy J Gorham, aged 63, was recorded at Essex register office (Ref. 5a 501) in 1954.


70P7	Harry Ernest Collett was born at Warley Barracks in Essex in 1895 and was simply Harry Collett aged five years in the Corringham census of 1901, his family having moved there when Harry was one year old. His birth was recorded at Romford register office (Ref. 4a 456) during the last three months of 1895. By 1911 he had completed his education and at the age of 15, Harry Collett from Warley was employed at an oil works (refinery), when he and three of his siblings were recorded with their father at Fobbing near Corringham.

	Four years have after war, Harry Ernest Collett married Violet Weaver, with the two of them recorded as residing in Basildon in 1922, when Harry’s father was confirmed as William Collett, with Violet the daughter of Joseph Weaver. Their wedding was recorded at Billericay (Ref. 4a 1253) during the last three months of 1922. Over the next six years Violet gave birth to three children, those birth were recorded at Billericay register office (Ref. 4a 1168) in Qrt 2 1923, (Ref. 4a 1073) in Qrt 3 1925, and (Ref. 4a 1009) in Qrt 3 1928. In each case the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Weaver. Tragically, just a few months after the birth of their third child, the death of Harry E Collett was recorded at Essex register office (Ref. 4a 546) during the last three months of 1928 when he was 32. His obituary, using his full name, was printed in the Essex Newsman on 24^th November 1928 which confirmed that he had died at Tilbury in Essex.

	Despite having to raise her child as their sole parent, no record of a second marriage for Violet has been found. Instead, the later death of Violet Collett at Braintree was recorded at Essex register office (Ref. 4a 1003) in 1972 when she was 70 years old. Her date of birth was recorded as 6^th March 1902, while an alternative record suggests it was 1^st March 1902, and that her place of birth was Forest Gate in Essex. What is known for sure, is that she was baptised on 11^th September 1902, the daughter of Joseph and Hilda Weaver. It was later, at Forest Gate, that Violet was living when she was recorded serving with the Royal Garrison Regiment.

	After the Second World War, the marriage of Edith H Collett and Alfred S King was recorded at Essex register office (Ref. 4a 1063) during the third quarter of 1946. Less than two years after, the marriage of Gwendoline Collett and Hans Mertens was also recorded at Essex register office (Ref. 4a 935) during the first three months of 1948. So far, no record of a marriage of George E Collett has been unearthed.

	70Q5		George E Collett	Born in 1923 at Billericay, Essex
	70Q6		Edith H Collett	Born in 1925 at Billericay, Essex
	70Q7		Gwendoline J Collett	Born in 1928 at Billericay, Essex


70P8	William Collett was born in 1897 at Warley Barrack and, just after he was born, his father ended his main job as a career soldier, with the family then moving to Kynoch Town in Corringham. His birth was recorded at Romford register office (Ref. 4a 502) during the final quarter of the year, the eighth child of William and Margaret Collett.


70P10	Samuel Collett was born in 1901 at Kynoch Town, Corringham in Essex, the last surviving child of William Collett and Margaret Riley, whose birth was recorded at Orsett register office (Ref. 4a 605) during the second quarter of the year. According to the census in 1911, when Samuel was ten years of age, and the youngest of the four children still living with his father, and with the absence of his mother at the family home in Fobbing near Corringham, it was report that the couple had given birth to eleven children, nine still alive. The two ‘missing children’ Alice born in 1899 and Beatrice born in 1902, both of whom died before reaching their first birthday.


70P12	Alice Collett was born at Leicester in 1874, the eldest of the ten children of Harry Collett and Ellen Staples. Her birth was recorded at Leicester (Ref. 7a 175) during the first three months of 1874. When she was seven years of age, Alice and her family were residing at 27 Thomas Street in Leicester, according to the census of 1881, but during the decade the family moved to South Wigston and were living there in 1891 at Bassett Street. By then Alice was 17 and working as a stockinger with a hosiery manufacturer, the same occupation as her brother George (below), possibly even working alongside of each other. It was just over seven years later when Alice Collett married Emmanuel Reynolds, the event recorded at Blaby (Ref. 7a 103) - just west of Wigston, during the last quarter of 1898. Emmanuel was the same age as Alice and had been born in the Northamptonshire village of Isham, near Kettering.

	Less than two years later Alice gave birth to a son, Herbert Ambrose Reynolds, whose birth was recorded at Blaby (Ref. 7a 29) during the third quarter of 1900. Tragically, Alice did not survive the ordeal of the birth, since it was during that same quarter of 1900 that the death of Alice Reynolds, aged 26 years, was also recorded at Blaby (Ref. 7a 17). On the day of the census on the last day of March in 1901, Emmanuel Reynolds and his son were living at Clifford Street in South Wigston. Emmanuel, from Isham, was 26 and a fireman working on the railway, while his son Herbert Ambrose Reynolds was eight months old. Looking after them, and recorded in the census return as a domestic housekeeper, was Emmanuel’s older unmarried sister Mary E Reynolds, from Isham, who was 32.

	Emmanuel Reynolds was 67 when he passed away, his death recorded at Ashby-de-le-Zouch register office (Ref. 7a 73) during the third quarter of 1942. Over forty years later, the death of his son Herbert Ambrose Reynolds was recorded at the Leicester Central register office during the second quarter of 1989, when his date of birth was confirmed as 1^st August 1900.


70P13	George Henry Collett was born at Leicester in 1876, the second child and eldest son of Harry and Ellen Collett, whose birth was recorded (Ref. 7a 217) during the first quarter of the year. It was during that same year when George was baptised at St George’s Church in Leicester, his parents were confirmed as Harry and Ellen. As simply George aged five years he was living with his family in Leicester at 27 Thomas Street in 1881. During the following years his parents took the family to live in Bassett Street at nearby South Wigston where, in 1891 George Collett was 15 and already working as a stockinger hosier, the same as his sister Alice (above) and sister Ellen (below). And it was at Kirkdale Road in South Wigston, again with his family, that George H Collett was 25 in the census of 1901 when he was employed as a hosier over-looker, an inspector.

	Three years later, during 1904, the marriage of George Henry Collett and Amy Elizabeth Jones took place at the Church of St Andrew in Leicester. George was 28 and the son of Harry Collett who was living at Garton Street in Leicester. Amy was 24 and the daughter of Thomas Jones who was living with her parents at Joy Cottage on Garton Street. Their wedding was recorded at Leicester register office (Ref. 7a 471) during the second quarter of 1904. Within the next three years George and Any had given birth to two sons while they were still living in South Wigston. Shortly thereafter, the family moved to Nottingham, possibly for work reasons, since George senior and George junior were living there in 1911. On that day George Henry Collett was 35 and a manager for a hosiery manufacturer living at Factory Lane in Nottingham. The only member of his family recorded with him was his eldest son George Harold Collett who was five years old who place of birth was South Wigston. At that time George’s wife Amy, and the couple’s youngest son Frank were visiting Amy’s Jones family in Leicester.

	Amy Collett of Leicester was 31, and Frank Collett from Wigston was three years of age. Amy’s parents were Thomas Jones from Coventry aged 67 and the caretaker at a hosiery factory. His Coventry born wife Eliza was 65, who still have three of their grown-up children living with them. They were Charles Edwin Jones 28, Maurice Jones 22, and Hilda Evelyn Jones who was 22. Upon the death of his father in 1926 George Henry Collett and his brother Frank were named as joint administrators, when George was described as a foreman with a hosiery manufacturer.

	George Henry Collett eventually returned to Leicester from Nottingham, where he died at the age of 78, with his death recorded at Leicestershire register office (Ref. 3a 640) during the last three months of 1953. He was survived by Amy for a further twenty-five years, when the death of Amy Elizabeth Collett, nee Jones, was also recorded at Leicestershire register office (Vol. 6 1610) in 1975 at the age of 95, her date of birth recorded as 4^th February 1880.

	70Q8		George Harold Collett			Born in 1906 at South Wigston, Leicester
	70Q9		Frank Collett			Born in 1907 at South Wigston, Leicester


70P14	Ellen Collett was born at Leicester in 1878, where her birth was recorded (Ref. 7a 236) during the second quarter of the year. She may have been born in the family home at 27 Thomas Street, where two-year-old was living with her family on the day of the census in 1881. Ten years later, at the age of 12 years and employed by a hosiery manufacturer as a stockinger, working with her two older siblings Alice and George, Ellen and her family were recorded at Bassett Street in South Wigston, and it was also at South Wigston that the family was living in 1901, but at 12 Kirkdale Road. Ellen Collett was 22 by then and working as a hosiery framework knitter. Just over two years later the marriage of Ellen Collett and Jonathan Ford was recorded at Blaby register office (Ref. 7a 107) during the third quarter of 1903. An alternative, unvalidated source, has suggested that Ellen’s husband was Arthur Ford.

	On the day of the census in 1901 unmarried Jonathan Ford from Bruntingthorpe was 24 and a railway storekeeper living at Glen Gate in South Wigston with his parents Tom and Jane Ford. Ten years after that, the 1911 census confirmed that Jonathan and Ellen were residing at South Wigston, where Jonathan Ford was 34 and employed by the Midland Railway Company as a storekeeper in the locomotive department. His wife was 32, and boarding with the childless couple was Lewis Arthur Getliffe aged 27 and a clerk at the local brickworks. He is of particular interest because he married Ellen’s sister Ethel Collett (below) in 1914.

	The death of Ellen Ford nee Collett was recorded at Leicester register office (Ref. 3a 790) during the first three months of 1955 when her age was noted as being 76. She was survived by her husband for four years, when the death of Jonathan Ford was also recorded at Leicester (Ref. 3a 588) during the first quarter of 1959.


70P15	Ambrose Collett was born at 27 Thomas Street in Leicester on 8^th August 1880 (Ref. 7a 240), another son of Harry and Ellen Collett with whom he was living at that same address in Leicester in 1881 when he was six months old. By the time of the census in 1891, when Ambrose was 10 years old, he and his family were residing in Wigston, south-east of Leicester. Six years later, on 2^nd October 1897, Ambrose joined the Royal Artillery. He was 18 years and two months old on enlistment and his trade by then was that of a moulder. His place of birth was simply stated as within the Parish of St Margaret’s in Leicester and he was described as five feet and five and a half inches tall, having blue eyes and fair hair, whose religion was Wesleyan. His last permanent address was named as Brighton House, Fairfield Road, South Wigston, Leicester, the home of his parents, while his siblings were listed as George, Harry, Basil, Frank, Alice, Ellen, Gertrude, and Emily. Curiously there was no mention of his sister Ethel who was certainly alive long after that date.

	Upon entry at Leicester, he was considered fit for service on 25^th September 1897 and was allocated the regimental service number RA-22785. He saw action during the Boer War in South Africa before returning to England after the census in 1911, in which he was described as 32 and serving overseas with the military. The records seem to suggest that Ambrose left the army for a while after his time in Africa, since it was at Kirkee in India on 21^st July 1909 that he was re-engaged, when he signed on for another seven years, plus a further five years as a reserve. By that time in his life, he had already completed service of eleven years and three hundred days. He was still in India over four years later, when he became a father and was subsequently married.

	It was on 1^st October 1913 when Ambrose was 32 that he married Kathleen Gladys Kiddle who was 21 and born at Kamptee in India, with whom he had two daughters before the First World War. The first of those daughters was born one year before they were married. It would also appear very likely that Ambrose was still serving with the British Army in India when he married Kathleen, who was known as Gladys, and that may have been while he was stationed at Bellary (later renamed Ballari), where their first child was born. It was also in India, at Kamptee or Kirkee, that their second child was born, which raises a query with the number of days stated in his records (below) for his total time in that country. A few years after the Great War was over, and while the family was back living in Leicestershire, Gladys presented Ambrose with a third daughter.

	The military records for Ambrose Collett also include the following extra details. Firstly, that his address on 23^rd June 1919 was given as 1 Bassett Street in South Wigston, Leicester where, one month later, on 26^th July 1919, he acknowledged receiving his DCM medal. It was after his initial service, that his military service was extended by a further eight years and then later by twelve years. It was on 20^th May 1915 that he was promoted to Sergeant Major for the duration of the Great War. He served in South Africa for 274 days, in India for 21 days and in France for 294 days. As a result of his time in Africa he was awarded the Kings Medal and clasp. His next of kin was stated as being Harry Collett of Brighton House in Wigston, Leicester, while his mother was confirmed as Ellen Collett. His siblings were recorded as George, Harry, Basil, Frank, Alice, Ellen, Ethel, Gertrude, and Emily.

	The same military records indicate that Gladys Collett was residing at 12 Station Street in South Wigston while Ambrose was serving overseas, and that she received a warrant for Ambrose when she was living at 21 Kirkdale Road in South Wigston where his family had been living in 1911. For the latter, Gladys was advised that her husband was in Rangoon, Burma, and gave her instructions for her to reply to him there. For his service to King and Country, Ambrose Collett T/SM with the Royal Artillery, Royal Horse Artillery and Royal Field Artillery, was awarded the British War Medal, the Victory Medal and the 1914-1915 Star. He was also known as a champion horseman. On 21^st June 1919 Ambrose left Boulogne in France and returned to his family in England after the end of the war. The reason for his late return, after peace was declared on 11^th November 1918 was due to him being wounded in action during the previous September. On 21^st July 1919, on his discharge from the army, Ambrose was presented with a certificate which read as follows: “This is to certify that the ex-soldier named herein as Ambrose Collett W O/RSM has served with in the colours for twenty-one years ten months and his character during this period has been honest, sober, trustworthy and thoroughly reliable, a man of exemplary character”

	It was less than four months after returning to Leicester that, on 5^th October 1919, Ambrose wrote a letter to the India Office at Whitehall in London from his home address at 1 Bassett Street in South Wigston. The letter was a plea for assisted passage to Rangoon in Burma, and read as follows: “Sir, as I am desirous of residing abroad, could you kindly grant me passage for myself, wife and two children to Rangoon Burma. I have completed 21 years 300 days in the RFA and was discharged to pension on 21^st July 1919. I have served a number of years abroad and had every intention of settling there. We were sent to ? at the outbreak of war but the climate has been very trying to my wife who is unfortunately suffering from pleurisy. A doctor’s certificate can be provided if necessary. The children’s ages are 7 and 6 years respectively. I trust you will favour my application for passage and will you kindly advise me who to write to for permission to reside abroad. Your obedient servant, Ambrose Collett – late 22785 RSM RFA” The reply written by the Officer in Charge at Woolwich Barracks on 20^th October stated that the finance for assisted passage could not be provided.

	Two years later the family was still residing in South Wigston when Gladys presented Ambrose with their third children. Over the following years Ambrose saved up sufficient money to pay for the family’s passage to India. It was on 12^th February 1929 that Ambrose and his entire family boarded the Anchor Steamship Liner ‘Tuscania’ at the port of Liverpool which was bound for Bombay. The passenger list included the family as Ambrose Collett aged 48, Gladys Collett who was 37, Iris Collett who was 16, Vera Collett who was 15 and Freda Collett who was seven years of age. The family’s address was once again stated as being 1 Bassett Street in South Wigston, while Ambrose’s occupation, not being clearly written, appears to have been that of a ring maker. It is understood from his grandson John Carroll, the son of Vera Patricia Carroll, that Ambrose Collett died in Burma during 1932, with his widow Kathleen Gladys Collett nee Kiddle passing away twenty-six years later in 1958. In addition to this, it is now known that Iris Winifred Collett was later married, to become Iris Winifred Baines, and it was her son Philip who made contact in October 2015, as did Vera Bergersen, the daughter of Freda Joan Collett.

	70Q10		Vera Patricia Collett			Born in 1912 at Bellary, India
	70Q11		Iris Winifred Collett			Born in 1914 at Kirkee, India
	70Q12		Freda Joan Collett			Born in 1921 at South Wigston


70P16	Ethel Collett was born at 27 Thomas Street in Leicester during 1882, her birth recorded there (Ref. 7a 239) during the last three months of that year. She was eight years of age in 1891 when listed with her family at Bassett Street in South Wigston and, on leaving school, Ethel joined other members of her family at the local hosiery maker, confirmed in 1901 when she was 18 and a hosiery linker. On that later occasion Ethel and her family were living at 12 Kirkdale Road in South Wigston. And it was at that same address that she was again recorded in the census of 1911, when she was still employed as a hosiery linker aged 28, the eldest of the six children living with their parents. Also living nearby in South Wigston in both 1901 and 1911 was Ethel’s future husband, to whom she was married three years later.

	It was during the summer months of 1914 that Ethel Collett married Lewis A Getliffe, the wedding taking place at Blaby (Ref. 7a 85). Lewis Arthur Getliffe was born within the Belgrave district of Leicester city in 1883, although his birth was recorded at Barrow-upon-Soar (Ref. 7a 153) during the third quarter of that year. He was a son of Samuel and Emma Getliffe who was living with his large family at Clifford Street in South Wigston in 1901, from where Lewis, at the age of 17, was employed as a clerk in a shoe factory. Also living in Clifford Street, at that same time, was Emmanuel Reynolds, the very recently widowed husband of Ethel’s eldest sister Alice Collett. Ten years later, the census in 1911, placed Lewis Arthur Getliffe, aged 27 from Belgrave and a clerk at a brick-works, as a boarder living with Ethel’s sister Ellen Collett (above) and her husband Jonathan Ford. It would therefore seem highly likely that it was through that association with the Collett family that Lewis met Ethel.

	It would also appear that Ethel and Lewis did not have any children, but that they lived all their married life together at Blaby, since it was at Blaby register office (Ref. 3a 359) that the death of Lewis A Getliffe was recorded during the third quarter of 1947, when he was 64. Ethel survived him by sixteen years, when the death of Ethel Getliffe, aged 80, was recorded at the Leicester Central register office (Ref. 3a 440) during the last quarter of 1963.


70P17	Gertrude Collett was born at Leicester in 1885, where her birth was recorded (Ref. 7a 211) during the first three months of the year. It is possible she was born at 25 Thomas Street in Leicester, where her family was living in 1881, but by 1891 they had moved out of Leicester to Wigston, where they were residing at Bassett Street when Gertrude was six years old. After a further ten years, when Gertrude was 16, with no stated occupation, she was still living with her family at 12 Kirkdale Road in South Wigston, as she was in 1911 when she was 26 and still with no occupation. She was most likely supporting her mother to look after the needs of the large family. It is believed that she was married and became Gertrude Lofthouse.


70P18	Harry Collett was born at Leicester in 1887, and perhaps at 27 Thomas Street in Leicester, with his birth recorded there (Ref. 7a 216) during the fourth quarter of that year. He was the son of Harry and Ellen Collett with whom he and his siblings were living at 27 Thomas Street in 1891 when Harry was three years old. After completing his schooling Harry became a shoe polisher, as confirmed in the next census of 1901 when he was 13 and by which time he and his family were living at Kirkdale Road in Wigston. He was still living at the family home at 12 Kirkdale Road in South Wigston in April 1911, where Harry Collett was 23 and working as a motor repairer.

	Three years later Harry was a mechanical engineer living in Nuneaton at the outbreak of war when he enlisted with the British Army. That happened on 29^th August 1914 when he was 26 and allocated the service number 034558 with the Supply Column of the North Midland Division. However, less than three months later he was discharged on 14^th November 1914, following which he enlisted with the Regular ATC. His short military record confirmed that his next-of-kin was Harry Collett of Kirkdale Road in South Wigston. Just over two years later Harry Collett married Mary Jane Soars at Christchurch in Leicester on 7^th January 1917, when Mary was living at 50 Clifford Street in South Wigston. The marriage was recorded at Leicester register office (Ref. 7a 289).

	Whatever the reason why he was discharged so early in the war, it must have been later in the campaign that his services were eventually called upon. Because at the end of the Great War he was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for his active service in France. Harry Collett married Mary Jane, although it is not known for certain that they had any children. What is known is that Harry Collett of 50 Clifford Street in South Wigston died in Leicester Royal Infirmary on 25^th April 1956. His death was recorded at Leicester register office (Ref. 3a 556) during the second quarter of that year, when he was 68. Administration of his person effects valued at £244 19 Shillings and 3 Pence was resolved at Leicester on 22^nd June 1956 in favour of his widow Mary Jane Collett.

	Although not confirmed, it is likely that the marriage of Harry Collett and Mary Jane Soars produced a son, also named Harry Collett. The reason for including this assumption is a statement made in 2015 by John Carroll (Ref. 70Q2) who relayed the fact that his mother, residing in Australia, visited her cousin Harry Collett in England during the latter years of her life. She was born in 1912 and died in Australia during 1996 and therefore would have been just slightly older than her cousin.

	70Q13		Harry Collett			Born circa 1917 in England


70P19	Emily Collett was born at Bassett Street in South Wigston on 24^th February 1890, when her birth was recorded at Blaby (Ref. 7a 31) during the second quarter of the year. And it was there that she was with her family in 1891, aged one year. In the census of 1901 Emily Collett was eleven years of age when she and her family were living at 12 Kirkdale Road in South Wigston. It was seven years after that day when the baptism of Emily Collett was conducted at South Wigston on 31^st March 1908. Three years later she was still living with her parents at 12 Kirkdale Road when Emily was 21. By that time in her life Emily’s occupation was that of an elementary school teacher. It was eleven years later that Emily Collett married Percy A Lamb, the event recorded at Blaby register office (Ref. 7a 64) during the first three months of 1922.


70P20	Alfred Basil Collett was born at Bassett Street in South Wigston in 1892, a son of Harry and Ellen Collett, whose birth was recorded at Blaby (Ref. 7a 29) during the first quarter of the year. It was within the Wigston census of 1901 that Alfred B Collett was nine years old, while after a further ten years it was as Basil Alfred Collett, aged 19, that he was still living with his family, but at 12 Kirkdale Road in South Wigston in 1911, by which time he was working as a printer’s apprentice. The only other information currently known about Alfred is that acquired from the records available at the time of his death. Alfred B Collett died on 19^th August 1952 while a patient in Leicester General Hospital. He was 61 years old and his home address was 52 Healey Street in South Wigston, with his death recorded at Leicester register office (Ref. 3a 424) during the third quarter of 1952. Administration of his personal effects valued at £104 was granted to his widow Florence Collett at Leicester on 9^th September 1952.

	New information discovered in 2015 also confirms that Alfred Basil Collett held the rank of corporal with the Leicestershire Regiment, service number 23170, and that he married Florence Pentney at South Wigston, the event recorded at Blaby register office (Ref. 7a 62) during the first quarter of 1916. Florence was born at Blaby (Ref. 7a 48) in 1891, the daughter of Henry and Sarah Pentney, who was 20 and a hosiery hand linker in 1911, when she was living at Orange Street in South Wigston with her widowed father. Perhaps because he was away on military service, the only known child so far found is their son Basil who was born in the spring of 24, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Pentney.

	70Q14		Basil R Collett			Born in 1924 at Blaby


70P21	Frank Edward Collett was born at South Wigston on 7^th May 1897, the youngest child of Harry and Ellen Collett, his birth recorded at Blaby (Ref. 7a 35) during the second quarter of the year. He was Frank E Collett aged three years at Kirkdale Road in the South Wigston census of 1901 and was Frank Edward Collett who was 13 and still attending school in 1911 when he and his family were still residing at 12 Kirkdale Road. The marriage of Frank E Collett and Doris Bardgett was recorded at Blaby register office (Ref. 7a 114) during the second quarter of 1930, when Frank was 33. The marriage was blessed by the birth of two children, whose births were recorded at Blaby (Ref. 7a 51) during the second quarter of 1934 and (Ref. 7a 51) during the last three months of 1941. On both occasions the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Bardgett. The only other detail currently known about him is that he appears to have lived out his life in the Leicester area, since it was at Leicester Central register office (Ref. 6 1762) that the death of Frank Edward Collett was recorded in September 1980 at the age of 83.

	70Q15		Pamela Collett			Born in 1934 at Blaby
	70Q16		Barry Collett			Born in 1941 at Blaby


70P22	Ethel Annie Collett was born at Leyton in Essex on 13^th October 1884, with her birth recorded at West Ham (Ref. 4a 199) during the last three months of 1884. It was also as Ethel Annie that she was baptised at Leyton on 11^th January 1885, the daughter of Ambrose and Elizabeth Collett. Strangely, no record of their children has been revealed in the census of 1891, but by 1901 the family was residing at 4 St Thomas Square in Hackney, where Annie Collett was 16, albeit with no occupation stated. Ten years later Ethel and her family were living in Edmonton in Middlesex, where Ethel Collett from Leyton was 27 and a skirt machinist.

	The marriage of Ethel Annie Collett and Ernest Harry Howells (born 1887) took place at All Saints’ Church in Edmonton on 12^th July 1913. Their son Ernest Henry Howells was born at Edmonton on 26^th August 1917 and just four years later the death of Harry Howells was recorded at Barnet register office during the third quarter of 1921. Many years later, Ethel was working as the housekeeper for George Henry Hartshorne, whom she married at Epping on 2^nd August 1952. At the time of her death on 20^th June 1971 at Enfield, her date of birth was recorded as 13^th October 1884, when she was referred to as Ethel Annie ‘Nanny Rex’ Collett.


70P27	Alfred Ernest Collett was born at Kentish Town in 1883, the only son and the first of the five children of Alfred Collett and Amelia Ann Hicks, with his birth registered at St Pancras (Ref. 1b 120) during the last three months of that year. In the three census returns completed in 1891, 1901 and 1911, he was recorded each time as Alfred E Collett, being seven years old and living at Weedington Road in Gospel Oak, being 17 and an apprentice compositor with a printing firm living at Elaine Grove in Gospel Oak, near Hampstead Heath, and being unmarried at the age of 27 when he was a printer’s compositor.

	Tragically, unmarried Alfred Ernest Collett was 33 years old when he was killed in action during the First World War. He was Private 26826 with the Royal Fusiliers and died on Flanders Field on 13^th November 1916. His name is one of many on the Thievpal Memorial in the Somme department of the Picardy region of northern France, while his name also appears on a tablet inside the Church of St Silas the Martyr in Kentish Town. At that time in his life his parents were residing at 15 Christchurch Avenue in Wembley.


70P28	Amelia Margaret Collett was born at Kentish Town on 28^th July 1884, the second child and eldest of the four daughters of Alfred and Amelia Collett, whose birth was registered at St Pancras (Ref. 1b 172) during the third quarter of the year. Her name and age were recorded in the next three census returns for the Kentish Town area of north London. She was six years old and attending school when the family was living at Weedington Road in Gospel Oak in 1891 and, on leaving school prior to the census in 1901, Amelia M Collett from Kentish Town was working as a cook stamper aged 16 when she and her family were living at Elaine Grove, Gospel Oak, just north of Weedington Road and south of Hampstead Heath. During the next decade, she may have been offered a better job working with her father, as confirmed in the census of 1911, when unmarried Amelia Margaret Collett was 26 and a machinist working for the same wine merchant as her father.

	Less than three years later, the marriage of Amelia Margaret Collett and Henry Thomas Joseph Prior was recorded at St Pancras register office (Ref. 1b 68) during the first three months of 1914. Henry was born at Clerkenwell on 28^th May 1885, with his birth registered at Holborn in London (Ref. 1b 675) during the summer of 1885, the older of the two sons of Henry Prior and Ellen Luck. By 1901, 15-year-old Henry was an apprentice and a tailor’s cutter, when he was the only son living with his widowed mother, when they were residing at Weedington Road in Gospel Oak. Living in that same road ten years earlier, and being of similar ages, there is a chance that Amelia and Henry met each other while at school. During the next decade, Henry secured a job with the Great Western Railway and, together with his mother, they moved nearly to Paddington Station where Henry Prior was 25 and a railway clerk in 1911, when living at Grays Inn Road.

	Towards the end of the year in which they were married, Amelia gave birth to a ‘honeymoon baby’ with the birth of Kathleen M Prior also recorded at St Pancras register office (Ref. 1b 14) during the last three months of 1914, when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett. Kathleen appears to be the only child born to Henry and Amelia. Many years later the couple appear to be living in the Watford area of Hertfordshire when first Amelia died on 29^th October 1972 at the age of 88, with the death of Amelia Margaret Prior recorded at the Hertfordshire register office (Vol. 4b 1072). Six years after losing his wife, the death of Henry Thomas Prior was recorded at London register office (Vol. 14 1025) in 1978. However, who every reported his passing, provided the registrar with an incorrect date of birth, which was recorded as March 1886, and not 28^th May 1885.


70P29	Mary Emily Collett was born at Kentish Town in 1886, another daughter of Alfred and Amelia Collett. Like her older siblings, her birth was also registered at St Pancras (Ref. 1b 143) during the fourth quarter of the year. In 1911 she was still living with her family when unmarried Mary Emily Collett was 24 and employed by a local stationery company as a playing card sorter, where her youngest sister Ellen (below) was also employed. What happened to Mary after 1911 has still to be discovered.


70P30	Annie Edith Collett was born in 1889 and may have been born at Weedington Road in Gospel Oak north of Kentish Town, with her birth recorded at St Pancras register office (Ref. 1b 136) during the second quarter of that year. As Annie Collett she was two years old in 1891 when living at Weedington Road in Gospel Oak, and as Annie E Collett aged 12, she was living with her parents Alfred and Amelia and the rest of her family at Elaine Grove in Gospel Oak, near Hampstead Heath in 1901. After completing her school, it is possible that Annie was offered a job of work that took her away from her family, because she was no longer living with them by 1911, when she would have been 22 years old. Eighteen years later, the marriage of Annie E Collett and William E G Speed was recorded at St Pancras register office (Ref. 1b 39) during the spring of 1929. That event took place just over six months after the death of her mother.

	Because of her age, Annie and William did not have any children. William was much younger than Annie and his birth, as William Ernest G Speed, was recorded at St Pancras register office (Ref. 1b 91) during the last three months of 1902. His premature death at the age of 40, was recorded at Islington register office (Ref. 1b 269) as William E G Speed at the start of 1943. No record of the death of Annie Edith Speed has been discovered.


70P31	Ellen May Collett was born in 1894 and may have been born at Weedington Road in Gospel Oak, where her family was living in 1891, or at Elaine Grove in Gospel Oak, where Ellen M Collett was seven years of age in 1901. Her birth as Ellen May Collett was recorded at St Pancras register office (Ref. 1b 126) during the second quarter of 1894, the last child of Alfred Collett and Amelia Ann Hicks. As Ellen May Collett she was 17 and working for a stationer in 1911, in the education section, where her older sister Mary (above) was also working that day, but in a different section. In the two census returns for 1901 and 1911, Ellen’s place of birth was simply reported as Kentish, the same as for all her four older siblings.

	It was just less than twelve years after the census day in 1911, that Ellen was in Canada for her wedding day on 17^th January 1923, when the marriage of Ellen May Collett and George Walter Bell was conducted at St Paul’s Anglican Church in the City of Stratford in County Perth, Ontario. Ellen was 28 and confirmed as the daughter Alfred Collett and Amelia Ann Hicks, while George was 29 and the son of Charles Bell and Elsie Dukeson. The record of the marriage also stated that they were both born in England, with George’s saying what looks like St Princes, England. He was a bachelor whose occupation was that of a railway shop labourer, with spinster Ellen being a teacher, and both residing in Stratford. The two witnesses were George Henry Davison and Mary Davison of 89 Young Street in Stratford.

	Four months earlier, 28-year-old Ellen May Collett, a school teacher carrying £100, had sailed out of the Port of London onboard the SS Montcalm of the Canadian Pacific Line on 8^th September 1922. Her ticket was purchase in London and contained the following details. On arrival in Canada, the onward journey to Stratford was by the Grand Trunk Railway. The reason for the journey was to make a home in Canada, and to “Join my future husband G W Bell of 89 Youngs Street, Stratford, Ontario”. The nearest relative living in England was her parents of 10 Montpelier Road, East Finchley in London W2.

	The birth of George Walter Bell was recorded at St Pancras register office (Ref. 1b 108) during the second quarter of 1893 and he had emigrated to Canada in 1920. He was 27 and a warehouse man when he sailed out of Southampton during July, on his way to live with friend George Davison at 25 Douglas Street in Stratford City. His mother was Elise Bell of Weedington Road, Gospel Oak, The Canadian Census conducted on 1^st June 1931 included the family of George Walter Bell still living at 79 Young Street in Stratford as follows: head of the household George was 38 and a welder with C A Railway Shop, Ellen May Bell was 37 and a home-maker, both born in England, and their son Maurice E Bell was four years of age and born in Ontario. George was the owner of the property which was valued at 3,500 Canadian Dollars.


70Q8	George Harold Collett was born at South Wigston near Leicester on 14^th March 1906, the eldest known child of George Henry Collett and his wife, whose birth was recorded at Blaby register office (Ref. 7a 25). It was at St Phillip’s Church in Leicester that he was baptised that same year, the son of George and Amy Collett. Just after he was born his parents moved to Nottingham and in 1911, when George Harold was five years old, it was just him and his father living at Factory Lane in the town. Nothing is known about his life except that it was in Knighton Park Nursing Home at 25 Knighton Park Road in Leicester that retired dispensing chemist died on 24^th July 1996. He was 90 years of age and his death was recorded at Leicester register office (Vol. 6001F 239) during July 1996. It was stated that, in the event of his death, the persons to be contacted were named as Evan Barlow Son & Poyner, Solicitors of 1 Berridge Street in Leicester, and in particular Francis John Poyner, Gwendolen Olive Cherry, and Alan Charles Cherry. In 2018 it was discovered that Gwendolen was originally Gwendoline Olive Jones, who was born at Leicester in the last three months of 1925, her mother’s maiden-name being Allen. And it was at Leicester that Gwendoline Olive Cherry passed away in June 2001 at the age of 75.


70Q9	Frank Collett was born at South Wigston towards the end of 1907, with his birth recorded at Blaby register office (Ref. 7a 28) during the fourth quarter of that year. Before the end of the year, he was baptised at nearby Glen Parva when he was confirmed as another son of George Henry Collett and Amy Elizabeth Jones. According to the census in 1911, Frank Collett from Wigston was three years of age when he was with his mother Amy visiting the Leicester home of his grandfather Thomas Jones 67 and a caretaker at a hosiery factory, and his grandmother Eliza Jones 65.


70Q10	Vera Patricia Collett was born at Bellary in India on 25^th September 1912 and was the eldest of the three daughters of Ambrose Collett and Kathleen Gladys Kiddle. She married William Charles Frederick Carroll with whom she had two children; Colleen Mary Carroll was born at Taunggyi in Burma during 1936; and Derrick John Carroll who was also born there in 1938. Vera and her two young children were fortunate to leave the country on 10^th February 1942 when the Japanese bombed Burma, destroying homes and killing many in Taunggyi. Vera Patricia Carroll nee Collett was staying at the home of her son John Carroll in Australia when she passed away in 1996. John was still residing in Australia in 2015 when he provided this information. John also confirmed that his mother visited her cousin Harry Collett in England during the latter years of her life.


70Q11	Iris Winifred Collett was born at Kirkee in India on 21^st January 1914, the second daughter of Ambrose and Kathleen Collett. Upon being married Iris became Iris Winifred Baines who gave birth to a son Philip Baines. And it was Philip who provided some of the details in this family line.


70Q12	Freda Joan Collett was born at South Wigston in Leicestershire, England, on 5^th May 1921, the youngest child of Ambrose and Kathleen Collett. Freda later became Freda Joan Grey and she and her husband had two children, Walter Grey and Vera Grey. Vera Grey eventually married to become Vera Bergensen.


70Q13	Harry Collett, whose date of birth has not been determined, may have been the son of Harry and Jane Collett, and may have been born in Leicestershire after his assumed father saw active service during the First World War. In 1944, and recorded at Leicester register office (Ref. 7a 514) during the second quarter of that year, was the marriage of Harry Collett and Constance Smith.


70Q14	Basil R Collett was born at Blaby in 1924, the only known child of Alfred Basil Collett and Florence Pentney, his birth recorded at Blaby register office (Ref. 7a 467) during the second quarter of that year. It was during the second quarter of 1948 when he married one of his mother’s relatives Joan Pentney, the event recorded at Blaby register office (Ref. 3a 1305). Once married, the couple settled in Leicester, where all four of their known children were born. Their first child was a honeymoon baby, whose birth was recorded at Leicester register office (Ref. 3a 874) during the first three months of 1949. Just over three years later Joan presented Basil with their second child, whose birth was recorded (Ref. 3a 935) during the third quarter of 1952. Four years later their daughter was born, her birth recorded (Ref. 3a 7) during the first three months of 1957. The birth of the couple’s last child was also recorded at Leicester register office (Ref. 3a 810) during the first quarter of 1961. In each case the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Pentney.

	70R1		Michael R Collett			Born in 1949 at Leicester
	70R2		Christopher R Collett			Born in 1952 at Leicester
	70R3		Caroline A Collett			Born in 1957 at Leicester
	70R4		Nicholas P Collett			Born in 1961 at Leicester