PART
EIGHTY-FIVE
The
Musical Colletts of London to Canada & USA
Issued
August 2025
This new line, first issued in 2025,
arose out of the discovery at the National Archives of the 1788 Will of Richard
Collett gentleman of the Parish of St Lukes Chelsea in Middlesex. It was initially thought to be the Will of
Richard Cobb Collett (Ref. 23K1) who was born in 1718 who perhaps died in
1788. Now, armed with the contents of
the Will thanks to its discovery by Jonathan Leyland, the document cannot
relate of Richard Cobb Collett. However,
from the contents of the Will it has been possible to identify some of the
people named therein and to include them in this mini line, in the hope that
further details / confirmation can be forthcoming
Unlike any of the other eighty-four
lines of the Collett family, the starting point for this one is the Will of
Richard Collett [85K3] of St Lukes Chelsea, who we now know was the son of
Richard and Ann Collett, whose brother was Thomas Collett [85K4]
In the name of God Amen, I Richard
Collett of the Parish of St Lukes Chelsea in the County of Middlesex,
gentleman, being of sound disposing mind memory and understanding do make,
publish, and declare this my last Will and Testament in manner and form following, that is to say, after payment of my just debts and funeral
expenses, and the expense of proving this my Will
I give and bequeath unto David Burnsall
of the Parish of Saint Luke Chelsea in the County of Middlesex, esquire, and
Thomas Hancock of the same place Gentleman the sum of One Hundred and Seventy
Pounds per occurrence issuing out of all my freehold and leasehold Estates in
Trust for my grandson Richard Reeve, my niece Catherine Collett, and my nephew
Richard Thomas Collett which is to be paid to them in the manner following
That is to say, my grandson Richard Reeves for and during
the term of his natural life the sum of Eighty Pounds per occurrence payable
quarterly half yearly or monthly at the discretion of the said Trustees. To my niece Catherine Collett the sum of
Sixty Pounds per occurrence for and during the term of her natural life to be
paid to her yearly half yearly quarterly or monthly at the discretion of the
said Trustees and that her own receipts shall always be a discharge to the said
Trustees for the same And that the said Annuity shall not be liable to the
control or debts of any husband that my said niece Catherine Collett may happen
to marry and that she shall not in any ways sell or dispose of the said Annuity
and from and after her decease I give the said Sixty Pounds per occurrence to
Elinor the daughter of my said niece Catherine Collett for and during the term
of her natural life to be paid to her half yearly quarterly or monthly at the
discretion of the said Trustees
To my nephew Richard Thomas Collett the
sum of Thirty Pounds per occurrence for and during the terms of his natural
life to be paid to him half yearly quarterly or monthly at the discretion of
the said Trustees
I also give and bequeath unto Ann
Collett, Mary Collett, and Isabella Collett, the daughters of my half-brother
John Collett deceased One Thousand and Fifty Pounds
Stock in the South Sea Annuity to be equally divided between them share and
share alike
All the rest and residue of my real and
personal estate of what nature or kind soever I may die possesses of or
entitled unto at the time of my deceased I give and bequeath unto my dear and
loving wife Catherine Collett to hold to her, her heirs and assigns for
ever. And I do hereby nominate and
appoint my said wife Catherine Collett and the above-named David Burnsall and
Thomas Hancock whole and sole Executors of this my Will hereby revoking all
former or other Will or Wills by me heretofore made declaring this only to be
my last Will and Testament. And I do
hereby give to each of my Executors a Mourning King
of the value of Five Guineas in Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and
seal the Third day of February One Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty Eight Pounds (signed) Richard Collett
Signed, sealed, published, and declared
by the Testator Richard Collett as and for his last Will and Testament in the
presence of us who in his presence and at his request have subscribed our names
as witnesses hereto - Charles Greenhead, Alexander Hutcheson, and Samuel
Hancock
This Will was proved at London the
Twenty Ninth day of March in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred
and Eighty Eight before the Worshipful George Harris Doctor of Laws surrogate
of the Right Worshipful Peter Calvert also Doctor of Laws Master Keeper or
Commissary of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury lawfully constituted by the
oaths of Catherine Collett widow the relict of the deceased, David Burnsall,
and Thomas Hancock, the executors named in the said Will to whom administration
was granted of all and singular the Goods, Chattels, and Credits of the said
deceased, they having been first sworn duly to administer
Historical Note: St Luke’s Church in Chelsea is an Anglican
Church on Sydney Street, Chelsea (off the King’s Road) designed by James Savage
in 1819. On completion of the new much
larger church, the former (original) Parish Church of St Lukes Chelsea (on
Cheyne Walk, on the north bank of the River Thames) became a ‘chapel of ease’
which is known today as Chelsea Old Church
For the people named in the Will the
following details are known, starting with grandson Richard Reeve (or Reeves)
who was the son of Alice Collett and John Reeve who were married at St James
Piccadilly, London in 1760. It was four
years after their wedding day that their son was born, who was later buried at
St Leonards Church in Shoreditch on 27th August 1821 aged 57
On the Ancestry* website Alice Collett
[1738-1794] who married John Reeve was said to be the youngest child of the two
children of Richard Collett [1690-1748] and Elizabeth Cobb [1692-1774]. However, when Alice Collett married John
Reeve, her parents were witnesses at their wedding who were named as Richard
and Catherine Collett. Alice’s older
brother was said to be Richard C Collett [1734-1782] which is supported by
Mortimer’s London Universal Directory of 1763 in which Richard Collett
is noted as Richard Collett senior [85K1]
On the same Ancestry* chart, their
father had five earlier children; Ann Collett, John Collett [1719-1755],
Elizabeth Collett [1721-], Sarah Collett [1725-1773], and the Rev. Peter
Collett [1734-1790]. Apart from Ann, the
other four children ARE the children of Richard Collett (Ref. 23J8) and
Elizabeth Cobb, whose eldest child was Richard Cobb Collett [1718-1788]. The same webpage suggests Richard Reeve
[1756-1832] married Sarah Francis [1762-], while the Richard Reeve, son of
Alice Collett and John Reeve who born in 1760 and died in 1821
Richard Collett [85J1] was the husband of Ann (his second
wife) and when he died in 1748, he was described in his Will made in 1747 as
Richard Collett, a musician, and the father of surviving sons Richard and
Thomas Collett. Also, it seems likely
that Richard, the father, may have been married twice, since his son Richard’s Will
of 1788 named John Collett as his half-brother
85K1 – John Collett born circa 1694 (referred to as *Richard’s
half-brother)
85K2 – Anne Collett born circa 1698
The following sons were the issue of
Richard Collett by his second wife Ann:
85K3 – *Richard Collett born before 1710
85K4 – Thomas Collett born after 1710
John Collett [85K1], was the half-brother of Richard (above)
and is known to have had three daughters, Ann Collett, Mary Collett, and
Isabella Collett, who were beneficiaries under the terms of the Will of the
said Richard Collett who died in 1788.
It is possible that John was born around 1694, who died on 17th
January 1771 at the age of 77 and was buried at St Lukes Chelsea where his
passing was recorded. This would place
John as an older half-brother, being the son of musician Richard Collett, the
elder, and his first wife
85L1
– Ann Collett
85L2
– Mary Thomas Collett
85L3
– Isabella Collett
Anne Collett [85K2] may have been the sister, or
half-sister, of John Collett (above) who, when she married became Anne
Mitchell who was later buried at St Lukes Chelsea when she died on 21st
December 1776 at the age of 78, placing her year of birth around 1698, four
years younger than John
Richard Collett [85K3] was a son of Richard and Ann Collett,
and married Catherine Cole around 1730, suggesting he may have been born during
the first decade of the 18th Century. Their marriage produced at least four
children (listed below) who all died before Richard made his Will. Other children who did not survive, may have
been a second Catherine, a Jane, and two sons named Thomas. Richard Collett of Westminster and Chelsea died
in 1788 (see his Will above). According
to the death record for his niece Catherine Tetherington (below),
Richard was the son of another earlier Richard, with Catherine Tetherington listed
as his great niece. In addition, the
husband of one of the three daughters of Richard’s half-brother John Collett (below)
was John Curtis who was referred to as the nephew of R Collett when he was
buried at St Lukes Chelsea. Seven or
eight months after the death of her husband in 1788, his widow Catherine
Collett marry Thomas Hancock in London Middlesex on 24th December
1788, who was one of the named executors of Richard’s Will. Catherine Hancock, formerly Collett, nee
Cole, died in 1798, with the death of her second husband recorded in 1811
So, what do we know about Richard
Collett? According to Mortimer’s London
Universal Directory of 1763, Richard Collett senior {further confirmation
that he had a son of the same name} was first
violin at Drury Lane Theatre and had an association with the Italian cellist
and composer Giacobbe Cervetto. This is
confirmed by the first of Cervetto’s insurance policies in 1762, which concerned
property at the home of Richard Collett.
Furthermore, the same Richard Collett had insurance policies of his own
with the same insurance company, Whitehead & Nex, at The Insurance of
Musical London and The Sun Office 1710-1779.
The first of his three policies was
taken out on 9th October 1741, Policy No. 88984, for “Richard
Collett of the Parish of St James Westminster Musician, on his Household Goods,
Musical Instruments, and Printed Music Books in a Brick house being his now
dwelling house and situated on the East Side of James Street, near Golden
Square, in the Parish aforesaid not exceeding Three Hundred Pounds”
The second policy was taken out on 18th
December 1759, Policy No. 170398, for “Richard Collett on the East Side of
James Street, near Golden Square, Musician on his Household Goods, Musical
Instruments & Music Books in his now dwelling house only, Brick built and
situated as aforesaid not exceeding Two Hundred & Fifty Pounds, wearing
apparel therein only not exceeding Fifty Pounds”
The final policy was an Endorsement for
the second policy (above) and was taken out on 20th October 1779,
Policy No. 170398, as follows: “Richard Collett, Chelsea, Remd to his
dwelling House, Brick, being No 23 Milman’s Row in Chelsea”
Advertisements
at the time show Richard Collett played a number of benefit concerts from 1736 or 1737 onwards,
but it is more than likely that he was active as a performer before that time. By 1745, he was leader of the band at Vauxhall
Gardens, a position which he still held in 1750 when there was some
disagreement with the proprietor, Mister Tyers. Music historian,
composer, and musician Charles Burney (1726-1814) in 1776 to 1789 admired his
technique saying “his tone was full, clear, and smooth, and his hand strong”
but was less complimentary about his musicality, saying: “having neither taste
nor knowledge of music, he always remained an inelegant player”
85L4
– Catherine Collett was born in 1731 at Westminster, London
85L5
– Richard Collett was
born in 1733 at Westminster, London
85L6
– John Collett was born
in 1736 at Westminster, London
85L7
– Alice Collett was
born in 1738 at Westminster, London
Thomas Collett [85K4] was the brother of Richard (above) and
another son of Richard the elder, who died in 1748, by his wife Ann. Thomas’ wife was Ann, who gave birth to at
least two children, with the two known children named as beneficiaries in their
uncle’s Will of 1778. The later dates of
birth for his two known children suggest that Thomas was the younger brother of
Richard. Thomas was another musician,
like his father and his brother, and he died three years before his brother
Richard, during 1785. His Policy No.
231628 with Whitehead & Nex was taken out on 17th March 1766, as
follows:
85L8
– Catherine Collett was
born in 1759 at Westminster, London
85L9
– Richard Thomas Collett
was born in 1768 at Westminster, London
Ann Collett [85L1], whose date of birth is not confirmed,
was the eldest of the three daughters of John Collett who died in 1771 and was
named as such in the 1788 Will of Richard Collett. Ann was a spinster when she was married following
the reading of banns to John Curtis, a bachelor, in Chelsea on 10th
February 1795. They both signed the
register in their own hand, when the witnesses were John Vickery and Martha
Goodyer. The later death of John Curtis
was recorded at St Lukes Chelsea on 26th April 1837, when he was
described as the nephew of R Collett - assumed to be her father’s half-brother
Richard Collett
Isabella Collett [85L3], whose date of birth is not confirmed,
was the third known daughter of John Collett, half-brother of Richard (above)
who, together with her two older sisters, was named as a beneficiary in the
1788 Will of Richard Collett. Isabella
Collett married Thomas Baker in London during 1795, the same year that her
older sister Ann (above) was married there
Richard Collett [85L5] was born in 1733 at Westminster in
London and was the eldest son of Richard Collett and Catherine Cole. His father, and his grandfather, were both
musicians, and Richard and his brother John (below) followed in their
footsteps. It is understood that Richard
Collett died in 1782, six years before his father passed away
John Collett [85L6] was born at Westminster, London during
1736, another child of musician Richard and his wife Catherine. John followed in his father’s footsteps by
becoming an accomplished violinist, and eventually was established as the first British composer to complete a four-movement
symphony. His
father Richard, and uncle Thomas Collett were both members of the Royal Society
of Musicians. John
joined the Royal Society of Musicians in June 1757, when he was living in
Queen's Street, Golden Square in London, near to where his father was living
from around 1740 to 1760, at St James Street, off Golden Square.
Most
of his career was spent in London, before moving to Aberdeen in 1770 and to
Edinburgh the following year, where he worked for the Edinburgh Musical Society. While in London he performed at Vauxhall
Gardens and the Foundling Hospital. John
Collett, musician, was recorded as 36 years of age when he died at Canongate in
Edinburgh on 4th August 1774, the cause of death, decay
Sixteen years earlier, while in Glasgow
in 1758, John Collet, a musician, married Katharine Rodburn, the daughter of Rodger
Rodburn, another musician. Katharine Rodburn
was a classically trained singer and a member of the Edinburgh Musical Society
who performed in concerts from the mid-1750s.
On the births of their four daughters the mother’s maiden-name was
curiously recorded as Rotburn. Ann
Collet, daughter of John Collet, musician, and Kath Rodburn, was born on 19th
July 1759 and was baptised on 23rd July 1759 when the godparents
were Glassford March and James Morison Baker.
After ten years, daughter Catharine Collet was born in Aberdeen
and baptised at St Nicholas’ Church by the Reverend Forbes on 1st
February 1770 the daughter of John Collet, musician, and Catherine Rodburn,
spouse, in the presence of Andrew Lunam Glazier and Henry Edbeck Lapidary. The couple’s last child was Isabel Collet
whose baptism was also recorded St Nicholas’ Church in Aberdeen with identical
handwriting as her sister Catharine, on 28th July 1771 when the
Reverend Forbes again officiated in the presence of William Gibson and William
Paterson
A document about the Edinburgh Music
Society 1728-1797 included many references to John and Katharine Collett, such
as: “Mr Collet was a string player,
and Mrs Collet was a singer. They were
engaged by the Society in May 1762 and stayed for two years, returning in
1768-69 and remaining in Edinburgh thereafter. Mr Collet was paid £30 per year in 1763 and
1764, and later received payments for individual performances, including one
guinea in January 1769, and three guineas in August 1769. When Mr. Collet died, his funeral expenses
appeared in the 1775 accounts, and Mrs. Collet was paid £6-11-6 for individual
engagements at the same time.
Additionally, Catherine Collet and John Collet were employed as singers
by the Society from 1763 to 1776, and 1763 to 1775, respectively. The name
"Collett" also appears in the context of music purchases, with six
overtures purchased in 1774, and works copied for use by the Society,
potentially related to performances by Collet”
Following the death of her husband John
in the summer of 1774, Catherine also suffered the death of her middle child,
when Katharine Collett aged eleven years died in Edinburgh during 1783. That was also the year that another daughter
of musician John Collett, deceased and late of Edinburgh, Mary Collet,
married Thomas Martin, a coppersmith, in Edinburgh on 1st August
1783. From an advertisement in the
Caledonian Mercury for a classical concert at the New Concert Hall in Niddry’s
Wynd, Edinburgh, on 26th January 1764, one of the named performers
was vocalist Mrs Collet. Five years
later, and published in the Aberdeen Press & Journal on 25th
September 1769 was this article, under the heading MUSIC:
“Mr Collett who is lately arrived, and
intends to settle in this place, teaches to play on the violin, harpsichord,
and thorough bass. Mrs Collet proposes
to teach young ladies singing. Those who
are pleased to honour them with their encouragement, may depend upon being
taught (by easy methods) to perform the respective branches above mentioned, in
the gentlest taste. Those who choose may
be taught at their own houses. On
directing a line to him, at Mrs Olivieri’s, opposite the Bank, he will wait on
any Gentleman or Lady, and inform them of the terms”
Towards the end of that same year, and
published in the same periodical was the following:
“On Friday 22nd December 1769
will be held in the Mason Hall a Concert of Music, for the benefit of Mr
Collett: the celebrated composition called Stabat Mater in two acts, composed
by Signior Pergolesi to be performed in the manner of an oratorio with
choruses. Organ Concerto by Mr Collett,
and Solo on the Violin by Mr Collett. To
begin precisely at six in the evening.
Tickets to be had at Mr Collet’s opposite the Bank”
On 5th March 1770 the
Aberdeen Press & Journal announced: “Mr Tait finding it necessary, on
account of the state of his health, to leave off teaching, takes this
opportunity of returning his best thanks to the public for all their
favours. A Public School is now opened
in the Music Hall, where young ladies will be taught the harpsichord and
guitar, in a new and easy manner, at a Guinea per quarter (to be paid at entry)
by Mr Collet, whom the Gentlemen of the Musical Society and Mr Tait beg leave
to recommend as a teacher, of whose abilities they have a high opinion. Attendance will be given every lawful day,
Saturday excepted, from ten in the forenoon till two in the afternoon. Those who choose to be taught privately, will
be waited upon at their own their own lodgings, as is most agreeable. At the same time Mr Collett proposes to
publish by subscription, Six Sonatas for the Harpsichord, with accompaniment
for the violin or German flute, in an easy style, for the improvement of young
ladies and gentleman, to be printed and delivered some time in the month of May
next, price Six Shillings, one half to be paid at subscription, the other on
delivery of the Book. Subscriptions to
be taken in at Mr Collet’s own lodging, and at Messrs Angus & Thomson,
Booksellers, Aberdeen”
On 11th June 1770 the
following article was printed in the newssheet: “Mr Collett begs leave to return the ladies
and gentlemen who was favoured him of late, his sincere thanks; He also takes this method to inform the
public that attendance will be given at his School in the Concert Hall from ten
o’clock in the forenoon till twelve for young ladies at One Guinea per
quarter; and from six o’clock at night
till eight for young gentlemen: Ladies
and Gentlemen may be waited upon at their lodgings any time before ten in the
forenoon; and at any time after twelve in the afternoon, till six o’clock at
night, at One Guinea for twenty-four lessons; the money to be paid at
entry. He also teaches young ladies to
tune the harpsichord or spinet after a short and easy method, which must be of
great advantage to young ladies, especially to such as live in the country.
Note – Mrs Collet teaches young ladies
the art of singing, and will give her attendance at the same place, or in
private as is most agreeable. For the
improvement of young ladies and gentlemen, Mr Collet is publishing six sonatas
for harpsichord, with an accompaniment for the violin or German flute, in an
easy style, price Six Shillings, one half to be paid at subscribing, and the
other half upon delivery of the Book.
The death of the engraver at Edinburgh, has prevented Mr Collet from
having it finished so soon as he proposed; but has employed a proper hand at
London for that purpose.
85M1
– Ann Collett was born in 1759 at Glasgow
85M2
– Mary Collett was born in 1764 at Aberdeen
85M3
– Catharine Collett was born in 1770 at Aberdeen
85M4
– Isabel Collett was born in 1771 at Aberdeen
Alice Collett [85L7] was born on 8th September
1738 at Westminster, London, one of the children of violinist Richard Collett,
and his wife Catherine Cole. Alice was
around 22 years of age when she married John Reeve at St James Piccadilly in
London during 1760 when her parents were the witnesses at the wedding ceremony. Alice and John, and their son Richard Reeve,
were named as beneficiaries under the terms of Alice’s father’s Will of
1788. Richard Reeve, whose wife
was Mary, died in 1821 and was buried at St Leonards Church in Shoreditch on 27th
August 1821 aged 57. His mother Alice
Reeve, nee Collett, died and was buried during the month of January in 1794. Richard and Mary Reeve’s daughter was
Catherine Collett Reeve, who was baptised at St Lukes Chelsea on 15th
June 1787 but sadly was buried at St Lukes on 5th December 1787
Catherine Collett [85L8] was born in the Westminster area of
central London during 1759 and was baptised at the Church of St
Martins-in-the-Field, Trafalgar Square, on 15th July 1759, the
daughter of Thomas and Ann Collett. Upon
being married she became the wife of (1) David Burnsall with whom she had a
daughter Elinor Burnsall. All three of
them were mentioned in the 1788 Will of Catherine’s uncle Richard Collett, with
David being one of the trustees of his estate. Sometime after being made a widow, Catherine
married for a second time when she became Catherine Tetherington. She later died in Chelsea on 23rd
September 1821, when the record at St Lukes Church described her as the great
niece of Richard Collett, who was 62 and hence born in 1759
85M5 – Elinor Burnsall
Richard Thomas Collett [85L9] was born in Westminster
in 1768, another child of Thomas and Ann Collett, who was also baptised at St
Martins-in-the-Field on 14th May 1768. Richard was 26 years old when was married to Mary
Walker at Holborn, London, Middlesex, on 1st January 1795 following
the reading of banns. Their marriage
produced two known children, with their daughter born at Whitechapel and their
son born at Bloomsbury in Middlesex. At
the baptism of both children the parents were recorded at Richard Thomas
Collett and Mary Ann Collett
85M6 – Harriet Selina Collett was born in 1809 at Whitechapel, London
85M7 – George Daniel Collett was born in 1812 at Bloomsbury,
Middlesex
Harriet Selina Collett [85M6] was born in the Whitechapel area of
London on 8th July 1809 and was baptised there at St Mary’s Altab
Ali Park on 26th August 1810, the daughter of Richard Thomas Collett
and Mary Ann Collett
George Daniel Collett [85M7] was born at Bloomsbury in Middlesex on
29th May 1812 and was twelve years old when he was baptised at Holy
Trinity Church in Mile End Old Town, Middlesex on 10th October
1824. He was the son of Richard Thomas Collett
and Mary Ann Collett and was four months short of his twentieth birthday when
he married Elizabeth Orton on 17th January 1832 at St Bride’s Church
on Fleet Street, London. Twenty-one
months later the only known child of George Daniel and Elizabeth Collett was
born in London at Finchley. After
another eight years the three members of the family were living in Bethnal
Green at Gascoigne Place where George senior was 29, his wife Elizabeth was 28,
and George junior was eight years of age.
On that census day, and recorded at the same address, was Joseph
Goodfellow aged 22, his wife Mary Goodfellow aged 26, with their son Joeph
Goodfellow who was three years old. All
six residents had been born in the County of Middlesex, with Mary Ann Thwaite
having married Joseph Goodfellow on 9th April 1837 at St Mary’s
Church in Whitechapel
The next census in 1851 for Bethnal
Green in the Tower Hamlets area of London, George Collett was 38 and a bedstead
maker living at 7 Nichols Row with his wife Elizabeth aged 38 who was a
seamstress. Still with them that day was
the couple’s unmarried son George Collett who was 17 years old and working
alongside his father as a bedstead maker.
George senior’s place of birth was Bloomsbury (Middx), Elizabeth had
been born at Hackney (Middx), with George junior described as being of Finsbury
(Middx)
Their son George Thomas Collett was
married in 1854 and started to raise a family of his own although, on the day
of the next census in 1861, and perhaps because of the lack of room in their
family home, the couple’s first-born child and eldest son George Collett was
living with George and Elizabeth at 12 Richard Street in Islington, just a
short distance from his younger siblings.
At the age of six years George Collett from Shoreditch was described as
the couple’s grandson, when George (Daniel) Collett from St Georges Bloomsbury
was 49 and working as an army tailor, with his wife Elizabeth Collett from St
John’s Hackney being 48 and an army tailoress
85N1 - George Thomas Collett was born in 1833 at Finsbury, London
George Thomas Collett [85N1] was born at Finsbury in London on 15th
October 1833 and was later baptised on 20th August 1843 at St
Leonard’s Church in Shoreditch when he was nine years of age. Upon his much later death his date of birth
was recorded as 9th October 1833 and, because his wife and their
eldest child had already passed away by then, the informant may not have known George’s
correct date of birth. On leaving
school, George learnt the trade of a bedstead maker from his father, with the
family home being 7 Nichols Row in Bethnal Green in 1851. Three years later, when George Thomas Collett
was twenty years of age he married Sarah Ann Ford, with their wedding recorded
at Islington in London during the second quarter of 1854 (Ref. 1b 363). Sarah Ann Ford was born in London on 6th
August 1831 and was baptised at St Leonard’s Church in Shoreditch on 31st
August 1831, the daughter of David and Sarah Ford
Born nine months after their wedding
day, the couple’s first child was George Collett who was not living with his
family on any census day after he was born near the start of 1855. By the day of the census in 1861 George and
Sarah had given birth to three children but, rather curiously, their eldest
child, six-year-old school boy George Collett from Shoreditch was not with his
family at William Street in Islington for the census in 1861. Instead, he had been placed in the care of his
paternal grandparents George and Elizabeth Collett in their Islington home at
12 Richard Street where he was confirmed as their grandson. So was he a poorly child, with his mother
unable to look after him having two younger children
The remainder of the family residing at
William Street comprised head of the household George T Collett from Shoreditch
who was 27 and a watch lever escapement maker, his wife Sarah A Collett from St
Lukes (Middx) who was 29, and the couple’s two newest arrivals. They were Elizabeth Collett from Shoreditch who
was four, and David Collett from Islington who was two years of age. Five more children were added to their family
during the following twelve years, with the first four of them born in London prior
to the family emigrating to a new life in Canada in 1870, and importantly, without
the couple’s first-born child son George.
It was in Canada where the couple’s last child was born three years
after arriving there. It was in Ontario that
the young family settled, their first home being in Muskoka Township where they
were recorded in 1871. Watchmaker George
Collett was 37, Sarah Collett was 39, Elizabeth Collett was 14, David Collett
was 12, Ernest Collett was nine, Florence Collett was seven, Charles Collett
was four, and Edmund Collett was two years old, with every member of the
household having been born in England
By the time their eighth and last child
was born the family had moved south to Orillia City in Simcoe County, Ontario, on
the south-west shore of Lake Couchiching, after which they travelled south
again, to finally settle in Toronto City. That move was confirmed by the census in 1881
when, on the fourth of April, George T Collett from England was 47 and employed
as a machinist. His wife Sarah A Collett
was 49 and only six of their eight children were living there with them. Thy were Elizabeth Collett who was 24,
unmarried David F Collett who was 22 and a printer (double counted by his
parents – see below), Ernest A Collett who was 19, Charles G Collett
who was 14, Edmund B Collett who was 12, and Alfred B Collett who was eight
years of age and described as born in Toronto.
Staying with the family was Richard Ludlow from England who was 29 and a
painter
The two absent children were eldest son
George, who left England for North America during 1872, and daughter Florence
who had already completed her education and was already at work away from home,
but still in Toronto. Curiously, on that
census day, in addition to being recorded with his family, son David was soon
to become a married, and was recorded as such with his wife to be even before
they were married. During the following
decade the children started to leave the family home which, by 1891 was at 3448
Gerrard Street intersect with Church Street West in Toronto, the property being
one in a block of five dwellings owned by Anthony Delaporte. Also, by that time in his life, George (Thomas)
Collett from England was working as a confectioner, according to his Tax
Assessment
On 31st March in 1901 the Canadian
census that year for Ward 3 of Toronto, included George Collett from England who
was 67 years old and whose date of birth was confirmed as 15th
October 1833, who was again working as a machinist. His wife Sarah A Collett was 69, having been
born on 6th August 1831 in England who had entered Canada with her
husband and family during 1870. Less
than five years later Sarah Ann Collett, nee Ford, died in Toronto on 26th
January 1906 and, three years afterwards, George received that tragic news of
the premature death of his married daughter Elizabeth in 1909 and, six months
later, widower George Thomas Collett, aged 76 years 4 months 2 days, died on 13th
March 1910 and was buried at St James Cemetery in Toronto, where his late wife
was also laid to rest. A large and grand
grey granite memorial stone (on a plinth) marks their joint grave
85O1 - George Collett was born in 1855 at Shoreditch, London
85O2 - Elizabeth Collett was born in 1857 at Shoreditch, London
85O3 – David Ford Collett was born in 1859 at Islington, London
85O4 - Ernest Augustus Collett was born in 1861 at Islington, London
85O5 - Florence Augusta Collett was born in 1864 at Islington, London
85O6 - Charles George Collett was born in 1867 at Islington, London
85O7 - Edmund Barnes Collett was born in 1868 at Islington, London
85O8 - Alfred Bertram Collett was born in 1873 at Orillia City,
Ontario
George Collett [85O1] was born in London at the start of 1855
with his birth registered at Shoreditch (Ref. 1c 162) during the first quarter
of the year, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Ford. He was the first of the eight known children
of George Thomas Collett (1833-1910) and Sarah Ann Ford (1831-1906). He was never recorded with his family in any
of the subsequent census returns and, while the reason for that is not known, in
1861 George Collett aged six years and from Shoreditch was attending primary
school when he was living with his grandparents George and Elizabeth Collett in
their Islington home at 12 Richard Street.
At that same time young George’s parents and his two younger siblings
were living nearby at William Street in Islington for the census in 1861
Nine years later George’s parents and
six of his seven younger siblings sailed to Canada, where the last sibling was
added to the family. Where George was in
1871 has still to be discovered, while it was during the following year that
16-year-old George Collett sailed across the Atlantic to New York onboard the
ship Great Western in steerage. He
appears not to have been reunited with his parents, although for the Canadian Tax
Assessments in 1884 and 1885 George and his younger brother Ernest (below) were
joint tenants in a dwelling on Pearl Street in Hamilton, the property of Mrs
June R Reid, when George Collett was a machinist. The following year, and just prior to brother
Ernest being married, the same pair was living on Magill Street, Hamilton, in
rented accommodation owned by Thomas Grant
Elizabeth Collett [85O2] was born on 1st January 1857
at Shoreditch in London, where her birth was registered (Ref. 1c 132) during
the first quarter of the year. During
the next two years Elizabeth and her parents moved to Islington where her younger
brother David (below) was born in 1859 and where the family was recorded
in 1861 at William Street, Islington, when Elizabeth Collett from Shoreditch
was four years old. On arrival in Canada
with the majority of her family in 1870, Elizabeth
Collett from England was 14 and living with her family at Muskoka Township in
1871. During the following years the
family ended up in Toronto, where in 1881 unmarried Elizabeth Collett was 24
years of age. It was that same year when
Elizabeth moved to Seattle in Washington, USA.
Elizabeth later married Walter Cortlands
Freer with whom she gave birth to eight children. The two youngest children were Walter
Cortlands Freer junior born on 9th October 1894 at Toronto who
was single when he died in Seattle on 19th June 1951 at 86 Virginia
Street, and Arthur Edmund Edwin Freer born on 23rd April 1897
at 361 Church Street in Toronto, another son of shoemaker Walter C Freer and
Elizabeth Collett. The US Census in 1900
listed the Freer family as shoemaker Walter from Canada who was 42, Elizabeth
from England who was 43, Jessie E Freer aged 19, Norman C Freer
aged 17, Ida J Freer aged 14, Grace M Freer aged 12, Bertram
Freer who was ten, Sidney C Freer who was eight, Walter who was
five, and Arthur who was three years old.
Nine years later Elizabeth Freer, housewife, died at 2325 24 South in
Seattle, King County, Washington USA, on 6th September 1909 and was
buried at Aberdeen, Brown County, South Dakota on 9th September
1909. The death record confirmed that
she was the daughter of George Collett and Sarah Ford from England
David Ford Collett [85O3] was born at Islington in London during
early weeks of 1859 with his birth registered at Shoreditch (Ref. 1b 272)
during the first three months of that year, the third child of George Thomas
Collett and Sarah Ann Ford. He may have
been born at William Street in Islington, where part of the family was recorded
in 1861 when David Collett of Islington was two years of age. In 1870 he and most of his family emigrated
to Canada, his eldest brother George not making the sea voyage. By 1881 the family had made their home in
Toronto (St John’s Ward), where David was preparing for his wedding day, just
of a month after the day of the census that year. His parents informed the census enumerator
that their son was still living in their home, as David F Collett from England aged
22 who was working as a printer. That
same day, another census return completed in Toronto (St Patrick’s Ward) provided
the information that printer David Collett from England was 22 and a married
man, was living there with his wife Elizabeth Collett of Canada who was 23. That was on 4th April 1881, with
the wedding day for the couple being on 11th May 1881 in Toronto when
David Ford Collett from England was 21 and a printer living in Toronto that he
married Eliza Jane Robinson from Ontario who was 23 and the daughter of George
and Isabella Robinson. The wedding
ceremony was conducted after the reading of banns, within the Church of
England, when the witnesses were (the groom’s sister) Florence A Collett, and
Thomas A Norris
Sadly, it was towards the end of that
year David Ford Collett from England, a printer, died in Toronto City on 21st
December 1881 aged 22 years and 10 months, the cause of his premature death
being typhoid fever. Tragically, David
Ford Collett left a very young widow, Eliza Collett nee Robinson, who was
already expecting the birth of their child who was born at Toronto during the
summer of the following year. The
registration of his birth at the County of York, Ontario, was signed by Eliza
Collett of 62 Elm Street, Toronto, where the father’s signature would usually
be
Eliza Jane Robinson Collett was 79 years
old when she died at Glenville Hospital in Mayfield Heights, Cleveland, on 19th
December 1934, when her date of birth in Canada was recorded as 13th
October 1855, after which she was buried at Knollwood Cemetery where other
members of the Collett family were later buried. At that time in her life, she had been living
with her daughter-in-law following the death of her son eight months earlier
that year. The cause of death was a
fractured left hip, followed by terminal broncho pneumonia, when her father was
confirmed as George Robinson. The
informant of her passing was Mrs D G Collett of 19731 South Lakeshore Boulevard
Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, she was Edna Susie Dainz, the second wife of
David George Collett
85P1 - David George James Malcolm
Collett was born in
1882 at Toronto
Ernest Augustus Collett [85O4] was born at Islington in London and
possibly at William Street where his family was recorded in the 1861. He was born during the month of October with
his birth registered at Islington (Ref. 1b 188) during the last three months of
that year. He was the fourth child of
George Thomas Collett and Sarah Ann Ford who took most of their family to
Canada in 1870 where Ernest was nine years old in the Canadian census of 1871
for Muskoka Township, Ontario. Soon
after 1873 the family settled in Toronto City where he was still living with
his family in 1881, by which time Ernest A Collett from England was 19 and
employed as an expressman. The
subsequent first marriage by licence of Ernest Augustus Collett, an
Episcopalian, and (1) Martha Jane Carlyon, a Methodist, took place in County
Wentworth at Hamilton City on 8th July 1885. The groom from England and a resident of
Hamilton was a bachelor aged 23, a mechanic, and the son of George Thomas
Collett and Sarah Ann Collett, while the bride was 22 and a spinster of
Hamilton whose parents were Walter Carlyon and Esther Lousia Carlyon. The two witnesses, both of Hamilton, were (Ernest’s
brother) Charles Collett and Florence Burton
In 1884 the brothers Ernest and George (above)
were in rented accommodation on Pearl Street in Hamilton, the property of Mrs
June R Reid, with their Tax Assessment that year stating George was a
machinist, and Ernest an engineer. The
following year the same pair was living on Magill Street in a rented residence
owned by Thomas Grant, which was prior to Ernest being married. By 1888 Ernest and his family were living at
Queen Street in Hamilton when he was working as an engineer and in a property
owned by Maria H Taylor, where they were again living in 1889. Very interestingly, by 1890, their home was
on Canada Street, Hamilton, when the owner of the house occupied by Ernest and
his family was Mrs Carlyon, who may have been his mother-in-law Esther Lousia
Carlyon
Two years after their wedding day,
Martha gave birth to the first of their three known children at Hamilton, when
the informant was E A Collett, a caretaker, with the
parents confirmed as Ernest Augustus Collett and Martha Carylion (sic). Although no record of the family has been
found in 1890 and 1900, the couple’s two youngest daughters were born after the
family had moved to Niagara Falls.
Sometime after 1893, and before 1910, Ernest may have been widowed, or
divorced from Martha, because the 1910 Census gave his wife as Mary from
America who was three years younger than Ernest, with Martha being from Canada
and only one year different in age
Ernest reappeared for the census in
1910, when he was still a married man but with a different, slightly younger
wife, and with one of the daughters from his first wife, the three of them
residing in Perth, Ontario. That year
Ernest Collett was a steam fitter aged 48 from England who was born during the
month of October 1861. His wife Mary
Collett was a milliner who had been born in America during April 1864, while his
daughter Mary Collett, born in Ontario during January 1893, was 18 with no job
of work. The marriage of Ernest Augustus
Collett and (2) Mary Ellis took place in Chicago the following year on 23rd
January 1911, when he was 49 and she was 46.
After another twenty-year period of absence, their daughter was no
longer living with them, when Ernest Collett aged 69 and a merchant with a
retail store was residing in the City of Stratford in Perth County, Ontario,
where wife Mary was 66 and a homemaker
85P2 – Florence Louise Collett was born in 1887 at Hamilton, Ontario
85P3 – Gertrude Collett was born in 1890 at Niagara Falls,
County of Welland, Ontario
85P4 – Mary Augusta Collett was born in 1893 at Niagara Falls,
County of Welland, Ontario
Florence Augusta Collett [85O5] was born in London near the start of
1864, when her birth was registered at Islington (Ref. 1b 321) during the first
three months of 1864 and was seven years old in the Canadian census of 1871 for
Muskoka, Ontario, having emigrated there with her family during the previous
year. She was another daughter of George
and Sarah Collett who, on completing her education, secured work as a live-in
servant with the Toronto family of book-keeper Samuel Little from Ireland, with
whom she was recorded in 1881 at the age of 17.
Five years later, 22-year-old Florence A Collett, the daughter of George
T Collett and Sarah A Collett, was married by licence to Thomas Westman, a Methodist,
at Hamilton in the County of Wentworth, Ontario, on 22nd September
1886. Thomas was 23 and the son of
Joseph Westman, a bachelor and a resident of Toronto, whose occupation was that
of a clerk. Spinster Florence from
London, England, was an Episcopalian living in Hamilton, when the two witnesses
were (the bride’s brother) Charles G Collett of Hamilton, and Edith Long from
Toronto
The first of the seven children of
Florence and Thomas, an excise office, was Florence May Westman who was
born on 11th November 1889, with the three of them living at 236
Gerrard Street East in Toronto, when their son Thomas Arthur Westman was
born there on 2nd December 1892.
For the birth of the couple’s third child, the family home by then, was 196
Bleeker Street where Gertrude Viola Westman was born on 25th
October 1895, and was followed by a further two sons and two daughters. Two years later, George Edmund Westman
was born at Toronto on 9th December 1897 when it was at 200 Bleeker
Street that the family was recorded, where his father was still employed as an
excise officer. He was followed two years
after, with the family then living at 52 Argyll Avenue in Ottawa, by birth of Albert
Ernest Roberts Westman on 31st May 1900 and was followed by Marion
Evelyn Westman who was born on 7th October 1905 in Ottawa,
Carleton, when the family was residing at 8 Oriel Avenue, with her mother
confirmed as Florence A Collett. It was
also at Carleton that Margaret Kathleen Westman was born on 26th
September 1911 the last child of Thomas Westman and Florence Augusta Collett, by
which time the family was residing at 32 First Avenue in Carleton
It was in Toronto during 1947 that
Florence Augusta Collett Westman’s death was recorded at the age of 83, after
which she was laid to rest in the Park Lawn Cemetery in Toronto
Charles George Collett [85O6] was born in London with his birth
registered at Islington (Ref. 1b 288) during the second quarter of 1867. He was the sixth child of George and Sarah
Collett and was three years old when his parents took the family in living in
Canada in 1870. In the 1871 Ontario
census for Muskoka Township Charles Collett was four years of age, after which
the family travelled south to settle in Toronto, where they were living in 1881
when Charles G Collett was 14. Just one
month prior to the next Toronto census in 1891, Charles George Collett was married
by licence to Minnie Van Allen the daughter of Charles and Maggie Van Allen. Charles from England was 23, a printer, and
an Episcopalian, with Minnie being 21 and a Methodist born at Acton, west of
Toronto, when their wedding ceremony was conducted at Toronto on 25th
February 1891. The witnesses were George
Devlin, and Bella White.
Charles from England was 24 and Minnie from
Ontario was 22 in the Toronto City census of 1891 when they were recorded
within St Patrick’s Ward and were members of the Church of England. Two years later Minnie gave birth to a son, Charles
George Collett junior, who was born at 128 Portland Street in Toronto, when his
father’s occupation was that of a printer.
When junior was five years old, he and his mother, suffered the
premature death of Charles George Collett, a printer was who 31, on 12th
September 1898 at Georgetown, Halton Hills, near Toronto. After that tragic event, mother and only son
disappeared until they reappeared together in the census of 1931, at which time
the head of the household at 9 Lindsay in the Parkdale district of Toronto was
Charles Collett aged 38 and the owner of the property valued at 4,000. His occupation, like that of his late father,
was that of a printer, employed at a paper box factory. His mother, the only other person living
there, was Minnie Collett a widow and home-maker aged 62
Minnie Van Allen Collett was 78 years
old when she passed away on 4th October 1947 at Georgetown in Halton
Hills, west of Toronto, and was buried with her husband at Greenwood Cemetery
in Owen Sound to the north of Halton Hills.
The record of her death gave her date of birth as 26th May
1869
85P5 – Charles George Collett was born in 1893 at Toronto
Edmund Barnes Collett [85O7] was born in London on 13th
April 1869, the seventh child of George Thomas Collett and Sarah Ann Ford, with
his birth registered at Islington (Ref. 1b 320) during the second quarter of
that year. After sailing to Canada with
his family in 1870, Edmund Collett was two years old and living at Muskoka
Township in Ontario in 1871. Ten years
later, and as Edmund B Collett he was 12 years of age and listing with his
family in Toronto. When he was 21, Edmund
B Collett was married by licence to Hannah Skene, aged 24 and the daughter of W
S Skene and A B Skene on 27th January 1890 at Toronto. Hannah was born in Ontario on 4th
January 1866, with Edmund born in London, England, a paper box cutter who was a
member of the Church of England, as was his bride. The witnesses were Mary A Wallace and Dora
Brown, both of Toronto. Their daughter Vera
Estelle Collett was a honeymoon baby born at 101 University Road in Toronto
on the last day of October 1890 when her father was described as a paper box
cutter with his own company E B Collett.
Eight years later the family was living in rented accommodation at 2683
Kings Street South in Toronto, the property owned by Robert Marr, when 30-year-old
Edmund was working as a box maker. In
the next census of 1901 Edmund from England was 32 and a manufacturer whose
date of birth was 13th April 1869, Hannah was 35, and Vera was 10
years of age.
It was just Edmund Barnes Collett and
his wife Hannah who was residing at 130 Grenadier Road in Parkdale, Toronto, in
1931 with their home in their ownership.
They were both recorded at 61 in that years’ census return, when Edmund
was the manager of a paper box company, with his total earnings for the
previous twelve months was $9,000. Ten
years later, Edmund Barnes Collett was 71 and 3 months old when he died in
Toronto on 31st July 1940 and was buried there in St James Cemetery
where his father had been buried thirty years earlier, and his wife more
recently
For the last four years of his life
Edmund had been a widower following the death of Hannah Collett, at the age of
72 and 10 months, on 3rd November 1936 after which she was buried at
St James Cemetery on 6th November 1936. The record of her passing included the
following information. Hannah, a
housewife, was the daughter of William Skene from Scotland, and Annie Beeton,
also from Scotland, and was living at 130 Grenadier Road, York Township in
Toronto with her husband Edward (sic) Collett.
The informant of her death was her son-in-law Doctor H F Sproule of 1200
Weston Road, Mount Dennis in Toronto. It
was her son-in-law who signed the cause of death, being tryo…ditis (?) and nephritis – inflammation of the kidneys, and
hypertension, having suffered with apoplexy for the previous four years
The later death record for Edmund Barnes
Collett of 130 Grenadier Road in Toronto was also signed by Doctor H F Sproule,
and contained the following details. He
had lived in Toronto for 55 years, and in Ontario and Canada for 70 years,
having been born in England on 13th April 1869, and having been
treated by his son-in-law from 6th April 1940 up until his death,
the cause of which was hypostatic pneumonia, cancer of the prostrate, extending
into the bladder. Edmund had worked as a
box maker up until December 1939 for the family business of Collett &
Sproule Box Company, Herman Sproule being his son-in-law. His wife was confirmed as Hannah Skene,
deceased, the son of George Collett and Sarah Ford, and was buried at St James
Cemetery with his late wife on 3rd August 1940
The announcement of his passing in the
local newspaper read as follows: “ E B Collett, manufacturer, dead, aged 73 (sic)
– President of Paper Box Firm was five times Commodore of the National Yacht
Club – English-born – Edmund B Collett former commodore of the National Yacht
Club, died today at his home, 130 Grenadier Road, in his 73rd
year. He was widely known in the paper
box manufacturing industry and until his retirement about two years age was
president of the firm of Collett, Sproule Limited, paper box manufacturers.
Mr Collett was born in England and
brought to Toronto by his parents when only one year old. He had made his home here since and
throughout his business life had been associated with the box making
industry. In his younger days Mr Collett
was an active and enthusiastic member and office of the National Yacht
Club. He served for five years as
commodore 1903 to 1907, and again in 1912.
It was largely at his instigation that the club premises were moved from
where the lighthouse now is on Fleet Street to the present site behind Maple
Leaf Stadium.
A member for many years of St John’s
Garrison Church, Mr Collett was long president of the Garrison Businessmen’s
Association. He was for several years
too, Grand Commander of the Knights of Malta, and belonged also to Wilson
Lodge, A F & A M. He is survived by
his daughter, Mrs Vera Sproule.
85P6 – Vera Estelle Collett was born in 1890 at Toronto
Alfred Bertram Collett [85O8], the eighth and youngest child of
George Thomas Collett, an engine fitter, and Sarah Ann Ford of Brant Street in
Orillia, County Simco, Ontario, was born there on 6th
May 1873 and, later in his life he travelled to America where he died on 12th
September 1936 at Wellsburg, Brooke County, West Virginia. Alfred Bertram Collett had married (1)
Elizabeth Clarke and their daughter Alda Ladysmith Collett was born in the County
of York, Ontario on the first day of March in 1900. The birth was registered by A B Collett of 112
Stollard, Orillia, whose occupation was a foreman on the railway. On 31st March 1901 Alda L Collett
was one year old, the youngest of the three children living with Alfred and
Elizabeth within Ward 3 of Toronto.
Alfred was 27 and a coachman, Elizabeth was 25 and born on 20th
September 1875, and their two older children were five-year-old Victor C
Collett who was born in 1895, when Alfred was a butcher, and four-year-old Eugenie
Collett who was born two years after in 1897.
The Tax Assessment return for the County of York completed in 1897 by
Alfred Collett indicated he was a conductor on the railway who was residing at
2543 Gauge Avenue intersect with Birch Avenue South, with the owner of the
property being Mary Holmes
Not long after the birth of their third
child, Elizabeth Collett, nee Clarke, suffered a premature death, perhaps even
during the birth of Eugenie. With three
young children to care for, Alfred subsequently married (2) Lillian Pearson
which produced another daughter. Upon the marriage of daughter Reta Louise
Collett in December 1925, her parents were recorded as Alfred Collett and
Lillian Pearson. In addition, the Toronto
census of 1931 recorded Alfred Collett as 57 and born in Ontario, the child of
English parents living at 37 Dingwall Avenue in Toronto City, the same address
as in 1925, with his second wife Lillian Collett from Ontario whose parents
were also born in England. Not long
after that day the couple left Canada and crossed the border into America
An unverified source on the Ancestry
website states that Alfred’s (second) wife was Bertha Belle Bassford
[1880-1945] and their daughter was Kathryn Ida Collett [1906-1989], with Bertha
being the daughter of Mr Basfor [1841-1912] and Ida Jane Huntsberry
[854-1924]. In addition to this, while
Alfred’s parents were correctly named as George Thomas Collett and Sarah Ann
Ford, his grandparents were listed as Nathaniel Collett [1796-1852] whose wife
was Hannah Howard [1792-1849] and not George Daniel Collett and Elizabeth Orton
85P7 – Victor Clarke Collett was born in 1895 at York, Ontario
85P8 – Eugenie Collett was born in 1897 at York, Ontario
85P9 – Alda Ladysmith Collett was born in 1900 at Orillia,
York, Ontario
85P10 – Reta Louise Collett was born in 1905, York, Ontario
David George James Malcolm Collett [85P1] was born in Toronto on 22nd
August 1882 whose father David Ford Collett died before he was born, so was
raised by young widow Eliza Jane Collett nee Robinson. David was married twice in his life with each
of those relationships producing a daughter.
However, his first child, Edith Collett, was born on 13th
October 1906 at Cleveland, Ohio, before David George Collett and Saba Bartlett
Oakes were married at Cuyahoga County, Ohio, on 19th November
1907. Their Application (Ref. 55095) for
a licence to be married provided their details, as follows: David George age
25, residing at 1331 North 85th Street, born in Canada, a clerk,
father David Ford Collett, mother Eliza J Robinson, unmarried. Saba Bartlett Oakes age 19, of 7617 Linwood
Avenue, born in Cleveland, father Sheridan A Oakes, mother Anna Lavantie. The following year, the couple’s second child
was born in hospital, but did not survive, the un-named daughter born on 26th
October 1908, to David aged 26, and Saba Collett aged 19
The subsequent marriage licence for
David George Collett and Edna Susie Dainz was issued by Cuyahoga County, Ohio,
on 16th June 1916 (Application 109394) with the following
details. David G Collett age 33 of 1523
Massachusetts Avenue, Lakewood, Ohio, an auditor, and the son of David F
Collett and Elizabeth Robinson, with one previous marriage, now divorced. Edna S Dainz age 33 of 3181 West 11 Street,
single and the daughter of Charles A Dainz and Susan McCann. The couple was married on 17th
June 1916, with their daughter Betty Collett born five years later, on 13th
February 1922
The 1917-1918 US Draft Registration Form
was completed by David George Collett aged 36 (dob as above) of 444 Logan
Avenue, Milwaukee, a declared alien having British citizenship, an asset
treasurer with the Ludish Drop Forge Company at Packard Avenue, Cudahy,
Milwaukee, nearest relative his wife at 444 Logan Avenue
Around that same time, two years after
their weeding day, 35-year-old David applied for American Citizenship, with his
Declaration of Intention drawn up at The Circuit Court of Milwaukee County,
Wisconsin, containing the following details. “I David George Collett aged 35, an
accountant, white and of fair complexion, 5 feet 6 ½ inches tall, 139 pounds,
blonde hair, blue eyes, scar over right eye, was born in Toronto on 22nd
August 1882, now residing at 444 Logan Avenue, Milwaukee, emigrated to the USA from
Toronto on the R & O Navigation Company, my wife Edna Susie from Cleveland
now resides in Milwaukee. I arrived at
the Port of New York on 20th June 1903. Signed by the Clerk of the Court on 10th
July 1918”
The US Census in 1920 identified the
family residing in Milwaukee City, where David G Collett from Canada was 37,
living in rented accommodation, who was an auditor with a steel manufacturer,
his wife Edna Collett from Ohio was 37, and David’s daughter from his first
marriage, Edith Collett, was 11 years of age and also
born in Ohio. Two brothers (27 & 25
years old) were boarding with the family that day.
The subsequent Petition for
Naturalization was signed on 16th April 1925 and read as follows: “David
George Collett of 12530 Edmonton Road, Cleveland, Ohio, occupation auditor, was
born on 22nd August 1882 in Toronto, entered the United States on 20th
June 1903 at Buffalo N Y, do declare my intention to become a citizen of the
United States on 10th July 1916 at Milwaukee. I am divorced from my wife Edna who was born
on 15th January 1882 at Cleveland where she now resides. I originally resided in the State of Ohio
from 20th June 1903 until 15th March 1920 and being
residence within this state of at least one year next preceding the date of
this petition.” David also stated on
the form that his two surviving daughters were Edith Collett (dob 13.10.1906),
and Betty Collett (dob 13.02.1922) both born in Cleveland, the first date
creating a conflict with other, later records for Edith
Five years later, the Collett family was
recorded in the 1930 for Cleveland City at 1070 East 197 Street when David G
Collett was 47 and employed at a factory as an asset treasurer, Edna S Collett
was 47, Edith G Collett was 21 and a clerical office worker, and Betty M
Collett was eight years of age. Living
with the family was David’s widowed mother Lizzie Collett who was 73. Four years after that day, David George
Collett was still living in Cleveland when he died there on 9th
April 1934 at the age of 51. His
obituary was published in The Plain Dealer newspaper and included the names of
his mother, Lizzie Collett, his wife Edna Dainz Collett, and his two daughters
(in reverse order) Betty Mae Collett, and Edith Lore Collett. Following the later death of his widow Edna S
Collett aged 67, at Cleveland her obituary was published in The Plain Dealer
which mentioned her surviving family members as Mrs Betty (Mae) Purvis, and Edith
G Lore (daughters), and her elderly father Charles A Dainz
The next census in 1940 recorded mother
and daughter living at the same rented accommodation where they had been living
in 1935 after the death of David. Both
were employed by the same steam railroad company, where Edna S Collett was a
widow at 59, and an office clerk, while Betty Collett was 18 and a stenographer
85Q1 - Edith G Collett was born in 1906 at Cleveland
85Q2 - daughter Collett was born in 1908
at Cleveland, infant death
The following is the child of David
George Collett by his second wife Edna Susie Dainz
85Q3 - Betty Mae Collett was born in 1922 at Cleveland
Florence Louise Collett [85P2] was born at Hamilton in Ontario on 13th
March 1887, the first-born daughter of Ernest Augustus Collett from England and
his Canadian first wife Martha Jane Carlyon.
Florence was 19 and residing at Stratford, Hamilton, when she married
bachelor William Rieck aged 27, a labourer, at New Hamburg, Stratford, County
of Waterloo, on 30th January 1906.
His parents were William Rieck and Marie Berlin, with Florence’s parents
confirmed as Ernest A Collett and Martha Carlyon, when the witnesses were Henry
Hiller and Jillie Rieck. Four years on
from their wedding day the couple and their two daughters were living at Perth
North in Ontario when William Rieck from Germany was 33 and a carpenter, wife
Florence was 23, Berthenia Rieck was four, and Lezetee Rieck was
eleven months old. Florence was
supplementing the family income by taking in boarders, who on the day were John
McQuade 19, and John Britt 17 from England
Gertrude Collett [85P3] was born at Niagara Falls, County of
Welland, Ontario on 25th July 1890, the second of the three
daughters of Ernest and Martha Collett.
Apart from the record of her birth, no other information is currently
known
Mary Augusta Collett [85P4] was born at Niagara Falls in 1893 and
was the youngest child of Ernest and Martha Collett. Mary was 20 years of age when she married
Alfred William Kempster on 20th January 1914 at London Township,
County of Middlesex, Ontario. The
Marriage Act Affidavit written out prior to the marriage contained the
following details. Mary Augusta Collette
of 260 King Street, London, Ontario, born at Niagara, Ontario, Church of
England, daughter of Ernest Augustus Collett and Martha (maiden-name not
known). The groom was 31 and a driver,
who was born in Wiltshire, England, also residing at 260 King Street in London,
the son of George Kempster and Lucy Stevens.
As with the rest of her family, very few records of their life have been
unearthed, with just the later death of Mary A Collett Kempster registered at
London in the County of Middlesex during 1927 when she was only 33, and was buried
at Woodland Cemetery in London
Charles George Collett [85P5] was born at 129 Portland Street in
Toronto on 26th April 1893, the only known child of printer Charles
George Collett from England and Minnie Van Allen of Ontario. His father died in 1898 with no obvious
record of George and his mother until the census in 1931. By that time mother and son were together at
9 Lindsay in Parkdale, Toronto, where Charles Collett was a printer with a
paper box factory at the age of 38, when his widowed mother was 62 and died in
1947. Charles was single and the owner
of the property in which they were living, which was valued at $4,000. Nothing more is known about Charles, other
than he died on 22nd November 1965 at Georgetown, Halton Hills, and
was buried with his parents at Greenwood Cemetery in Owen Sound, Ontario
Vera Estelle Collett [85P6] was born at 101 University Street in Toronto
on 31st October 1890, the only known child of Edmund Barnes Collett
and Hannah Skene, born nine months after their wedding day. It was at 2683 Kings Street South in Toronto
where the family was living in 1901 when Vera Collett was eight years. Fourteen years after that day, when Vera
Estelle Collett was 24, she married Herman Frederick Sproule [1889-1976] aged 26
in York Township, Toronto, on 30th June 1915. Herman was a physician and a Methodist, the
son of Frederick Alexander Sproule [1861-1919] and Amelia Abigail Post [1865-],
while Vera was confirmed as an Episcopalian and the daughter of Edmund B
Collett and Hannah Skene
Their first child was Frederick C
Sproule, with the couple’s only other known child was Edmund Barnes
Sproule, named after Vera’s businessman father, who was born at 1200 Weston
Street in Mount Dennis, Toronto, in 1920 but tragically did not survive, and
died on 25th November 1920 and was buried two days later, on 27th
November. His tiny body was laid to rest
in Prospect Cemetery, St Clair Avenue West in Toronto, in a plot owned by his
father Doctor Herman F Sproule. He was
just five months old and the cause of his premature death was meningitis
Victor Clarke Collett [85P7] was born at Toronto, Ontario on 1st
September 1895, the first-born child of Alfred Bertram Collett, a butcher, and
Elizabeth Clarke. The record of his
birth, unlike all the others, had the extra note that “child born at Toronto Locando”
which may have been a hotel. It was at
Ward 3 in Toronto that Victor C Collett was living with his family at the age
of five years in the 1901 Census
He was 24 when the licence for his
proposed marriage was granted in Toronto on 25th September 1919. It was during the following week that Victor married
Hannah Madeline Vanston at Elm Street Methodist Church, Toronto, on 1st
October 1919, when she was 23. In error,
for some reason, Victor was said to be the son of Thomas Collett and Elizabeth
Clarke, with Hannah described as the daughter of George Vanston and Jean Hart. Victor was a printer and a member of the
Church of England, with Anna being a Methodist who was employed as a
stenographer. Victor’s home address was
897 Logan Avenue in the City of Toronto, when the witnesses were Isabel Vanston
of 38 Hearborn Street, Toronto, and Benedict Alfred Clarke of 178 Harvard Avenue,
Toronto. Perhaps the lack of any
presence of a member of the Collett family, and the obvious error with his
father’s christian name, indicates a rift with the family
Although the only surviving child was
born four years before their wedding day, a subsequent child was born in
Toronto during 1930, who appears to have died at birth, since it was buried at
Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto and referred to as an infant of Victor C
Collett
The following year, the census in 1931
identified Victor as 35 and a pressman in a printing business who was living at
38 Earl Haig Avenue in Scarborough, Toronto, when he was a married man with a
wife and child. Madeline Collett was 35
and a home maker, and their son Victor Clarke Collett junior was 15 and a
student, all three of them born in Ontario. Victor was the owner of the property which was
valued at $3,900 when his annual income was $2,000. Fourteen years later, Victor suffered the
loss of his wife, when Hannah Madeline Vanston Collett died at London,
Middlesex, Ontario, on 2nd November 1945, three weeks short of her
fiftieth birthday. Her death record
confirmed she was born on 22nd November1895 at St Mary’s Perth,
Ontario, the daughter of George Joseph Vanston, a jeweller, and Jean Hart,
after which she was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto
Sometime between 1945 and 1955, Victor
Clarke Collett married Nona and, on 29th July 1955, Victor Clarke
Collett, aged 59, travelled first class from New York on the Alcoa Ranger V/81 arriving
at Baltimore on 8th August 1955 after staying at the Commodore Hotel
in the Big Apple. Accompanying him on
the cruise was his wife Nona Collett who was 40, both recorded as Canadian
nationals on the manifest of in-bound passengers. Victor Clarke Collett from Canada was 84
years old when he died on 5th March 1980 at Findlay in Hancock
County, Ohio, after which he was transported back to Ontario to be buried at
Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto, where his first wife was buried thirty-five
years earlier
58Q4 – Victor Clarke Collett was born in
1915 at Toronto
Eugenie Collett [85P8] was born on 31st January
1897 at 2543 Gauge Avenue, Toronto Junction, the eldest of the four daughters
of Alfred Bertram Collett and Elizabeth Clarke, whose birth was registered in
York County. When she was three years of
age Eugenie and her family were residing at 112 Stollard in Orillia, and was
four years old in the Toronto census the following year. Tragically, she was only 13 years old when
she died on 21st November 1910 and was buried at Mount Pleasant
Cemetery where her mother
Alda Ladysmith Collett [85P9] was born on 1st March 1900
at 112 Stollard, Orillia, York County, Ontario, another child of Alfred B
Collett, a foreman on the railway who registered her birth on 29th
March that year. As Alda L Collett she
was one year old in the Toronto Ward 3 census of 1901, by which time her father
was a coachman (on the railway). She was
twenty years and three months old when the marriage licence for Alda Ladysmith
Collett and William Halford McEwan was approved on 25th May 1920 at
Mississauga in Peel County, Ontario.
Alda was a stenographer living at 897 Logan Avenue in Toronto, a Presbyterian
and daughter of Fred Collett and Elizabeth Clarke, when William was 20, a
traveller, Methodist, and the son of William Brown McEwan and Annie Grinnell of
754 Logan Avenue, Toronto. The witnesses
at the wedding on 27th May 1920 were E Cameron Hall and Jessie R
Hall of Newmarket. During the following
decade Alda presented William with two children
By 1931 the four members of the McEwan
family were living in an apartment block at 225 William Street, Belleville City,
Hastings County in Ontario, from where William was 31 and employed as a
district superintendent with a life assurance company. His wife Alda was 31 and a homemaker, when her
two children were daughter Elizabeth McEwan who was ten years of age and
a student, and son Robert McEwan who was five years old. It was at Brighton, Northumberland County
just west of Belleville that Alda Ladysmith McEwan was living when she died in
25th January 1986 and was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery on County
Road in Brighton Township. Just four
months after being widowed, William Halford McEwan also died at Brighton on 31st
May 1986 when he was 85 years old, having been born on 1st May 1901
in Toronto, and was buried with his late wife at Mount Hope Cemetery
Reta Louise Collett [85P10] was born on 7th January 1905
at 22 Maderia Place in Toronto, the last of the four children of Alfred Bertram
Collett, but the only one by his second wife Lillian Pearson, following the
death of his first wife Elizabeth Clarke sometime between 1901 and 1905. Reta Louise Collett was twenty years of age
when she married Howard Nelson Curle at Mississauge on 9th December
1925, as recorded in the County of York, Ontario. Howard was 21 and a book-keeper, the son of
George Nelson Curle and Mary Louise Cabie, residing at 6 Rainsford Road in the
City of Toronto. The witnesses were
Sidney Buchannan Gill and Dorothy B Inglison
By 1931, Howard Nelson Curle from
Ontario was an accountant for an insurance broker at the age of 27, when his
wife Reta Curle was 26 and a homemaker.
Completing the census return that day was their son Howard Earl Curle
who was two years of age, with the three of them recorded at 209 Melrose in
Toronto, their home value at $5,900 then in their ownership. A later un-named child of Reta and Howard
Curle died in 1938 and was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto. When Howard Nelson Curle died on 24th
July 1972 he and Reta were residing at Stayner in Simcoe County and was buried
at Stayner Union Cemetery, north of Toronto. Curiously, twelve years after
being widowed, Reta L Curle died at Stayner on 13th April 1985, but
was buried at St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Cemetery in Toronto. She was not reunited with her husband, and
the change of religion, having been married as members of the Church of
England, may indicate that they were separated.
The informant of her passing notified the registrar, in error, that her
date of birth was 6th January 1905
Edith G Collett [85Q1] was born at Cleveland, Cuyahoga County,
Ohio, on 13th October 1906, the only surviving child of David George
Collett and Saba Bartlett Oakes whose parents were divorced sometime after the
death of Edith’s younger un-named sister towards the end of 1908 and before the
1916 remarriage of her father. Whether
her mother did not survive is not currently known but, four years after her
father’s second marriage, Edith was living with her father and stepmother Edna
Susie Collett in Milwaukee for the census in 1920. There is some confusion with her date of
birth, with her father saying it was 13th October 1906 when he
became an American citizen in 1925, while in the 1920 census he informed the
enumerator that she was 11 years of age, which he may have confused with the
un-named daughter who was born and died towards the end of 1908. An alternative source suggests that Edith G
Collett was born on 2nd October 1910. Ten years later Edith was planning to be
married when she was still living with her family in Cleveland City
It was on 7th August 1930
that the wedding of Edith Collett and Salvatore Lore junior took place in Ohio
and was recorded at Cuyahoga County. The
bride was 21 and the daughter of David G Collett and Saba Oakes, with the groom
being 23, the son of Salvatore Lore and Caroline Carmidzzaro. Edith gave her home address as 1070 East 197
Street in Cleveland City, the home of her father that year, when she was
working as a clerk. Her husband was a
paymaster residing at 18206 Harland in Cleveland City. Twelve years into their marriage, Edith gave
birth to a son when the couple was living at 1596 Maple Road in Cleveland City
with the un-named child born on 13th September 1942, who died on 15th
September 1942, and was buried at Knollwood Cemetery in Mayfield Heights on 16th
September 1942.
By 1950, Edith was a widow residing at Bassett
in Los Angeles when she was 41 with no stated occupation, but when she was
recorded as Edith G Lo Re, head of the household. The only person living with her was her son
David F Lo Re who was eleven years old. David
Ford Lore was born on 28th May 1938 at Cleveland the only
surviving child of Salvatore Lore and Edith Collett, who died on 6th
September 1990 in Los Angeles. Upon the earlier
death of his mother, Edith G Lore, nee Collett, on 2nd March 1969 at
Los Angeles, her date of birth was recorded as 26th October 1908
which was the date of the un-named sibling who was born in hospital, who died
there
Betty Mae Collett [85Q3] was born at Cleveland, Cuyahoga County,
Ohio on 13th February 1922 and was the only the child of David
George Collett and his second wife Edna Susie Dainz, with whom she was living
in 1930 aged eight years. Following the
death of her father in the spring of 1934, Betty was living and working with
her mother in Cleveland in 1940, when she was 18 and a stenographer with the
steam railroad
It was as Betty Collett Mayo that she
died on 16th April 2012 at Spring Hill, Smith County in Texas. Her obituary was later published at
Brooksville, Hernando County, in Florida on 25th July 2012, naming
her three children and the spouses. They
were daughter Collette Buckley and husband Joe Buckey, and sons Dean and Dale
Purvis and daughter-in-law Rita Purvis, wife of Dean. One of her two husbands was Harry E Purvis
with Dean E Purvis (03.07.1944-15.02.1995), and Dale Edward Purvis
(04.05.1948-14.01.2009) being just two of their many children