Part 42 - The Tetbury Line

PART FORTY-TWO

The Tetbury Gloucestershire Line

Updated January 2026

The Gloucestershire town of Tetbury is situated about nine miles south-west of Cirencester and close to the county boundary with Wiltshire. The origin of this family line appears to lie within the Cirencester area, including Arlington in Bibury. This is the family line of Jeannie Clare Evans (Ref. 42S6) and Laura Jane Salman (Ref. 42S14) of Berkeley in Gloucestershire and has been compiled with assistance from Jamie Moore. The opportunity was taken during October 2010 to upgrade this file to include in the appendix those members of the Collett/Collet families from the villages around Tetbury

Collett [42M1] parents of brother and sister Richard and Hannah Collett are currently not known

42N1 – Richard Collett was born in 1814 at Tetbury

42N2 – Hannah Collett was born in 1820

Richard Collett [42N1] was born during August in 1814, but so far, no baptism record has been found for him. It is also believed that he had a sister Hannah and that both were very likely born within the Cirencester area of Gloucestershire, although, from 1851 through to 1881, Richard gave his place of birth as Tetbury. Richard Collett married Mary Scriven at Baunton, just to the north of Cirencester, on 25^th December 1838. Richard was described as a bachelor of full age and a labourer of Baunton, whose father was not known, while Mary was a spinster of full age of Baunton, the daughter of labourer William Scriven

Mary Scriven was born at Duntisbourne, where she was baptised on 26^th March 1809, the daughter of William and Sarah Scriven. However, two years prior to her marriage to Richard Collett, Mary Scriven had given birth to a base-born daughter, Jane Scriven, who was baptised at Baunton in 1836. By 1841 Richard and Mary were living at Arlington in Bibury, where Richard Collett was 27, and his wife Mary was 30. Living with them at that time were three children, Jane Collett aged six, Elizabeth Collett who was two, and William Collett who was only seven months old. The census return contained an error, insofar as the eldest child was recorded as John, and this is borne out by no future record of a child by that name being listed with the family in subsequent census returns, whereas Jane was

The next census in 1851 indicated that Richard and his family had returned to the town of his birth, when they were recorded at Harper Street in Tetbury. Richard Collett from Tetbury was 36 and an agricultural labourer, his wife Mary Collett from Duntisbourne was 40, who had given birth to four more children during the previous ten years, losing one to an infant death. Eldest daughter Jane Collett from Cheltenham was 15, William Collett from Bibury (Arlington) was 10 and at school, as was new arrival John Collett who was five, plus Job Collett who was three, and Sarah who was one-year-old, with all three children having been born at Tetbury. On that day, missing daughter Elizabeth Collett was 11 years old and one of four domestic servants employed by the Lowe family in Cheltenham. Very interestingly, one of the other servants was 20-year-old Emma Scriven of Cheltenham, possibly related to Elizabeth’s half-sister Jane Scriven, renamed Jane Collett

Ten years later, in 1861, Richard Collett from Tetbury was 46 and an agricultural labourer when he and his wife Mary Collett, who was 50 and from Duntisbourne, were living at Church Street in Tetbury. By that time a further addition to their family was their son Thomas Collett aged eight years who was attending school. The couple’s other children still living with them on the census day were William Collett from Arlington who was 20 and an agricultural labourer, as were his brothers John Collett who was 15, and Job Collett who was 12. Completing the family was daughter Sarah Collett who was 11 and at school, who had been born in Tetbury, like John, Job, and Thomas

Tragedy struck the family immediately prior to the next census in 1871, when Mary Collett, nee Scriven, died at Tetbury at the age of 60, with her death recorded at Tetbury (Ref. 6a 253) during the first three months of 1871. According to the census that year, widower Richard Collett from Tetbury was 56 and an agricultural labourer who was residing at Church Street in Tetbury, when the only member of his family still living with him was his son Thomas Collett of Tetbury who was 18 and another agricultural labourer. Living and working nearby in Tetbury, was Richard’s unmarried daughter Sarah, who was very likely looking after the needs of her elderly father

In April 1881, Richard Collett from Tetbury was 67 and a general labourer living as a boarder at the first cottage in Saul Road in Fretherne, eight miles south-west of Gloucester. That was the home of Isabella Rudge, a 29-year-old mariner’s wife from South Shields in Durham, and her seven-year-old-daughter from South Shields. At that same time Richard’s son John Collett was living with his own family in the neighbouring village of Saul, less than one mile from Richard’s home in Fretherne. There was no record of Richard from Tetbury in either of the census returns for 1891 or 1901, while the only likely record of his death, was recorded at Cheltenham (Ref. 6a 257) in 1888 when he was said to be 78, if the informant did not know he was around 74 years old

During his life he was referred to as ‘Frenchy Collett’ by his family and his friends

42O1 – Jane Collett (formerly Scriven) was born in 1837 at Cheltenham

42O2 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1839 at South Cerney

42O3 – William Collett was born in 1840 at Arlington

42O4 – David Collett was born in 1842 at Tetbury

42O5 – John Collett was born in 1845 at Tetbury

42O6 – Job Collett was born in 1847 at Tetbury

42O7 – Sarah Ann Collett was born in 1849 at Tetbury

42O8 – Thomas Collett was born in 1851 at Tetbury

Hannah Collett [42N2] was born around 1820 according to the census of 1841, although unfortunately no baptism record or birth record for her has been found. It is possible that she was born within the area around the town of Cirencester, where it is established that her brother Richard was married in 1838. In the census conducted in June 1841, Hannah Collett was recorded as being 20 years old, that likely to be a rounded age, rather than her actual age. On that occasion she was living within the Tetbury registration district

Jane Collett [42O1] was born as Jane Scriven, the base-born daughter of Mary Scriven. According to a later census return, Jane was born at Cheltenham in 1835 and was baptised at St Mary Magdalene Church in Baunton, near Cirencester on 15^th May 1836. Following the marriage of her mother to Richard Collett at Baunton during 1838, Jane took the Collett name and by 1841 she was six years old and was living with her family at Arlington, in Bibury. During the next ten years Jane and her family moved to Tetbury where her father had been born. The census in 1851 placed Jane Collett, who was born at Cheltenham, living at Harper Street in Tetbury with her family when she was 15 years old. No record of her has been found in the census of 1861

Elizabeth Collett [42O2] was born at North Cerney in 1839 and was two years of age in the 1841 Census for Bibury with the family living within the Arlington area of the village. However, before settling in Arlington, Elizabeth was baptised at North Cerney on 21^st July 1839, the daughter of Richard and Mary Collett. In 1851 Elizabeth Collett was 11 years old and one of four domestic servants employed by the Lowe family in Cheltenham, when her employer informed the census enumerator she had been born at South Cerney. Very interestingly, one of the other servants was 20-year-old Emma Scriven of Cheltenham, possibly related to Elizabeth’s half-sister Jane Scriven, renamed Jane Collett. No further record of her has been found in 1861 or 1871, but her possible death at the age of 37 was recorded at Cheltenham (Ref. 6a 308) in 1876

William Collett [42O3] was born at Arlington in the Parish of Bibury on 4^th November 1840, with his birth registered at nearby Northleach (Ref. xi 345) during the last three months of 1840. He was baptised at Bibury on 21^st January 1841, the fourth child of Richard Collett and Mary Scriven. He was listed as being seven months old in the first national census on 6^th June 1841. Ten years later William Collett from Bibury, then aged 10 years, and his family, had left the Bibury area and were living at Harper Street in Tetbury, 17 miles south-west of Bibury. The family was still living there a decade later, but at Church Street, when William was 20 and an agricultural labourer. Sometime during the next ten years William left Tetbury and by the time of the 1871 Census he was 30, with no stated occupation or place of birth, when he was lodger at the Great Malvern home of elderly farmer George Yeates

David Collett [42O4] was born at Arlington in 1842, when his birth was registered at Northleach (Ref. xi 348) during the fourth quarter of that year. He baptised at Bibury on 25^th December 1842, another son of Richard and Mary Collett. Just after he was born, his family travelled south of Cirencester to settle at Harper Street in Tetbury where David died and where his death was recorded (Ref. xi 357). The body of David Collett was then buried at Tetbury on 4^th November 1844

John Collett [42O5] was born at Harper Street in Tetbury near the end of 1845, with his birth registered there (Ref. xi 480) during the first three months of 1846. Although no baptism record has been found, he was a surviving son of Richard and Mary Collett. By 1851 John was five years old and attending school when he and his family were residing at Church Street in Tetbury, with the census return confirming he had been born at Tetbury. It was at the same address that he was still living with his family in 1861 when John Collett of Tetbury was 15 and an agricultural labourer

Eight years later John Collett married Louisa Sparrow who was born at Hankerton in Wiltshire, the daughter of carpenter Thomas Sparrow and his wife Esther who moved to Tetbury straight after she was born. And it was at Tetbury that her birth was registered (Ref. xi 479) during the first three months of 1845, and where Louisa Sparrow was baptised on 18^th May 1845. The wedding of John and Louisa, both of Tetbury, took place in the village of Whiteshill-by-Stroud on 22^nd May 1869 and it was at Stroud, in the Paganhill area of the town, that the couple was living at the time of the census in 1871. John Collett from Tetbury was 25 and employed as a gardener, and his wife Louisa Collett was also 25 and born in Tetbury. With them was their one-year-old daughter Emma Collett who had been born in Stroud. With both John and Louisa being residents of Tetbury at the time they were married, it is perhaps curious why they were married in the little village of Whiteshill. Was that move away from home made out embarrassment, with Louisa being with-child on that day

Ten years later the enlarged family was living at Church Lane in Saul, eight miles south-west of Gloucester and very near Frampton-on-Severn. By then John Collett from Tetbury aged 35 had returned to working as an agricultural labourer, with wife Louisa having the same place of birth and age details. The census return for 1881 confirmed that the couple’s first two children (of the three listed below) were born at Whiteshill and at nearby Stonehouse respectively with Emma B Collett being 10 years old, and Albert E Collett being eight years old, both attending school. On that same day, Louisa was pregnant with their third child who was born at Saul later that same year. At that same time John’s widowed father Richard Collett was residing in the neighbouring village of Fretherne, just one mile from Saul

According to the later census in 1891, John Collett aged 46 was a corn porter, when his wife Louisa was 45, with them then living at Berkeley, near Thornbury in South Gloucestershire. On that day only the couple’s two sons were still living with them, and they were Albert Collett who was 18 and a tally clerk, and Frederick J Collett who was nine years of age and at school. Sadly, for the family, daughter Emma had suffered a premature death two years earlier at the age of 19

By 1901 the family had moved to the hamlet of Hinton north of the Port of Sharpness and just south of Purton, on the east bank of the River Severn. John’s previous job as a corn porter was most likely the reason for the opportunity to earn a better income working in the docks on the River Severn, because the census that year described him as John Collett from Tetbury who was 55 and a labourer at the docks – ten years later the job was ‘dock labourer with grain’. Living with him was his wife Louisa, also 55, and son Frederick from Saul who was 19 and working with his father as another dock labourer. The pair of them were employed at the docks in Sharpness where they unloaded the ships and transferred the cargo onto barges. The barges then made the ‘safer’ journey along the Sharpness to Gloucester canal, so avoiding the need to use the more treacherous waters of the River Severn

John and Louisa were both 65 years old and still living at Hinton for the census in 1911, which confirmed they had been married for 41 years. They were both reported to have been born at Tetbury, with John continuing to work as a dock labourer handling grain on and off the ships. Staying with the couple that day was their married son Frederick and his young family. Fifteen years later, at the age of 81, Louisa Collett, nee Sparrow, passed away at Purton, with her death recorded at Gloucestershire register office (Ref. 6a 334) in 1926. Also, at the age of 81, widowed John Collett continued to live with son Frederick and his family at Purton. His grand-daughter Evelyn Collett, who was born in 1914 and was the daughter of son Frederick, remembers her grandfather John Collett living with the family at their home in Purton

John Collett from Tetbury lived to be the great age of 94, when his death at Purton was recorded at Gloucestershire register office (Ref. 6a 448) during 1939. The nine-year gap between the birth of the couple’s second and third children may had included other children added to their family who did not survive

4P1 – Emma Beatrice Collett was born in 1870 at Whiteshill

4P2 – Albert Edward Collett was born in 1872 at Stonehouse

4P3 – Frederick James Collett was born in 1881 at Saul

Job Collett [42O6] was born at Tetbury either at the end of 1847 or early in 1848, with his birth registered at Tetbury (Ref. xi 44) during the first quarter of 1848. He was a son of Richard Collett and Jane Scriven, and may have been born at Harper Street in the town, where he was living with his family in 1851 at the age of three years. Sometime after that year, the family moved to Church Street in Tetbury, where they were recorded in 1861, when Job Collett of Tetbury and left school and was working as an agricultural labour at the age of 12. After a further decade, Job was no longer living with his family at Church Street, with no obvious record of him found within the census of 1871

However, just two years later, the marriage of Job Collett from Tetbury and Sarah Ann Mills was recorded at Chipping Sodbury (Ref. 6a 409) during the second quarter of 1873. It was on 22^nd April 1873 at the Church of St James-the-Less in Iron Acton, that Job Collett, the son of Richard Collett, married Sarah Ann Mills, the daughter of Thomas Mills. Sarah Ann was born in the Blockhouse area of Worcester in 1846 and was baptised at the Church of St Paul in Worcester on 25^th September 1846, the daughter of Thomas and Sarah Mills. The birth of Sarah Ann was registered at Bromsgrove (Ref. xviii 208) during the third quarter of the year. She may have been their only child, with just the three of them recorded in the Blockhouse Worcester census in 1851 when Sarah Ann was four years old

Unfortunately, no further record of Job or Sarah Ann, has been found in Great Britain after their wedding day, with the likelihood that they emigrated to another country

Sarah Ann Collett [42O7] was born at Harper Street in Tetbury near the end of 1849 or at the start of 1850, when her birth was registered at Tetbury (Ref. xi 463) during the first three months of 1850. As Sarah Collett, she was one year of age at the time of the 1851 Census for Tetbury where she was living with her family at Harper Street. She was still recorded as living at Tetbury for the next two national censuses, but at Church Street when Sarah was 11 and attending school in 1861

Following the loss of her mother in 1870, unmarried Sarah Collett of Tetbury was 22 when she was living in Tetbury not far from her widowed father Richard and younger brother Thomas (below). The Tetbury census of 1871 recorded Sarah as a nurse and a servant at the Tetbury home of farmer Edward Warner and his large family. For Sarah Ann, it is a similar story as her brother Job (above), with no record of them found Great Britain after the 1870s, so it is possible that they left England for a new life elsewhere

Thomas Collett [42O8] was born at Harper Street in Tetbury during 1852, where his birth was registered (Ref. 6a 285) during the last quarter of that year, the eighth and last child born to Richard Collett and Jane Scriven. It was at Harper Street where his family had been living on the day of the census the previous year. However, not long after he was born the family left Harper Street and moved the short distance to Church Street in Tetbury. In 1861 and 1871, Thomas Collett was recorded with his family at their home on Church Street in Tetbury when he was eight years of age and at school, and after the death of his mother in 1870, he was the only member of his family still living with his widowed father at the age 18. That year, Thomas was working alongside his father when they were agricultural labourers. Thereafter, as with his older siblings Sarah Ann, and Job, no further records of the three of them has been discovered in Great Britain

Emma Beatrice Collett [42P1] was born at Whiteshill in 1870, with her birth registered at Stroud (Ref. 6a 318) during the second quarter of the year. She was the eldest of the three children of John Collett and Louisa Sparrow. At the time of the 1881 Census Emma was aged 10 and was living with her parents and brother Albert (below) at Church Lane in Saul. Tragically, Emma Beatrice Collett died with her family at Berkeley, near Thornbury, at the age of only 19, when her premature death was recorded at Thornbury register office (Ref. 6a 137) during 1889

Albert Edward Collett [42P2] was born at Stonehouse in 1872 when his birth was registered at Stroud (Ref. 6a 322) during the second quarter of that year. He was the eldest son of John and Louisa Collett and as Albert Collett he was eight years old in 1881 when he was living with his parents and his sister Emma (above) at Church Lane in Saul. It was at Saul, near Frampton-on-Severn, that the family was still living at the start of 1881, where his brother Frederick (below) was born later that same year. During the following years the family moved again, on that occasion to Berkeley, near Thornbury in South Gloucestershire, where sister Emma died before reaching twenty years of age, and where the remaining four members of the family were recorded in 1891

On that census day, Albert E Collett from Stonehouse was 18 and a tally clerk, counting and recording incoming and outgoing shipments, probably at the nearby Port of Sharpness. It was previously suggested here that Albert married Alice Gray, which we now know to the incorrect. It was on 12^th November 1895 at St James’ Church in Riddings, Derbyshire, that the marriage of Albert Edward Collett and (1) Alice Elizabeth Shrimpton was conducted after the reading of banns. The church register stated that the groom was 23 and the son of John Collett a corn porter, a bachelor from St Mary’s Berkeley in Gloucestershire, whose occupation was a super cargo (a dock labourer). The bride was described as 24 and the daughter of gardener James Shrimpton, a spinster of Riddings. The register was signed by the couple in the own hand, while the witnesses were Albert Shrimpton, and Edith M Shrimpton

According to the 1901 Census, the couple’s first two children were born at Berkeley, before settling in the hamlet of Hinton on the east bank of the River Severn, midway between Sharpness and Purton, where their third child was born, with all three births recorded at Thornbury register office. Albert’s family, who had been residing in Berkeley in 1891, also moved to Hinton prior to 1901, where both Collett families were recorded that year

The completed census return listed Albert E Collett from Stonehouse as 28 and a grain weigher, possibly at Sharpness Docks where his father John, and brother Frederick (below), both worked as dock labourers handling grain, who were also living in Hinton that year with Albert’s mother Louisa. Albert’s own young family was also recorded in that census at Hinton with wife Alice E Collett who was 29 and from Pyrton, just north of Watlington, in Oxfordshire. Their two children were recorded as Violet I Collett who was three years of age, and Lionel A Collett who was under two months old, both recorded as born at Berkeley, just three kilometres to the south of Sharpness, where unmarried Albert had been living with his family in 1891. At that time in their life, Albert was employing a domestic servant to help Alice look after two young children and assist with the household chores, and she was 16-year-old Edith Hone from Chatham, Kent

One more child was added to the family just over four years later when they were still living at Hinton. However, that happy event must have been tinged with sadness with the death, either during or shortly thereafter, of Alice Elizabeth Collett, nee Gray, whose passing was recorded at Thornbury register office (Ref. 6a 167) during the last three months of 1905 when she was only 33 years of age

For the next census in 1911, widower Albert Collett was 39 and living at 17 Dinmore Road in Sharpness with his three children. His occupation at that time was still associated with the grain trade and his place of birth was confirmed as Stonehouse. The eldest of his children three children was Violet Collett who was 13 and had already left school and had taken on the role of housekeeper for the rest of the family. Lionel Collett was ten years old and was still attending school, while Arthur Collett, who was five years of age, had not yet started his education. On that occasion the place of birth for all three children was given as Sharpness within the sub-district of Berkeley

It was later that same year when Albert E Collett married (2) Rhoda Housell, the wedding recorded at Thornbury register office (Ref. 6a 527) during the last quarter of 1911. That second marriage took place at St Andrew’s Church in Sharpness on 26^th December 1911, when Albert Edward Collett was 39 and confirmed as the son of John Collett. Twenty-four years later Albert Edward Collett died at Sharpness on 26^th November 1935, when his death was recorded at Gloucestershire register office (Ref. 6a 311). Eleven weeks after his passing, the Will of Albert Edward Collett was proved at Bristol on 10^th February 1936, which revealed it was at 17 Dock Row in Sharpness that he was living when he died, with administration of his personal effects of £663 18 Shillings being granted to his unmarried daughter Violet Isabel Collett

42Q1 – Violet Isabel Collett was born in 1897 at Berkeley, near Sharpness

42Q2 – Lionel Albert Collett was born in 1901 at Berkeley, near Sharpness

42Q3 – Arthur Collett was born in 1905 at Hinton, near Sharpness

Frederick James Collett [42P3] was born at Saul near Frampton-on-Severn on 7^th June 1881, the son of John and Louisa Collett, whose birth was registered at Wheatenhurst (Ref. 6a 319) during the third quarter of the year. He was nine years old at the time of the census in 1891 when, as Frederick J Collett, he was living with his parents at Berkeley and attending school there. Ten years later, according to the 1901 Census, Frederick Collett from Saul was 19 and was living with his parents at Hinton just north of Sharpness on the east bank of the River Severn, from where he was working with his father as a dock labourer at Sharpness docks

Just over three years later, Frederick James Collett married Mabel Mary Mears, with their wedding recorded at Thornbury register office (Ref. 6a 549) during the third quarter of 1904. On that day Frederick was 23 and Mabel only 19, having been born at Purton on 22^nd November 1884, when her birth was registered at Thornbury (Ref. 6a 223) during the first three months of 1885, the daughter of Charles Mears. It seems the first six years of their life together were spent in Purton, north of Hinton, where their first four children were born

According to the census conducted in April 1911, Frederick and his young family were living in the hamlet of Hinton at the home of his elderly parents John and Louisa. Frederick James Collett from Saul was 29 and a dock labourer dealing in grain – the same as his father, his wife Mabel Mary Collett from Purton was 26, and their children were Frederick Charles John Collett who was six and at school, as was Victor Sidney Eugen Collett who was five, and Hereward Edwin Collett who was two years old. All three children were confirmed as born at nearby Purton like their mother. Missing from the family was the couple’s only daughter at that time, Marian Emily who had sadly died in the Spring of 1908 at the age of six months

Sometime after 1911, and either during or after the First World War, Frederick’s mother died, following which his widowed father John Collett continued to live with Frederick and his family at Purton. Frederick’s eldest surviving daughter Evelyn recalled many years later that her grandfather had lived with the family when she was a just young girl. After working at Sharpness Dock, Frederick later worked as warden on the Gloucester & Sharpness canal, and at some stage in his life he worked as a police officer (see photograph above), after which he eventually returned to working at the docks. Much later in his life, Frederick James Collett was still living in the same area of South Gloucestershire when he died during in December 1955 with his death recorded at Thornbury register office (Ref. 7b 558) at the age of 74. By that time in his life, he had been a widower for the previous eleven years following the death of Mabel Mary Collett, nee Mears, which was recorded at Gloucestershire register office (Ref. 6a 280) in 1946 at the age of 61

42Q4 – Frederick Charles John Collett was born in 1905 at Purton

42Q5 – Victor Sidney Eugene Collett was born in 1906 at Purton

42Q6 – Marian Emily Collett was born in 1907 at Purton

42Q7– Hereward Edwin Collett was born in 1909 at Purton

42Q8 – Evelyn Mabel Collett was born in 1914 at Purton

42Q9 – John Collett was born in 1916 at Purton

42Q10 – Ruby Gertrude Collett was born in 1924 at Purton

Violet Isobel Collett [42Q1] was born at Berkeley, south-east of Sharpness, on 12^th March 1898, the eldest of the three children of Albert Edward Collett and his first wife Alice Elizabeth Gray. Her birth was recorded at Thornbury register office (Ref. 6a 211) during the second quarter of that year. She was three years of age in the Hinton census of 1901 when her place of birth was recorded as Berkeley, and was 13 years old in 1911 with the place of her birth then being recorded as Sharpness. By that time, she was living at 17 Dinmore Road in nearby Sharpness, where she was acting as housekeeper for her widowed father and her two younger brothers following the earlier death of her mother, when Violet was only eight years old

She never married and it was as Violet Isobel Collett that she was granted administration of her father’s estate upon his death in 1935. At that time, she was still living with her father at 17 Dock Row in Sharpness. No record of her death has so far been found

Lionel Albert Collett [42Q2] was born at Berkeley on 20^th February 1901, with his birth recorded at Thornbury register office (Ref. 6a 277) during the second quarter of that year. He was the second of three children, and eldest son of Albert and Alice Collett. Hinton is adjacent to Purton, both just north of Sharpness where Lionel’s father was a dock labourer. On the day of the Hinton census of 1901 Lionel A Collett was under two months old and recorded as having been born at Berkeley. His mother died in 1905, possibly during the birth of his younger brother, with Lionel Collett living with his widowed father and his two siblings at 17 Dinmore Road in Sharpness when he was 10 years old in 1911

When Lionel fell in love and decided it was time to get married, it seems strange why he did not consider agreeing to his future father-in-law officiating at the event. Instead, it was in South Wales that the marriage of Lionel Albert Collett and Kathleen Mary Blanch was recorded at Monmouth register office (Ref. 11a 93) during the third quarter of 1924. Lionel was 23, and Kathleen was 24, having been born at Coleford, in the Forest of Dean, on 7^th April 1900, her father being William J Blanch a registrar of births, deaths, and marriage at Coleford in 1911, whose wife was Frances Blanch of Coleford

Their marriage produced two sons, with both births recorded at Bristol register office, when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Blanch. Eldest son John enlisted with the British Army during WW2 and was serving with the 2^nd Battalion of the Royal Gloucestershire Regiment when he was killed in France in 1944 at the age of 18. As his son’s next-of-kin, it was Lionel Albert Collett, a colliery agent’s manager, of Broadway Avenue in Henleaze, Bristol, that he was the sole beneficiary under the terms of War Will, amounting to just over three hundred pounds

Lionel may have lived most of his live in Bristol where he died, with the death of Lionel Albert Collett recorded at Gloucestershire register office (Vol. 22 1095) in 1978 when he was 77 years of age. His widow, who was known as Kitty, survived for another sixteen years at Bristol, when the death of Kathleen Mary Collett, nee Blanch, was recorded at Gloucestershire register office (Vol. 3011b b15c) in 1994, at the age of 94

42R1 – John Lionel Collett was born in 1925 at Bristol

42R2 – Peter N Collett was born in 1935 at Bristol

Arthur Collett [42Q3] was born at Hinton in 1905, the last child of Albert Edward Collett, and his first wife Alice Shrimpton who died during his birth or very shortly afterwards. His birth was recorded at Thornbury register office (Ref. 6a 255) during the last three months of 1905

Frederick Charles John Collett [42Q4] was born at Purton on 7^th January 1905, the eldest child of Frederick James Collett and Mabel Mary Mears. His birth was registered at Thornbury (Ref. 6a 284) during the first quarter of the year. He was six years of age at the time of the 1911 Census when he was living with his family in Hinton at the home of his grandparents John Collett and Louisa Sparrow. Like his father, Frederick also later worked at the Sharpness Docks. It was during the second quarter of 1930 that the marriage of Frederick C J Collett and school teacher Edna Phelps was recorded at Thornbury register office (Ref. 6a 695)

Edna Annie Phelps was the youngest child of George and Annie Phelps who was born at Hinton on 27^th August 1904, with her birth recorded at Thornbury register office (Ref. 6a 275) during the third quarter of the year. The birth of the couple’s only child, son Roy, was recorded at Thornbury register office during the spring of 1935, when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Phelps

During his later life Frederick took his family to live in Wanswell, which lies midway between Sharpness and Berkeley, and it was at the new Berkeley Power Station that Frederick was working during the 1960s. The death of Edna Annie Collett, nee Phelps, was recorded at Gloucestershire register office (Vol. 22 2194) in 1987, after which she was buried at Berkeley Cemetery just after he died on 4^th October 1987 at the age of 83. Just over two years later widowed Frederick Charles John Collett died and was buried with Edna at Berkeley Cemetery on 1^st February 1990 when he was 85

42R3 – Roy Collett was born in 1935 at Wanswell

Victor Sidney Eugene Collett [42Q5] was born at Purton on 3^rd June 1906, another son of Frederick and Mabel Collett whose birth was recorded at Thornbury register office (Ref. 6a 275) during the third quarter of the year. He was five years old at the time of the 1911 Census when he was recorded as Victor Sidney Eugen Collett who was living with his family at the Purton home of his paternal grandparents. Victor was employed as a farm labourer and he later worked on the tankers that used the canal from the River Severn to gain access to and from the city of Gloucester

The later marriage of Victor Sidney E Collett and Phyllis P Timbrell was recorded at Thornbury register office (Ref. 6a 272) during the third quarter of 1928. It was as Phyllis Patience Timbrell that she was born at Berkeley on 2^nd April 1904, the daughter of John and Ethel Timbrell, although it was as Emily Phyllis Timbrell that her birth was recorded at Thornbury register office (Ref. 6a 288). Phyllis Collett died on 28^th February 1988, and it was three years later that the death of Victor Sidney E Collett was recorded at Gloucestershire register office (Vol. 22 1998) in 1991. He was 84 when he was buried with his late wife at Berkeley Cemetery on 2^nd January 1991

No record of any children born to the couple has been found, with them taking up residency in Purton, living opposite the village green.

Marian Emily Collett [42Q6] was born at Purton on 8^th September 1907 when her birth was recorded at Thornbury register office (Ref. 6a 252) during the last quarter of the year. She was the third child and eldest daughter of Frederick and Mabel Collett. At the tender age of just six months her infant death was recorded at Thornbury (Ref. 6a 201) in March 1908

Hereward Edwin Collett [42Q7] was born at Purton on 5^th February 1909 and was the fourth child of Frederick and Mabel Collett. Although it was thought his name was Herewood, at the recording of his birth, marriage, and death, he was Hereward Edwin Collett. His birth was recorded at Thornbury register office (Ref. 6a 248) during the first quarter of the year, and was two years old in the 1911 Census for Purton when his name was again recorded as Hereward Edwin Collett

The marriage of Hereward Edwin and Annie D L Gaines was recorded at Stroud register office (Ref. 6a 1425) during the summer of 1938. Annie D L Gainer was born on 9^th November 1911, with her birth registered at nearby Dursley (Ref. 6a 439) during the last quarter of 1911. Although Hereward was 29 and Annie 27, the birth of only one child is credited to them, and he was born after peace was declared in Europe following the Second World War. It may also have been after the war that the family lived at Riddle Street on the outskirts of Purton, perhaps where Philip was born. During his life Hereward worked as an agricultural labourer, and spent some of his time working on the Gloucester & Sharpness canal between the River Severn and the City of Gloucester. Hereward Edwin Collett was 88 years old when he died, with his death recorded at Gloucestershire register office (Vol. 22 1732) in 1987 and was followed seven years later, when the death of Annie Dorothy L Collett was recorded at Gloucestershire register office (Vol. 4871 45c) in 1994

42R4 – Philip R Collett was born in 1946 at Purton

Evelyn Mabel Collett [42Q8] was born at Purton on 22^nd March 1914, another child of Frederick Collett and Mabel Mears, whose birth was recorded at Thornbury register office (Ref. 6a 472) during the second quarter of that year. When she was very young, she remembers that her widowed grandfather, John Collett, came to live with her family at Purton. She left school at fourteen, at which time she entered domestic service in Bristol

During the spring of 1937, when Evelyn was 23, her marriage to Deric Albert Eastmead Nelmes was recorded at Bristol register office (Ref. 6a 321). Deric was born at Mobley, near Berkeley, on 16^th December 1914, and it was at Mobley that the couple lived most of their adult lives, following their move from Bristol where their daughter was born not long after their wedding

Evelyn Mabel Nelmes, nee Collett died in the later spring of 1997 with her death recorded at Stroud register office (Vol. 4871 51c) at the age of 83. For the last eight years of her life she was a widow, following the death of Deric Albert E Nelmes at Gloucestershire register office (Vol. 22 1670) in 1985

42R5 – Jean Maureen Nelmes was born in 1937 at Bristol

John Collett [42Q9], who was known as Junior, was born at Purton on 4^th September 1916, when he was named after his grandfather who was living with the family around the time of his birth. His birth was recorded at Thornbury register office (Ref. 6a 395) during the last three months of 1916, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Mears. He was the youngest son of Frederick James Collett and Mabel Mary Mears

John was very likely undergoing training with the army in Yorkshire when he met and married Lily Lena Spencer just months after the outbreak of the Second World War. It was at the Yorkshire register office in Thorne, near Doncaster, where their wedding was recorded (Ref. 6a 946) during the first month of 1940. Once married, they settled in the county of John’s birth, with their children’s births registered at Thornbury, when their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Spencer. After the war John worked at the Berkeley Nuclear Power Station, on construction of the gas circulators, ready for the official opening in 1962

As regards the couple’s two daughters, Margaret M Collett’s birth was recorded at Gloucestershire register office (Ref. 7b 896) in 1948, and the birth of Christine Collett was also recorded there (Ref. 7b 775) in 1950. On both occasions, their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Spencer

John and Lily lived in the Berkeley area during their lives together, and it was during 1991 that the death of John Collett was recorded at Gloucestershire register office (Vol. 22 2296) when he was around 75 years old. His slightly younger wife Lily Lena Collett, nee Spencer, who was born on 25^th March 1915, died four years earlier on 7^th April 1987, when her death was recorded at Gloucestershire register office (Vol. 22 2012). Afterwards her body was laid to rest in Berkeley Cemetery. Christine was 23 when she married Christopher S Watts, with their wedding day recorded at Thornbury register office (Ref. 7b 1296)

42R6 – Michael John Collett was born in 1941 at Berkeley

42R7 – Douglas J Collett was born in 1943 at Berkeley

42R8 – Margaret M Collett was born in 1948 at Berkeley

42R9 – Christine Collett was born in 1950 at Berkeley

Ruby Gertrude Collett [42Q10] was born at Purton on 31^st October 1924, with her birth recorded at Thornbury register office (Ref. 6a 372) when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Mears. She was the seventh and last child of Frederick and Mabel Collett. She was nineteen years of age when the marriage of Ruby Gertrude Collett and Ivor C Smart was recorded at Gloucestershire register office (Ref. 6a 547) during the last quarter of 1943. As the youngest child of the family, Ruby lived all her life at the home of her parents in Purton, where the couple’s two sons were born

42R10 – Barry Smart was born in 1950 at Purton

42R11 – Neil Smart was born in 1952 at Purton

John Lionel Collett [42R1] was born in 1925 at Bristol where his birth was registered (Ref. 6a 1) during the last three months of the year. He was the older of the two sons of Lionel Albert Collett and Kathleen Mary Blanch. Tragically, he was only 18 years of age when he was killed at Bayeux in France on 12^th August 1944. The record of his death during the Second World War stated he was born in November 1925. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission reported that John Lionel was born in 1926 (sic) and was the son of Lionel Albert and Kathleen Mary Collett of Henleaze in Bristol, who was buried at the Bayeux War Cemetery in Normandie. His military record described John Lionel Collett as a Private with the 2^nd Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, Service No. 14679124

Following his death, the Will of unmarried John Lionel Collett of Broadway Avenue in Henleaze, was proved at Bristol on 27^th June 1945 in favour of his father and next-of-kin, Lionel Arthur Collett, a colliery agent’s manager, when his estate was valued in the sum of £304 3 Shillings

42R2 – Peter N Collett was born in 1935 at Bristol and was the younger, and only surviving son of Lionel and Kathleen (Kitty) Collett. His birth, ten years after his older brother, who also did that same year, was recorded at Bristol register office (Ref. 6a 243) during the first three months of 1935. Peter was 23 when he married Sally Meluish in South Wales, with their wedding recorded at Pontypridd register office (Ref. 8b 1228) during the first three months of 1958. After returning to Bristol, it was there that their three sons were born when their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Meluish

42S1 – Timothy J Collett was born in 1959 at Bristol

42S2 – Stephen J Collett was born in 1962 at Bristol

42S3 – Andrew Peter Collett was born in 1966 at Bristol

Roy Collett [42R3] was born in 1935 at Wanswell with his birth recorded at Thornbury register office (Ref. 6a 378) during the second quarter of that year, the only child of Frederick Charles John Collett and Edna Annie Phelps. The birth register confirmed that his mother’s maiden-name was Phelps. It was also at Thornbury that the marriage of Roy Collett and (1) Shirley A Langford was recorded (Ref. 7b 1311) during the first quarter of 1961. That marriage lasted less than eight years when, in 1969 the married of Roy Collett and (2) Linda A Baker was also recorded at Thornbury register office (Ref. 7b 1513) during the second quarter of that year. No further record of Roy has been found in Great Britain after that time, including any children

It is interesting that the death of only one Roy Collett born in 1935, was only 33 when he suffered a premature death, with his passing recorded at Hertfordshire register office (Ref. 4b 374) during 1968

Philip R Collett [42R4] was the only known child of Hereward Edwin Collett and Annie Dorothy L Gainer, whose birth was recorded at Gloucestershire register office (Ref. 7b 946) in 1948, ten years after his parents were married in Stroud. Across three different legal documents his mother’s maiden-name was recorded as Gaines, Gainer, and Garner

Twenty-three years later, the marriage of Philip R Collett and Pamela M Price was recorded at Stroud register office (Ref. 7b 1065) during the second quarter of 1968. Tragically, the eldest of their two daughters did not survive, with the birth of Victoria Jayne recorded at Thornbury register office (Ref. 7b 2255) during the third quarter of 1971, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Price. It was at the registering of her infant death that same year when her date of birth was confirmed (as shown below), with the death of Victoria Jayne recorded at Gloucestershire register office (Ref. 7b 1229)

After that sad loss, Philip and Pamela moved into Gloucester City, where the birth of daughter Sharon Ann was recorded (Ref. 7b 1401) during the second quarter of 1973, when Price was confirmed as her mother’s maiden-name

42S4 – Victoria Jayne Collett was born on 30^th August 1971 at Thornbury

42S5 – Sharon Ann Collett was born in 1973 at Gloucester

Jean Maureen Nelmes [42R5] was born at Bristol on 19^th August 1937 around six months after her parent Evelyn Collett Deric Nelmes were married there. Her birth was recorded at Bristol register office (Ref. 6a 252) during the third quarter of that year. When she was very young, she moved with her parents from Bristol to the Mobley district of Berkeley where she grew up. After leaving school, as a young lady, she worked in the local grocer’s store as a clerk, before becoming a telephonist at Dursley telephone exchange

It was during the spring of 1974 that the marriage of Jean M Nelmes and Alan C Evans was recorded at Stroud register office (Vol. 22 1894). Alan Cedric Evans was born in London on 19^th May 1934. Shortly after daughter was born the family moved to Purton where Jean was still living when this family line was first produced. Their daughter’s birth was recorded at Gloucester register office (Vol. 22 1928) during the first three months of 1977

42S6 – Jeannie Clare Evans was born in 1977 at Gloucester

Michael John Collett [42R6] was born in 1941 at Berkeley, the eldest of the four children of John Collett and Lily Lena Spencer. His birth, like his brother Douglas (below), was recorded at Thornbury register office (Ref. 6a 513) during the first quarter of 1941, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Spencer.

Douglas J Collett [42R7] was born at Berkeley in Gloucestershire during 1943, the second of the four children of John Collett and Lily Lena Spencer from Yorkshire. His birth was recorded at Thornbury register office (Ref. 6a 475) during the third quarter of 1943, with his mother’s maiden-name confirmed as Spencer. It was also at Thornbury register office (Ref. 7b 1259) that the marriage of Douglas J Collett and Peggy E Bryant was recorded during the second quarter of 1966. It is established that the couple’s children were Peter in 1968, and Lesley in 1971, whose births were recorded at Thornbury, with Bryant confirmed as their mother’s maiden-name, although there were other Gloucestershire Collett children born around that same time whose mother was a Bryant

42S7 – Peter James Collett was born in 1968 at Thornbury (Ref. 7b 974) Qrt 2

42S8 – Lesley Jane Collett was born in 1971 at Thornbury (Ref. 7b 2123) Qrt 4

Nothing further is known about Douglas, except that on the CBS News website on 14^th September 2016 the following item was published regarding new research into the treatment of prostate cancer being undertaken at Oxford University, the same item including an interview with Douglas Collett from Cromhall in Gloucestershire

“Douglas Collett says his initial reaction to a prostate cancer diagnosis 'was to get rid of it.' But after reading up on the risks and benefits of surgery and radiation, he feels more men should be fully informed about the various strategies. Douglas Collett, a retired construction worker from Cromhall, said he was horrified when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. It hit me like a sledgehammer, the 73-year-old said. My initial reaction was to get rid of it. But after reading up on the risks and benefits of surgery and radiation, Collett said he was relieved to have been assigned to the monitoring group, and feels more men should be fully informed about the various strategies. Maybe the first option shouldn't be surgery or radiotherapy, he said. I'm quite happy to have avoided any of those side-effects. I feel just fine now so maybe I never needed anything else”

Barry Smart [42R10] was born at Purton around 1950. He married Valerie Hopkins and they lived at Cam within the Dursley area of South Gloucestershire. For the births of their three children, the mother’s maiden-name in each case was confirmed as Hopkins

42S9 – Melanie Smart was born in 1974 at Purton (recorded at Thornbury)

42S10 – Steven Barry Smart was born in 1975 (recorded at Stroud)

42S11 – Rachel Louise Smart was born in 1978 (recorded at Stroud)

Neil Smart [42R11] was born at Purton around 1952. He married Elizabeth Schlitching and they were living at Purton around 2008, where Neil continued to follow the family tradition by working at the Sharpness Docks. All four children were born at Purton

42S12 – Jason Smart was born in 1970 at Purton

42S13 – Richard Edward Smart was born in 1972 at Purton

42S14 – Laura Jane Smart was born in 1978 at Purton

42S15 – Leanne Francesca Smart was born in 1988 at Purton

Timothy J Collett [42S1] was born in 1959, the first-born of three sons of Peter N Collett and Sally Meluish whose birth was recorded at Bristol register office (Ref. 7b 36) during the second quarter of the year, when Meluish was confirmed as his mother’s maiden-name. It was also at Bristol that the marriage of Timothy J Collett and Karen J Atyes (?) was recorded in 1981 (Vol. 22 0211), although no birth of Karen has been located

Stephen J Collett [42S2] was born in 1962 and his birth was recorded at Bristol register office (Ref. 7b 39) during the third quarter of the year, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Meluish. He was around thirty-two years of age when the marriage of Stephen J Collett and Katherine J Chamberlain was recorded at Bristol register office (Vol. 301 0240) during the summer of 1994

Andrew Peter Collett [42S3] was born in 1966, the last of the three sons of Peter and Sally Collett whose birth was recorded at Bristol register office (Ref. 7b 126) at the start of the year, with Meluish confirmed as his mother’s maiden-name. Around the same time his brother Stephen was being married in Bristol, the marriage of Andrew Collett and Lynne M Mildren was recorded at nearby Sodbury register office (Vol. 304 0806) during the third quarter of 1994. Two years later Lynne gave birth to a son who was given the name Spencer John Collett, possibly a link back to John Collett [42Q9] whose wife’s surname was Spencer. The registration of his birth at Bristol confirmed his mother’s maiden-name was Mildren

42T1 – Spencer John Collett was born in 1996 at Bristol (Vol. 3011b b28c) Qrt 1

Jeannie Clare Evans [42S6] was born at Gloucester on 27^th January 1977 and, in 2008, she was working near Berkeley from where Jennie was working as a piano teacher

Jason Smart [42S12] was born at Purton, near Sharpness in 1970 and was still living in that area of South Gloucestershire, with his wife and child, when this family line was created after 2008

Richard Edward Smart [42S13] was born at Purton in 1972, with his birth recorded at Thornbury register office (Ref. 7b 2121) during the summer of that year. After he became a married man, he and his wife moved to live in Cyprus

Laura Jane Smart [42S14] was born at Purton in 1978 and she married Paul Salman in 2001. When this family line was created after 2008, Laura and Paul, with two sons, were living in Dursley area of South Gloucestershire

Appendix – Other Colletts from Tetbury and the surrounding area

(the following includes Collett and Collet variations)

William Collett [42m1] married Sarah Phelps on 29^th November 1807 at Westonbirt, three miles south-west of Tetbury. The first six of their known seven children were baptised at Sherston Magna, two miles south of Westonbirt, with the seventh child baptised at Westonbirt. By the time of the first national census in 1841 William Collet was 60 and his wife Sarah was 50, both rounded ages. Still living with them were four of their seven known children and they were Charles Collet 20, Susan Collet 15, Thomas Collet 12, and William Collet who was eight years old. That last entry on the census may indicate that the couple’s older son William, who would have been 17, had died before 1832

During the next decade William Collet died, leaving his widow Sarah Collet, who was 64 and receiving parish relief, still living within the Tetbury area in 1851. Living with her at Westonbirt was her youngest son William 19, together with her married son Thomas, his wife Hannah, and their son George. Ten years later in the census of 1861, Sarah Collett from Sherston was 73 and was living with widow and head of the household, Sarah Clements who was 72, at North Lodge in Westonbirt

Sarah Phelps was the daughter of William and Mary Phelps and was baptised at Sherston Magna on 29^th April 1787 and had reached the grand age of 83 by the time of the Westonbirt census of 1871 where, it is assumed, she died shortly thereafter

42n1 – Henry Collett was born in 1815

42n2 – Charles Collett was born in 1818

42n3 – George Collett was born in 1821

42n4 – William Collett was born in 1823

42n5 – Susanna Collett was born in 1826

42n6 – Thomas Collett was born in 1828

42n7 – William Collett was born in 1832

Henry Collett [42n1] was born around 1815 and was baptised at Sherston Magna in Wiltshire on 30^th April 1815, the eldest son of William and Sarah Collett. In 1841 just one Collett family was recorded living within the Tetbury registration area, and that was the family of Henry and Elizabeth Collett. Both were 25 years old, and living with them were their two children George Collett who was one-year old, and Emma Collet who was not yet twelve months old

Henry Collet was 35 and his wife Elizabeth was 36 by 1851. They were still living within the Tetbury registration district when their family comprised George Collet aged 11, Emma who was nine, Robert who was eight, Anne who was seven, Sarah who was five, and Aaron who was not yet one-year-old. Ten years after that, the Tetbury census of 1861 listed, Henry Collett as 46, Elizabeth as 47, and their five children as George Henry Collett 21, Annie Eliza Collett 16, Aaron Collett 11, Mary Collett who was eight, and Ellen Collett who was six years old. Daughters Emma and Sarah would have been 20 and 14 years old, while son Robert would have been 18, had they still been living with their family

In 1871 only their youngest daughter Ellen Collett was still living with Henry and Elizabeth. Henry was 56, Elizabeth was 57, and Ellen Collett was 16. During the 1870s Ellen left her parents’ home, but by 1881 the couple had seen the return of their unmarried son Robert. On that occasion Henry Collett was a farm servant of 65 years from Sherston in Wiltshire, who was living in a farm cottage in Westonbirt with his wife Elizabeth who was 67 and from Westonbirt, and their son Robert Collett who was another farm servant. His place of birth was confirmed as Westonbirt and he was 38 years old

Henry Collett died during the next decade, and so by 1891 Elizabeth at the age of 77 was widow. Still living with her at Westonbirt was her son Robert who was 48 by then and still a bachelor. Neither Elizabeth, nor her son, featured in the next census in March 1901

42o1 – George Henry Collett was born in 1838

42o2 – Emma Collett was born in 1840

42o3 – Robert Collett was born in 1842

42o4 – Anne Elizabeth Collett was born in 1844

42o5 – Sarah Collett was born in 1846

42o6 – Aaron Collett was born in 1849

42o7 – Mary Collett was born in 1852

Charles Collett [42n2] was born at Knockdown in Sherston around 1818, and was baptised at Sherston Magna on 19^th March 1820, the son of William and Sarah Collett. In the census for the Tetbury registration district in 1841, Charles Collett was 20 (a rounded age), when he was still living with his family. Three years later, Charles Collett married Elizabeth Smart who was already carrying his child, with their wedding day recorded at Tetbury (Ref. xi 449) during the first quarter of 1844. and by the end of March in 1851 the couple had three children. The Tetbury area census that year recorded Charles and his wife as both being 32, and their children as George Collett who was six, Eliza Collett who was five, and William who was two years old. For the first of three such occasions, Charles gave his birth place as Knockdown in Sherston

By 1861 a further five children had been added to the family at Tetbury, which comprised Charles Collett from Tetbury who was 42 and a carpenter, his wife Elizabeth Collett from Tetbury who was 43, and their seven surviving children. They were all born at Tetbury and were George Collett 16 and a carter, William Collett 12 and an agricultural labourer, Elizabeth Collett who was nine, Mary Collett who was seven, Sarah Collett who was five, Henry Collett who was three, and Thomas Collett who was under one-year-old. Prior to that census day, the couple’s eldest daughter Eliza had secured work as a housemaid in Tetbury, so was not far away when she was absent from the family in 1861

The family of Charles and Elizabeth Collett had reduced further in size by 1871, with more children having left the family home. On that occasion carpenter Charles, from Knockdown in Sherston, and his wife were both 52, while only three of their children were still with them, and they were Elizabeth Collett 19 and an out-of-work general labourer, Henry Collett 13 and an errand boy, and Thomas Collett who was ten and at school. By 1881 Charles Collett from Sherston was 61 and was still working as a carpenter, while he was living at Vales Cottages in Minchinhampton with his wife Elizabeth who was 62 and from Tetbury

The pair was still residing in Minchinhampton in 1891, where Charles aged 72 was continuing his work as a carpenter, when Elizabeth was also 72. After another decade Charles Collett was 82 in March 1901, although on that occasion he again gave his place of birth as Knockdown, Sherston. His wife Elizabeth Collett from Tetbury was 83, and the couple was still living in Minchinhampton at that time. Two years later, the death of Charles Collett aged 65, was recorded at Stroud register office (Ref. 6a 249) in 1903, when the informant of his passing estimated his age as 83. His last year was spent as a widower following the earlier death of his wife Elizabeth, whose passing was also recorded at Stroud (Ref. 6a 275) in 1902

42o9 – George Collett was born in 1844 at Tetbury

42o10 – Eliza Collett was born in 1846 at Tetbury

42o11 – William Collett was born in 1848 at Tetbury

42o12 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1851 at Tetbury

42o13 – Mary Collett was born in 1853 at Tetbury

42o14 – Sarah Collett was born in 1855 at Tetbury

42o15 – Henry Collett was born in 1857 at Tetbury

42o16 – Thomas Charles Collett was born in 1860 at Tetbury

George Collett [42n3] was born around 1821 and was baptised at Sherston Magna on 28^th April 1822, the son of William and Sarah Collett. No obvious record of George has been found in any census return, and he certainly was not living with his family in the Tetbury area in 1841 when he would have been 18

William Collett [42n4] was born around 1823 and was baptised at Sherston Magna on 28^th November 1824, the son of William and Sarah Collett. He would have been seven by the time of the census 1841, but was not listed with his family. Ten years later the family had a new William which very likely means that the couple’s first William had been the victim of an infant death

Susanna Collett [42n5] was born around 1826 and was baptised at Sherston Magna on 11^th March 1827, the eldest daughter of William and Sarah Collett. It was as Susan Collett that she was living with her family in 1841

Thomas Collett [42n6] was born around 1828 and was baptised at Sherston Magna 3^rd January 1830, the son of William and Sarah Collett. Thomas was 12 in 1841, and around the time he was twenty years old he married Hannah. By 1851 their marriage had produced the couple’s first child, and in the census that year Thomas Collett was 22 and a labourer, his wife Hannah from Wilsley (?) was 29, and their son George was only one-year old. The family was living at Westonbirt, at the home of Thomas’ mother Sarah Collett, and living with her was Thomas’ youngest brother William (below). No further record of Thomas or his family has been found after that time

42o17 – George Collett was born in 1850 at Westonbirt

William Collett [42n7] was born around 1832 and was baptised at Westonbirt on 9^th December 1832, the youngest child of William and Sarah Collett. He was eight years old in 1841 and 19 in 1851 when he was living with his widowed mother Sarah at Westonbirt. Also living with William and his mother was his brother Thomas (above) and his wife and their son George. At some time during the 1850s William married Ann who was eight years older than William and already had a daughter Eliza. By the time of the census in 1861, the two of them were living in the Tetbury area where William was 28 and Ann was 36. By that time Ann’s daughter was named as Eliza Collett aged 15

A few years later Ann presented William with a daughter of his own, when the family was living in the village of Leighterton three miles west of Tetbury. That was confirmed by the Leighterton census in 1871 when William Collet was 38, his wife Ann was 45, and their daughter Clara was five years old. On leaving school Clara Collett entered domestic service and by 1881, at the age of 15, she was employed by groom William Golding and his wife Louisa at nearby Oldbury-on-the-Hill, while her parents were still living at Boxwell-with-Leighterton (just Leighterton today)

William Collett from Westonbirt was an agricultural labourer at 46, while his wife Ann was 54 and from Pinkney near Sherston. During the next ten years William and Ann, left Leighterton and settled in the West Malmesbury area where they were recorded as living in 1891. By that time William was 58 and Ann was 64. No further record of the couple has been located after 1891

42o18 – Eliza Collett (adopted) was born in 1845

42o19 – Clara Collett was born in 1865 at Leighterton

George Henry Collett [42o1] was born at Westonbirt in 1839 where he was baptised on 20^th March 1840, the eldest child of Henry and Elizabeth Collett. His birth was registered at Tetbury (Ref. xi 397) during the last quarter of the year. It was as George Collett aged one year, and George Collet aged 11 that he appeared in the census returns for the Westonbirt in 1841 and 1851, where he was living with his family. At the time of the census in 1861 he was recorded as being 21 and was listed under his full name of George Henry Collett, while still living at Westonbirt with his family. Around four or five years later, George married Jane and, by 1871, their marriage had been blessed with their first two children

The two children had been born at Sherston to the west of Malmesbury, and it was there that the family was living in 1871, and where their next child was born a couple of years later. According to the census in 1871 George Henry Collett from Westonbirt was 30 and an agricultural labourer, his wife Jane Collett from Crudwell east of Tetbury was 28, their daughter Sarah Jane Collett was three, and their son Walter George Henry was one-year-old

Over the next ten years a further three children were added to the family, the last two after the family had moved from Sherston to Westonbirt. By 1881 the family living in a farm cottage at Westonbirt-with-Lasborough was made up as follows: George H Collett who was 41 and a farm servant from Westonbirt, his wife Jane who was 38 and from Crudwell, plus their five children. They were Sarah J Collett aged 13 and at school, as were Walter G Collett aged 11, Annie L Collett who was eight, Fanny E Collett who was six, and Albert A Collett who was two-years-old, the only one not attending school. After a further four years, Jane presented George with their last child while the family was still at Westonbirt

The Tetbury area census of 1891 indicated that the couple’s two eldest daughters, Sarah and Anne, had left home, perhaps to be married. The remaining members of the family at Westonbirt-with-Lasborough on that occasion comprised George Collett who was 51 and a farm bailiff, Jane who was 48, Walter 21, Fanny 16, Albert 12, and Edith who was five years old. Nine years later, when George Henry Collett was 61 years of age, he died at Lasborough near Tetbury on 9^th December 1900, when his death was recorded at Tetbury register office (Ref. 6a 234). The Will of George Henry Collett was proved at Gloucester on 23^rd February 1901 when Jane Collett was the sole beneficiary

Just one month later widow Jane Collett from Crudwell was 58 and living at Lasborough with her son Albert who was 22, and her daughter Edith who was 15. The place of birth for both children was confirmed as Westonbirt. Jane’s son was married during the following decade, and it was just her youngest child Edith who was still living with her at Lasborough in April 1911 when Jane was 68. Eight years later Edith was married and given away by her mother, while it was two years later that the death of Jane Collett was recorded at Gloucestershire register office (Ref. 6a 287) during 1921 when she was 78 years old

42p1 – Sarah Jane Collett was born in 1867 at Sherston

42p2 – Walter George Henry Collett was born in 1869 at Sherston

42p3 – Annie Louisa Collett was born in 1872 at Sherston

42p4 – Fanny E Collett was born in 1874 at Westonbirt

42p5 – Albert Arthur Collett was born in 1878 at Westonbirt

42p6 – Edith Mary Ellen Collett was born in 1885 at Westonbirt

Emma Collett [4202] was born at Westonbirt during the first five months of 1841, the eldest daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Collett. She was listed as being under one-year old in the June census of 1841 when she was one of two children living with her parents at Westonbirt. Ten years later she was nine years old, and ten years after that she was no longer living with her family by 1861. It was at Forthampton near Tewkesbury that Emma married Edward Clarke five years later in 1866. Edward was baptised there on 2^nd August 1846, the son of Edward Clarke and Dinah Dance

Over the following years Emma and Edward had six children, the first born at Westonbirt, the next three at Forthampton, and the last two at Chaceley, one mile south of Forthampton. The children were: Walter Clarke (born 1867); Arthur Clarke (baptised on 4^th April 1869); Annie Elizabeth Clarke (baptised on 31^st December 1871); Dinah Sarah Ellen Clarke (baptised on 9^th November 1873); Richard Clarke (baptised on 13^th August 1877); and Hubert Clarke (baptised on 24^th October 1880)

By 1881 the Clarke family was living at Brockeridge Common in Twyning, to the north of Tewkesbury. Edward from Forthampton was 35 and a bricklayer, his wife Emma was 39 and from Westonbirt, and living with them were five of their six children. Walter was 14 and had left school and was working as a labourer, Anne Elizabeth was nine, Dinah Sarah Ellen was seven, Richard was three years old, while baby Hubert was just eight months old. The missing children Arthur, who would have been 11, may have died during the 1870s

Robert Collett [42o3] was born at Westonbirt during 1842 where he was baptised on 25^th December 1842, the son of Henry and Elizabeth Collett. In 1851 he was eight years old and with his family at Westonbirt but then, on living school, Robert may have become a soldier as he only reappeared again in 1881. On that occasion he was unmarried and 38, when living with his elderly parents in a tied farm cottage in Westonbirt from where he was working as a farm servant with his father. With the death of his father in the following years, bachelor Robert, aged 48, was still living with his widowed mother in 1891. And that was the last record of Robert and his mother, who both must have died before the end of the century

Anne Elizabeth Collett [4204] was born at Westonbirt around 1844, the daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Collett, and was Anne Collett age seven in the Westonbirt census of 1851. It was in the census of 1861 that she was recorded as Annie Eliza Collett who was still living at the family’s home at 16

Sarah Collett [4205] was born at Westonbirt around 1846, the daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Collett, who was five years old in the Westonbirt census in 1851. Sarah would have been 15 in 1861, but by then she was not living with her parents

Aaron Collett [4206] was born at Westonbirt around 1850, the son of Henry and Elizabeth Collett, and was under one-year-old in the census of 1851. Ten years later Aaron was 11 and was still living with his family in Westonbirt

Mary Collett [42o7] was born at Westonbirt around 1852 and was the daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Collett, and was eight years old in 1861

Ellen Collett [42o8] was born at Westonbirt around 1854, the youngest child of Henry and Elizabeth Collett, and was six years of age in 1861. By 1871 Ellen was 16 and was the only child still living with her parents

George Collett [42o9] was born at Tetbury towards the end of 1844 and very likely a honeymoon baby, with his parents’ marriage conducted during the early months of the same year. Charles the eldest of the eight children of Charles Collett and Elizabeth Smart. His birth was registered at Tetbury (Ref. xi 440) during the last three months of 1844, and he was six years old and 16 years of age in the two census returns for the Tetbury area in 1851 and 1861, when he was living there with his family. It was at the end of the decade when the marriage of George Collett and (1) Mary Wood Truman was recorded at Stroud (Ref. 6a 569) during the summer of 1869. Mary was eight years older than George and may have been a widow, and by 1871 the childless couple had settled in the village of Woodchester where George Collett from Tetbury was 26 and a carpenter, and his wife Mary was 34 and born in Woodchester, who was a cloth maker

Sometime during the 1870 the couple left Woodchester, when they moved to nearby Bisley, where they were living in 1881. The census that year recorded George Collett from Tetbury as a carpenter and a joiner who was 36, when he was living at Bellevue Terrace in the village of Bisley, at the southern end of the Cotswolds. Living with him was his wife Mary Collett who was 44 and a seamstress from Woodchester, near Stonehouse. The couple was still there ten years later, when the census in 1891 confirmed that George Collett from Tetbury was 46 and still working as a carpenter and a joiner, and Mary W Collett was 54 and a tailoress

Sadly, six years after that census day, Mary Wood Collett, nee Truman, died at Bisley, when her death was recorded at Stroud register office (Ref. 6a 184) in 1897 at the age of 66. During the following year George Collett, widower, married (2) Lucy Gardiner of Bisley, with their wedding recorded at Stroud register office (Ref. 6a 663) in the summer of 1898

Once married, the couple left Bisley and moved the two miles south to settle in Chalford, where they were living in 1901. George Collett from Tetbury was 56 and his occupation was once again that of a carpenter. His wife Lucy Collett from Bisley was 52 without recording any job or work, but most likely was keeping the house which also had living there, Lucy’s elderly widowed mother, Charles’ mother-in-law, 81-year-old Elizabeth Gardiner, and his nephew Percy Gardiner aged 18 and a stick worker, both born at Bisley

Lucy’s mother died shortly after 1901, and during that same decade young Percy Gardiner became a married man and, together with his bride, were living at the Chalford home of carpenter and joiner George Collett aged 66 and from Tetbury, and Lucy Collett who was 62. Their nephew Percy Sidney Gardiner was 25 (sic) and a miller at a flour mill, with his wife being Maud Fanny Gardiner aged 25, three years younger than her husband

After a further eight years, the death of George Collett aged 74 was recorded at Stroud register office (Ref. 6a 358) in 1919. Fifteen years after losing her husband, the death of Lucy Collett, nee Gardiner, was recorded at Gloucestershire register office (Ref. 6a 393) during 1934

Eliza Collett [42o10] was born at Tetbury at the start of 1846, with her birth registered at Tetbury (Ref. xi 479). She was the eldest daughter of Charles and Elizabeth Collett who was five years old and living with her family at Tetbury in 1851. After completing her schooling, Eliza worked as a housemaid in the home of the Beggs family at Elmstree in Tetbury not far from where her family was living

William Collett [42o11] was born at Tetbury in 1848, the son of Charles and Elizabeth Collett, whose birth was registered at Tetbury (Ref. xi 436) during the last three months of the year. In the census of 1851 William of Tetbury was living there with his family at the age of two years, and ten years later he was 12 years old in 1861. At the end 1869 William became a married man around the same time his first child was born. The marriage of William Collett from Tetbury and Ann Parnell from Brokenborough (north of Malmesbury) was recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 94) during the last three months of that year. That was quickly followed by the birth of son George at Brokenborough, which was registered at Malmesbury during the first three months of 1870. One year later William and Ann, and their son, were settled in the village of Long Newnton, one mile east of Tetbury, when William Collett from Tetbury was 21 and a carter, his wife Ann Collett was 24, and their son George Collett was just one-year-old, both confirmed as born in Brokenborough in Wiltshire

It was during their years at Long Newnton, that the couple’s seven subsequent children were born. Long Newnton was also just one mile north of Brokenborough, and three miles from Malmesbury. According to the census conducted in 1881, William and his family were living at Pond Lodge in Long Newnton. William Collett from Tetbury was 32 and a carter and an agricultural labourer, and his wife Ann Collett from Brokenborough was 37. Their five children at that time were George Collett who was 11, Francis Collett who was eight, Fanny Collett who was five, Mary Collett who was three, and Kate Collett who was only two months old. The place of birth for the four younger children was recorded as Long Newnton

The final three children were added to the family during the 1880s but, by the time of the Long Newnton census in 1891, the three eldest children had left the family home to make their own way in the world. The remaining members of the family recorded at Ashley in Long Newnton in 1891, were: William who was 41 and a carter, Ann who was 47, Mary who was 13, Kate who was 10, Alice who was eight, Frederick who was six, and Sarah who was three years of age. The couple’s daughter Fanny was 15 and was living and working nearby

By March 1901 William Collett from Westonbirt (sic) was still living at Long Newnton with his wife and their two youngest children. William was 51 and was working as a carter on a farm, while his wife Ann from Brokenborough was 57. Their children were recorded as Frederick Collett who was 16 and a plough boy who was also working on the farm with his father, and Sarah Collett who was 13. Both children had been born at Long Newnton

Within the next ten years the couple’s son Frederick left the family home to be married, and by April 1911 the family was still living at Long Newnton where William Collett from Tetbury was 62 and a carter of an estate farm, Ann Collett from Brokenborough was 67, and unmarried daughter Sarah Collett from Long Newnton was 23 and was not credited with an occupation or job of work. No trace at all has been found of their son in the census of 1911. Four years after that census day, the death of Ann Collett, nee Parnell, was recorded at Tetbury register office (Ref. 6a 455) in 1915 when she was 71. The next thirteen years of widowed William Collett ended with his death, at the aged 79, being recorded at Gloucestershire register office (Ref. 6a 339) during 1928

42p7 – George Collett was born in 1870 at Brokenborough

42p8 – Francis William Collett was born in 1872 at Newnton

42p9 – Fanny Collett was born in 1875 at Long Newnton

42p10 – Mary Elizabeth Collett was born in 1877 at Long Newnton

42p11 – Kate Collett was born in 1881 at Long Newnton

42p12 – Alice Collett was born in 1882 at Long Newnton

42p13 – Frederick John Collett was born in 1884 at Long Newnton

42p14 – Sarah Collett was born in 1887 at Long Newnton

Elizabeth Collett [42o12] was born at Tetbury in the autumn of 1851, her birth registered at Tetbury (Ref. xi 451) during the fourth quarter of the year. It was there also that she was baptised on 2^nd November 1851, the daughter of Charles and Elizabeth Collett, with whom she was living at Tetbury in 1861 and 1871

Mary Collett [42o13] was born at Tetbury at the end of 1853, with her birth registered there (Ref. 6a 268) during the last three months of the year. She was baptised at Tetbury on 26^th December 1853, the daughter of Charles and Elizabeth Collett. She was seven years old in the Tetbury census of 1861, and by the time she was 17, she was a servant at the Hackney, London, home of customs gauger Hasting Scuse and his family

Sarah Collett [42o14] was born at Tetbury in 1855, where her birth was registered (Ref. 6a 277) during the summer of that year. It was also at Tetbury that she was baptised on 5^th December 1855, the daughter of Charles and Elizabeth Collett. She was five years old in the Tetbury census in 1861, but by 1871 she was recorded in the Stroud census, when Sarah Collett from Tetbury was 16 and a domestic servant and housemaid at the home of the Baxter family, a hop merchant. It was also at Stroud, nine years later, that the marriage of Sarah Collett and Robert Prescott, either at the end of 1879, or early in 1880, with their marriage recorded at Stroud (Ref. 6a 489) during the first quarter of 1880

On being married, Policeman Robert Prescott from Luccombe in Somerset took his wife to London, where they lived for the rest of their life and where they raised two daughters, Lydia Sarah Prescott and Mabel Elizabeth Prescott, who were born in Fulham. It was at Fulham where the childless couple was living in 1881 when Robert was a police constable. Ten years later, and with two daughters with them, they were living in Hackney, by with time Robert was a police sergeant. By 1901 Robert Prescott aged 47 was a police inspector who was living with his family back in the Fulham area of London, where three members of the family were again living in 1911. Robert Prescott from Luccombe was 57 and a retired police inspector, Sarah Prescott from Tetbury was 55, and Lydia Sarah Prescott was 28 and described as a vocalist. In the previous Fulham census in 1901, Lydia was a clerk-typist, when Mabel was a dressmaker

Henry Collett [42o15] was born at Tetbury in 1857 and was baptised there on 3^rd January 1858, the son of Charles and Elizabeth Collett. His birth was registered at Tetbury (Ref. 6a 277) during the last three months of 1857, where his premature death was also recorded (Ref. 6a 302) in 1875 when he was only 17 years old

Thomas Charles Collett [42o16] was born at Tetbury in 1860, where his birth was registered (Ref. 6a 285) during the third quarter of the year, after which he was baptised on 2^nd September 1860, the youngest child of Charles and Elizabeth Collett. He was only Thomas Collett aged around six months in 1861, and Thomas Collett aged ten in 1871, when living with his family at Tetbury, who tragically died age 19 in 1880, with his death recorded at Gloucester (Ref. 6a 162) using his full name of Thomas Charles Collett

Sarah Jane Collett [42p1] was born at Sherston in 1867 the eldest child of George Henry Collett and his wife Jane, when her birth was registered at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 45) during the second quarter of 1867. She was four years old in 1871 and ten years later, Sarah J Collett aged 13 was living in Westonbirt with her family. At some time in her young life, Sarah moved to London for work, and it was there at Paddington that she was living in 1891 at the age of 23

Walter George Henry Collett [42p2] was born at Sherston around 1869, the eldest son of George Henry and Jane Collett, who was one-year-old in 1871 when he was listed as Walter G Hy Collett. He was described as Walter G Collett aged 11 when he was living with his family at Westonbirt-with-Lasborough on the day of the census of 1881. Ten years later, Walter Collett was 21 and a farm servant who was still living with his family at Westonbirt-with-Lasborough. It was during the spring of 1895 that the marriage of Walter George Henry Collett and Elizabeth Ellen Allbut, from Worcester, was recorded at register office (Ref. 6a 650) during the second quarter of that year

Once married the couple settled at Bowldown Farm on Bowldown Road which runs between Westonbirt and Lasborough, where three children were born. However, by March in 1901, the family was recorded living at Beverston, one mile west of Tetbury, which could include Bowldown Farm. Walter Collett from Westonbirt was 31 and was described as superintending work on the farm. His wife Elizabeth from Worcester was 36, and their two children were Elsie Collett who was four, and Mark Collett who was one-year old. Elizabeth was very likely expecting the couple’s third child on the day of the census, since their second daughter was born later that year

Ten years later the family of five was recorded at Westonbirt-with-Lasborough, where Walter Collett of Westonbirt was 41 and a farm labourer, and his 45-year-old wife from Crome in Worcestershire was listed using her second christian name of Ellen Collett. By that time in 1911, Walter’s eldest daughter Elsie, had left the family home and was recorded at Sherston, where she was 14. The remaining two children with their parents that day were Frank Collett who was 11, and his sister Doris Collett who was nine, both attending school. Tragically, just three year later, the death of Walter George Henry Collett was recorded at Tetbury register office (Ref. 6a 424) in 1914 when he was recorded as being 44 years of age

42q1 – Elsie Edith Ellen Collett was born in 1896 at Bowldown Farm in Beverston

42q2 – Frank Walter George Collett was born in 1899 at Bowldown Farm in Beverston

42q3 – Doris Sarah L Collett was born in 1901 at Bowldown Farm in Beverston

Annie Louisa Collett [42p3] was born at Sherston in 1872, with her birth registered at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 49) during the fourth quarter of that year. She was eight years old in 1881 when she was living with her family at Westonbirt-with-Lasborough but had left the family home by 1891. On completing her education, Annie entered domestic servant and had moved to London by 1901. That year Annie L Collett from Westonbirt (sic) was 28, unmarried, and a domestic cook, one of several servants at a property in the Chelsea area of London

Fanny Elizabeth Collett [42p4] was born at Westonbirt on 31^st January 1875 after her parents had moved there from nearby Sherston, when her birth was registered at Tetbury (Ref. 6a 383) during the first three months of the year. It was as Fanny E Collett that she was living with her family at Westonbirt-with-Lasborough that she was six years old in 1881. Ten year later, and after she had finished her schooling, Fanny Collett was 16 and was continuing to live with her family in Westonbirt-with-Lasborough, from where she was employed as a general domestic servant. The marriage of Fanny Collett and Charles Edward Chappell was recorded at Tetbury register office (Ref. 6a 703) during the last quarter of 1898 who, by 1901 were recorded at Didmarton, to the west of Tetbury, where Fanny Chappell from Long Newnton (Tetbury) was 25 and living with Charles and their two children

Charles Chappell of Didmarton was 28 and a general agricultural labourer, who two children with Fanny were two-year-old Annie Chappell, and baby Kate Chappell, both born at Didmarton. Ten years after that, the family was again recorded at Didmarton when Charles Chappell from Oldbury in Gloucestershire was 39 and a shepherd, Fanny Chappell from Long Newnton was 35, married thirteen years earlier. By that time, Fanny had given birth to four children, all living, and they were Annie Chappell who was 12, Kate Chappell who was 10, Charles Chappell who was eight, and Mary Chappell who was four years old. Although all their married life appears to have been spent residing in Didmarton, all four children were recorded as born at Oldbury, the place of their father’s birth. One more child was added to their family, when the birth of John W Chappell was recorded at Tetbury register office (Ref. 6a 533) during the second quarter of 1917 with Collett confirmed as his mother’s maiden-name

The death of Fanny Chappell, nee Collett, who was born in 1875, was recorded at Cirencester register office (Ref. 7b 349) in 1947, when she was 72 years old

Albert Arthur Collett [42p5] was born at Westonbirt on 28^th July 1878, the son of George Henry and Jane Collett. His birth was registered at Tetbury (Ref. 6a 365) during the third quarter of the year. It was as Albert A Collett aged two years that he was recorded living with his family at Westonbirt-with Lasborough in 1881. He was still there ten years later in 1891 when he was 12. Just prior to the next census in 1901 Albert’s father died, with Albert being 22 and a carter, one of only two children living with his widowed mother Jane at Westonbirt, the other being his younger sister Edith (below)

Just over eight years after that census day, the marriage of Albert Arthur Collett and Florence Mary Hall was recorded at Tetbury register office (Ref. 6a 761) during the third quarter of 1909. The following year their son was born during August in 1910. By the time of the census in 1911, Albert Collett from Westonbirt was 32 and employed as a carter, and his wife Florence Collett from Leighterton was 29, when they were living at Westonbirt-with-Lasborough near Tetbury, when their son George Collett was eight months old and born at Westonbirt

Just under one year after that census, possibly at the end of 1911, their daughter was born at Westonbirt, with the birth of Mary B Collett recorded at Tetbury register office (Ref. 6a 670) during the first quarter of 1912. Many years later, the death of Albert Arthur Collett was recorded at Hampshire register office (Ref. 6b 708) in 1963 when he was 84 years old, after which his body was laid to rest with his late wife (see below) in the churchyard at St Mary-the-Virgin in Boxwell, near Leighterton, in Gloucestershire

As regards son George W Collett, his birth was recorded at Tetbury register office (Ref. 6a 354) during the third quarter of 1910, and his death was recorded at Gloucestershire register office (Ref. 7a 164) during 1954, when he was 43. His mother, Florence Mary Collett, nee Hall, was born on 1^st August 1881 and died on 20^th September 1956, and was buried in the churchyard at St Mary-the-Virgin in Boxwell, near Leighterton

42q4 – George W Collett was born in 1910 at Westonbirt-with-Lasborough

42q5 – Mary B Collett was born in 1912 at Westonbirt-with-Lasborough

Edith Mary Ellen Collett [42p6] was born at Westonbirt in 1885, the youngest child of George Henry and Jane Collett, whose birth was registered at Tetbury (Ref. 6a 372) during the second quarter of that year. She was five years old in 1891 when she was living with her family at Westonbirt-with-Lasborough but, with the death of her father in 1900, Edith and her brother Albert (above) were the only children still living with their widowed mother in 1901. The three of them were then living at Westonbirt where Edith was 15 years old, with no occupation, who was very likely helping her mother with household chores. When her brother left home to be married during the following years, Edith Collett from Westonbirt was still unmarried at the age of 25 and was the only member of the family living with her elderly mother in 1911

It was towards the end of the following year that Edith Mary Ellen Collett aged 26 and the daughter of George Collett, married Frank Rose, the son of James Rose, on 7^th December 1912 at Cheltenham, following the marriage notice published in the Gloucestershire Journal on 25^th November 1912, and the reading of banns at Westonbirt and Monmouth on 27^th October that year. It was at Tetbury register office (Ref. 6a 841) that their wedding was recorded during the last month of 1912

George Collett [42p7] was born at Brokenborough possibly at the end of 1869, or early in 1870, the eldest son of child of William Collett of Tetbury and his wife Ann from Brokenborough, who were married towards the end of 1869. His birth was registered at nearby Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 48) during the first quarter of 1870. He was one-year-old in 1871 Census having moved one mile north from Brokenborough to Long Newnton, where his parents settled, where all George’s younger siblings were born. It was there that George and his family were living in 1881, when their dwelling was Pond Lodge, where George was 11. By the time of the next census in 1891, George Collett from Brokenborough was 21 and a carpenter was living and working in Swindon with his brother Francis (below). Curiously, they were both described as nephews of head of the household Mark Lander aged 35 from Gloucestershire who was a bricklayer. Their relationship may have been through his wife Mary Lander from Wiltshire who was 42, and the mother of his two daughters Maud May Lander aged 12, and Ellen Amelia Lander who was 10

And it was while George was working in Swindon that he met his wife Eleanor Jane Holland, whose wedding was recorded at the Swindon Highworth register office (Ref. 5a 56) during the third quarter of 1892. Once married the couple moved to London, and it was in Battersea that they were living in March 1901. George Collett from Brokenborough was 31 and was working as a carpenter, while his wife Eleanor from Swindon was 30. No record has been found to suggest that George and Eleanor ever had any children, and it was just the two of them living together in Battersea in 1911, by which time George Collett from Brokenborough was 41 and employed by a hotel company, when Eleanor Jane Collett was 40 years old with no stated occupation, who had been married for eighteen years

George and Eleanor were still residing south of the River Thames when George died in 1943 at the age of 73, with his death recorded at Lambeth register office (Ref. 1d 153). Ten years after being made a widow, the death of Eleanor Jane Collett was recorded at London register office (Ref. 5c 18) in 1953 at the age of 82

Francis William Collett [42p8] was born at Long Newnton at the end of 1872, where he was baptised on 22^nd December 1872, when his family was living at Newnton Lower Lodge (Bishop’s Transcript). The birth of Francis William Collett was registered at Tetbury (Ref. 6a 367) during the first month of 1873, the second son of William and Ann Collett. It was as Francis Collett aged eight years that he was living with his family at Pond Lodge in Long Newnton during 1881. On leaving school, Francis joined with his brother George (above) when they moved to Swindon to seek work. And it was in Swindon, at the home of Mark Lander, that the two brothers were lodgers in 1891, when they were described as nephews. On that day. Francis Wm Collett was 18 and a riveter – possibly with the Great Western Railway. Towards the end of the year, Francis’ brother became a married man, and all three of them left Swindon for London

The census in 1901 confirmed the brothers were both living in the Battersea area where Francis Wm Collett from Long Newnton was 28 and was employed as a general labourer. Three years later, Francis William Collett married Catherine from Middlesbrough, although no record of their wedding has been found. That situation was confirmed in the census the following year when the family was residing in Fulham and Hammersmith area of London, where Francis William Collett from Long Newnton was 38 and a general labourer, when his wife of six years Catherine Collett from Middlesbrough was 34. Living there with them were their four children; Frederick John who was five and born at Battersea, as was Nellie Catherine who was three years old, Francis who was two and born at Hammersmith, and Annie who had been born after the family had settled in Fulham, who was six months old

Sons Frederick and Francis married siblings Martha and Amelia respectively from the Fulker family. Francis William Collett was in his eighties when he died in London, with his passing recorded at Middlesex register office, either in 1955 or 1960. More positive is the recording of the death of Catherine Collett born in 1877 (as 34 in 1911) which was recorded at Middlesex register office (Ref. 3a 225) in 1935 at the age of 58

42q6 – Frederick John Collett was born in 1905 at Battersea

42q7 – Nellie Catherine Collett was born in 1907 at Battersea

42q8 – Francis Collett was born in 1908 at Hammersmith

42q9 – Annie Collett was born in 1910 at Fulham

Fanny Collett [42p9] was born at Long Newnton in 1875 and was baptised there on 14^th November 1875 (Bishop’s Transcript), although her birth was not registered at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 43) until the second quarter of 1876. Her baptism record stated that her parents were residing at Lower Lodge in Long Newnton. In 1881 Fanny was five years of age and living with her family at Pond Lodge in Long Newnton, but sometime after that, she was taken ill. That was confirmed in the census for 1891 when Fanny Collett was 15 and a patient at Ashley, Long Newnton, where she was being cared for by the hospital matron. No further record of Fanny has been found

Mary Elizabeth Collett [42p10] was born at Long Newnton in 1877, the sixth child of William and Ann Collett, with her birth registered at Tetbury (Ref. 6a 369) during the first three months of the year. In 1881 and 1891 Mary was three years old and 13 years old respectively, when living at Pond Lodge with her family in Long Newnton, although by 1901 she had left the family home. In the census of 1911 unmarried Mary Elizabeth Collett from Long Newnton was 33 years old and was living at Pontypridd in Wales

Kate Collett [42p11] was born at Long Newnton near the end of 1880 with her birth registered at Tetbury (Ref. 6a 383) during the first quarter of 1881. Apart from her early life at home, the only other known fact about her is, that Kate Collett was married at Tetbury during the summer of 1903 (Ref. 6a 815) when the groom was either Alfred Dobson or Frederick Hayes. The doubt concerning which one was her husband is caused by Kate and her husband not being featured in the census of 1911, which time they appear to have left the country

Alice Collett [42p12] was born at Long Newnton in 1882, another daughter of William and Ann Collett, whose birth was her birth registered at Tetbury (Ref. 6a 360) during the third quarter of the year. She was eight years old in 1891 when living at Long Newnton with her family. It may have been the fact that her two eldest brothers were living in London at the end of the century that persuaded Alice to seek work in the city. According to the census in 1901, Alice Collett from Long Newnton was 19, and was working as a domestic housemaid with a family in the Westminster St James area of the city

Frederick John Collett [4213] was born at Long Newnton in 1884, when his birth was registered at Tetbury (Ref. 6a 354) during the last three months of the year. After being listed with his family in 1891 and 1901, it was during 1909 that Frederick John Collett died when his death was recorded at Tetbury register office (Ref. 6a 273) and was buried at Long Newnton on 30^th March 1909

Sarah Collett [42p14] was born in 1887 at Long Newnton, one mile east of Tetbury, with her birth registered at Tetbury (Ref. 6a 367) during the third quarter of the year. She was the eighth and last child of William and Ann Collett. At the time of the Long Newnton census in 1891 Sarah was three years and living with her parents at Ashley, Long Newnton. Ten years later in March 1901 she was 13, and was one of only two children still living there with her parents. By April 1911, and at the age of 23, Sarah Collett from Long Newnton was still living in the village of her birth when she was the only child still living there at the home of her elderly parents. Eight years later, the marriage of Sarah Collett and William R Underhill was recorded at Tetbury register office (Ref. 6a 691) during the first quarter of 1919

After two years together, Sarah present William with a daughter Gwendoline E Underhill, their only child, whose birth was recorded at Tetbury register office (Ref. 6a 6612) during the last quarter of 1921 when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett. Sarah appears to have lived all her life in the County of Gloucestershire, with her death as Sarah Underhill recorded there (Ref. 7b 429) in 1968 at the age of 80

Elsie Edith Ellen Collett [42q1] was the first-born child of Walter George Henry Collett and Elizabeth Ellen Allbut, and was born towards the end of 1896 at Bowldown Farm in Beverston, a village midway between Tetbury and Dursley. When her birth was registered at Tetbury register office (Ref. 6a 349) during the first quarter of 1897 her name was entered as Elsie Edith Ellen Collett. As simply Elsie Collett, she was four years of age in the Beverston census of 1901 when the family was still living at Bowldown Farm. However, on finishing school, Elsie entered domestic service and was working as a general domestic servant at the Sherston home of farmer Gilbert William Daniel of Tetbury and his sister Daisy, his housekeeper. On that day her employer recorded her using her full name, but adding that she was born at Westonbirt

Frank Walter George Collett [42q2] was born at Bowldown Farm in Beverston in 1899, with his birth recorded at Tetbury register office (Ref. 6a 393) during the third quarter of that year, the eldest son of Walter and Elizabeth Collett. Under his full name, he married Hilda Caldicot, when their wedding was recorded at Birmingham South register office (Ref. 6a 100) during the first three months of 1927. Their marriage produced a son for the couple, when the birth of Robert W Collett was recorded at Birmingham South register office (Ref. 6d 92) during the last quarter of 1930 when Caldicot was confirmed as his mother’s maiden-name

42r1 – Robert W Collett was born in 1930 at Birmingham

Doris Sarah L Collett [42q3] was born at Bowldown Farm in Beverston on 28^th December 1901, with her birth recorded at Tetbury register office (Ref. 6a 38) during the first quarter of 1902, the last child of Walter George Henry Collett and Elizabeth Ellen Allbut. It is possible that Doris followed her brother Frank (above) to Birmingham, where she remained as a single lady, with her later death recorded at Warwickshire register office (Vol. 32 714) in 1988 at the age of 86

Frederick John Collett [42q6] was born at Battersea on 28^th July 1905, the first of four children of Francis William Collett and his wife Catherine. His birth was recorded at Wandsworth register office (Ref. 1d 580) during the third quarter of the year. He was 23 years old when the marriage of Francis W Collett and Martha F Fulker was recorded at Fulham register office (Ref. 1a 674) during the fourth quarter of 1928. Eight years later, Frederick’s brother Francis (below) married Martha’s sister Amelia. The only children born to Collett/Fulker parents, were the three born to Francis and Amelia. All that is currently known about Frederick John is that he died in London in 1971 and the age of 66, when his death was recorded at London register office (Ref. 5b 895). His wife Martha Florence Collett, nee Fulker, died ten years later, with her death recorded at London register office (Vol. 12 0896) in 1981 when she was 75

Nellie Catherine Collett [42q7] was born at Battersea on 1^st August 1907, the second of four siblings, whose birth was recorded at Wandsworth register office (Ref. 1d 549) during the third quarter of the year. It was around the time she was celebrating her twentieth birthday when Nellie Catherine Collett married Cecil J E Dewberry, which was recorded at Fulham register office (Ref. 1a 867) during the summer of 1927. No record has been found to suggest they had any children. Cecil James Edward Dewberry was born at Richmond in Surrey on 7^th January 1907 and died in Sussex during 1988 when he was 81 years old (Vol. 18 1386). After three years as a widow, the death of Nellie Catherine Dewberry, nee Collett, was recorded at Sussex register office (Vol. 18 1572) in 1991, at the age of 84

Francis Collett [42q8] was born at Hammersmith towards the end of 1908, with his birth recorded at Fulham register office (Ref. 1a 240) during the first quarter of 1909. Francis married his sister-in-law Amelia Fulker, sister of Martha who married Francis’ older brother Frederick eight years early. And like his older brother, Francis and Amelia’s wedding was recorded at Fulham (Ref. 1a 769) during the last three months of 1936, and they had three daughters, with their births confirming their mother’s maiden-name as Fulker

42r2 – Yvonne K Collett was born in 1938 at Brentford register office (Ref. 3a 444) Qrt 1

42r3 – Janet Collett was born in 1941 at Brentford register office (Ref. 3a 499) Qrt 1

42r4 – Carole F Collett was born in 1949 at London register office (Ref. 5e 97)

Annie Collett [42q9] was born on 3^rd October 1910, the fourth and last children of and Catherine Collett. Her birth was recorded at Fulham register office (Ref. 1a 233) during the final three months of the year and was around six months old in the Fulham census the following year. An Annie Collett married John F Carpenter during the spring of 1936, which was recorded at Brentford register office (Ref. 3a 650) in the second quarter of the year

Their marriage produced two children, and they were Ann V Carpenter, her birth recorded at Staines register office (Ref. 3a 57) during the third quarter of 1937, and Linda J Carpenter, who birth was recorded at Middlesex register office (Ref. 3a 319) in 1944. The mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett for both births. The death of an Annie Carpenter was recorded at Cirencester register office (Vol. 4801 46d) in 2005 when she was 94. It has not been verified that she was the Annie born at Fulham