PART THIRTY-FIVE

The Melksham to Wisconsin & Ontario Line – 1600 to 1830

This is the second of three sections of this family line

Updated September 2026

Martha Tarrant Collett [35O1] was born at Chester, in Delaware County, Pennsylvania on 26^th February 1851, the eldest of the three children of George Tarrant Collett and his wife Mary Ann Hill.  Martha was nine years old in the 1860 census when she was living at Middle Ward in Chester with her widowed mother, following the death of her father in 1856, and two younger siblings.  It was the same situation in 1870, except that by then Martha was working at a cotton mill at the age of 19, where her younger brother James was also working.  During the next couple of years she married William H Martin, with whom she had at least two children.  William served with the military, and his military record stated that he had been born on 1^st March 1842, had enlisted on 16^th August 1861 and was discharged on 24^th August 1864 at St Louis.  It was many years later that the injury he sustained during those three years was acknowledge by the army, when his veteran’s payment card indicated his was disabled on 4^th October 1905 and certified on 23^rd November that year

Following his death on 24^th January 1907 at 2002 Euclid Avenue, Chicago Heights in Cook County, Illinois, his widow Martha T Martin was to receive his army pension, as notified to the Post Master General.  Martha survived for a further thirty-seven years, when she died also died at 2002 Euclid Avenue, Chicago Heights, twenty-five miles south of the Windy City, on 18^th March 1944 at the age of 93.  It was four days later that she was buried at Chester Rural Cemetery in Pennsylvania.  Her death record confirmed that Martha had been born there on 26^th February 1851, and that her parents were George T Collett and Mary Hill, both from England.  The informant of her passing was her son Henry G Martin

By 1880, William and Martha had two children living with them at 187 McHoavin Street in Chester, when William H Martin from New Jersey was 38 and a Post Master.  Martha T Martin of Chester was 29 and the two children were Mary A Martin who was eight, and Henry G Martin who was seven years old.  On that occasion the family of four was living right next door to the home of her widowed mother Mary A Collett from England, at 188 McHoavin Street, who has Martha’s unmarried sister Mary (below) living with her.  Twenty years later the Chester City census of 1900 again placed William aged 57 and a US Special Agent, and Martha aged 49, living on the same street, with their teacher daughter Mary who was 28.  Completing the household was elderly servant Susan Coyle.  Interesting, both Martha’s parents and William’s parents were recorded as having been born in England

During the next couple of years, the family left Chester, when they moved to Malone Village at Franklin in New York, where they were recorded in 1905.  William H Martin was 63, Martha T Martin was 54 and Mary A Martin was 33.  Three years after being widowed, and at the age of 59, Martha T Martin was living with her married son Henry and his wife and family at Chicago Heights.  Henry G Martin was a chemist at a steel works.  And it was at the home of her that she remained until she passed away, as confirmed by the census returns completed for 1920 and 1940, each time at Chicago Heights

Mary Collett [35O2] was born at Chester in Pennsylvania on 11^th May 1853 the second of the three children of George and Mary Collett.  She was only three years old when her father was killed in an accident, and in 1870 she was living with her mother and two siblings in the Chester census of 1870.  After a further ten years, it was just Mary Collett aged 27 who was the only child still living with her widowed mother from England at 188 McHoavin Street in Chester, where Mary Collett of Pennsylvania was working as a weaver at a cotton mill.  Mary Collett never married and died at Chester on 14^th February 1897

James Tarrant Collett [35O3] was born at Chester in Pennsylvania on 27^th March 1855, the only son of George Tarrant Collett and his wife Mary Ann Hill.  James was only nineteen months old when his father was involved in an accident at the lumber yard where he worked, which resulted in his premature death.  The Chester census in 1870 recorded James, aged 15, as the youngest of the three children still living with his widowed mother Mary.  It was about seven years later when James married Mary Emma Start who was born on 14^th June 1857 who, by the time of the census in 1880, were still living in Chester.  Tragically, the couple’s first-born child had died shortly after he was born two years earlier, so only their second child was living with them on that occasion.  James T Collett, aged 25, was an iron foundry worker, his wife Mary E Collett was 22 and from Maryland, and their daughter Mary Ann Collett was only ten months old

During the following year the couple’s third child was born, but just like his older brother, he too did not survive beyond a few months. Over the next fifteen years a further four children were added to their family, and by 1900 the larger complete family was residing at 720 Caldwell Street within Ward 5 of Chester City.  James T Collett aged 45 was a labourer at an iron foundry, and Mary E Collett was 43, who had been married for twenty-three years, during which time Mary had given birth to seven children.  The couple’s five surviving children still living with them were Mary A Collett who was 21, Harry S Collett who was 18, Martha T Collett who was 15, James H Collett who was 10 – both attending school, and Ethel L Collett who was four years old

The family, albeit reduced in size, was still living at 720 Caldwell Street in the City of Chester in 1910 when the census that year listed them as James Collett aged 55 who was a flask maker at a foundry.  Wife Mary Collett was 53, their unmarried daughter Mary Collett was 30 and a trained nurse, their son Howard Collett was 20 and a clerk at an iron works, and their daughter Ethel Collett was 14.  Also living with the family was their married, but already widowed daughter Martha Howery who was 25, and with her, her two children Anita Howery, who was three, and Helen Howery who was one year and ten months old

It was seven years after that when Mary Emma Collett nee Start died on 26^th August 1917, at the age of 60.  James continued to live in Chester, as confirmed by the census in 1920 and 1930, and on both of those occasions he had his married daughter Martha living with him.  In 1920, James T Collett was 62 and a labourer at a shipyard, and Martha T Howery was 35.  Still residing with him, but at his new address of Middletown Road in Middletown Township was Martha’s two daughters, together with James’ unmarried daughter Ethel L Collett who was 24 and an overseer at a quilt mill.  Ten years later, when James was 75, his only living companion was Martha Howery who, by then was 41 (sic). It was during the spring of the following year when James Tarrant Collett died at Chester on 22^nd March 1931

35P1 – George M Collett was born in 1878 at Chester, Pennsylvania

35P2 – Mary Ann Collett was born in 1879 at Chester, Pennsylvania

35P3 – George S Collett was born in 1881 at Chester, Pennsylvania

35P4 – Henry Sheppard Collett was born in 1882 at Chester, Pennsylvania

35P5 – Martha Tarrant Collett was born in 1884 at Chester, Pennsylvania

35P6 – James Howard Collett was born in 1890 at Chester, Pennsylvania

35P7 – Ethel Lee Collett was born in 1896 at Chester, Pennsylvania

Henry John Collett [35O4] was born at Corsham in 1847 and was baptised there on 28^th May 1848, the eldest child and first of five sons of Stephen and Catherine Collett.  By 1850 Henry and his family were living in Whitley near Melksham and where Henry Collett was three years old in the census of 1851.  Around 1860 his family moved again, on that occasion to Norrington Common, just north of Broughton Gifford, where he was 13 and an agricultural labourer in 1861.  Henry was missing from his Norrington Common family in 1871 but, curiously upon his return ten years later, and following the death of his father, Henry J Collett from Corsham was 28 (sic) when he should have been 33.  At that time, he was living with his widowed mother, when his occupation was that of a bootmaker

Ten years later he was listed as John Collett, a shoemaker, in the Norrington Common census of 1891, when he was still living with his widowed mother at the age of 37 (sic), again an error, since he would have been 43.  That day, his mother and he were employing Annie Page aged 23 and a general domestic servant.  Whether or not John was already in love with Annie is not known, but it was within the next six months when they were married, shortly after which Annie gave birth to a daughter.  The marriage of Henry John Collett and Annie Page was recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. 5a 239) during the third quarter of 1891.  Annie was the fourth child of Thomas and Ann Page, with her birth recorded at Highworth (Ref. 5a 9) during the second quarter of 1867.  She later said that she had been born at Dauntsey, not far from Wroughton where she was living with her family at Pryors Hill in 1871 and 1881

Probably due to the embarrassment of being twenty years older than his wife, John reduced his age in the following census returns.  In the first of them, John Collett said he was 45 in 1901, when his place of birth was also confirmed as Corsham and his occupation was that of a boot maker.  On that occasion he was still living at Norrington Common near Broughton Gifford, with his wife Annie and their first three children, all born at Norrington Common.  Annie Collett from Dauntsey was 35, Sarah Ann Collett was nine, Florence Maria Collett was four years old and John Collett junior was under one year old.  The couple’s next child was also born at Norrington Common, before the family moved the very short distance to the village of Whitley in the parish of Melksham-Without.  And it was there, that their last three children were born

The census return for 1911, recorded the Collett family residing at Whitley as, John Collett of Corsham, a boot repairer aged 54, when he was 63, together with his wife Annie Collett from Malmesbury who was 40 and a charwoman.  On that day, just the six youngest children of John and Annie were still living with them and they were confirmed as Florence who was 14, John Collett who was 10, Stephen Collett who was eight and named after John’s father, Alice Collett who was six, Tom Collett who was three and named after John’s brother, and Ethel Catherine Collett who was ten months old and named after John’s mother.  The couples absent eldest daughter, Sarah, was living and working nearby in Whitley on the farm of the Pickford family

For only the fourth time in his life, following his birth, baptism and wedding day, the record of the death of John Collett credited him with his full name of Henry John Collett.  It was during the fourth quarter of 1918, when he was 71, that his death was recorded at Melksham register office (Ref. 5a 210)

35P8 – Sarah Ann Collett was born in 1891 at Norrington Common

35P9 – Florence Maria Collett was born in 1896 at Norrington Common

35P10 – John Collett was born in 1900 at Norrington Common

35P11 – Stepen Collett was born in 1902 at Norrington Common

35P12 – Alice Louisa Collett was born in 1904 at Whitley, near Melksham

35P13 – Tom Collett was born in 1908 at Whitley, near Melksham

35P14 – Ethel Catherine Collett was born in 1910 at Whitley, near Melksham

Tom Collett [35O5] was born at Corsham in 1849, and was baptised there as Tom Collett on 22^nd April 1849, the second child of Stephen and Catherine Collett.  Interestingly, his birth was recorded at Chippenham (Ref. viii 324) during the second quarter of 1849, when once again his name was Tom, rather than Thomas.  By the time of the census in 1851, Tom and his family were living at Whitley near Melksham, when he was recorded as Tom Collett aged two years and from Corsham.  Around 1860 the family left Whitley, when they moved to Norrington Common near Broughton Gifford.  And it was there that they were living in 1861, where Tom (recorded in error as John) was one of the seven children with Stephen and Catherine.  By that time in his life, he had already left school and, at the age of only 12 years, he was working as a shoemaker

In 1871 it was the same situation, when Tom was 21 and still living at Norrington Common with his family, albeit still named in error as John Collett.  Nearly nine years later, Tom Collett married Elizabeth Sarah Martin, who was born at Trowbridge in 1853.  Their wedding day was recorded at Melksham (Ref. 5a 259) during the fourth quarter of 1879.  The couple then settled in the village of Shaw, near Melksham and just north of Norrington Common, where his widowed mother was still living around that time.  By the time of the census of 1881, the marriage had produced the couple’s first child.  The family of three was living in a house on the Corsham Road in Shaw, where ‘Tom Collett of Corsham’ was 28 (sic) and a stone cutter, his wife Elizabeth was 27, and their son Herbert was just three months old.  Tom Collett would have been 32 at that time, so was continuing the family trait of not giving accurate information

Two years later, Elizabeth gave birth to a daughter and, although no record of her premature death has been found, the child never appeared with the family in any subsequent census return.  Over the following eight years, a further four children were added to the family.  According to the next census in 1891, the family was recorded at Shaw Hill in the village of Shaw.  Head of household was Tom Collett, a quarryman working at a local stone quarry who said he was 39 (sic), whose wife was Sarah E Collett aged 37.  Their five children were listed as Herbert J Collett who was 10, Amelia C Collett who was six, Agnes M Collett who was four, Frederick T Collett who was three and Francis Collett who was under one.  It was around that time when the family moved to Broughton Gifford, where their last child was born and where they were still living in 1901.  By that time, Tom had given up working at the quarry and had taken over the running of a public house

The census that year, revealed Tom Collett from Corsham was an inn keeper who said he was 49, instead of 52, at the age of 49 (sic), while his wife was then referred to Elizabeth Sarah Collett from Trowbridge who was 46.  The children living with them at Broughton Gifford on that day, were Amelia Catherine Collett who was 16, Agnes Mary Collett who was 14, Frederick Thomas who was 13 and Francis Collett who was 11, all of them born at Shaw, plus Broughton Gifford born Arthur Martin Collett who was only three years of age.  Only the couple’s eldest son Herbert was missing from the family and, by that time, he was living and working in South Wales

According to the next census in 1911, Tom’s wife was a patient at the Cottage Hospital in Melksham, where Elizabeth Sarah Collett from Trowbridge was 57 and a married woman.  On that same day, inn keeper Tom Collett from Corsham was 62, when he was residing at Broughton Gifford with his unmarried sons Frederick 23 and Arthur 13.  Acting as housekeeper for them was Tom’s daughter Agnes Collett who was 22, who was nearer 24.  Visiting the family, and most likely his mother in hospital, was the couple’s eldest son Herbert, who was 29 and a married man.  Whatever the reason for his wife’s stay in hospital, it was just under five years later that Elizabeth Sarah Collett, nee Martin, died and was buried on 29^th January 1916, at the age of 62.  After eighteen years as a widower, the death of Tom Collett was recorded at Melksham register office (Ref. 5a 140) during the first quarter of 1934, when he was 84 years of age

35P15 – 100 – Herbert John Collett was born in 1880 at Shaw, near Melksham

35P16 – 101 – Florence Annie Collett was born in 1882 at Shaw, near Melksham

35P17 – 102 – Amelia Catherine Collett was born in 1884 at Shaw, near Melksham

35P18 – 103 – Agnes Mary Collett was born in 1886 at Shaw, near Melksham

35P19 – 104 – Frederick Thomas Collett was born in 1887 at Shaw, near Melksham

35P20 – 105 – Francis Collett was born in 1890 at Shaw, near Melksham

35P21 – 106 – Arthur Martin Collett was born in 1897 at Broughton Gifford

William Collett [35O6] was born at Whitley near Melksham in 1850 or 1851, but before the census day in 1851 which was on 30^th March, since he was listed as being under the age of one year, when with his parents and his two older brothers at Whitley.  By 1860 the family was living at Norrington Common, and by the time of the census in the following year William had already left school.  At the age of 10 he had started work on the land, when he was recorded as an agricultural labourer

By the time of the next census in 1871 William Collett was no longer living with his parents, who by then had seven children.  Where he was on that occasion has not yet been determined, but it is known that three years after that he sailed on the ship James Wishart to New Zealand, where he landed on 5^th July 1874.  It was there that hhe married Esther Ellen Sweeney on 6^th February 1881 at Hamilton.  Esther was the daughter of Peter Sweeney and Esther Ellen Leach and was born at Hunau on 30^th September 1864, so was many years younger than William.  On their wedding day Esther was already six months into the pregnancy for their first child, who was born three months and two weeks after they were married

Once married William and Esther settled on a farm at Karangahake, just south of the town of Paeroa, in the Thames Valley, where all their fourteen children were born.  The name of William Collett was listed in the New Zealand Electoral Roll of 1893 when he was described as a miner of Karangahake.  William Collett died on 24^th April 1929, and a headstone at Pukerimu Cemetery in Paeroa marks his grave, which he shares with his wife and daughter Annie who both died during May 1906.  The details on the headstone read as follows:

In Loving Memory of

William Collett

died 24^th April 1929 aged 70 years

Also his beloved wife Esther Ellen died 12^th May 1906 aged 42 years

And their beloved daughter Annie died 30^th May 1906 aged 14 years

At Rest

The double death of his wife and daughter within three weeks of each other might suggest that they both suffered from the same cause of death, although it is now known that Esther Ellen Collett nee Sweeney died suffering with gastro enteritis and syncope, while her daughter Annie Maria died from acute pneumonia.  William’s death certificate poses a few questions, perhaps because his family did not know a lot about him and his origins back in England.  The certificate first confirmed that he died in Thames Hospital in Paeroa, and that his occupation was that of a labourer.  The cause of death was heart failure, with which he had been suffering for over six months.  His parents were named as Stephen and Catherine Collett, his father being a butcher.  He was buried two days after he passed away, on 26^th April 1929

Rather strangely his place of birth was given in error as Epping Forest in Wiltshire, the latter word having been crossed out and replaced with Essex.  It did however correctly confirm that he had been living in New Zealand for the past 55 years.  However, his age given for the time he married Esther Ellen Sweeney, deceased, was very much in error at 22 years, when in fact he would have been 30 or possibly 31, and that may have been a result of his wife being only seventeen when they married.  The informant of the death was undertaken G F Twentyman, rather than a member of his family

Of his family, the certificate listed his children in error as four males rather than five, aged 39, 35, 29, and 27, (and they would have been John, William, James, and Thomas), and eight daughters even though he only had seven who had survived.  The eight ages for the girls included the missing son Albert, who was 44.  The remainder were 47, 45, 30, 29, 26, 25 and 23 (who would have been Sarah, Catherine, Rose, Mary, Lucy, Ivy, and Violet)

35P22 – Sarah Ann Collett was born in 1881 at Karangahake, New Zealand

35P23 – Catherine Collett was born in 1883 at Karangahake, New Zealand

35P24 – Albert George William Collett was born in 1885 at Karangahake, New Zealand

35P25 – Rose Jubilee Collett was born in 1887 at Karangahake, New Zealand

35P26 – John Henry Collett was born in 1888 at Karangahake, New Zealand

35P27 – Annie Maria Collett was born in 1891 at Karangahake, New Zealand

35P28 – William Ivan Collett was born in 1893 at Karangahake, New Zealand

35P29 – Mary Jane Collett was born in 1895 at Karangahake, New Zealand

35P30 – Esther Ellen Collett was born in 1897 at Karangahake, New Zealand

35P31 – James Leach Collett was born in 1899 at Karangahake, New Zealand

35P32 – Thomas Henry Collett was born in 1900 at Karangahake, New Zealand

35P33 – Lucy Collett was born in 1902 at Karangahake, New Zealand

35P34 – Ivy Myrtle Collett was born in 1904 at Karangahake, New Zealand

35P35 – Violet May Collett was born in 1905 at Karangahake, New Zealand

James Collett [35O7] was born at Whitley near Melksham around 1854.  However, over the following years his parents recorded his age as nine in 1861, as 16 in 1871, and 24 in 1881 when, on each occasion, he was living with his family at Norrington Common near Broughton Gifford.  At the time of the latter census in 1881 he was still living with his widowed mother in the family home, and at that time in his life his occupation was that of a stonemason.  Just after the census day in 1881 James married Louisa who was born at Bristol in 1857.  The couple initially lived in the nearby village of Shaw where their first child was born, before moving two miles north to Corsham where all their remaining children were born

According to the Corsham census of 1891 James was 34, Louisa was 32, and their three children at that time were Louisa Frances who was seven, Reginald William who was five, and three-year old Harold Edward Collett.  And it was again at Corsham that the family was living in March 1901.  James Collett of Whitley was now a house builder at the age of 46 and was employing his two oldest sons in the family business.  He wife Louisa was 43.  The couple’s children were Louisa, aged 17, Reginald, aged 15, Harold, aged 13, Hilda who was nine, Elsie who was six, and Emily who was three.  Ten years later in April 1911 James was listed as still living at Corsham in the Chippenham registration district where he was 56 and Louisa was 53.  The only children still living with them were Reginald William Collett 25, Elsie Kathleen Collett 16, and Emily Estella Collett who was 13, although the couple’s eldest daughter Louisa was also still living nearby in Corsham

35P36 – Louisa Frances Collett was born in 1883 at Shaw, near Melksham

35P37 – Reginald William Collett was born in 1885 at Corsham

35P38 – Harold Edward Collett was born in 1887 at Corsham

35P39 – Hilda Collett was born in 1891 at Corsham

35P40 – Elsie Kathleen Collett was born in 1894 at Corsham

35P41 – Emily Estella William Collett was born in 1898 at Corsham

Sarah Ann Collett [35O8] was born at Whitley in 1856, the daughter of Stephen and Catherine Collett.  By the time of the census in 1861 Sarah Ann Collett was five years old, when she was living with her family at Norrington Common.  Ten years later she was still living there with her parents at the age of 14.  With no record of her found in the next census of 1871, it must be assumed that she was married by that time in her life

Benjamin Collett [35O9] was born at Whitley in 1857, with his birth recorded at Melksham (Ref. 5a 299) during the last quarter of that year.  He was three years old in the Norrington Common census in April 1861 and was still living there with his family in 1871 when he was 12.  In 1881 at the age of 21 Benjamin was still living at the family home in Norrington Common, just south of Whitley, with his widowed mother Catherine, when his occupation was that of a carpenter.  Nearly twenty months after that census day in 1881 he married Ruth Mortimer at Bradford-on-Avon on 28^th November 1882, their wedding recorded at Bradford (Ref. 5a 268).  Ruth was born at Broughton Gifford with her birth registered at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. 5a 115) during the third quarter of 1858, the daughter of Joshua Mortimer and Ruth Wakeley who were both born in Broughton Gifford and who both died at nearby Norrington Common

During the first seven years of their life together, Ruth presented Benjamin with six of their nine children, the first being born while the couple were still living at Broughton Gifford, the next two after the family had moved to Frome and the next three at Trowbridge.  At the time of the 1891 Census for the Trowbridge, when the family was residing at Mortimer Street, Benjamin was 31, Ruth was 32, and their six children were William Collett who was seven, Sarah A Collett who was five, Ewart Collett who was three, Lena M Collett who was two, and Kirwin Collett who was around six months old

Over the following decade four further children were added to the family.  The first three of them was born while the family was still living in Trowbridge, and the last child was born after the family had moved to Twerton in Bath.  Less than six months into the new century tragedy struck the family when Benjamin Collett died during the second quarter of 1900 while the family was living at Twerton, leaving Ruth a widow to look after her young family alone

According to the census recorded in the March of the following year, Ruth Collett from Bradford-on-Avon was 42 and was living on her own means with eight of her children at Claude Avenue in Bath.  They were William Collett who was 17, Ewart Collett who was 13, Lena Collett who was 12, Kerwin Collett who was 10, Amy Collett who was eight, Ashleigh Collett who was six, Nelson Collett who was five, and Alice Collett who was three years old.  That day missing daughter Sarah was staying at the home of Ruth’s elderly mother.  Ten years later in April 1911 Ruth still had seven of her children living with her at Maybrick Road in Bath.  Ruth was 52, and with her were her sons Ewart aged 23, Kerwin aged 20, Ashleigh aged 16, and Nelson aged 14, and her daughters Lena aged 22, Amy aged 18, and Alice who was 13

At the time of the earlier census in 1901, Arthur Mortimer (1894-1960) was living at 47 Maybrick Road and he was the great grandfather of Roger F Mortimer (born 1947), who kindly supplied the information about his Mortimer/Collett family.  Roger’s father was Francis Arthur Mortimer who was born eight years later on 27^th January 1919.  However, by 1911, the Mortimer family of James and Maria, son Arthur and daughter Edith had left the Bath area and had moved to Norton Road, Southborough in Tunbridge Wells in Kent.  James Mortimer had become the pastor of the Strict and Particular Baptist Chapel in Western Road, Southborough around that time where he continued until his death on 6^th September 1943 when he was buried in the churchyard at Broughton Gifford with Maria who had died earlier

Benjamin’s widow Ruth Collett remained living at Twerton for the rest of her life and survived her husband by almost 25 years when she died at Bath during the first quarter of 1925.  The record of her passing was recorded at Somerset register office (Ref. 5c 713) when she was 66 years old

35P42 – William Collett was born in 1883 at Broughton Gifford

35P43 – Sarah Ann Collett was born in 1885 at Frome, Somerset

35P44 – Joshua Ewart Collett was born in 1887 at Trowbridge

35P45 – Lena May Collett was born in 1888 at Trowbridge

35P46 – Kirwin John Collett was born in 1890 at Trowbridge

35P47 – Amy Ruth Collett was born in 1892 at Trowbridge

35P48 – Benjamin Ashleigh Collett was born in 1894 at Trowbridge

35P49 – Nelson Victor Collett was born in 1896 at Trowbridge

35P50 – Eliza Alice Catherine Collett was born in 1898 at Twerton, Bath

Mary Jane Collett [35O10] was born at Broughton Gifford around September 1860 and was baptised there on 26^th December 1861, the youngest of the seven known children of Stephen and Catherine.  Although included with her family in the census of 1861 at seven months of age, Mary Jane Collett died at Broughton Gifford three years later and was buried there on 3^rd March 1864

William Thomas Collett [35O11] was born out of wedlock at Melksham, where his birth was recorded (Ref. 5a 39) during the first three months of 1856.  However, perhaps out of embarrassment, his parents left Melksham straight after he was born and moved south to settle at Brighton in Sussex where William Collett and Elizabeth Fox, both of Melksham, were only married in October 1856.  It was therefore that move to the south coast when he was a baby, and the fact that he grew up in Brighton, that resulted in him and his parents recording his place of birth as Brighton in the subsequent census returns.  Two years after he was born, William and his parents were living in Devizes, where his sister Maria (below) was born.  After she was born, the family returned to their home town of Melksham, where William’s sister Sarah (below) was born four months prior to the census in 1861

At the time of the census William T Collett from Brighton was four years old, when he was living in Melksham with his father William, who was a shoemaker, his mother Elizabeth, who was a binder, and his two sisters.  Sadly, just three years later in 1864, and following the addition of two more children into the family, William’s father died at Melksham at the age of 30.  A little while after that, William’s mother married George Truman and in 1871 she and her new husband were still living in Melksham with William’s three youngest siblings.  Where William, aged 14, and his sister Maria, aged 12, were on that occasion has not been determined, since a thorough search of the census in 1871 has revealed nothing of the pair

The marriage of William Thomas Collett and Sarah Ann Barnett was recorded at Kettering in Northamptonshire (Ref. 3b 377) during the fourth quarter of 1879.  Sarah was the same age as William and had been born in the Wiltshire village of Seend, midway between Melksham and Devizes.  Once married, the couple settled in Kettering and, by 1881, they were living at Lower Havelock Street.  According to the census that year the childless couple was recorded as William Collett, who was 24 and from Brighton, who was employed as a labourer at an iron works, while his wife Sarah Collett was also 24, who was recorded as having been born at Leenal in Wiltshire.  That was purely an error in transcription and should have been written as Seend in Wiltshire, where Sarah said she was born in all three of the subsequent census returns for 1891, 1901 and 1911

It was during the next decade that Sarah presented William with three children, all of them born at Kettering, where the family was still living at the time of the census in 1891.  Tragically the couple’s first child Albert William did not survive beyond a few weeks.  The family of four was residing at 123 Havelock Street in Kettering that year, where William Collett from Brighton in Sussex was 34 and was working as a labourer at a nearby foundry in the town.  His wife Sarah A Collett from Seend in Wiltshire was also 34, while their two surviving children were named as Willie Collett, who was three, and Fred Collett who was one year old.  Two more sons were born into the family over the next four years although, in the same year that their next child Albert was born, their son Willie died, and two years after suffering the loss of their second child, two-year Albert was the couple’s third tragic death in just eight years.  The following year Sarah presented William with their last child, who was again born at Kettering

According to the next census in March 1901 William T Collett and Sarah A Collett were both 44 when they were still living at 123 Havelock Street in Kettering, but with just their two surviving sons.  William from Broughton (sic) was still working at the iron foundry, but as an iron moulder by then, and once again Sarah’s place of birth was recorded as Seend in Wiltshire.  Their two boys were named as Frederick Collett who was 11 and Archie Collett who was five years of age

However, ten years later in April 1911, William and Sarah were once again recorded as living in the town of Kettering, but on that occasion the only one of their sons still living with them, was their youngest son Edward Archie Collett who was 15.  William Collett from Brighton was 54 and still employed as an iron moulder, and his wife from Seend was confirmed Sarah Ann Collett who was 53.  The couple’s other surviving son, Frederick, was married with a family of his own by then and was also living in Kettering.  At Kettering in 1931 there was recorded the death of a William Collett, which may have been William Thomas Collett

35P51 – Albert William Collett was born in 1886 at Kettering, Northants.

35P52 – Willie Collett was born in 1887 at Kettering, Northants.

35P53 – Frederick Collett was born in 1890 at Kettering, Northants.

35P54 – Albert Collett was born in 1892 at Kettering, Northants.

35P55 – George Edward Archibald Collett was born in 1895 at Kettering, Northants.

Maria Collett [35O12] was born in 1858 at Melksham where she was baptised on 26^th December 1858, the eldest daughter of William and Elizabeth Collett.  The only other record of her so far found was in the census of 1861 when she was two years old and living at Melksham with her family.  Three years later her father died and it is not sure what happened to Maria, or her older brother William, after her mother remarried George Truman

Sarah Jane Collett [35O13] was born at Melksham in December 1860 and was baptised there on 27^th January 1861.  The baptism record confirmed that she was the daughter of William and Elizabeth Collett, and the census later that year listed Sarah J Collett as being just four months old.  With her father dying at the age of thirty when Sarah was just four years old, her mother remarried and in 1871 Sarah Jane Collett was 10 years old and, together with her two younger brothers James and Frederick, she was living at Semington Road in Melksham (right next door to the New Inn).  That was the home of George Truman and his wife Elizabeth, the children’s mother.  Ten years later in 1881, Sarah Jane Collet, aged 20 of Melksham, was a housemaid and a domestic servant at the Uppingham Boarding School in Rutland.  The school was situated on the London Road, with Sarah most likely living at Redgate House

James Collett [35O14] was born at Melksham in 1862, the son of William and Elizabeth Collett.  James was just two years old when his father died in 1864, following which his widowed mother married George Truman of Melksham.  According to the Melksham census of 1871 James Collett of Melksham was eight years old and was described as the stepson of George Truman of Semington Road.  Also living with their mother and her new husband was James’ sister Sarah (above), and brother Frederick (below)

With the passing of another ten years, James was 18 and by the time of the census of 1881 he was working as a mat maker.  At that time in his life, he was still living in Melksham with his brother at the home of his mother Elizabeth Truman and her second husband George Truman, at Semington Lane.  It was around four years later that James married Sarah who was seven years older than James.  The marriage produced two daughters for the couple, both born at Melksham, where the family was living at Woodview Road in 1891, and again in 1901

It is possible that James worked at a quarry or similar establishment in 1891 when he was 28 and an engine driver of a stationary engine, which perhaps indicates it was not a railway engine, and therefore not with the Great Western Railway.  His wife Sarah was 35 in 1891 and was employed as a yard sorter in a local matting factory, despite having two young children.  The couple’s two daughters were listed as Beatrice M Collett, who was four, Lily E Collett, who was two years old

Ten years later James was 38 and was continuing to work as a stationary engine driver, while living Woodview Road with Sarah who was 44, Beatrice who was 14, and Lily who was 12 years old.  By 1911 the couple’s eldest daughter was married and had left the family home, although she was still living in Melksham with her husband.  So, at that time James Collett was 48, his wife Sarah was 56, and the youngest daughter was listed in the census return as Lily Elizabeth Collett aged 22

35P56 – Beatrice Maud Collett was born in 1886 at Melksham

35P57 – Lily Elizabeth Collett was born in 1888 at Melksham

Frederick William Collett [35O15] was born at Melksham in 1864, around the time that his father William died, and perhaps that was why he was given the additional name of William, when there was already an older brother called William, as a tribute to Elizabeth’s late husband.  Following the death of his father, Frederick’s mother married George Truman of Semington Road in Melksham.  And it was there that Fredk W Collett, aged six years, was living with his mother and stepfather in 1871.  Also living with him, was his older siblings Sarah and James (above)

On leaving school Frederick became a blacksmith’s labourer, as recorded in the Melksham Census of 1881 when he was 16 and living in Semington Lane with his brother James Collett (above) and their mother Elizabeth Truman.  Although no record of Frederick has been found in either of the census returns for 1891 and 1901, he was living in Melksham with his wife Emma in April 1911.  Frederick William Collett of Melksham was 47, while his wife Emma was 52.  There was no child living with them at that time, but that does not necessarily mean it was a childless marriage

Tabitha Collett [35O16] was born at Broughton Gifford on 28^th March 1816.  It was also there that she was baptised on 7^th July 1816 as Tabitha Webb, when her parents were confirmed as William Collett, a cordwainer, and Jane Collett nee Webb, a weaver.  Tabitha Collett later married the much younger James Maggs at Midsomer Norton in Somerset, with the event recorded at Clutton (Ref. xi 48) during the third quarter of 1845.  Over the following five years, Tabitha presented James with three children when they were living at Midsomer Norton, to the south of Clutton, where James had been born and where the family of five was living in 1851.  James Maggs was 28 and a coal miner, Tabitha was 35 and from Broughton Gifford, and their three children were George, Frederick, and Mary S Maggs, who were five years, two years and only a few months old, respectively.  After a further thirty years, widow Tabitha Maggs from Broughton Gifford was 66 and a housekeeper, who had her son and brother-in-law living with her Midsomer Norton.  Her son Matthew Maggs was 21 and boarder George Maggs was 67.  Just less than five years later, the death of Tabitha Maggs, nee Collett, at Midsomer Norton was recorded at Clutton (Ref. 5c 263) during the first three months of 1866, at the age of 69

John Collett [35O17] was the second child and eldest son of shoemaker William Collett of Broughton Gifford and his wife Jane Webb.  He was previously confused with another John Collett [35N63] born around the same time, the son of shoemaker Stephen Collett and Hannah Mortimer, who married Jane Bailey from South Wales.  Although no birth or baptism has been found within the parish records at Broughton, John could have been born there in 1818, where there is a four gap between the two known daughters of William and Jane.  His mother died around 1820, perhaps during the birth of his younger sister Elizabeth, after which his father remarried had three more children with his second wife Elizabeth.  It may be worth mentioning that no record of William’s marriages to Jane or Elizabeth have been located, nor has any record of the death of Jane around 1820.  By the time of the census in 1841, John Collett had a rounded age of 20, when he was living at the Atworth home of his father William Collett

Towards the end of the following year, the marriage of John Collett and Sarah Halstead Wiggell was recorded in the Marylebone district of London (Ref. i 108), during the fourth quarter of the year.  The marriage certificate, signed by both of them and kindly provided by Roger Collett in 2020, confirmed that they were married after the reading of banns at St Mary’s Church in the parish of St Marylebone on 2^nd November 1842, both of them of full age.  John was a shoemaker of 21 Inebee Street (?), while Sarah was residing at Tame House, her father being John Wiggell.  Furthermore, just as with the census in the previous year, the father of John Collett was recorded as William Collett, a shoemaker.  Although not written on the certificate, it is established that Sarah was a school mistress.  By the time of the census in 1851, the pair of them had settled in Wiltshire and were living at Rose Cottage in Atworth Chapelry, near Melksham, where their two known children were born during the next decade

The Atworth census return for 1851 included John Collett aged 31 who was born at Broughton Gifford, who was described as a master shoemaker employing two men and two boys.  His wife Sarah Collett was 27 and visiting the couple was Sarah Whitby, a married lady aged 60.  Both of them were recorded as having been born at Harwich in Essex, raising the question, were they mother and daughter.  If so, then maybe Sarah’s mother had remarried.  In addition to those three adults there were also two young females staying at the Collett household, and they were sisters Emily Lewis who was 14 and Laura Lewis who was 12 who were both born at Atworth and who were very likely the pupils of school mistress Sarah Collett

Sarah presented John with two children over the following six years, as confirmed by the census in 1861 when the family of four was still living at Rose Cottage in Atworth.  John Collett from Broughton Gifford was 42 and a cordwainer, his wife Sarah from Harwich in Essex was 37, their daughter Sarah M Collett was eight years old and their son John S Collett was three years old, both of them born at Atworth.  Still living with the family was widow Sarah Whitby from Harwich who was 71 by then.  It was just less than nine years later that the death of John Collett of Atworth and Broughton Gifford was recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. 5a 273) during the first three months of 1870 when his age was said to be 55

The following year, the census return for 1871, included widow and head of the household at Rose Cottage on ‘The Street’ in Atworth, Sarah Halstead Collett, was 48 years of age and from Harwich, whose occupation was that of a school mistress.  Her two children were confirmed as daughter Sarah Mary Collett who was 18 and a dressmaker and her son John Stanier Collett who was 13 and an errand boy.  Living in the dwelling next to Rose Cottage was Henry Collett [35N64], a widower from Broughton Gifford, with his two children Sarah Ann and Thomas who were both born in Birmingham.  And, in the next but one dwelling, was 71-year-old widower and cottager John Collett [44L11] from South Wraxall with his son Thomas [44M13] from Atworth, who was 46 and a servant out of employment

By the time of the census in 1881 Sarah H Collett, aged 59 and from Harwich in Essex, was a widow living at Main Street in Bradford-on-Avon with her unmarried son John S Collett, aged 23, who was a carpenter who had been born at Atworth.  Her absent, unmarried daughter, Sarah Mary Collett was 27 and had already left the family home and was living and working at Shaw Hill House on the Bath Road in Melksham. Curiously, the move to Bradford also happened for the aforementioned near neighbour John Collett who was also living on Main Street that same year when he was 81 years old and still had his eldest son Thomas Collett from Atworth still living with him.  The death of Sarah Halstead Collett was recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. 5a 289) during the last three months of 1884, when she was 64 years old

35P58 – Sarah Mary Collett was born in 1853 at Atworth

35P59 – John Stanier Collett was born in 1857 at Atworth

Elizabeth Collett [35O18] was born at Broughton Gifford in 1820, where she was baptised on 22^nd April 1821, the daughter of shoemaker William Collett and Jane Webb.  It is likely her mother died during the birth of just after, since the mother of the next child of William Collett the shoemaker was Elizabeth

Hannah Collett [35O19] was born at Broughton Gifford where she was baptised on 3^rd November 1822, another daughter of shoemaker William Collett, but the first child by his second wife Elizabeth.  The death of Hannah Collett was recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. xiii) during the second quarter of 1842

Eliza Collett [35O20] was born at Broughton Gifford where she was baptised on 2^nd July 1826, the fourth daughter of shoemaker William Collett and the second child from his second wife Elizabeth

William Collett [35O21] was born at Broughton Gifford in 1828 and was baptised on 21^st July 1828, the only known son of shoemaker William Collett by his second wife Elizabeth.  He married Harriet Austin who was born at Chippenham in 1829, and it was there that the marriage took place on 30^th October 1855 and where it was recorded (Ref. 5a 29).  By 1861 he and Harriet had three children.  William was 31 at the time of the Melksham census that year and had with him the two older children Paulina who was four, and Albert who was three years old.  His wife Harriet, who was also 31, was away at Chippenham in April 1861 and was accompanied by her son William who was just one-year old.  It may have been that Harriet was visiting her parents at that time.  Ten years later their family was complete and they were all living together in Melksham.  William was 42, and Harriet was 41, while their children at that time in 1871 were Paulina 14, Albert 13, William 11, Ada who was eight, Charles who was six, and Florence who was one-year old

William Collett died in 1880, so by the time of the census of 1881 Harriet was listed as a widow at 51, when she was living at Holbrook Farm in Melksham with her children.  The farm comprised 58 acres, and Harriet was employing one labourer to work there.  Living with her were sons Albert 23 and Charles 16, and her daughter Florence who was 11.  All the children of William and Harriet were born at Melksham, with the two sons described as farmer’s sons.  Also listed as living with the family on the day of the census, was unmarried Sarah Sheat aged 33, a servant and a dairymaid

Rather curiously, two of the couple’s missing children were recorded as living at Linden Hall in Melksham.  That was the home of John Hayter, a wealthy master tailor from London, who was employing sixteen people in his tailoring business.  The two children of William and Harriet who were there on that occasion were their son William who was 21, and their daughter Ada who was 18.  William’s and Harriet’s oldest daughter Paulina had already left the family to be married by 1881.  Over the next decade other children left the family home, so by 1891 Harriet, aged 61, only had son Charles and daughter Florence still living with her.  It looks very much as though Charles had taken over running the family farm, following the death of his father

Just after the turn of the century Harriet was still living Melksham where she was described as a retired farmer, although she gave her age as 66 rather than 71.  Still living with her was her unmarried children Charles who was 37 and Florence who was 31.  It was virtually the same arrangement ten years later in April 1911.  The census return on that occasion listed the group as Harriet Collett aged 81, her son Charles Collett aged 46, and her daughter Florence Collett who was 40.  Also living with them at that time was Harriet’s twenty-eight years old granddaughter Lilian Collett, the daughter of her son Albert Henry Collett

35P60 - Paulina V S Collett was born in 1856 at Melksham

35P61 - Albert Henry Collett was born in 1857 at Melksham

35P62 - William James Collett was born in 1859 at Melksham

35P63 - Ada J Collett was born in 1862 at Melksham

35P64 - Charles S Collett was born in 1865 at Melksham

35P65 - Florence E Collett was born in 1869 at Melksham

Ann Collett [35O22] was born at Melksham where she was baptised on 26^th June 1825, the first-born child of Henry Collett, a shoemaker, and Mary Morris.  Sadly, she was only seven years of age when she died and was buried at Melksham on 8^th February 1833

Henry Collett [35O23] was a twin who was born at Melksham in 1827, the second child and eldest son of Henry Collett and Mary Morris.  It was at Melksham where he was baptised with his twin sister (Sarah) below on 17^th June 1827.  He and his twin sister were 14 in June 1841 when they were living with their family in Melksham on the day of the census.  Henry was still living with his family ten years later at Church Street in Melksham, when he was described in the 1851 as unmarried at the age of 24, whose occupation was that of a shoemaker.  There would have been great excitement in the Collett house that census day, since it was on the following day that Henry was to be married.  The marriage of Henry Collett, aged 24 and the son of Henry Collett, and Ann Pepler, aged 23 and the daughter of William Pepler, took place at Melksham on 1^st April 1851, with whom he had four children after they settled in Melksham.  The youngest of the couple’s known children was Everest Morris Collett, whose name derives from Henry’s youngest sister Everest, coupled with that of his mother’s maiden-name.  Tragically though, Henry Collett died, possibly before the birth of his last child, his death recorded at Melksham (Ref. 5a 73) during the first three months of 1861.  The birth of his last child also recorded at Melksham during the same quarter of 1861

According to the census that year, Ann Collett from Bradford (on-Avon) was a widow of 32 and was named as head of the household at Lowbourne (Road) in Melksham, where the income for her and her family came from her work as a seamstress.  The members of her young family recorded with her at that time were her three daughters, Eliza A Collett who was nine, Mary J Collett who was three, and Everest Collett who was only two months old, and her only son Harry Collett, who was five years of age, all of them confirmed as having been born in Melksham.  One other point of interest in the census of 1861 is that residing just two doors along Lowbourne Road from Ann Collett was James Wilshire from Semington, a tailor of 48, with his wife Elizabeth and two of their children Emma and Fanny – see below

It was a similar situation ten years later when widow Ann Collett was 43 was still living at Lowbourne in Melksham in 1871, but with just her three youngest children.  They were Henry Collett who was 15, Mary Collett who was 13, and Everest Collett who was 10 years old.  Ann’s eldest daughter Eliza Ann Collett was living and working nearby in Melksham at the age of 19.  Also, on that same day in 1871, James Wilshire, the tailor, was a widower living close by with just his daughter Emma.  Just less than four years later the two widowed neighbours were married at Melksham on 18^th January 1875, when James was recorded as the son of Robert Wilshire and Ann Collett was confirmed as the daughter of William Pepler. They only enjoyed a short time together since, by 1881, Ann Wilshire aged 57 and an annuitant from Melksham was a widow once again, residing at Bath Street in the town.  Living there with her, were two members of her second husband’s family, Matilda Wilshire who was 22 and Frederick Wilshire who was 11

By the time of the census in 1891, Ann Wilshire was 63 and a laundress, who was once again living on Lowbourne Road in Melksham.  On that day she gave her place of birth as Atworth, a village between Melksham and Bradford-on-Avon, while living there with her was her grandson Sidney Collett who was eight years old and born in Melksham.  It now seems likely that Sidney was the base-born son of Ann’s unmarried daughter Mary Jane Collett, although it is worth highlighting that all three of her daughters were not married at the time of the birth of her grandson.  However, within the census of 1901 Ann Wilshire, aged 73, whose place of birth was ‘not known’, was suffering with paralysis and was being looked after by her unmarried daughter Mary Collett, aged 42 and from Melksham, who was the housekeeper.  The third member of the household was Ann’s grandson Sidney Collett, aged 18, who was an ironmonger from Melksham

The death of Ann Wilshire was recorded at Melksham (Ref. 5a 76) during the first quarter of 1905 was she was 77 years of age.  She was then buried at the Melksham Church Cemetery where a headstone marks the grave, confirming that she was born on 31^st January 1828 and that she died on 20^th March 1905

35P66 – Eliza Ann Collett was born in 1851 at Melksham

35P67 – Henry John Collett was born in 1855 at Melksham

35P68 – Mary Jane Collett was born in 1857 at Melksham

35P69 – Everest Morris Collett was born in 1861 at Melksham

Sarah Collett [35O24] was born at Melksham, one half of a set of twins with her brother Henry (above).  The twins were baptised at Melksham on 17^th June 1827, the second and third children of Henry Collett, a cordwainer, and his wife Mary Morris.  It was at Town Tything in Melksham that Sarah, aged 14 years, was living with her family in 1841.  After the death of her mother, during childbirth, in the summer of the following year, Sarah was acting as the housekeeper for her widowed shoemaker father and some of her younger siblings on the day of the census in 1851.  Almost ten years later her father died just prior to the next census in 1861, which resulted in a change of address.  Short after losing her father unmarried Sarah Collett was acting as the housekeeper for her youngest brother John at Canhold Lane in Melksham, later renamed as The Walk during the 1870s, and was a witness at John’s wedding in 1862.  When her brother became a married man in the following year, Sarah continued to live with him and his wife and their children, as confirmed by the Melksham census conducted in 1871.  Also, as previously, her age was again recorded in error as 40 years, when in fact she would have been 43 or 44.  That year she was not credited with an occupation, so was very likely helping her brother’s wife looking after the family home, which was The Bell Inn on Bath Road in Melksham, where brother John Collett was the inn keeper

Ten years later, in 1881, unmarried Sarah Collett from Melksham was 52 and an annuitant, who was still living with her inn keeper brother John (below) and his wife and three children at The Bell Inn on Bath Road in Melksham.  Early in 1885 her brother passed away, leaving his widow to take over as the inn keeper at The Bell Inn, where Sarah was continuing to live in 1891 with her sister-in-law, the widow Elizabeth Collett.  Sarah was 64 and living on her own means, and the only other member of the family living with Elizabeth and Sarah, Sarah’s nephew, engineer Frederick Collett who was 24.  It appears from the next census return that Sarah probably assisted her sister-in-law in the running of The Bell Inn, which they left during the last decade of the century, when the three of them moved to Twerton in Somerset

The Twerton census in 1901 revealed Sarah Collett from Melksham living at Stanley Road where she was 75 and a retired inn keeper.  Once again, she was sharing her accommodation with Elizabeth Collett, her sister-in-law, another retired inn keeper, and two of her children Frederick and Emily.  Three years later the death of Sarah Collett aged 77 was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 332) during the second quarter of 1904

Eliza Collett [35O25] was born at Melksham, where he was baptised on 5^th April 1829, another daughter of cordwainer Henry and Mary Collett.  She was 12 years of age in 1841 when she was living with her family at Melksham.  Just over one year later her mother died, giving birth to twins, who also did not survive long after they were baptised.  It was at Church Street in Melksham that Eliza was living with her widowed father and younger siblings in 1851 when, at the age of 22, she was working as a shoemaker, alongside her father and younger sister Ann (below).  It was three years after that when the marriage of Eliza Collett and William Salter took place at Melksham on 20^th July 1854.  Eliza was 26 and the daughter of Henry Collett and William was 27 and the son of George Salter.  Their son Frederick Salter was born in 1857 and was baptised at Melksham on 31^st May 1857, the only known child of William and Eliza Salter.  No further record of any member of the family has been found after that date

Betsy (Elizabeth) Collett [35O26] was born at Melksham where she was baptised on 11^th December 1831, another daughter of shoemaker Henry and Mary Collett.  Although baptised as Betsy, it was as Elizabeth that she was nine years old in the census of 1841, when she and her family were residing at Town Tything in Melksham

Ann Collett [35O27] was born at Melksham and was named after the first-born child of Henry, a shoemaker, and Mary Collett who had died at the age of seven years.  Ann was baptised at Melksham on 31^st May 1835 and was six years old in the Melksham census of 1841.  Following the death of her mother in the summer of 1842 and, upon leaving school, Ann worked alongside her widowed father and older sister Eliza (above) as a shoemaker, as confirmed in the next census in 1851.  On that day the family was residing at Church Street in Melksham, when Ann was 16 years old

Everest Collett [35O28] was born at Melksham where she was baptised on 30^th April 1837, the youngest daughter of shoemaker Henry Collett and Mary Morris.  She was four years old in the census of 1841, by which time her mother had died, possibly during the birth of her youngest sibling John (below).  Everest Collett was 14 in the Melksham census of 1851, while ten year later she was working as a servant at the Paddington, London, home of the widow Emma Duff and her family, when she was recorded as Everest Collett aged 23 from Melksham.  Seven years after the census in 1861 Everest Collett was married by banns to George Durnford, the wedding being recorded at Kensington in London (Ref. 1a 215) during the second quarter of 1868 when the bride’s father was confirmed as bootmaker Henry Collett deceased.  The father of the groom was named as widower George Durnford whose occupation was that of a butler

John Collett [35O29] was born at Melksham around 1839, the last known child born to Henry Collett and Mary Morris.  John was two years old in the Melksham census of 1841 when he and his family were residing at Town Tything.  His mother passed away when he was three years of age, leaving John in 1851 living with his widowed father, a shoemaker, when he was 11 years old, with his eldest sister Sarah performing the role of housekeeper.  His father passed away just before the census in 1861 and on the day of the census it was just John, aged 21 and a pattern maker, who was living with his unmarried sister Sarah at Canhold Lane in Melksham

Just eleven weeks after that census day, when John and his sister Sarah were still residing at Canhold Lane in Melksham, John walked down the aisle of Holy Trinity Church, in Bradford-on-Avon, accompanied by his older sister Sarah, who gave him away, when he was married by licence to his cousin-one-step-removed Elizabeth Collett (Ref. 35O33) on 12^th July 1862.  John Collett was 23 and a carpenter, the son of Henry Collett, a shoemaker – deceased.  Even though his bride was around ten years older than John, she was recorded as being 29 and living within the parish of Bradford-on-Avon, the daughter of clothier William Collett.  Both the bride and the groom signed the parish register in their own hand, while the two witnesses made the mark of a cross.  They were Stephen Collett (Ref. 35O38), who was Elizabeth’s cousin, and Sarah Collett (above), was John’s older unmarried sister.  Their wedding day was recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. 5a 189)

By the time of the Melksham census of 1871, Elizabeth had presented John with six children, all of whom had been born at Melksham, although only four of them survived beyond infancy.  The census return for that year recorded the family living at The Bell Inn on the Bath Road where John Collett aged 31 was the inn keeper.  His wife Elizabeth was 35 and their surviving four children were Henry Charles Collett who was seven, William J Collett who was six, Frederick W Collett who was four, and Emily M Collett who was two years old.  Living with the family since the death of their father, was John’s unmarried sister Sarah (above), while John and Elizabeth’s two daughters Mary and Eliza had both died within a few weeks of being born

In 1881, John Collett, at the age of 41 was still the landlord of The Bell Inn at Bath Road in Melksham.  Still living with him and his wife Elizabeth, who was 45, was his unmarried sister Sarah Collett aged 52.  Completing the family at that time were just three of John and Elizabeth’s four surviving children.  The couple’s eldest son Henry was 17 and working as a plumber’s apprentice, the younger son William was 16 and was a grocer’s apprentice, while their daughter Emily was 12 years old.  The absence of the couple’s third son Frederick was due to him attending Weston School in Somerset as a boarder

John Collett passed away during 1885, his death recorded at Melksham (Ref. 5a 88) during the first three months of that year at the age of 45.  Six years later, on the day of the census in 1891, his widow Elizabeth, aged 63, was still residing at The Bell Inn on Bath Road, Melksham and with her was her unmarried son Frederick and her sister-in-law Sarah Collett.  Elizabeth from Wiltshire was described as an inn keeper, having taken on the role following the loss of her husband

It seems likely that the three of them had to leave The Bell Inn shortly thereafter because, ten years later, all three of them were living together at Stanley Road in Twerton, Somerset, where they had been joined by Elizabeth’s daughter Emily.  All four of them were confirmed as having been born at Melksham, with Elizabeth being 73 and a retired inn keeper, her son Frederick Collett was 34 and an engineer and her daughter Emily Collett was 32 and a schoolteacher.  Completing the family was Elizabeth’s unmarried sister-in-law Sarah Collett who was 75 and described as a retired inn keeper

35P70 – Henry Charles Collett was born in 1863 at Melksham

35P71 – William John Collett was born in 1864 at Melksham

35P72 – Frederick W Collett was born in 1867 at Melksham

35P73 – Mary Jane Collett was born in 1868 at Melksham

35P74 – Emily Matilda Collett was born in 1869 at Melksham

35P75 – Eliza Collett was born in 1870 at Melksham

Charles Collett [35O32] was born at Melksham on 27^th December 1826, the eldest child of William Collett and Jane Gardner, who was baptised there on 24^th January 1827, the son of William, a weaver of Melksham Forest.  According to the parish register, he was thirty-one days old when he died and was buried at Melksham on 27^th January 1827

Elizabeth Collett [35O33] was born at Melksham in 1828, where she was baptised on 24^th February 1828, the only daughter of weaver William Collett and his wife Jane.  By 1841, her family was living at Cannonfield Tything in Melksham where Elizabeth was 13 years of age.  On 12^th July 1862, while living within the parish of Bradford-on-Avon at the age of 29, and being the daughter of clothier William Collett, Elizabeth Collett was married by licence to John Collett of Melksham, aged 23 and a carpenter, son of shoemaker Henry Collett.  Elizabeth was 34 years old but had reduced age when marrying the much younger John.  Both the bride and the groom signed the parish register in their own hand, while the two witnesses made the mark of a cross.  They were Stephen Collett who was Elizabeth’s cousin, and Sarah Collett who was John’s older unmarried sister, their mother having died when John was only three years of age, and their father just twelve months prior to their wedding day

For the continuation of this family line go to John Collett (Ref. 35O29)

Thomas Walters Collett [35O34] was born in 1830 at Melksham and was baptised there on 22^nd February 1831, another son of weaver William Collett and Jane.  Although no record has been found of him suffering an infant death, the next child born to William and Jane was given the same name (below)

Thomas Walters Collett [35O35] was born in 1832 at Melksham and was the second son of that name who was baptised at Melksham on 10^th June 1832.  Curiously, the Thomas Collett who was living with his parents at Cannonfield Tything in Melksham in 1841 was said to be 10 years old, which could apply to either one of the two Thomas Walters Colletts, the son of William Collett, a weaver of Melksham Forest, and Jane Gardner

William Collett [35O36] was born in 1834 at Melksham, where he was baptised on 29^th March 1834, the last child of weaver William Collett of Melksham Forest and his wife Jane Gardner.  William Collett, junior, was seven years of age in the census of 1841, when he and his two older siblings and their parents were residing at Cannonfield Tything in Melksham.  What happened to the young family after 1844 is not known, as it was in September that year, when their father passed away, their widowed mother surviving until 1858

George Collett [35O40] was born in 1840 at Melksham and was under one-year old in the Melksham census in June 1841 when he was living there with his parents Stephen and Grace Collett.  That would place the time of his birth to be either in the second half of 1840 or the first half of 1841.  In the following two census returns for Melksham in 1851 and 1861, George was 10 and 20 years respectively.  During the next few years George’s mother Grace died, and it may have been that sad event that prompted George to seek a new life, since shortly after that he left England and sailed to America, where he was married in the mid-1860s

By the time of the US Census of 1880 George and his wife and their family were living in Hartford, Van Buren in the state of Michigan.  George aged 39, was described as an R R Agent (railroad agent).  His American wife was Sarah Ada Collett who was 34 and of Indiana who was ‘keeping house’ for the family, supported by 45 years old servant Susan Byres from New York.  Their two children at that time were Edith who was 13 and at school, and George who was eight, and both had been born in Michigan

35P76 - Edith Collett was born in 1867 at Michigan

35P77 - George Collett was born in 1867 at Michigan

Hannah Collett [35O41] was born in 1842 at Melksham where she was baptised on 27^th March 1842, another child of Stephen and Grace Collett

Jemima Collett [35O42] was born at Melksham in 1843 where she was baptised on 31^st December 1843, the third child of Stephen Collett and Grace Brinsdon.  She was seven years old in the Melksham census of 1851, but was not living there with her family in 1861, by which time she may have settled in America.  She later married Joseph Pavis (1852-1920), the son of Mary Tillie and Thomas Pavis.  Their daughter Tillie Brinstone Pavis was born in 1881 but died in 1882 and was buried at Whitneyville Cemetery in Hamden, Connecticut.  Others of that name who were buried in the same grave were Mary Pavis and Thomas Pavis and in a nearby plot their daughter Charlotte Pavis Gadd.  Jemima Pavis nee Collett died in 1914 and was also buried in Whitneyville Cemetery

Emma Collett [35O43] was born at Melksham in 1845 and was baptised there on 26^th October 1845 the third daughter of Stephen and Grace Collett

John Collett [35O44] was born at Melksham in 1848 and was three years old and thirteen in the census records for Melksham in 1851 and 1861.  Over the next few years, and following the death of his mother, John sailed to America, either with his older brother George (above) or shortly after.  Either way, John was living in Hamden in New Haven in the state of Connecticut by 1880.  The US Census that year recorded him as being 32 and married to Sarah who was 36.  John’s occupation at that time was a worker in an auger factory.  It has not been established whether the couple every had any children, but what is known is that also living in Hamden at that same time were three other members of John’s family from Melksham.  They were siblings Ellen, Thomas, and Frederick (below)

WILLIAM COLLETT [35O45] was born at Melksham around 1849, the son of Stephen and Grace Collett.  He later became a blacksmith and, it was around 1870, that he married Sarah A Hayward of Melksham, where they initially settled, before moving to Wantage.  It may be of interest to note a possible family connection with the second wife of William’s father Stephen Collett, who was Susan H Hayward, who was born at Plymouth in 1832.  According to the census of 1871, William was 22 and his wife Sarah A Collett was 21.  On that occasion the couple was living near to where William’s father, widower Stephen Collett, was living in Melksham with William’s three youngest siblings.  Over the following ten years Sarah presented her husband with four children

By April 1881 Sarah A Collett, aged 31 and of Melksham, was described as the wife of a shoeing smith.  At that time, she was living at Partridges Yard in Wantage with her four children, William who was eight and born at Melksham, Fanny who was six, Ellen who was four, and Frederick who was one-year old, the three of them were all born at Wantage.  The children’s father, William Collett, aged 32 and of Melksham, was not with them on the census day in 1881 but was in lodgings at 38 Newport Street in Swindon, where he was working at that time as a blacksmith

Sometime in the late 1880s the family moved to Gloucester, where William worked at the Gloucester Wagon Works.  By 1891 the family, excluding eldest son William who had already left the family home, was living in the South Hamlet registration district of Gloucester at Tredworth Road in the parish of Barton St Mary.  The census record for 1891 confirmed the family as William Collett, aged 41, his wife Sarah who was 40, and their three children as Fanny who was 16, Ellen who was 14, and Fred who was 11 years old, and all three of them born at Wantage.  William later set up his own coach building company under the name Wm Collett & Sons, and that was confirmed in the 1901 Census

The census return that year recorded the family living at Melbourne Street in the City of Gloucester.  William’s age was given as 51, as was Sarah’s, and both were confirmed as having been born at Melksham.  Also still living with their parents at that time was their daughter Fanny E Collett aged 26 from Wantage, and their youngest son Frederick who was 21 and from Wantage.  The occupation of their father William Collett was recorded as coach builder, while the youngest son Frederick was a coach painter, working in his father’s business.  Also working with William at Wm Collett & Sons at that time, was his eldest son William who was married with children of his own by March 1901.  However, living with the family at Melbourne Street was a mystery child.  She was Lily Collett who was six years of age and born at Gloucester, who was described as the grandchild of William and Sarah.  Although not yet confirmed, it would initially appear than Lily could have been the base-born child of the couple’s eldest daughter Fanny who would have been around eighteen or nineteen at the time of conception.  Alternatively, the early marriage of the couple’s youngest daughter might indicate that she was married off, within three years of the child’s birth, to avoid embarrassment to the family and the family business

Those three, William, Sarah, and Lily, were still living together in 1911 at 13 Melbourne Street in Gloucester, when the census return contained a few errors.  Firstly, coach-smith William Collett from Melksham said he was 41, rather than 61, unless it was an error made by the census enumerator.  Likewise, his wife Sarah Collett, also from Melksham, was said to be 42 years of age.  And curiously, sixteen-year-old Lily Collett from Gloucester, was described as the niece of head of the household William Collett.  Still living in Gloucester at that time were both of their daughters Fanny (married in 1901) and Ellen (married in 1898) and their two married sons William and Frederick.  The death of William Collett, aged 66, was recorded at Gloucester register office (Ref. 6a 110) during the first three months of 1917, where the passing of his widow Sarah A Collett, nee Hayward, was recorded (Ref. 6a 348) during the second quarter of 1928, when she was 78.  There was a six-year delay in resolving the Will of William Collett, the probate process confirming that he died on 22^nd February 1917, with his proved at Gloucester on 13^th July 1923.  The two main beneficiaries were named as his two sons William T Collett and Frederick Collett, so maybe the Will had been contested by his wife and his two daughters

35P78 – William Thomas Collett was born in 1872 at Melksham

35P79 – Fanny Elizabeth Collett was born in 1875 at Melksham

35P80 – Ellen Maria Collett was born in 1877 at Melksham

35P81– FREDERICK GEORGE COLLETT was born in 1880 at Melksham

Ellen Collett [35O46] was born at Melksham where she was baptised on 25^th January 1852.  In 1861 she was listed as living with her parents in Melksham at the age of nine.  Following the death of her mother in the 1860s and her father taking a second and much younger wife in the early 1870s, it seems likely that it was around that time when she left England to join her two older brothers in America.  No trace of Ellen has been found in the UK Census of 1871, although her two younger brothers Thomas and Frederick were still living with their father at Melksham at that time.  By 1880 she was recorded as living at Hamden, New Haven in Connecticut with her youngest brother Frederick (below) at the home of William Conn and his wife Maria from England.  Ellen Collett was still single and was described as 27 and someone who ‘does housework’.  It is not known at this time if she was married at some later date

Thomas Collett [35O47] was born at Melksham in 1854 and was six years old in the census of 1861 when he was living with his parents at Melksham.  During the next decade his mother died and by April 1871 he was 17 and was still living at Melksham with his widowed father Stephen, and his younger siblings Maria and Frederick (below).  With his father then marrying for a second time during the following year, Thomas sailed to America with his sister Ellen (above) and his younger brother Frederick (below).  The exact date of the voyage has not yet been determined.  Once in America, the three young people travelled to Connecticut where their older brother John Collett (above) was already established.  The US Census of 1880 confirmed that Thomas Collett was already married to Julia Gremoul of Hamden, Connecticut, Julia’s father being from Canada and her mother from Ireland.  Thomas was 25 and Julia was 20 and, on that occasion, Thomas was working at the same place as his two brothers, that being an auger factory.  Julia was described as keeping house.  It was at Hamden in New Haven, Connecticut, that Thomas Collett aged 26 and from England was naturalised on 17^th September 1880

During the update of Part 44 – The Broughton Gifford to Connecticut Line in 2026, Thomas Collett and his wife Julie Truler were discovered in 1920 living within a few yards of the Hamden, New Haven family of Edgar Howard Collett [44O12] 1877-1943 at 2185 Whitney Avenue.  On that census day Thomas Collett from England aged 65 was a mechanic at a factory, whose wife Julia Collett from Hamden, Connecticut was 59, when they and their 19-year-old son Harry Collett, a purchasing agent for a local factory, were residing at 20 Skiff Street in Hamden, adjacent to Whitney Avenue.  It would be reasonable to assume that Harry was the couple’s youngest child, with other children added to their family between 1880 and 1900.  That was confirmed in the North Haven census of 1900, just after the birth of the couple’s fifth and last child, all living with them that day in mid-June.  Thomas Collett was 46 and a machinist who had entered America in 1872, and had, during the following 28 years, secured nationalised US Citizen status.  Julia Collett was 39 and had been born on 19^th June 1860, when their five children were Isabel Collett aged 18 and born in September 1881, Lillie Collett aged 15 and born in October 1884, Etta Collett aged 13 and born in April 1887, Robert Collett aged 11 and born in April 1889, and Harry Collett who was three months old.

The earlier marriage of Thomas Collett and Julia S Truler was conducted at Hamden Township on 25^th September 1878 when Thomas was 24 and single, a mechanic, from Wiltshire in England, and Julia from Hamden was 18 and single.  Hamden census in 1880 included Thomas and Julia, he being 25 and employed in an auger factory, she being 20 and keeping house.  Thirty years later, the North Haven Town census in 1910 recorded the reduced family of four still living there but at Skiff Street, by which time Thomas Collett was 55 and a polisher at an auger factory.  Julia Collett, his wife of thirty years was 49 and had suffered the loss of one of her five children during the previous ten years.  That was the couple’s eldest son Robert who died two years prior to that day, when the two remaining children in 1910 were Lillie Collett who was unmarried at 26 and employed as a stenographer, and 10-year-old Harry Collett.  Julia Lena Truler Collett was one day from her eighty-eighth birthday was she passed away on 18^th June 1948.  Some records during her life gave her surname as Tremoule, but it was Truler on her wedding day, and that of the wedding of daughter Etta in 1906

35P82 – Isabel Collett was born in 1881 at North Haven, New Haven County

35P83 – Lillie Collett was born in 1884 at North Haven, New Haven County

35P84 – Etta Dahlia Collett was born in 1887 at North Haven, New Haven County

35P85 – Robert Stephen Collett was born in 1889 at North Haven, New Haven County

35P86 – Harry Joseph Collett was born in 1900 at North Haven, New Haven County

Maria Collett [35O48] was baptised at Melksham on 25^th November 1855.  Her mother Grace died in the 1860s and, by 1871 when Maria was 16, she was still living at Melksham with her widowed father Stephen.  By the time of the next census in 1881 she was referred to as Mary J Collett, aged 25, when she was an unmarried parlour maid at the home of Thomas H Tooke, the Rector of Monkton Farleigh

Frederick Collett [35O49] was born at Melksham in 1858 and was three years old when living with his parents at Melksham in 1861.  Ten years later, and following the death of his mother, Frederick was 13 and living at Melksham with his widowed father and just two of his siblings, Thomas, and Maria (above).  Sometime during the 1870s Frederick, together with his sister Ellen and brother Thomas, sailed to America to be reunited with their older brother John Collett, who was living in Connecticut at that time.  According to the US Census of 1880, all four of them were living at Hamden, New Haven in Connecticut.  Frederick, aged 22, and his sister Ellen, were both staying with William Conn and his wife Maria, who were also from England.  William Conn was employed in an auger shop, where Frederick was also working

Emily Collett [35O50] was born at Melksham in 1872 and was the daughter of Stephen Collett of Melksham and his second wife Susan H Hayward of Plymouth.  By 1881 she was living with her father at Broughton Road in Melksham, while her mother and her younger brother Frank (below) were visiting family and friends in Plymouth.  For whatever reason, Emily was not baptised until she was thirteen years old.  That happened at Melksham on 15^th November 1885 at which time her parents were confirmed as Stephen and Susan Collett.  No trace of Emily has been found after that time, probably because she was later married

Frank S Collett [35O52] was born at Melksham in 1877, the youngest child of Stephen Collett of Melksham and his second wife Susan H Hayward of Plymouth.  When he was three years old Frank S Collett of Melksham was with his mother Susan, when they were both listed as visitors at the Plymouth home of James Taylor and his family.  At that same time his father and his two older siblings were still living at Broughton Road in Melksham, where their needs were temporarily being cared for by Stephen’s sister Maria Daniels nee Collett (above), who was described as their housekeeper.  Also, by that time in 1881, Frank’s older half-children from his father’s first marriage had left England and had sailed to North America, to settle in Michigan and Connecticut

Ten years later the census of 1891 placed 13 years old Frank Collett living with his parents at Melksham.  No record of Frank has been found in Great Britain in 1901 or 1911 and, it is believed that the reason for that was, that he was a solder in the army and was serving abroad.  According to the British Army records, there was a Private Frank S Collett No. 3-6813 who served with the Somerset Light Infantry from 11^th October 1915 onwards, who fought on the front line in France during the Great War.  Further verification is required to confirm whether this was Frank S Collett from Melksham, but is seems highly likely that it was

Caroline Collett [35O53] was born at Broughton Gifford in 1830 and was baptised on 6^th March 1831, the eldest child of labourer Thomas Collett and Joan Elizabeth Button.  Tragically, she died at Broughton Gifford on 29^th January 1837, where she was buried that same day, the burial record stating she was six years of age

Samuel Collett [35O54] was born at Broughton Gifford on 31^st December 1832.  He was baptised there on 20^th January 1833, the eldest son of labourer Thomas and Elizabeth Collett, the same day that eight-year-old Jane Collett (Ref. 35N55), the daughter of James Collett and Sarah Clack, was also baptised at Broughton Gifford.  Samuel was eight years old in the Broughton Gifford census of 1841 when he was living there at Chally Mead with his family.  Upon leaving school, he took up work as an agricultural labourer and in 1851, at the age of 18, he was a servant at the Broughton Gifford home of elderly couple John and Mary Rose from Somerset.  On that census day, he was living not far from his parents’ home on Slipper Lane off Church Street where, just three dwellings away from his parents was the Gerrish family, into which Samuel was married less than four years later

It was at Broughton Gifford on 18^th January 1855, that Samuel Collett married (1) Sarah Etta Gerrish who was born in Wiltshire on 5^th March 1833, the daughter of Samuel Gerrish and his wife Hannah Bull.  The marriage register confirmed that Samuel was the son of Thomas Collett, and that the bride and the groom were both single and twenty-two years of age.  The wedding was recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. 5a 165).  The couple’s first child was a honeymoon baby born at Broughton Gifford nine months after their wedding day, where she was also baptised, prior to the family of three sailing to America in 1857.  It was in Wisconsin that they settled, where their next six children were born.  Twenty years later, her youngest child was only three years old when Sarah Collett nee Gerrish died at Union in Pierce, Wisconsin, on 15^th April 1877

Shortly after the death of his wife, Samuel married (2) Melissa Patrick at Salem in Pierce, Wisconsin on 22^nd November 1877, the daughter of J and Lucinda Patrick.  Tragically Samuel was made a widower for the second time when Melissa died within the first two years of their married life. By the time of the US Census of 1880, Samuel Collett, aged 48 and from England, was a farmer residing at Union in Pierce, Wisconsin with just his three youngest surviving children.  James Collett, aged 18, was working with his father on their farm, Henry Collett was 11, and A B Collett was six years old, all three sons having been born in Wisconsin

It is of some interest that in 1880 James Collett (below), who was also born at Broughton Gifford but in 1837, travelled to America in 1858 and was also living in Pierce, Wisconsin, at the same time as Samuel, they being first cousins

Just over twenty years later, when Samuel was 71, he married (3) Rebecca Coulson at Spring Valley in Pierce, Wisconsin on 24^th April 1902.  She was twenty years younger than Samuel and was the daughter of Mark Coulson and his wife Mary Knott who had been born in Wisconsin during June 1850.  Samuel and Rebecca have not been located within the 1920 US Census, and it is believed that Rebecca died in St Louis County, Minnesota on 1^st December 1933, although it is unknown where she was buried.  Samuel Collett had died nearly eight years earlier on 16^th February 1926 at the age of 95.  There is no headstone for Samuel in the Ono Cemetery at Salem Township, Pierce County, Wisconsin, where he was buried, while his obituary in the local newspaper read as follows:

“Samuel Collett, one of the oldest settlers in the county, died at the home of his son Henry Collett, near Maiden Rock Tuesday of last week.  He was 95 years of age.  Three sons and two daughters survive.  They are Bert Collett at Ellsworth, James Collett at Elmwood, Henry Collett at Maiden Rock, Mrs Anna Campbell at Exeland, Mrs Mary Martin at Ponoka, Alberta in Canada.  The funeral took place on Thursday afternoon from Ono Church, Salem Township, Pierce County in Wisconsin”

35P87 – Anna Maria Collett was born in 1855 at Broughton Gifford

35P88 – Mary Jane Collett was born in 1857 at Wisconsin, USA

35P89 – an unnamed Collett child was born in 1860 at Wisconsin, USA

35P90 – James Collett was born in 1862 at Wisconsin, USA

35P91 – Henry S Collett was born in 1869 at Wisconsin, USA

35P92 – Ida May Collett was born in 1872 at Wisconsin, USA

35P93 - Albert B Collett was born in 1874 at Wisconsin, USA

Anna Maria Collett [35O55] was born at Broughton Gifford and it was there that she was baptised on 31^st August 1834 under that name, to parents Thomas and Elizabeth Collett.  Her father’s occupation was that of a labourer.  By the time of the census in 1841 she was listed with her family at Chally Mead in Broughton Gifford as Ann Collett, when she was six years old.  After a further ten years Ann Collett, aged 16, was still living in Broughton Gifford but not with her family, which was residing at a dwelling on Slipper Lane off Church Street

Elizabeth Collett [35O56] was born at Broughton Gifford and baptised there on 25^th September 1836, the daughter of labourer Thomas and Joan Elizabeth Collett.  She was four years old in 1841, when Elizabeth and her family were living at Chally Mead in Broughton Gifford, where she was living and working in 1851, by which time her family was residing at Slipper Lane, off Church Street, in Broughton Gifford, as they were again in 1861.  Eight months prior to that census day, Elizabeth Collett married Edward Thomas Pinchin at Broughton Gifford on 17^th June 1860.  He was 25 and the son of Edward Pinchin, and Elizabeth was 22 and the daughter of Thomas Collett.  Curiously, they were both single but already had a four-year-old daughter, who was living with them at Combe Hill in Castle Combe in 1861, when the family was preparing for the birth of the second of their seven children.  They were Edward Pinchin who was 26 and a carter and an agricultural labourer from Woodborough in Wiltshire, Elizabeth Pinchin was 23 from Broughton Gifford, where their daughter Sophia Pinchin aged five had been born.  Elizabeth was taking in lodgers to supplement her husband’s income

By 1871 the family was living at Bathford in Somerset where Edward was working as a railway labourer. The couple had two more daughters over the next few years, however Elizabeth then passed away at only 38 years of age on 21^st April 1875.  She was buried at St Swithun’s Churchyard in Bathford, Somerset, along with her daughter Rose, who had been buried there just after she was born in 1872.  Their other six children were Joanna Elizabeth Pinchin born in 1862, Katie Sophia Pinchin born in 1865, Annie Maria Pinchin born in 1868, Ada Mary Pinchin born in 1870, Rose Jane Pinchin born 1872, Cecily Louisa Pinchin born in 1874.  The death of Elizabeth Pinchin was recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 497) during the third quarter of 1875

James Collett [35O57] was born at Broughton Gifford where he was baptised on 8^th July 1838, but he died shortly after, the son of labourer Thomas and Elizabeth Collett, for their next child to be given the same name

James Collett [35O58] was born at Broughton Gifford, possibly at Chally Mead where he and his family were living in 1841, when James was one year old.  Ten months earlier, he was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 23^rd August 1840, the son of labourer Thomas and Elizabeth Collett.  He was 11 years of age in 1851 when he was still living with his family, but at Slipper Lane off Church Street in Broughton Gifford.  James was still living with his parents at the time of the census in 1871, when he said he was 32, but tragically just a few months later he died.  The death of James Collett was recorded at Bradford-on-Avon register office (Ref. 5a 75) during the third quarter of 1871

Henry Collett [35O59] was born at Broughton Gifford where he was baptised on 29^th August 1841, the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Collett.  He was nine years old in 1851 when he was living on Slipper Lane off Church Street in Broughton Gifford with his family.  Although no record of him has been found in 1861, it was five years later that Henry Collett married Anne R Derrick at Bath in Somerset (Ref. 5c 1089) during the second quarter of 1866.  Anne Rebecca Derrick, the daughter of Ann White and James Derrick had been born at Bradford-on-Avon in 1846, where she was baptised on 5^th July 1846.  It would appear the heavily pregnant Anne and the father of her child Henry, had run away to Bath to be married, their son born not long after their wedding day.  Once the child had been born the married couple returned to Bradford-on-Avon, where the birth was recorded.  By the time of the birth of their next two children the family was residing in the village of Downton, just south of Salisbury.  It was probably Henry’s employment as a police constable that prompted the move

However, on the day of the census in 1871, the family of five was recorded in Charlton-All-Saints within the parish of Downton.  Henry Collett from Broughton was 28 and a police constable, Anne Collett from Bradford was 24, Harry Collett also from Bradford was five, Sarah J Collett was three, and Arthur Collett was two, both born at Downton.  On that day Anne was expecting the arrival of her fourth child, which was born within the next few months, the place of birth later stated to be Downton, rather than Charlton.  Just over two years after that birth Anne presented Henry with another daughter although, by that time, the family had moved again, and was living at Biddestone, near Chippenham, where a total of three children were added to the family.  However, seven years later in 1880 the family moved the relatively short distance to Langley Burrell, where they were recorded as living in April 1881

The full family was living in a police house in Langley Burrell, to the immediate north-east of Chippenham, which was referred to as the Police Station.  By that time Henry had been promoted to the rank of sergeant at the age of 38, and his place of birth was confirmed as Broughton Gifford.  Living with him was his wife who was listed as Anne R Collett who was 34, together with their seven children Harry D Collett who was 15, Sarah J Collett who was 13, Arthur Collett who was 12, James Collett who was nine, Annie L Collett who was seven, Frederick G Collett who was three, and Mary B Collett who was one-year old

Following the census day in 1881, Henry and Anne added four more children to their family, as confirmed by the next census in 1891 when they had eight of their twelve children living with them at Malmesbury, the four eldest children have left the family home by then.  In between living at Langley Burrell and Malmesbury, the family spent a few years residing in Pewsey, six miles south of Marlborough, where two children were born, before the birth of their last two children after the family had arrived in the Malmesbury area of Wiltshire

According to the census in 1891 the family of Henry Collett was recorded in the village of Brokenborough, one mile from Malmesbury, living on Gostins Lane.  On that day the family comprised Henry Collett aged 49 who was by then a superintendent of police, Annie R Collett who was 44, Annie L Collett who was 17, Fredk G Collett who was 13, Mary B Collett who was 11, William Collett who was nine, Francis Collett who was six, Edith J Collett who was five, Clara Collett who was three and Reginald Collett who was one-year old.  Sometime after that Henry retired from the Wiltshire Constabulary and returned to working on the land, when he and the younger members of his family were recorded farming at Melksham Without in the census of 1901

It was at Snarlton Lane, on the eastern side of Melksham Forest, where farmer Henry Collett from Broughton Gifford was 59, his wife Annie R Collett was 54 and from Bradford-on-Avon, who still have living with them their four youngest children.  Francis Collett was aged 16 and a farmer’s son, Edith J Collett was aged 15 and a dressmaker, Clara Collett was 13, and Reginald Collett was 11, with the two youngest children still attending school

According to the next census in April 1911 sons William and Francis had both left the family home to be married, while Henry and his reduced family had moved yet again, on that occasion to Byde Mill Farm at Hannington near Highworth to the north of Swindon.  Henry Collett was 69, a farmer and a police pensioner, and his wife Ann Rebecca Collett was 64, the couple’s birth places once again confirmed as Broughton Gifford and Bradford-on-Avon.  The only children still living with them by that time was their daughter Edith Jessie Collett from Pewsey who was 24, and the son Reginald Collett from Malmesbury who was 21.  The census return also confirmed that during their life together, Ann had presented Henry with thirteen children, of which twelve were still alive.  That vital piece of information has led to the deceased child being identified as William George Collett (1876-1877).  Recorded as staying with the family in 1911 was Dora Cresser from Grove near Wantage, who was 19 with no occupation, who was described as a visitor, boarding with the family.  It is now established that Dora was the future wife of Henry and Annie youngest son Reginald

Thanks to Angela Chilcott in The Netherlands, we now know that her ancestor Henry Collett from Broughton Gifford died seven years later during 1918 at the age of 75, while his widow survived him by sixteen years, when Anne Rebecca Collett nee Derrick passed away during 1934 aged 88 years.  They were buried together in the same grave at St Michael’s Church in Melksham, where a single headstone confirms that Henry passed away on 17^th April 1918 and that Annie Rebecca Collett died on 18^th June 1934.  It was at Devizes register office where the death of Henry Collett was recorded (Ref. 5a 87) during the second quarter of 1918

35P94 – Harry Derrick Collett was born in 1866 at Bradford-on-Avon

35P95 – Sarah Jane Collett was born in 1867 at Downton

35P96 – Arthur Collett was born in 1869 at Downton

35P97 – James Collett was born in 1871 at Downton

35P98 – Annie Louisa Collett was born in 1873 at Biddestone

35P99 – William George Collett was born in 1876 at Biddestone

35P100 – Frederick George Collett was born in 1878 at Biddestone

35P101 – Mary Blanche Collett was born in 1880 at Biddestone

35P102 – William Collett was born in 1882 at Langley Burrell

35P103 – Francis Collett was born in 1884 at Pewsey

35P104 – Edith Jessie Collett was born in 1885 at Pewsey

35P105 – Clara Collett was born in 1887 at Malmesbury

35P106 - Reginald Collett was born in 1889 at Malmesbury

Simeon Collett [35O60] was born at Broughton Gifford where he was baptised on 9^th October 1843, the last child of labourer Thomas Collett and Joan Elizabeth Button.  Apart from his baptism record, the only other reference to him in England is the census in 1851, when he was living with his family at Slipper Lane, off Church Street, in Broughton Gifford, when he was seven years old

James Collett [35O61] was born at Broughton Gifford on 11^th December 1837 and was baptised there on 14^th January 1838, the eldest child of Samuel Collett and Hannah E Mortimer.  He was two years old in the Broughton census of 1841 and was still living with his family in the main street there ten years later when he was 13 and working as an errand boy.  At the aged of 21 James left Wiltshire and followed his cousin Samuel Collett (above) to North America and initially settled in Waukesha County where he farmed for three years.  Following that, he then moved to Dodge County where he and later married Mary A Holcomb on 2^nd March 1862 at Rubicon, Dodge County in Wisconsin.  She was born at Jasper in New York State in America on 6^th August 1843, daughter of Levi Holcomb and Angeline Rathborn.  James was 25, while Mary was only 19

Once they were married the couple continued to live in Rubicon for a short time, where their first child was born, before the family moved to Rock Elm in Pierce County during the autumn of 1863.  And it was at Rock Elm that all nine of their other children were born, and where James and Mary spent the rest of their life together.  On 9^th March 1865 James joined the 50^th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry and was posted to St Louis, and from there to Fort Rice and the Indian territory, where they fought the Indians.  He was discharged from his duties on 4^th June 1866, following which he returned to his life as a farmer

The United States census for Rock Elm in 1880 confirmed that James Collett from England was 43 and that he was a farmer.  His wife Mary was 37 and was confirmed as having been born at Jasper NY.  She was described as keeping house.  Eight of their ten children were recorded as living with the family on that occasion, although it is known that both missing children at that time lived beyond 1905.  The two missing children were Vida Collett, and Belle Collett who was later known to have been married.  Of the remainder Sarah Jane was 17, Libbie 15, Edwin 13, Minnie 10, Fred was nine, Martha was six, Albert was four, and William was one-year old.  However, it was son Bertie (Albert) who died at the age of 20, ten years prior to the death of his father

James Collett died at Rock Elm in Pierce County, Wisconsin on 23^rd June 1905 at the age of 68, and was followed by his wife Mary eleven years later who died at Spring Valley in Pierce County on 14^th January 1916 at the age of 73.  In between times James’ widow Mary Collett went to live at Spring Valley with her youngest son and his second wife Alma, where she was recorded in 1910 at the age of 67.  Following the death of Mary Collett, nee Holcomb, a lengthy article was published in the local newspaper and that has been reproduced in full below

The shorter obituary for James Collett read as follows: “James Collett was born at Broughton, England on December 11^th 1837.  He came to America at the age of twenty-one years and settled at Mapleton, where he lived for three years.  He then went to Rubicon, Dodge County, where he married Miss Mary Holcombe on March 2^nd 1862.  In the fall of 1863, he moved to the town of Rock Elm, where he has since resided.  March 9^th 1865, he enlisted in Company G 5^th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry and was discharged June 4^th 1866.  To James and Mary Collett were born ten children: Sarah [Mrs John Raab] living at Red Wing Minnesota; Libbie [Mrs Jake Jackson] of Olivet; Ed of Hayward; Minnie [Mrs Joe Taylor] of Glen Wood; Fred of Somo; Mattie [Mrs Henry Hess] of Elmwood; Bertie now deceased; Will of Spring Valley; Bell and Vida living at home.  Forty years ago, Mr Collett joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has been an earnest, faithful work to the last. He was a kind, loving husband and father, and will be missed by a host of friends”

Twenty-five years prior to his death, James Collett, and his cousin Samuel Collett (above), were both living within Pierce County in Wisconsin.  However, while James was at Rock Elm, his cousin Samuel was at Union near Madison, around two hundred miles away so, sadly, it seems unlikely that they were ever reunited.  The second forename for two of the younger children may have been Holcombe, their mother’s maiden-name

This newspaper article was published following the death of Mary Collett nee Holcomb:

“Mary Holcomb was born in the town of Jasper, New York, august 6, 1843, but when a small child she came to Wisconsin with her parents, settling in Dodge County.  She married James Collett March 2^nd 1862 at Rubicon.  Two years later they moved to Rock Elm where they lived for over forty years, until her husband died June 23^rd 1905.  Soon after this she can to Spring Valley to live, and here she died January 14^th 1916 of acute asthma.  The funeral was held Sunday, Rev D L Holbrook officiating.  Services were held at the home at 11am and at 2pm at the M E Church at Rock Elm, burial was made at the family lot at Poplar Hill Cemetery

She was a member of a family of nineteen children, of whom three sisters, - Mrs Fannie Howard of Hillsboro, Ill, Mrs Lucy Phelps of Grand Forks, North Dakota, and Mrs Betty Gerrish of Ono, and two brothers – Alfred Holcomb of South Hill, and Albert Holcomb of Rock Elm survive her.  She was the mother of ten children, nine of whom are left to mourn the loss of a good mother – Mrs Sarah Raab of Bradley, Ed and Will Collett of Hayward, Mrs Libbie Jackson and Fred Collett of Olivet, Mrs Mattie Hess of Elmwood, Mrs Minnie Taylor and Mrs Belle Weldon of Spring Valley, and Mrs Vida Hamilton of South Hill.  One son, Bert, died January 7^th 1895.  She also leaves twenty grandchildren and three great grandchildren

Mrs Collett joined the Methodist Church about fifty years ago at Rock Elm; sometime after moving to Spring Valley she transferred her membership to the Congregational Church her.  At both Rock Elm and Spring Valley she was a devoted and beloved member.  Mrs Collett’s death removes the older living settler from the town of rock Elm.  Not a person is left who lived in that town when she and her husband came there during the hard times of the Civil War

Soon after the move to Rock Elm, Mr Collett enlisted in the army and, the young wife, with a baby only a few months old, was left to take care of the farm.  The story is the old one, familiar to the settlers of those days, but incredible to this ease-loving generation, of hardships and privations which they bore with cheerfulness, but which we would think intolerable.  At that time the only post office was at Waverley, where mail was brought from ‘The Rock’ once a week.  Letters from the soldier boys was eagerly looked for.  Once, in going to Waverley after the expected letter from her husband, Mrs Collet found Plum Creek so swollen by rains that water was running six inches over the log which formed the only bridge; but she didn’t turn around and go home – she walked that log, even though she knew a slip probably meant drowning in the deep swift waters

The little clearing grew to a farm; the log cabin changed to a fine brick house; the children were all given an education and a start in life – and a careful training on the right road.  To such women this country and this section owes a great and unpayable debt; their unselfish and constant care has made a prosperous and cultured community out of the pioneer country of a few years ago”

35P107 – Sarah Jane Collett was born in 1862 at Rubicon, Dodge

35P108 – Hannah Elizabeth Collett was born in 1865 at Rock Elm, Pierce

35P109 – Edwin James Collett was born in 1868 at Rock Elm, Pierce

35P110 – Minnie A Collett was born in 1870 at Rock Elm, Pierce

35P111 – Frederick Levi Collett was born in 1871 at Rock Elm, Pierce

35P112 – Martha Ellen Collett was born in 1874 at Rock Elm, Pierce

35P113 – Albert H Collett was born in 1875 at Rock Elm, Pierce

35P114 – William Arthur Collett was born in 1878 at Rock Elm, Pierce

35P115 – Belle H Collett was born in 1883 at Rock Elm, Pierce

35P116 – Vida Leona Collett was born in 1888 at Rock Elm, Pierce

Sarah Ann Collett [35O62] was born at Broughton Gifford and was baptised there on 29^th March 1840, the daughter of Samuel Collett and Hannah Mortimer.  Her birth was recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. viii 261) during the second quarter of that year.  In the Broughton Gifford census of 1851 Sarah was 11 years old and was still attending school, while living with her family in the main street.  It is understood that she later married, to become Sarah Bashaw, but searches through various census records have not revealed the whereabouts of Sarah or her husband.  However, new information received from Rob Campbell in Lake Mills, Wisconsin, reveals that she was living near Arkansaw in Wisconsin

Edwin Collett [35O63] was born at Broughton Gifford, with his birth recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. viii 271) during the first quarter of 1844.  It was at Broughton Gifford that he was baptised on 11^th February 1844, the son of Samuel and Hannah Collett.  In the following year he died at Broughton Gifford, the death of Edwin Collett also recorded at Bradford (Ref. viii 163) during the third quarter of 1845

George Collett [35O64] was born at Broughton Gifford in 1848 and his birth recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. viii 269) during the third quarter of that year.  He was two years old in the census of 1851 when he was living with his family at the main street in Broughton Gifford.  George was barely five years old when his mother Hannah died in 1853.  Around twenty years later George married Emily with whom he had two children prior to 1881.  The census that year confirmed that George was married to Emily and that they were living at 126 Broke Street in Shoreditch with their two children

George was 32 and his place of birth was confirmed as Broughton Gifford, while Emily was 29 and had been born at Islington in London around 1851.  George’s occupation was that of a cheesemonger’s traveller.  Their two young children were Ernest who was five, and Minnie who was two years old, the first born at Bethnal Green and the second at Shoreditch

By the end of the 1880s George had died at Islington, where his wife and two children were still living in April 1891.  Emily was 39, while her two children were Ernest, who was 15, and Minnie, who was 12 years old.  Ten years later Emily was listed as being 49, when she was living within the St Leonards Shoreditch registration district of London.  Her place of birth was given as Bethnal Green where her son had been born who had left the family home by then.  Only her daughter Minnie was still living with Emily.  By 1911 Emily, who was 58, was living alone in Bethnal Green

35P117 – Ernest Collett was born in 1875 at Bethnal Green, London

35P118 – Minnie Collett was born in 1878 at Shoreditch, Middlesex

Annie Collett [35O66] was born at Budbury in Bradford-on-Avon in 1860, her birth recorded at Bradford (Ref. 5a 1077) as Annie Collett during the fourth quarter of the year.  She was six months old by the time of the census in 1861 while, around the time she was seven years of age, her father moved the family to Bedminster, near Bristol, where they were living in 1871

Eliza Collett [35O67] was born at Budbury in Bradford-on-Avon in 1862 and her birth was also recorded at Bradford (Ref. 5a 140) during the first quarter of 1863.  Before the end of the decade Eliza and her family had left Bradford, by which time they were living in Bedminster near Bristol where, in April 1871, Eliza was eight years old.  Within the next decade she left school and by April 1881 she was working with her mother in the family’s grocer shop.  Eliza Collett of Bradford-on-Avon was 18 and her occupation was that of a grocer’s shop assistant, while she was still living with her parents at 154 East Street in Bedminster

Samuel Collett [35O68] was possibly born at the end of 1867 or early in the following year, when his birth was recorded at Melksham (Ref. 5a 114) during the first three months of 1868

Thomas Collett [35O71] was born at Combe Down south-east of Bath during 1850, the eldest son of Henry Clack Collett and Maria Gore, who was one-year old on the day of the Combe Down census in 1851.  During the following five years the family moved the short distance to nearby Monkton Combe where they were living in 1861 when Thomas was 10 years old.  Presumably, upon leaving school, Thomas left the family home in Monkton Combe since, both him and his older sister, were absent in 1871.  However, the whereabouts of twenty-year-old Thomas has not yet been discovered

The next census in 1881 revealed that Thomas Collett from Combe Down was working as a gardener at the age of 30.  By then he was married to Mary Ann Collett from Combe Down who was 28, when the pair of them was residing at the curiously named Old Brass Knocker in Combe Down within the parish of Monkton Down.  The marriage of Thomas and Mary produced no children for the pair, who were still living with the parish of Monkton Combe in 1891 when they were 40 and 38 respectively.  After a further ten years the working pair was recorded at nearby Claverton, still within the parish of Monkton Combe.  Thomas was still working as a gardener, while his age on that occasion was curiously 53.  His wife Mary A Collett was 49 and was a matron.  It was during the first decade of the new century that Thomas Collett died, leaving his widow Mary Ann Collett living alone in the Bath area in April 1911 when she was 61

Jane Collett [35O72] was born at Monkton Combe near Bath in 1857 and was 14 in 1871.  By 1881 she had left the family home in Combe and was working as a general domestic servant at the age of 24.  Her employer was homeopathic chemist Edmund Capper, at his home at 33 Gay Street in Walcot, Bath.  It appears that she never married and in 1911, as Jane Collett from Monkton Combe, she was 53 and was sharing a house at Bathwick with her brother James (below)

James Collett [35O73] was born at Monkton Combe in 1863 and was seven in 1871.  On leaving school, he became an apprentice cabinet maker and by April 1881 he was 17 when he was still living in the family home at Combe village with his parents.  By April 1891 bachelor James Collett of Monkton Combe was 27 when he was recorded in the census that year as still living within the Bathwick & Bath registration district with his parents.  Twenty years later in 1911 he was 46 and of Monkton Combe, when he was living in Bathwick with his sister Jane (above)

Edwin Collett [35O74] was born at Holt near Broughton Gifford, where he was baptised on 2^nd October 1842 at Holt Chapelry, the eldest known child of Henry Collett, a cordwainer, and his wife Jane Lovelock, who were living in Holt.  When he was around three years old, his parents moved a few miles north to Biddestone when Edwin’s brother Francis was born in 1845.  Over the years after that, the family moved north again, on that occasion to settle in the Aston area of Birmingham, where his younger siblings were born.  In the census of 1851 Edwin Collett from Holt in Wiltshire was eight years old, when he and his family were residing in the Cheapside area of Aston.  Ten years later, Edwin and his family were living at Birchall Street in Aston, from where Edwin, aged 18, was a confectioner’s assistant in 1861

Following the death of his mother at Aston in Birmingham near the end of 1864, Edwin’s father returned to Wiltshire and the village of Atworth, where her was living in 1871 with his three youngest Birmingham born children.  Where his older children were on that census day has not yet been discovered.  However, after a further ten years, Edwin, and his youngest brother Thomas (below), were living with their marriage sister Annie Arnold (below) at 43 Ryland Street in Aston in 1881.  Edwin Collett, aged 38 and from Biddestone, was described as the brother-in-law of the head of the household John Arnold, while his occupation was that of a brass window fitter.  Edwin never married and it was eight years later, when the death of Edwin Collett was recorded at Solihull register office (Ref. 6d 321) during the last quarter of 1889 at the age of 47

Albert Collett [35O75] was born at Holt near Broughton Gifford on 10^th January 1844, the second son of Henry and Jane Collett.  After a short time living at Biddestone, near Chippenham, the family settled in the Aston area of Birmingham, where they were recorded at Cheapside in 1851.  That census day, Albert Collett from Holt in Wiltshire was seven years of age.  By 1861, Albert was 17 and a brass tube drawer who was still living with his family, but at Birchall Street in Aston.  Four years later, the death of Albert Collett was recorded at Birmingham (Ref. 6d 129) during the third quarter of 1865.  It was earlier in that same year, when Albert and his brother Francis (below) were baptised at St John’s Church in Deritend and Bordesley on 26^th February 1865, when their parents were confirmed at Henry and Jane Collett

Francis Collett [35O76] was born at Biddestone on 22^nd June 1845, the son of Henry Collett, a publican, and his wife Jane Collett, formerly Jane Lovelock.  The informant of the birth, was Henry Collett, father, from Biddestone.  The birth of Francis Collett was recorded at Chippenham (Ref. viii 281) during the third quarter of 1845.  Not long after he was born, the family left Wiltshire and travelled to Birmingham, where they were living in 1851 at Cheapside in Aston, where Francis Collett from Biddestone in Wiltshire was five years of age.  On leaving school, he took up the job of a butcher’s assistant, as confirmed in the census of 1861 when Francis was 15 and living with his family at Birchall Street in Aston.  For whatever reason, Francis and his older brother, Albert (above), received an adult baptism at St John’s Church on 26^th February 1865, just a few months before his brother died

No record of him has been found in 1871, so twenty years after the last record of him, Francis Collett from Wiltshire was unmarried at the age of 35, when he was working as a barman at Rotherhithe Street in Rotherhithe within the Southwark area of South London.  After some years in London, Francis made his way to Lancashire and to Blackpool where, on 28^th October 1891, Francis Collett, the son of Henry Collett, married the widow Ellen Pilkington, the daughter of James Taylor.  It seems Francis and Ellen returned to Birmingham where, less than four years after their wedding day, the death of Francis Collett was recorded at Birmingham register office (Ref. 6d 135) during the second quarter of 1896, when he was 50

Aimee Hannah Collett [35O77] was born at Aston in Birmingham in 1851, her birth recorded there (Ref. 16 178) during the last quarter of that year.  In the census of 1861, she was recorded as Amy H Collett, who was eight years old.  While no record of her has been identified in 1871, it was as Annie Arnold that she was recorded in the Aston census of 1881.  The marriage of Aimee Hannah Collett and John Arnold, from West Bromwich, took place at Holy Trinity Church in Bordesley on 20^th December 1874 and was recorded at Aston (Ref. 6d 527) during the fourth quarter of 1874.  John was 25 and a coachsmith, the son of coachsmith Samuel Arnold of Albert Place, Sherborne Road in Balsall Heath.  One of the witnesses was John’s brother, Samuel Paul Arnold – who later married Aimee’s sister Sarah (below), the other being Theresa Arnold.  Aimee was 23 and the daughter of Henry Collett of Emily Street, a shoemaker.  Thereafter, the couple settled in the Birmingham area, where all their children were born.  By 1881 the Arnold family was living at 43 Ryland Street in Aston, where John Arnold, aged 30, was a perambulator maker, his wife Annie was 28 and a dressmaker, and their children were Ada Arnold who was five, and Arthur Arnold who was four.  Living there with them was Annie’s two unmarried brothers Edwin Collett (above) and Thomas Collett (below)

Sarah Ann Collett [35O78] was born at 38 Birchall Street in Aston on 20^th December 1858 although, when her birth was registered at Aston on 14^th January 1859, her parents had still to choose a name for her.  However, the fact that the father of the unnamed girl was confirmed as cordwainer Henry Collett and her mother as Jane Collett, formerly Lovelock, proves this relates to Sarah A Collett.  In the census of 1861 Sarah was the youngest child of the five children living with her parents at Birchall Street.  Three years later the family was living at 50 Lombard Street in Aston, where Sarah’s mother passed away.  Upon the death of her mother, her father moved back to Wiltshire and the village of Atworth, where he had been born. it was at Melksham that he married the widow Elizabeth Eliza Scott.  By 1871 Sarah Ann Collett, aged 12 and from Birmingham, was still attending school when she was living with her father and younger brother Thomas (below) at Atworth near Bradford-on-Avon. Her father remarried in 1876 and five years later, when Sarah was 22, she was employed as a domestic nursemaid looking after Charles Victor Perry, aged four years, the daughter of Emily Victoria Perry, at their home on Coburg Place in Melksham in 1881.  It was during the second quarter of 1889 that the marriage of Sarah Ann Collett and her brother-in-law Samuel Paul Arnold, a widower, was recorded at the Birmingham Aston  register office (Ref. 6a 537)

Samuel Paul Arnold was born at Aberystwyth on 19^th December 1851 and had previously been married to Anne Mayfield on 19^th December 1880, with whom he had four children before Anne suffered a premature death at Aston on 4^th June 1888.  Their four children were: Isabelle Lilly Arnold (born 26^th December 1881); Albert Henry Arnold (born 24^th December 1882); Charles Alfred Arnold (born circa 1884); and William George Arnold (born 26^th July 1886).  Sarah was identified in the 1891 census with Samuel Paul Arnold, along with two children from Samuel’s previous marriage, Albert Henry and Charles Alfred.  Also identified in that same census was Sarah's brother Albert Collett.  The more detailed census, conducted in 1911, described Sarah and Paul as having been married for twenty-three years, with Sarah having given birth to four children.  They were Ellen Rosa Arnold (born 23^rd June 1891), Alice Maud Arnold (born 2^nd September 1892), Arthur Thomas Arnold (born 24^th May 1896), and Ernest Samuel Arnold (born around 1901).  Just over ten years later Sarah A Arnold nee Collett, aged 63, died at 2 Brisbane Road in Smethwick on 17^th June 1922, when her husband was a night watchman.  It was ten years after that when her husband Paul died at 2 Brisbane Road in Smethwick on 9^th December 1932

Thomas Collett [35O79] was born at Aston in 1861, the youngest known child of Henry Collett by his first wife Jane Lovelock, his birth recorded at Aston (Ref. 6d 234) during the third quarter of 1861.  He was only three years old when his mother died, following which his father took Thomas and his older sister Sarah (above) to Atworth in Wiltshire, the home of his birth.  And it was there, that the three of them were residing in 1871, when Thomas from Birmingham was nine years old.  Ten years later, after his father had married for a second time, Thomas was living with his brother Edwin (above) at the Aston home of their married sister Annie Arnold (above).  Thomas Collett from Birmingham was 18, and was working as a blacksmith’s apprentice, while residing at 43 Ryland Street

It was four years later, during the third quarter of 1885 when Thomas Collet married Rosa Sanders, the daughter of John Sanders and Emma Lane of Birmingham, their wedding recorded at Kings Norton (Ref. 6c 626).  Rosa was born at Northwood Street in Birmingham on 21^st November 1863 and was baptised at the Church of St Paul on 18^th May 1864.  Once married the couple moved to Kingston-upon-Hull where they were living at Park Road in Sculcoates on the day of the census in 1891.  Thomas Collett was 29 and a blacksmith, his wife Rosa Collett was 27, and by then their marriage had produced the couple’s firth two children.  Minnie Collett was three, and Clarence H Collett was one-year-old, both born at Hull

During the search for the marriage of Thomas and Rosa, another Thomas Collett was found who married Rose Frances Hill at St Georges Church in Birmingham on 5^th August 1888.  The details for they and their family can now be found in Part 79 – The Second Oddington (Glos) Line to Birmingham

Two more children were added to the family of Thomas and Rosa at Hull, the first before 1901 and the second just after the census that year.  According to the March census of 1901 the extended family was living at 10 Brompton Terrace on Park Road in Sculcoates and was made up of Thomas Collett, aged 38 from Birmingham, who was a whitesmith, Rosa Collett, also from Birmingham who was 36, Minnie Collett, aged 13, Clarence Collett aged 11, and Albert E Collett who was seven years old.  By April 1911 the family still residing with the Sculcoates district of Hull was made up of Thomas who was 49 and a carriage smith, Rosa who was 47, Minnie who was 23, Clarence Henry who was 21, Albert Edward who was 17, and Beatrice who was nine years old.  During the summer of 1916 Thomas and Rosa received the sad news that their eldest son Clarence had been killed on the front line at Thievpal.  Their address at that time was “Melksham” East Ella Drive, Anlaby in Hull

35P119 - Minnie Collett was born in 1887 at Sculcoates, Hull

35P120 - Clarence Henry Collett was born in 1889 at Sculcoates, Hull

35P121 - Albert Edward Collett was born in 1893 at Sculcoates, Hull

35P122 - Beatrice Collett was born in 1901 at Sculcoates, Hull

Frank Stinchcomb Collett [35O80] was born at Broughton Gifford, his birth recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. 8 274) during the first three months of 1847 and nine months after his parents were married.  It was also under his full name that he was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 28^th March 1847, the second child of Simeon Collett and Sophia Stinchcomb.  Simply as Francis Collett, he was recorded in the Broughton Gifford census of 1851, at the age of four years, when living at main street in the village with his parents.  Just of six months later, he died at Broughton Gifford during the first three weeks of October, where he was buried on 21^st October 1851 and still four years of age.  His death was recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. viii 204) during the last three months of 1851.  Within the church’s burial records, two entries above that of Francis Collett, was that of Mary Collett aged 36, who was buried at Broughton Gifford on 11^th September 1851

James Collett [35O81] was born at Broughton Gifford and his birth was also recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. viii 271) during the third quarter of 1848.  With no baptism recorded found, it must be assumed that he had died before that could be arranged, following which he was buried at Broughton Gifford on 19^th September 1849.  His death was also recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. viii 221) during the third quarter of that year

Albert Collett [35O82] was born at Broughton Gifford, where he was baptised on 23^rd September 1849.  His birth was recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. viii 265) during the third quarter of 1849.  Six months later, Albert died at Broughton Gifford, where he was buried on 5^th April 1850.  The death of Albert Collett was recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. 8 189) during the second quarter of the year

Ruth Hannah Collett [35O83] was born at Broughton Gifford just three months before the death of her only surviving older sibling Frank.  Her birth was recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. viii 7) during the third quarter of 1851, following which she was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 13^th July 1851, the fourth child and eldest daughter of Simeon Collett and Sophia Stinchcombe.  It was less than four years later that the death of Ruth Hannah Collett was recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. 5a 17) during the first quarter of 1855.  She was then buried at Broughton Gifford on 27^th February 1855, the same day that she died

Alicia Collett [35O84] was a twin sister of Maria Collett (below) and was born at Broughton Gifford and her birth was recorded at Bradford-on-Avon during the third quarter of 1853.  She was baptised at Broughton Gifford, in a joint ceremony with her twin sister, on 10^th July 1853, the fifth child of Simeon Collett and Sophia Stinchcomb.  Sadly, like all her four older siblings, she too suffered an infant death, which was recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. 5a 85) during the second quarter of 1855. Prior to her death being reported, she was buried with her four siblings at Broughton Gifford on 15^th March 1855, and just two weeks after the death of her sister Ruth (above)

Maria Collett [35O85] and her twin sister Alicia Collett (above) were born at Broughton Gifford, where they were baptised together on 10^th July 1853.  Although no record of her death has been found, she was not living with her family in 1861

Matilda Collett [35O86] was born at Broughton Gifford, where she was baptised on 10^th February 1856, while her birth was recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. 5a 115) during the first three months of that year.  In 1861 she was five years old and was 15 in 1871.  On both occasions she was living with her parents on the main street through the village of Broughton Gifford.  In 1881, at the age of 25 she was unmarried and was working as a domestic servant and a nurse for Mauritius born Alan Brodrick, the 54 years old Rector of Broughton Gifford at his home in Broughton Street in the village

Also living on Broughton Street that same day, with his parents John and Hannah Marks, was William John Marks who was 26 and born at Broughton Gifford, whose occupation was that of a coach wheeler.  Just over one year later, the marriage of Matilda Collett and William John Marks was recorded at Bath (Ref. 5a 213) during the third quarter of 1882.  It must be assumed that Matilda was already expecting the birth of their first child on their wedding day, hence why the couple ran away to Somerset to be married.  Certainly, the birth of their son William Frank Marks, at Trowbridge, was recorded at Melksham (Ref. 5a 124) during the last three months of 1882 and well within six months of their wedding day.  Four years after that, Matilda presented William with a second son Howard John Marks at Trowbridge, whose birth was also recorded at Melksham (Ref. 5a 118) during the fourth quarter of 1886

By the time of the census in 1891, the family of four was living at 42 The Furlong in Trowbridge from where William John Marks was 36 and still employed as a coach wheeler.  His wife Matilda was 35 and their two sons were eight years of age and four years of age.  Nine years later, the death of William John Marks was recorded at Melksham register office (Ref. 5a 87), during the first quarter of 1900, when he was only 45 years old.  His widow Matilda, together with her two sons, was living with her younger unmarried sister Abijah Alice Collett (below) after her loss and, in the census the following year, they were recorded at The Snedburgh Inn at 20 Court Street in Trowbridge.  Abijah was the inn keeper, while living on her own means was Matilda Marks who was 44, William Franks Marks who was 18 and a sawyer’s labourer, and Howard John Marks who was 14 and an apprentice blacksmith, both born at Trowbridge

Following her sister being married not long after that census day, Matilda and her sons were residing at 35 Mortimer Street in Trowbridge in 1911, where she was 55 years of age with no occupation.  Frank Marks was 28 and a cellar man at a wine merchants and Howard Marks was 24 and a blacksmith.  The census return suggested that Matilda had given birth to three children, one having already died.  The death of Matilda Marks, nee Collett, was recorded at Melksham register office (Ref. 5a 106) during the third quarter of 1932, when she was 76, after which she was buried on 13^th July 1932

Abijah Alice Collett [35O87] was born at Broughton Gifford and was baptised there on 8^th June 1861.  According to the 1871 Census she was ‘Amelia aged nine years’ while in 1881 she was 19 with no occupation, when she was still living with her parents at Broughton Road in Melksham.  Ten years later, Abijah A Collett was still a spinster aged 29, when she was still living with her parents who, by then, were living in Trowbridge.  Both her elderly parents had passed away during the last decade of the century, with the result that Abijah A Collett from Broughton Gifford was living at 20 Court Street in Trowbridge for the census in 1901 when, at the age of 39, she was the inn keeper at the Snedburgh Inn.  Staying at the inn was her very recently widowed sister Matilda Marks (above) who had her two sons with her

Just over four years later Abijah married William Feltham, the wedding registered at Bath (Ref. 5c 1020) during the second quarter of 1905.  That may have been too late for her to give birth, but tragically it may have been during childbirth that she died just two years after being married.  The death of Abijah Alice Feltham nee Collett was recorded at Melksham register office (Ref. 5a 60) during the third quarter of 1907, when she was 46 years old

George M Collett [35P1] was born at Chester, Pennsylvania on 4^th July 1878, the first of the seven children of James Tarrant Collett and Mary Emma Start.  Tragically he only survived for twenty days, when he died there on 24^th July 1878

Mary Ann Collett [35P2] was born at Chester in Pennsylvania on 10^th July 1879, the eldest daughter of James and Mary Collett, and she was recorded as being only ten months old in the Chester census of 1880.  Twenty years later in 1900, when she was 21, Mary A Collett was still living with her family at 720 Caldwell Street in the City of Chester from where she was working as a labourer in a factory, and was still there in 1910 when she was 30, and by then a trained nurse.  Mary Ann Collett lived a long life and died at Chester on 14^th March 1974 at the age of 95, only two months after her sister Martha (below) passed away

George S Collett [35P3] was born at Chester in Pennsylvania during 1881 and was named in honour of his brother who died very young.  Sadly, he too did not survive and died at Chester on 20^th July 1882

Henry Sheppard Collett [35P4], often referred to as Harry, was born at Chester in Pennsylvania on 23^rd November 1882, and he was still living in Pennsylvania when, as Harry Shephard Collett, he died on 24^th February 1956 at the age of 73 and was buried at the Chester Rural Cemetery.  Apart from these brief and the fact that Sandy Rosato in America stated that Henry was married and had at least one child, possibly Grace who, it is now known, married Edward Stewart Woolley, nothing more was known about Henry until 2025 when David Hankey kindly provided some more details

Henry was a son of James Tarrant Collett and Mary Emma Start who, on 3^rd October 1949, made a claim under the Social Program when his date and place of birth were confirmed as written above.  Many years prior to that, as Harry S Collett he was 17 years of age in 1900 when he and his family was living at 720 Caldwell Street in Chester, from where he was working as a bleacher at a printing firm.  A few years after that day, Henry married Nellie Longhurst at Media, Delaware, on 17^th August 1906, with whom he had three known children, the third of which was Grace who was born at Chester on 20^th February 1914.  Nellie had been born at Reading in Berkshire on 27^th January 1883, the daughter of Ebenezer and Sarah Longhurst. with the day of their wedding being 17^th August 1906

Sadly, no record of the young family has been found for 1910, by which time their first child had been born, while ten years after, the family was complete and living 1011 Church Street within the 3^rd Precinct of Upland Borough with three daughters.  The family home was owned by Harry who was 37 and employed at the local shipyard, and his wife Nellie from England was 36 and had entered the USA in 1892 and gained American citizenship in 1902.  Their three girls were Irene L Collett who was 12, Nellie N Collett who was eight, and Grace E Collett who was five years old

The next census, in 1930, confirmed that the couple were 23 years of age when they married, with 47-year-old Harry working for a gas company as a labourer.  Nellie was 47, Irene was 22 and an office clerk, Nellie was 18 and a stenographer with a real estate office, and Grace was 16.  The estimate value of their home was recorded as $3,500 in 1940, by which time Harry was 58 and then working as a foreman for an electric company.  Nellie was 58, and daughter Nellie was 27 and employed by a bank as a clerk.  When the U S Draft Registration form was completed at Pittsburgh on 27^th April 1942 it provided the following information.  Harry Shephard Collett aged 59 from Chester was living at 1011 Church Street, Upland, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, with wife Nellie, when he was employed by the Philadelphia Electric County at Tilghman Street in Chester

When Grace Elizabeth Collett was 22, she made a Social Program claim in November 1936, which was later added to with her married name and the date she died.  The claim form confirmed her parents were Henty S Collett and Nellie Longhurst, and had been born at Chester on date provided above.  It was then stated that as Grace Woolley, she died at Lima, Media, Delaware, Pennsylvania on 29^th April 2003 at the age of 89 and was buried with her parents at Chester Rural Cemetery.  Nellie had sailed to Ellis Island New York, from the Port of Liverpool, arriving in America with her family on 22^nd January 1892 onboard the SS Britannic.  Eight years later Nellie and her family were recorded in the 1900 census at Lower Chichester, Delaware.  Six years after she was widowed in 1956, Nellie Collett, nee Longhurst passed away at Chester on 23^rd March 1962 and was buried with Harry at the Chester Rural Cemetery when she was 79

Harry and Nellie’s first eldest daughter was born in Chester on 25^th July 1907 and died on 19^th January 2000, having married Vernon Haines Lloyd, with their second child and namesake, Nellie, was born on 26^th July 1911 and died on 19^th August 1982, like her younger sister Grace, she too was buried in Chester Rural Cemetery with her parents. During her life, Nellie Mary Collett had married Robert Carter Hill during in 1940

35Q1 – Irene Longhurst Collett was born in 1907 at Chester, Pennsylvania

35Q2 – Nellie Mary Collett was born in 1911 at Chester, Pennsylvania

35Q3 – Grace Elizabeth Collett was born in 1914 at Chester, Pennsylvania

Martha Tarrant Collett [35P5] was born at Chester in Pennsylvania on 12^th August 1884 and was another daughter of James and Mary Collett.  She was 16 in the Chester City census of 1900, and it was five years later that she married Clayborne G Howery on 30^th June 1905.  Prior to their wedding day, the couple had applied for a licence to be married which was dated 19^th June 1905, and which included the following details.  “Clayborne G Howery born in Penna 7^th day of December AD 1885 residing at Coatesville Chester Co Pa, ironworker occupation, not related by blood or marriage to the person whom he desires to marry, not married before - Martha T Collett born in Chester Pa on the 12^th day of August AD 1884 residing at Chester Pa, no occupation, not married before – Married License issued 1905 – 6 – 19, with the consent of both mothers”

During the following three years Martha gave birth to two daughters, after which Clayborne was first thought to have suffered a premature death, while it is now known (in 2025) that, that was not the case.  Instead, the couple separated and were later divorced.  On her own, and with two young children, Martha returned to live with her parents at 720 Caldwell Street in the City Chester, 2^nd Precinct, where she and the two girls were recorded in 1910, when Martha Howery was 25, married for 5 years, with two children, both living, who was a saleslady at a grocery store.  They were Anita Howery who was three years of age, while Helen Howery was one year and ten months old

The three of them were still living with Martha’s widowed father in 1920, following the death of her mother three years earlier, by which time they were recorded at Middletown Road in Middletown Township, Delaware in a dwelling owned by her father.  By then divorced Martha Howery was 35 with no job of work, presumably because she was caring for her elderly father, when her daughters were Anita C Howery who was 13, and Helen E Howery who was 11

According to the next census in 1930, both of Martha’s daughters had left the home of their grandfather, leaving just Martha Howery aged 41 (sic) looking after her elderly father James, who passed away during the following year.  During the nine years after her father died, Martha needed to work, and by 1940 she was a housekeeper at a private home when she was 55 and at the Media Borough home of 84-year-old widower William Kruse and his unmarried daughter Elouise Kruse who was 53 and a librarian at the nearby Public Library.  On 8^th May 1950 the census that day placed Martha T Howery as 65 and mother-in-law when she was living with her married daughter Anita C Wright aged 43 at her home on Middletown Road in Middleton Township in Delaware.  Head of the household was Richard Wright aged 44 who was the owner of his own electric and oil company.  Martha’s two grandchildren were Richard Donald Wright who was 14, and Lois Wright who was five years old

As for her husband, Clayborne Howery later married Loretta Gastle on 3^rd March 1923 in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan.  They were married for twenty-three years when Clayborne died on 26^th December 1946 at Upper Makefield, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, when his birth date was recorded as 7^th December 1885 at Westmoreland, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Martha Tarrant Howery, nee Collett, died on 15^th January 1974 at the age of 89, with her death recorded in Pennsylvania, when it was stated that her last address was Blackwood, Camden in New Jersey.  Her passing was just two months before her older unmarried sister Mary Ann Collett (above) died at the age of 95

James Howard Collett [35P6] was born at Chester in Pennsylvania on 14^th March 1890, the youngest son of James Tarrant Collett and his wife Mary Emma Start.  As James H Collett he was 10 years old in the Chester census of 1900, and as Howard Collett he was 20 and a clerk at the local iron works in 1910, when he was still living at the family home at 720 Caldwell Street in Chester.  It is established that James married Elsie Emma Rost around five years later, with whom he had one child who was born at Chester before 1920.  There appears to be a great mystery surrounding what happened to James after he was married, as no record of him or his wife, or his son, have been found in the census of 1920.  Furthermore, no record of any of the three of them has been discovered in 1930

However, ten years later in 1940 James and Elsie were living apart.  Howard James Collett was 50 and was a lodger at the Chester home of the widow Elizabeth Edwards, who was 42.  At that same time his wife and son were recorded in the census at Collingwood Borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, where Elsie Collett was 41, and her son James Collett was 23, indicating he had been born in 1917, whereas he was born in 1919.  It was on the 6^th March 1962 that James Howard Collett died while he was still living in Pennsylvania

35Q4 - James Martin Collett was born in 1919 at Chester, Pennsylvania

Ethel Lee Collett [35P7] was born at Chester in Pennsylvania on 1^st December 1896, the youngest of the seven children of James Tarrant Collett and Mary Emma Start, and was five years of age in the Chester census of 1900 and was 14 in 1910.  The only other detail known about her is that Ethel Lee Collett died on 4^th July 1986

Sarah Ann Collett [35P8] was born at Norrington Common, near Broughton Gifford in 1891, the first child of Henry John Collett and Annie Page whose marriage was recorded at Bradford-on-Avon during the third quarter of that same year.  The birth of Sarah Ann Collett was also recorded at Bradford (Ref. 5a 125), but during the fourth quarter of the year, who was nine years old in the Broughton Gifford census in 1901, when Sarah Ann and her family were still living in Norrington Common.  By the time she was twelve years of age, her family had moved to Whitley, near Melksham.  On completing her schooling, Sarah entered domestic service and in 1911 she had left the family home in Whitley, when she was working close by at the home of farmer Herbert Pickford and his large family.  That day, Sarah Collett from Norrington was 19 and a dairy maid on a farm

Florence Maria Collett [35P9] was born at Norrington Common in 1896, the second known child of John and Annie Collett, her birth recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. 5a 132) during the third quarter of the year.  It was also Norrington Common that four-year-old Florence Maria Collett was living with her family in 1901.  During the early half of the following decade, the family settled in Whitley, to the north of Norrington Common, where Florence Collett was 14 and already working as a general domestic servant when she was still living with her family.  Eleven years later, the marriage of Florence M Collett and Thomas J Bewley was recorded at Melksham register office (Ref. 5a 233) during the first three months of 1921

John Collett [35P10] was born at Norrington Common, with his birth recorded (Ref. 5a 127) during the second quarter of 1900.  He was the eldest son of John and Annie Collett and, least than a year later, he and his family were still living at Norrington Common while, ten years later, it was at Whitley, to the north of Norrington Common, that he was living with his parents and five siblings, when he was 10 years of age and still attending school.  It was just two years later that John Collett died at Melksham, when his death was recorded there (Ref. 5a 116) during the second quarter of 1913, at the age of only 13 years

Stephen Collett [35P11] was born at Norrington Common, on 26^th August 1902 and his birth also was recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. 5a 113) during the last three months of 1902.  He was eight years of age in the Melksham census of 1911, and sixteen years later he married Leonora H Townsend.  Their wedding day was recorded at Bradford-on-Avon register office (Ref. 5a 180) during the first quarter of 1927.  The marriage produced two children for Stephen and Leonora, the births of both recorded at Chippenham register office (Ref. 5a 86 in Qrt1 of 1933 and Ref. 5a 83 in Qrt4 of 1935), when their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Townsend.  The death of Stephen Collett was recorded at Chippenham register office (Ref. 23 1737) during the spring of 1980

35Q5 – Brenda J Collett was born in 1933 at Chippenham

35Q6 – William J Collett was born in 1935 at Chippenham

Alice Louisa Collett [35P12] was born in 1904 at Whitley, near Melksham, after her parents John and Annie Collett moved there from Norrington Common.  It was at Melksham register office where her birth was recorded (Ref. 5a 110) during the last quarter of 1904 and it was at Whitley that she was still living with her family in 1911, aged six years.  She was around thirty years of age when she married Stanley A Berrett, their wedding day recorded at Trowbridge register office (Ref. 5a 289) during the first three months of 1937

Tom Collett [35P13] was born at Whitley on 16^th March 1908, with his birth recorded at Melksham register office (Ref. 5a 113) during the second quarter of the year.  The marriage of Tom Collett and Evelyn M Chamberlain was recorded at Trowbridge register office (Ref. 5a 373) during the last three months of 1938.  The birth of each of their first three children was recorded at Chippenham register office (Ref. 5a 150, 5a 117 and 5a 93), with the last two birth recorded at Trowbridge (Ref. 5a 252 and 57c 924).  In each case, the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Chamberlain.  It was also at Trowbridge where the death of Tom Collett was recorded (Ref. 23 2219) during the autumn of 1977

35Q7 – Gerald T Collett was born in 1940 at Chippenham

35Q8 – William R Collett was born in 1941 at Chippenham

35Q9 – Maureen A Collett was born in 1942 at Chippenham

35Q10 – Margaret E Collett was born in 1944 at Chippenham

35Q11– Ivan J Collett was born in 1947 at Chippenham

Ethel Catherine Collett [35P14] was born at Whitley in 1910, with her birth recorded at Melksham register office (Ref. 5a 102) during the second quarter of that year.  She was therefore just under one years old in the Whitley census of 1911

Herbert John Collett [35P15] was born at Shaw near Melksham in December 1880 and was just three months old at the time of the census of 1881.  The birth of Herbert John Collett was recorded at Melksham (Ref. 5a 110) during the first three months of 1881.  His family was still living at Shaw ten years later, when Herbert was ten years old.  His family later left Shaw and moved to Broughton Gifford, where they were living at the time of the census in 1901.  By that time Herbert was an employee of the Great Western Railway and on the thirty-first of March that year he was recorded as being 20 years of age and living at Griffithstown, near Pontypool in Monmouthshire, where he was working as a locomotive engine fireman.  On that occasion he gave his place of birth as Whitley, which is the village adjacent to Shaw, and was where his father’s family lived for many years

He continued to work as a railway engine driver who, in 1911, was visiting his family in Broughton Gifford, when his mother was a patient in Melksham Cottage Hospital.  The census that year revealed that Herbert Collett from Whitley was 29 and a married man.  It was six years earlier, on 17^th April 1905, that Herbert John Collett had married Alice Louisa Smith at Griffithstown, just south of Pontypool in Monmouthshire.  Alice had been born at Wolverhampton in 1878 and was baptised there on 26^th January 1879, the daughter of Sidney and Sarah Smith who, by 1901, were residing at Park Street in Griffithstown, where Alice was a dressmaker at the age of 20

While Herbert was visiting his family in Wiltshire, his family was recorded at Shirehampton, north-west of Bristol.  Alice Louisa Collett from Wolverhampton was 30 and had her two children living there with her.  They were Herbert Ronald Collett who was four and Florence Louisa Collett who was not yet one year old.  Shortly after 1911, Herbert’s work with the Great Western Railway took the family to Keynsham, south-east of Bristol, which lies on the main line between Bristol and Swindon, where Alice gave birth to four more children

Although no record of the death of Herbert John Collett has been found, Alice returned to the county of her birth towards the end of her life.  Alice Collett was 71 years old when her passing was recorded at Walsall register office (Ref. 9b 709) during the last three months of 1950

35Q12 – Herbert Ronald Collett was born in 1906 at Griffithstown

35Q13 – Florence Louisa Collett was born in 1910 at Bristol

35Q14 – Arthur C Collett was born in 1913 at Keynsham, Bristol

35Q15 – Elizabeth M Collett was born in 1915 at Keynsham, Bristol

35Q16 – Ruth Collett was born in 1917 at Keynsham, Bristol

35Q17 – Peter H Collett was born in 1919 at Keynsham, Bristol

Florence Annie Collett [35P16] was born at Shaw, either at the end of 1882 or early in 1883, following which she was baptised at Melksham on 1^st February 1883, the daughter of Tom and Elizabeth Collett.  Despite not finding any record of her after that date, her absence from the family over the following two decades, leads one to believe that she must have suffered a premature death during the 1880s

Amelia Catherine Collett [35P17] was born at Shaw in 1884 and was six years old in 1891.  Shortly after the census day that year, her family moved from Shaw to nearby Broughton Gifford and, towards the end of the next decade, Amelia left school and entered the world of education.  By March 1901 she was 16 when she was recorded as living with her family at Broughton Gifford and, at that time, was described as a paid monitoress in a national school

Agnes Mary Collett [35P18] was born at Shaw in 1886 and was four years old in the Shaw census of 1891. During the following year Agnes and her family travelled the very short distance from Shaw to Broughton Gifford, where they were living in 1901 when Agnes was 14.  By 1911 Agnes Collett was said to be 22, when she 24, and was performing the role of housekeeper for her father and two of her brothers Frederick and Arthur at Broughton Gifford because her mother was poorly in hospital.  Also visiting the family was Agnes’ married brother Herbert Collett from Wales.  Six years later, Agnes Mary Collett married Harry Newton at Broughton Gifford on 8^th December 1917, when her father was confirmed as Tom Collett, with Harry’s father named as Frederick Newton

Frederick Thomas Collett [35P19] was born at Shaw in 1887.  He was three years old in 1891, while still at Shaw, and was 13 in 1901 after his family had moved to Broughton Gifford.  Ten years later, when he was 23, Frederick was still living with his father at Broughton Gifford with his younger brother Arthur (below) and their sister Agnes (above) who was standing in for their mother who was in Melksham’s Cottage Hospital.  Visiting the family, from his home in South Wales, was married brother Herbert (above).  At that time in his life, Frederick Collett from Shaw was employed at a local rubber factory as a spreader

Francis Collett [35P20] born at Shaw in 1890 just before his parents moved to Broughton Gifford, and it was there that he was living with his family aged 11 years in 1901.  Within the next ten years he moved out of the family home and was living and working in Devizes in 1911.  The census that year recorded him as Frank Collett from Shaw, near Melksham, whose occupation was that of a clerk, employed by the Wiltshire United Dairy Company.  That day he was unmarried, 20 years old, and a boarder at the Humphries family.  It was ten years after that, when the marriage of Francis Collett and Winifred K Wedlock was recorded at Westbury register office (Ref. 5a 339) during the third quarter of 1921.  Within the next three months their first child was born

35Q18 – Joan F Collett was born in 1921 at Melksham

35Q19 – David J Collett was born in 1925 at Melksham

Arthur Martin Collett [35P21] was born at Broughton Gifford, his birth recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. 5a 122) during the third quarter of 1897.  As Arthur Martin Collett, he was three years old in 1901, when living with his family in Broughton Gifford, where he was again in 1911, aged 13 and still attending school.  Just over thirteen years after that census day, the marriage of Arthur Martin Collett and Lily E Jones was recorded at Chippenham register office (Ref. 5a 176) during the third quarter of 1924.  Their two known children had their births recorded at Chippenham register office, Mary (Ref. 5a 104), when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Jones

35Q20 – Mary K Collett was born in 1925 at Chippenham

35Q21 – Dennis J M Collett was born in 1929 at Chippenham

Sarah Ann Collett [35P22] was born at Karangahake, just south of Paeroa, in New Zealand on 22^nd May 1881, the eldest child of William Collett and his wife Esther Ellen Sweeney who were only married just over three months earlier.  Sarah married (1) Charles McKenzie on 9^th February 1899 with whom she had three children, all of them born in New Zealand.  They were honeymoon baby William Joseph McKenzie, who was born in 1899, Hector Charles Ash McKenzie, who was born in 1907, and Josephine Amelia McKenzie who was born in 1909.  Just over ten years later she married (2) William Joseph Simpson during 1920.  Sarah Ann Simpson nee Collett died on 17^th August 1941 and was buried at Waikumete Cemetery

Catherine Collett [35P23] was born at Karangahake on 21^st October 1883, the second child born to William and Esther Collett.  It was in 1906 that she married Samuel Henry Roulston.  And it was on 28^th July 1969 that Catherine Roulston nee Collett died and was buried at Old Te Puk Cemetery

Albert George William Collett [35P24] was born at Karangahake on 22^nd August 1885, the third child and eldest son of William and Esther Collett.  He married Helen Tomlinson on 4^th July 1814.  Whilst nothing was previously known about him, it was as George Collett that he ended up living in Australia where he was married.  Tragically he was killed in a mining accident on 25^th July 1928.  His death was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald on Thursday 26^th July 1928.  Contact with one of his grandchildren is currently being pursued and it is hoped this will reveal more details about his wife and their children

“George Collett, 40, a miner, residing at Pelaw Main, and James Gilmour, 38, a miner, residing at Kurri Kurri, were killed by a fall of coal in the Pelaw Main Colliery on Wednesday 25^th July.  The men were removing pillars, when about nine tons of coal came away without warning and buried them.  When the men were extricated about half an hour later, they were dead”

Rose Jubilee Collett [35P25] was born at Karangahake on 1^st August 1887, the daughter of William and Esther Collett.  She married Reginald Ivan Roberts in 1908 and it was over fifty-four years later that Rose Jubilee Roberts nee Collett died on 15^th December 1962, following which she was buried at Pukerimu Cemetery in Paeroa

John Henry Collett [35P26] was born at Karangahake on 2^nd July 1888, one of the thirteen children of William Collett from Wiltshire in England and his wife Esther Ellen Sweeney.  He later married Sarah Radford on 12^th September 1912, and it was on 3^rd March 1959 that he died and was buried at Hamilton Park Cemetery in Newstead.  No details are available concerning his children, but it was his great grandson Regan Silcock from Hamilton in New Zealand who kindly provided the details of the family of William Collett, his great grandfather

Annie Maria Collett [35P27] was born at Karangahake during 1891 and sadly she died just eighteen days after her mother Esther Ellen Collett nee Sweeney, when she passed away on 30^th May 1906 at the age of 14 years, the cause of death being acute pneumonia.  Annie was buried in the same grave as her mother, and they were joined in 1929 by Annie’s father William Collett.  The headstone bearing the names of all three of them marks the grave in New Zealand

William Ivan Collett [35P28] was born at Karangahake in 1893, the son of William and Esther Collett.  In 1924 he married Thelma Gladys Ardern.  William Ivan Collett died on 23^rd July 1963 and was cremated at Waikumete

Mary Jane Collett [35P29] was born at Karangahake on 3^rd November 1895, the daughter of William and Esther Collett.  She married Walter Harold Llewelyn in 1916 and died in 1974

Esther Ellen Collett [35P30] was born at Karangahake on 29^th October 1897, the daughter of Esther Ellen Collett and her husband William.  She married Eugene Hogan in 1916, and died on 13^th September 1972, after which she was cremated at Waikumete

James Leach Collett [35P31] was born at Karangahake on 28^th July 1899, the son of William and Esther Collett.  It was during 1926 that he married Mary Margaretta Karl.  James Leach Collett was 94 years old when he died at Papakura on 9^th January 1993

Thomas Henry Collett [35P32] was born at Karangahake in 1900, the youngest son of miner William Collett and his wife Esther Ellen Sweeney.  He was eighteen when he was married at Cambridge in 1918 to Alice Mabel McEntee who had been born in 1899, the daughter of Lawrence Henry and Eliza McEntee. It is not known at this time whether they had any children.  What is known is that Thomas was recorded as Thomas Henry Collett when he died in 1947 at the age of 46 years, as listed on the New Zealand BDM Database, Registration No. 1947/23010

Lucy Collett [35P33] was born at Karangahake on 8^th February 1902, the daughter of William and Esther Collett.  Lucy later married Christopher Hoole in 1922, and she died on 12^th July 1990, and her ashes were buried at North Shore

Ivy Myrtle Collett [35P34] was born at Karangahake in 1904 and she married William Edward Potter during 1924.  It was on 13^th March 1980 that she died and was cremated at Purewa

Violet May Collett [35P35] was born at Karangahake on 12^th October 1905, the last child born to William Collett and Esther Ellen Sweeney.  She married Percy Edward Woodman in 1930 and died on 28^th June 1997 at Maunu Cemetery in Whangarei

Louisa Frances Collett [35P36] was born at Shaw in 1883 and was seven years old in 1891.  By the end of the century her parents had moved to Corsham where they were living in 1901, when Louisa was seventeen.  By 1911 she had left the family home in Corsham, but was living and working close by, and still in Corsham within the Chippenham registration district.  However, on that occasion the census had reversed her forenames, so she was recorded as Frances Louisa Collett, aged 27, unmarried and from nearby Shaw

Reginald William Collett [35P37] was born at Corsham in 1885 and it was there he was living with his parents in 1891 at the age of five years.  His father James Collett was a stonemason and a house builder so, on leaving school, Reginald joined his father in the family business, as confirmed by the census of 1901, when he was 15 and his occupation was that of a house builder.  Ten years later in April 1911, Reginald William Collett was 25, when he was still living at Corsham with his family and was still working there in the family business

Harold Edward Collett [35P38] was born at Corsham in 1887 and was three years old in the Corsham census of 1891.  Ten years later he had left school and, at the age of 13, he was working as a house builder with his father and older brother Reginald (above).  No record of him has been found in the census of 1911

Emily Estella Collett [35P41] was born at Corsham in 1898 the daughter of James and Louisa Collett who registered her birth at the Chippenham register office (Ref. 5a 67) during the first three months of that year.  She was still living at Corsham with her family in 1901, when she was three, and again in 1911 when she was 13

William Collett [35P42] was born at Broughton Gifford in 1883, and was the eldest child of Benjamin Collett and Ruth Mortimer, whose birth was registered at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. 5a 118) during the last three months of 1883.  By March 1891 William was seven years of age and the oldest of the six children living with their parents at Mortimer Street in Trowbridge.  The family then moved again around 1897 to Bath where William’s father died in 1900.  On leaving school William briefly worked with his father learning the trade of a carpenter.  That was confirmed in the next census of 1901 when William was 17 and living with his widowed mother and working as a joiner man with his younger brother Ewart (below).  No record of William has been found within the census of 1911

It may have been through a link to his mother’s Mortimer family that William met, and then married, Daisy May Mortimer, the daughter of Henry Morris Mortimore from Cardiff and his wife Ellen Mortimore from Torquay, where Daisy was born.  The birth of Daisy May Mortimore was recorded at Newton Abbot register office (Ref. 5b 134) during the second quarter of 1894.  Just before the start of the new century, the family left Devon and settled in Somerset where six-year-old Daisy and her family were recorded in 1901.  During the next decade the family returned to Devon and in 1911 were living at Babbacombe, Torquay where, at the age of 16, Daisy was employed as a milliner

Four years later, the banns of marriage for William Collett and Daisy May Mortimore were declared at All-Saints’ Church in Babbacombe for their wedding on 4^th April 1915, which was recorded at Newton Abbot register office (Ref. 5b 277) during the second quarter of the year.  During the summer of the following year the first of their two daughters was born, followed three years after by their second child.  Both births were recorded at Newton Abbot register office when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Mortimer

Although described as married in the census of 1921, Daisy May Collett was 27 years and 2 months old when she and her two daughters were living at the Torquay home of her parents.  The completed census form does record that her daughters were four years and eight months, and one year and seven months respectively, and that both parents were alive.  What happened to William is not currently known, but during the summer of 1945 Daisy May Collett married Cecil H Hill with their wedding recorded at Devon register office (Ref. 5b 884).  Just over three years after that happy day, when Daisy May Hill was recorded as being 54 years of age, she died in Devon during the month of January in 1949 and was buried at Torquay Cemetery on 26^th January

35Q22 – Eulalie Zoe Collett was born in 1916 at Newton Abbot, Devon

35Q23 – Joyce Collett was born in 1919 at Newton Abbot, Devon

Sarah Ann Collett [35P43] was born on 11^th August 1885, with her birth registered at Frome (Ref. 5c 455), the second child and eldest daughter of Benjamin and Ruth Collett.  When she was around three years old her family left Frome and moved to Trowbridge where they were living at Mortimer Street in 1891, when Sarah was five years old.  Another family move happened around 1897, with the family settling in Bath.  Following the death of her father in 1900, Sarah Collett at the age of 15 was living and working in Broughton Gifford at the home of her widowed grandmother Ruth Mortimore aged 80.  Living at the same property was Ruth’s married daughter Eliza Mortimore 33 and her husband Jacob Mortimore aged 30 who was confirmed as Ruth’s son-in-law.  With then were their two children Alice Mortimore who was four, and Margaret Mortimore who was two years of age

On the same day in 1901, Sarah’s widowed mother Ruth Collett was living at Claude Avenue in Bath with the rest of her family.  Around the time that Sarah Ann was approaching twenty-two years of age she married Samuel Champion with their wedding day recorded at Malmesbury register office (Ref. 5a 115) during the second quarter of 1907.  So, by April in 1911 Sarah Ann Champion aged 25 and of Frome was living at Twerton in Bath with her husband Samuel who was 28 and employed by Bath City Council, having been born in Twerton.  The birth of Samuel Champion, a son of George and Hephzibah was registered at Bath (Ref. 5c 579) during the last quarter of 1882.  It was at Broughton Gifford that Samuel died at the age of 80 on 21^st November 1962, with his death recorded at Wiltshire register office (Ref. 7c 421).  Sixteen years later, when Sarah Ann Champion was nearly 93, she passed away on 20^th August 1978 and was buried with her husband in the grounds of the Broughton Gifford Baptist Chapel.  Her death was also recorded at Wiltshire register office (Vol. 23 1561)

For the five years from 1918 to 1923 Samuel Champion was the pastor at the Old Baptist Chapel, Chapel Lane (formerly Gutter Lane) off the High Street in Chippenham.  During those years he was approached by a church in Southport but declined the offer to move there.  However, despite being held in high regard by people of Chippenham, who wanted him to stay, he accepted a request to take over a church in Leicester, where he served for many years.  Upon his retirement, Samuel returned to live in  Chippenham, where he regularly acted as a supply minister at the Old Baptist Chapel.  Although he and wife Sarah received invitations to re-join the chapel, they never did

In 2025 Matthew Kime sent in details of connections to the Collett families of Wiltshire. Primarily, he is a descendent of Joshua Mortimer of Broughton Gifford/Norrington Common, and including *Catherine Morris who was born at South Wraxall in 1764 to parents George Morris and Elizabeth Collet who were married there on 30^th December 1755.  Details for Elizabeth Collett can be found within the first of two files for Part 31 – The Wiltshire & Somerset Line (Ref. 31L1).  The birth of Matthew Kime was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 7c 81) during the last three months of 1956 when his mother’s maiden-name was Green, being the son of Mary Mortimer Green, whose grandfather was Rowland Hill Green descended from *Catherine Morris

For Matthew, Sarah Ann Champion nee Collett was known as Auntie Sadie and her husband as Uncle Sam.  From around the age of five years until July 1973 Matthew lived less than fifty-yards from Auntie Sadie and Uncle Sam at their home on Ivy Road in Chippenham.  He remembers seeing Uncle Sam only a few times before he died around the time of Matthew’s sixth birthday.  He also recalls, after Auntie Sadie was widowed, her younger siblings "congregating around Auntie Sadie".  Her sister (Auntie Alice) and her husband (Uncle Wilf) moved in with Auntie Sadie; brother Benjamin Ashleigh (Uncle Ashleigh) and his wife lived five-doors down the hill on Ivy Road; while her brother-in-law Albert Ralph was a visitor to Ivy Road following the death of Auntie Sadie’s sister Amy Ruth Ralph nee Collett (all below)

Joshua Ewart Collett [35P44] was born at Frome during the spring of 1887 with his birth registered there (Ref. 5c 486), another son of Benjamin and Ruth Collett.  Shortly after he was born his family left Frome and moved to Trowbridge, where they stayed for almost ten years, before finally settling within the Twerton area of Bath.  It was simply as Ewart Collett aged three years that he was listed in the census of 1891 at Mortimer Street in Trowbridge.  Ten years later he had left school and had taken up the same trade as his late father, who was a carpenter.  It was again as Ewart Collett that he was listed in the census of 1901, when he was still living with his widowed mother at Claude Avenue in Bath following the death of his father in the previous year.  His occupation at the age of 13 was that of a joiner man, like his brother William (above), with whom he was probably working.  By 1911 he was the oldest of the seven members of his family still living with his mother at Maybrick Road in Bath when, at the age of 23, his place of birth was confirmed as Frome.  No further record of him has been found after that census day

Lena May Collett [35P45], previously recorded in error as Lena Mary, was born at Trowbridge in 1888 although, like most of her younger siblings, her birth was recorded at Melksham register office (Ref. 5a 115) during the fourth quarter of the year.  And it was at Mortimer Street in Trowbridge that as Lena M Collett she was living there with her family in 1891 at the age of two years.  Six years later the family left Trowbridge and settled in Bath, where Lena’s father died in 1900.  Nine months later the family was residing at Claude Avenue in Bath on the day of the census in 1901.  By then Lena Collett was 12 years old and one of eight children still living with their recently widowed mother.  Ten years later, when she was 22, Lena Collett was still living with her mother but at Maybrick Road in Bath.  It is likely that she never married and lived most of her life at Bath, where the death of Lena M Collett aged 62 was recorded (Ref. 7c 47) during the autumn of 1951.  Afterwards, she was buried at Broughton Gifford in the grounds of the Baptist Chapel on 23^rd September 1951, where other members of the Collett family were laid to rest

Kirwin John Collett [35P46] was possibly born at Mortimer Street in Trowbridge on 5^th July 1890 and, like his sister Lena May (above), his birth was also recorded at Melksham register office (Ref. 5a 119) during the third quarter of the year.  He was almost nine months old on the day of the Trowbridge census in 1891 when he was recorded with his family as Kerwin Collett at Mortimer Street, Trowbridge.  Around 1897 the growing family left Trowbridge when they moved to Bath where his father died in 1900.  Once again, he was recorded as Kirwin Collett aged ten years in the census of 1901, by which time he and his siblings were living at Claude Avenue in Bath with their widowed mother.  On leaving school his occupation was that of a grocer, as confirmed by the census in 1911, when he was 20 and unmarried and still living with his mother but at Maybrick Road in Bath

It was during the following year that Kirwin first sailed to Canada and settled in Toronto.  What happened during the years from 1912 to 1915 is not currently known, but in 1916 [see more details below] his future wife Daisy Maud Salway also sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to join him in Toronto, where they were married on 11^th August 1916.  The record of their wedding confirmed that ‘Kerwin’ John Collett was 26 and the son of Benjamin Collett and Ruth Mortimore, while Daisy was the daughter of Edward Salway and Ada Coleman, who was also 26 years of age.  Kirwin had submitted The Marriage Act Affidavits on 8^th August with the marriage approved and the licence issued that same day at Toronto in the County of York.  The witnesses at the baptist wedding ceremony were Albert A Goodhead and Mabel M Goodhead, both of 155 Hope Avenue in Toronto, the service conducted by Baptist Minister J G Brown of 109 Oakwood Avenue

Kirwin travelled from England to Canada, by way of Ireland, arriving in Quebec on 14^th May 1923, by which time he was the father of two sons.  The passenger list for the S S Montclare described him as being 32, a baptist, born at Trowbridge, married, a tram conductor, whose wife was Daisy Maud, who was “returning home” to 41 Pears Avenue in Toronto.  The steam ship had sailed out of Bristol, England, on 23^rd March 1923 with the passenger list signed by Kirwin John Collett, but with no dots above the i, most likely the reason why his forename was often recorded as Kerwen or Kerwin.  The same passenger list also confirmed that the first time he had entered Canada was on 2^nd December 1912 via Portland, Maine, and that the outward-bound journey from Toronto for his current trip home to England was on 10^th March 1923 and via New York

Travelling with Kirwin was his wife Daisy aged 26, and sons John aged three, and Douglas George who was two years old.  For Douglas his outbound journey to England had been made on 20^th October 1922, shortly after he was born.  It was perhaps nine months after returning to their home in Canada that Daisy gave birth to the couple’s third and last known son.  The Toronto census in 1931 identified the five members of the family residing at 7 Nairn Avenue in Toronto as Kirwin Collett aged 40 and a street railway conductor from England, his wife Daisy Collett from England who was 41, and their three Toronto born sons.  They were John Collett aged 11, Douglas Collett who was ten, and Gilbert Collett who was seven years of age.  Lodging with the family was Joseph Philips from England who was 42 and a building labourer who entered Canada in 1917

It was as Kirwin John Collett that he died in Toronto on 21^st September 1947 at the age of 57, and was buried at Prospect Cemetery, just south of Nairn Avenue in Toronto.  Daisy Maud Salway was born on 18^th May 1890 at Horfield, a suburb of the City of Bristol, with her birth recorded at Barton Regis (Bristol) register office (Ref. 6a 80) during the second quarter of 1890, the third daughter of Edward and Ada Salway.  Before she was ten years old her father died and her mother took the family to live in Bath where she was born and where Ada and her three daughters were living in 1901.  When she was 20 years old Daisy was living in the same area of Bath as Kirwin, when she was employed by a dairy company, and was the only child still living with her widowed mother Ada Salway

So, it may have been around the end of the first decade of the new century that Kirwin and Daisy met each other, followed by a discussion on setting up home together in Canada, with Kirwin going ahead in 1912.  As stated above, Daisy sailed to Canada in 1916, arriving in July that year at Quebec City, when the passenger list for the S S Scandinavian included the following details:

Daisy M Salway, aged 26, a dairy manager, reason for travel: to be married to Kirwin Collett of 33 Powers Avenue, Toronto, who has worked on electric street cars for 4 years.  Many years after being widowed, Daisy was still living in Toronto when she died there on 30^th January 1984, following which as Daisy Salway Collett, she was buried with her husband at Prospect Cemetery

35Q24 – John Collett was born in 1920 at Toronto, Canada

35Q25 – Douglas George Collett was born in 1921 at Toronto, Canada

35Q26 – Gilbert Collett was born in 1924 at Toronto, Canada

Amy Ruth Collett [35P47] was born at Trowbridge in 1892, possibly at Mortimer Street, with the birth recorded at Melksham (Ref. 5a 114) during the third quarter of 1892.  Towards the latter part of that decade her family left Trowbridge and moved to Bath where, sadly, her father died not long after.  By March 1901 she was recorded as being eight years old, when living with her mother and the rest of her family at Claude Avenue in Bath.  Ten years later in April 1911, Amy was 18 and was still living with her family at Maybrick Road in Bath.  Just over nine years after that census day the marriage of Amy Ruth Collett and Albert Ralph was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 1448) during the third quarter of 1920.  Albert was the son of John Leck Ralph and his wife Fanny and was born in 1895 and baptised at Great Grimsby in Lincolnshire on 31^st May 1895.  In 1911 Albert was 15 when he was still living in Grimsby with his widowed father and younger brother Adolphus 13.  At the outbreak of war, Albert enlisted with the Lincolnshire Regiment at Grimsby when he was 19 and assigned the service number 10/932 in 1914.  After the war his military record confirmed he was 23 and born in Grimsby and had served with the Royal Army Service Corps, service number M/379598

How Amy and Albert came together being over 200 miles apart, remains a mystery but, for the birth of their only known child the couple was in Grimsby, with the birth of Margaret Ruth Ralph recorded at Grimsby register office (Ref. 7a 989) during the second quarter of 1923.  However, shortly thereafter the births two more children with Ralph/Collett parents were recorded at Cardiff register office, and they were Sybil Ralph in the autumn of 1924, and Sheila Ralph in 1926.  Amy Ruth Ralph nee Collett was 72 when she died on 5^th February 1965, with her death recorded at Hampshire register office (Ref. 6b 286) in 1965, after which she was buried with other members of her family at the Baptist Chapel in Broughton Gifford.  Twelve years later the death of Albert Ralph, who was born in May 1895, was recorded at Dorset register office (Vol. 23 0724) in 1977, with his body also laid to rest at Broughton Gifford on 27^th August 1977

Benjamin Ashleigh Collett [35P48] was born at Trowbridge on 21^st June 1894, while his birth was recorded at Melksham (Ref. 5a 113) in the third quarter of that year. Within a few years his family moved to Bath, where his father died and where, in 1901, he was listed as Ashleigh Collett aged six years living with his widowed mother at Claude Avenue.  And ten years later in April 1911, he was still listed with his family as Ashleigh Collett, when he was 16, with the family then residing at Maybrick Road in Bath.  In 1914, at the age of 20, he enlisted with 47^th Brigade of the 7^th Corps of the Royal Horse and Field Artillery, service number 83654, when his place of birth was confirmed as Trowbridge.  It was nine years later, during the third quarter of 1923, that the marriage of Ashleigh Benjamin Collett and Nelly Cam was recorded at Calne register office (Ref. 5a 211).  Nelly was seven years older than Benjamin, her birth registered at Pontypridd (Ref. 11a 473) during the first three months of 1887

Their wedding took place at Calne in Wiltshire, although there are currently no details to confirm whether they had any children.  The birth of May E Collett was recorded at London City register office (Ref. 1c 4) either at the end of 1927 or early in 1928, when the mother’s maiden-name was reported to be Cam.  Whether this was the couple’s only child has yet to be confirmed.  At some time in their life, Ashleigh was residing on Ivy Road in Chippenham close to where some of his siblings lived.  All that is known is known about Benjamin Ashleigh Collett is that he died on 23^rd November 1973 and was buried in the grounds of the Broughton Gifford Baptist Chapel.  His passing at the age of 79 in 1973 was recorded at Wiltshire register office (Ref. 7c 1924) as Benjamin Ashley Collett.  The last eight years of his life was spent as a widower following the earlier death of his wife on 3^rd November 1965 who was also buried at Broughton Gifford.  The death of Nelly Collett was recorded at Somerset register office (Ref. 7c 62) at the age of 78

Mary E Collett circa 1928 in London, the only child discovered from a Collett & Cam marriage

Nelson Victor Collett [35P49] was born at Trowbridge in 1896 and his birth was also recorded at Trowbridge register office (Ref. 5a 122) during the second quarter of that year.  At the age of 14, he was already working as a printer for a book check company, when he was living with his widowed mother at Maybrick Road in Bath.  Seven years later, the premature death of Nelson Victor Collett was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 961) after he had died at Twerton in 1918 at the age of 22

Eliza Catherine Alice Collett [35P50], who was well-known as Alice, was born on 1^st October 1897 within the Twerton district of Bath, to the west of the city centre, when her birth was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 496).  Within two years of being born her father was dead and, following that sad event, she and her brothers and sisters were looked after by their widowed mother at Claude Avenue in Bath.  The Bath census records for 1901 and 1911 confirmed that Alice was three years old and 13 years of age respectively, who was living with her family at Maybrick Road on the day of the latter

Just a few months after her brother Benjamin (above) was married in 1923, the marriage of Catherine Alice Collett and Wilfred Ferris Day was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 1209) during the last three months of that year.  Wilfred was born on 23^rd May 1897, with his birth recorded at Chippenham register office (Ref. 5a 71) during the third quarter of the year, when his name was confirmed as Wilfred Ferris Day.  The birth of his and Alice’s only child was announced in her birth notice published in the Bath newspaper on 17^th April 1926, confirming the parents as Mr W F Day and Mrs Alice Collett Day

For only the second time within the public records, Alice was referred to under her full birth name, when as Eliza Catherine Alice Day, nee Collett, she died on 10^th February 1972 and was buried at the Baptist Chapel in Broughton Gifford like many of her Collett family.  Her death was recorded at Wiltshire register office (Ref. 7c 2104), which revealed her date of birth as 1^st October 1897.  Ten years earlier, following the death of her older sister’s husband Samuel Champion, Alice and Wilfred moved into the Ivy Road, Chippenham home of widow Sarah Ann Champion nee Collett (above).  Alice’s husband passed away just over twelve years after being made a widower on 12^th July 1984, with his death as Wilfred Ferris Day recorded at Bath register office (Vol. 22 16).  He was buried with his wife at Broughton Gifford

Ruth M Day, the daughter of Wilf and Alice whose birth was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 737) during the second quarter of 1926, went on to marry Leslie Richards with whom she had four children whose births were recorded at Wells register office in Somerset.  The marriage of Ruth M Day and Leslie G Richards was recorded at Somerset register office (Ref. 7c 518) during the last three months of 1951.  Their four children were: Rachel M Richards in 1953; Philip G Richards in 1954; David J Richards in 1957; and Sarah R Richards in 1960.  Ruth’s family resided in a row of houses that backed onto Ivy Road in Chippenham, her children attending Ivy Lane School at the same time as Matthew Kime who kindly supplied the new information for the June 2025 update of this family line

Albert William Collett [35P51] was born at Kettering in 1886, the first of five children born to William Thomas Collett and Sarah Ann Barnett.  His birth was recorded there (Ref. 3b 187) during the second quarter of 1886.  His death there (Ref. 3b 105) was recorded during that same quarter of that same year

Willie Collett [35P52] was born at Kettering in 1887 and his birth, as Willie Collett, was recorded there (Ref. 3b 176) during the third quarter of that year.  Whilst he was three years old in the census of 1891, when living with his family at 123 Havelock Street in Kettering, it was during the third quarter of 1892 that his death was recorded at Kettering (Ref. 3b 87) when he was five years old

Frederick Collett [35P53] was born at Kettering in 1890, the third son of William Thomas Collett of Brighton and Melksham and his wife Sarah Ann Barnett from the village of Seend in Wiltshire.  Fred was probably born at 123 Havelock Street where he was living with his family in 1891 when he was one year old.  His birth was recorded at Kettering (Ref. 3b 173) during the first quarter of 1890.  Following the premature deaths of his two older brothers, Frederick Collett was 11 years old in the census of 1901, one of the two surviving sons of the five siblings, his younger brother Archie (below) being the other, who were still living at 123 Havelock Street in Kettering with their parents.  Fred and Archie’s fifth brother had died seven years earlier in 1894

It was on 25^th December 1908 at St Marys Church in Kettering that Frederick Collett, aged 18, married Frances Mary Claypole, also 18, the event recorded at Kettering (Ref. 3b 392).  Frances was born in 1889, the base-born daughter of Mary Ellen Claypole.  Marrying so young was a result of Frances already being five months pregnant on her wedding day, with the couple’s first child born less than four months later in mid-April 1909.  Over the following two years Frances presented Frederick with another son prior to the next census in April 1911.  At that time Frederick, aged 21, and his family were still living in Kettering, where his two sons had been born.  His wife was confirmed as Frances Mary Collett, also 21, who was working as a shoe machinist who had been born at nearby Finedon.  Their two sons were Frederick William Collett who was one year old, and Leslie Edward Collett who was just six months old.  Also still living in Kettering at that time, were Frederick’s parents, together with his younger brother Edward Archie Collett.  The marriage of Frederick and Frances Mary Collett also produced two more children during the next four years

The War Memorial outside the Alfred East Art Gallery & Museum in Kettering bears the names of the two brothers Frederick Collett and George Edward Archie Collett.  However, no obvious record of the death of Frederick during the Great War has yet been found.  Within the list of 112 British men who lost their lives only one could be Frederick, and he is simply recorded by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as F Collett who died on 10^th October 1918.  He was a gunner with the Royal Garrison Artillery, service number 86413.  It seems highly likely that he was this Frederick Collett from Kettering.  It therefore appears that his widow remained living in Kettering with their children for the rest of her life since, the death of Frances M Collett, aged 79 was recorded at Kettering register office (Ref. 3b 517) during the last quarter of 1968

35Q27 - Frederick William Collett Was born in 1909 at Kettering, Northamptonshire

35Q28 – Leslie Edward Collett was born in 1910 at Kettering, Northamptonshire

35Q29 – Phyllis Mary Collett was born in 1912 at Kettering, Northamptonshire

35Q30 – Cyril Archibald Collett was born in 1915 at Kettering, Northamptonshire

Albert Collett [35P54] was born at Kettering in 1892, his birth recorded there (Ref. 3b 173) during the second quarter of that year.  He survived for only two years and, following the recent deaths of two of his three older brothers, the death of Albert Collett was recorded at Kettering (Ref. 3b 93) during the second quarter of 1894

George Edward Archibald Collett [35P55] was born at 123 Havelock Street in Kettering in 1895, the fifth and last son of William Thomas Collett and Sarah Ann Barnett.  Although his birth was recorded at Kettering (Ref. 3b 177) during the last quarter of 1895 using his full name, it was as Archie Collett aged five years that he was included in the census of 1901 when he and his older brother Frederick (above) and their parents were again recorded at the terraced house that was 123 Havelock Street in Kettering.  Ten years after that it was as Edward Archie Collett that he was the only son of William and Sarah Collett who was still living in Kettering with them in 1911.  He was 15 by then, by which time his older brother Frederick was married with two children and living nearby in Kettering

Upon entering military service at the start of the First World War the records gave his name as George Edward Archie Collett.  He originally enlisted with the Huntingdonshire Cyclist Battalion when he was allocated the service number 1425, following which he was posted to the 1st Battalion.  At that time, he gave his place of abode as Kettering, presumably he was still living there with his parents.  He was later transferred to 7^th Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment (Territorial Force) and eventually saw action in Flanders Field with 5^th Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment as Private 203402.  George Edward Archie Collett was killed in action on 9^th August 1917 during the Third Battle of Ypres and was buried in Track 'X' Cemetery at St Jean-Les-Ypres, grave Plot D, Row 14

However, it was eight months earlier, that the marriage of George E A Collett and Norah Clipstone was recorded at Kettering register office (Ref. 3b 394) during the first three months of 1916.  Those were severely hard time for the young people of Great Britain and the Commonwealth, so it was not unsurprising that Norah was already carrying George’s baby on the day of their wedding.  The birth of their daughter Eunice Collett was recorded at Kettering register office (Ref. 3b 286) during the second quarter of 1916, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Clipstone

Beatrice Maud Collett [35P56] was born at Melksham in 1886 and was four years old in 1891, when she was living with her family at Woodview Road in Melksham.  Ten years later she was still living there with her family, when she was 14 and was working as a dressmaker’s apprentice.  Sometime during the latter half of the next decade, Beatrice married Albert Edward Pearce and, once they were married, they too settled in Melksham.  And it was there that the childless couple were living in April 1911 when Albert Pearce was 35 and his much younger wife Beatrice was 25

Sarah Mary Collett [35P58] was born at Atworth in 1853, her birth recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. 5a 113) during the second quarter of that year.  It was as Sarah M Collett aged eight years she was recorded in the Atworth census of 1861 with her brother John S Collett (below) when the family was living at Rose Cottage.  Sadly, her father John died just one year prior to the next census in 1871 in which Sarah Mary Collett, aged 18, was still living at Atworth with her widowed mother and her brother.  Sarah eventually left the family home in Atworth and, according to the 1881 Census, Sarah Mary Collett was 27 and a spinster who was working as a parlour maid for Thomas Jenkins Heathcote, a 63-year-old magistrate, at Shaw Hill House in the Bath Road in Melksham.  It was on 2^nd June 1884 when Sarah Mary Collett married Enos Axford at Atworth.  Enos was two or three years younger than Sarah and had been born at Market Drayton in Shropshire

By the time of the census in 1891 Sarah had given birth to her first three children when, on that day, the family was residing in Chippenham.  Enos Axford said he was 34, while his wife Sarah M Axford from Atworth did not admit she was 37 or 38, instead she said she was only 35.  Their three children were listed as Ernest T W Axford who was five and born at Atworth, Arthur M Axford who was four, and Frederick R Axford who was two years of age, the two younger sons both born at Marshfield in South Gloucestershire.  Sarah’s next two children were born at Chippenham before the family eventually moved to Bath in Somerset.  The census in March 1901 confirmed that Enos was a grocer and shopkeeper, while once again Sarah did not offer her correct age, probably through embarrassment of being older than her husband.  Enos and Sarah were both entered on the census return as 45, Ernest was 15, Frederick was 12, Francis Axford was 10, and Mabel Axford was eight years old.  Missing son Arthur was back with his family at Bath in 1911 when Enos was 53, Sarah was 55, Ernest was 25, Arthur was 24, Frederick was 22, Francis was 21 and Mabel was 18

John Stanier Collett [35P59] was born at Rose Cottage in Atworth, near Melksham, on 27^th December 1857, the son of master shoemaker John Collett and his wife Sarah Collett formerly Wiggell.  His birth was recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. 5a 16) during the first quarter of 1858 and it was on 24^th January 1858 that he was baptised at Atworth.  As John S Collett he was listed in the census of 1861 as being three years old, while it was ten years late, in the census of 1871, that his full name was recorded as John Stanier Collett when he was 13 and an errand boy.  At that time in his life, he was still living at Rose Cottage in Atworth, but with his widowed mother and his sister, following the death of his father early in the previous year

At the time of the 1881 Census, bachelor John S Collett was 23 and by then had taken up the occupation of his earlier ancestors by becoming a carpenter.  His place of birth was once again confirmed as being Atworth and, at that time in his life, he was still living with his widowed mother Sarah H Collett who had left Atworth and was residing in a dwelling on the Main Street, in Bradford-on-Avon.  It was on his birthday in 1884 when John Stanier Collett, aged 27, married Mary Ann Simpson, aged 26, at Portsmouth in Hampshire where Mary had been born on 18^th December 1858.  The marriage produced seven children for the couple who initially made their home in Atworth where their first two children were born, before moving to live in Reading where the remainder were born.  At the baptism of his second son at Atworth in June 1889, the child’s father was named in error as John Stanyard Collett.  That was confirmed by the census conducted in April 1891 when the family was living in Reading where carpenter John was then working.  However, missing from the family group in the census that year was John’s wife Mary who would have been 32.  Instead, the census return simply listed the family as John S Collett who was 33 and his two sons, John E Collett who was four, and Harry T Collett who was three both, like their father, had been born at Atworth

Four further children were added to the family during the following decade and all of them born while the family was living in Reading.  By March 1901 the family was almost complete, with pregnant Mary awaiting the arrival of the couple’s last children sometime after the day of the census.  The full listing for the Reading family was carpenter John Collett, aged 43, Mary Collett, aged 42, John Collett who was 14, Henry Collett who was 13, Rose Collett who was nine, Elsie Collett who was seven, Frederick Collett who was five, and Edward Collett who was two years old, the last four children all confirmed as having been born in Reading

Later that year Mary presented John with a daughter while they were living at Reading, and it was at 12 Hart Street in Reading that the family was still living in April 1911.  John gave his place of birth as Melksham, the nearest large town to the village of Atworth, and his occupation as carpenter and builder.  He was 53 and his wife of 26 years was confirmed as Mary who was 52.  That year’s census recorded the children of John and Mary as John Collett aged 24, Henry Collett aged 23, Rose Collett aged 19, Elsie Collett aged 17, Frederick Collett aged 15, Edward Collett aged 12 and Kate Collett who was nine years old

During 1921 John was living at 43 Williams Street in Reading, as confirmed on the passenger list for his youngest son Edward when he emigrated to Canada to join his brother Henry.  It was also at that same address that John and Mary were living when their daughter Elsie sailed to a new life in Canada in 1924, where she was married in 1926.  It was two years later when John S Collett was 70 years of age that he died in Reading on 26^th June 1928, and it was also there that his passing was recorded (Ref. 2c 401) during the second quarter of the year.  His widow survived him by just over nine years, when Mary Ann Collett nee Simpson passed away on 13^th October 1937

35Q31 – John Edward Collett was born in 1886 at Atworth

35Q32 – Henry Thomas Collett was born in 1887 at Atworth

35Q33 – Rose E Collett was born in 1891 at Reading

35Q34 – Elsie Sarah Collett was born in 1893 at Reading

35Q35 – Frederick George Collett was born in 1896 at Reading

35Q36 – Edward William Collett was born in 1898 at Reading

35Q37 – Kate Alice Collett was born in 1901 Reading