Shepton Mallet Collett Reunion June 2006

On Saturday 10^th June 2006 a second reunion of the worldwide Collett family took place in Collett Park at Shepton Mallet in Somerset. Unlike the first Collett reunion in June 1996, which coincided with the naming of Collett Park during the annual Shepton Mallet Country Fair, this second reunion celebrated the centenary of the gift of the park to the town by John Kyte Collett back in 1906.

Details relating to the events leading up to presentation of the park to the town one hundred years earlier can be found in the ‘Shepton Mallet June 1996’ file on the Collett website.

As in 1996, the start of the day was conducted at The Shrubbery in Shepton Mallet, from where there was a procession of cars taking the visitors to the park to celebrate Collett Day and the Shepton Mallet Country Fair.

To mark the one hundred years of the park, there was a ceremony of cutting the ribbon to open the new parks gates and the unveiling of a plaque set in the adjacent wall (on the right). A second ribbon cutting also took place at the rear entrance to the park – see later photograph.

Identified in this picture (from left to right) are: Vera and Peter Collett from Norway; Leon and Catheryne Collett from Australia next to Margaret Chadd, Helen Remfrey and her parents John Brian and Phyllis Collett.

Following the short journey from The Shrubbery to the park John Collett and his wife Esme from Australia planted a tree in the park grounds.

Margaret Chadd nee Collett	The Mayor and Margaret
Judy Collett	Gordon John Collett
Vera Collett and Catheryne Collett	Peter Collett and Sir Christopher Collett

Gallery of Guests
	Peter Collett from Oslo enjoying the sun
Sir Christopher and Lady Collett		John Brian Collett

Although absent from this second Collett Reunion due to overseas business commitments, Brian Collett used the event to launch the Collett Family History website on the internet.

At that time the website included just nine Collett family lines which, by the end of 2009, had grown to fifty, with work proceeding steadily on family trees fifty-one and fifty-two.