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Research in Other Countries => Australia => Australia Lookups completed => Topic started by: Lyn S on Saturday 27 February 10 15:46 GMT (UK)
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I hope someone can throw some light on this 'mystery'.
The following, rather confusing, information appears on the IGI:
Mary E COLLETT born about 1851 Louta Falla, Victoria, Monmouth, England.
In the 1861 UK Census, Mary Ellen and her parents are living in Chedworth, Gloucestershire, UK. Mary's place of birth is shown as 'Douta Galla, Victoria ?'
In the 1881 UK Census, Mary, who is now married to Richard HICKS, is shown as having been born in 'Chedworth, Glos.'
In the 1891 UK Census, by which time Mary Ellen is a Widow, her place of birth is shown as 'Australia, Melbourne'.
Is there a way of checking if Mary was, indeed, born in Australia?
If this is the case, would someone be able to throw some light on why her parents might have been in Australia at that time?
Her Father was shown as a Grocer and Bacon Factor in the 1861 UK Census. He and his Wife had at least six children (one born before Mary Ellen), all of whom were born in Gloucestershire.
Any help that can be offered would be much appreciated.
Lyn S
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Dear Lyn,
I can't tell if this is your Mary as it is a pay per view service, but there is a Mary Collett listed in the Victorian BDM's between 1845-1860. You can check here https://online.justice.vic.gov.au/bdm/index-search
Also, Doutta Galla is such an unusual name, and it is listed as a province in Victoria....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doutta_Galla_Province
With the Victoria BDM, you can pay a very small amount to see the details of the certificate before you purchase which enables some verification of family details.
Good luck
Siouxsie
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Lyn, if you post the names of Mary's parents, I can check the Victorian BDM for you. :)
Dee :)
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Hi Dee,
According to the 1861 census Mary Ellen's parents are John and Sarah COLLETT. Her brother Henry aged 13 (thus b abt 1848) has a birthplace which looks on the image as though it just might be Brunswick, with a question mark next to it so perhaps he, too, was born in Victoria?? That bp is indexed as 'Barnswick' but gives no English county with it which is unusual in my experience.
Judith
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Thanks for that Judith. :)
There's no Mary or Henry listed as born to a John Collet* and Sarah in Victoria in the time period under discussion. :-\
I also checked every Mary born with parents John and Sarah....no surname in the search engine, and nothing likely.
There is the possibility that the birth wasn't registered.
Dee :)
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If this is the case, would someone be able to throw some light on why her parents might have been in Australia at that time?
Hi there,
Gold Fever ....
Gold discovered in about 1851 in NSW .... http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/goldrush/
Eureka Stockade (Victoria) 1854 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_Stockade
Cheers, JM
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Hi Lyn :)
The birthplace of Henry on the 1861 census looks like "Bainswick" and because it's not followed by "Victoria" as Mary's birthplace is, I suspected that it was a local name...discovered there is a place in Gloucestershire called Painswick, and there is this birth showing on FreeBMD:
June qtr 1848
COLLETT, Henry - District: Stroud - Vol 11 Page 436
Stroud is the registration district for Painswick :)
Hope that helps somewhat :D
Cheers
Prue
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National Library digitised newspapers has these mentions:
http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/home
The Argus Monday 26 July 1852
A list of unclaimed letters shows Collett, J (I realise this is very vague but may be him)
Advertisment in The Argus, Monday 24 February 1853
If Charles CLINCH, Collingwood or John COLLETT, Douta Galla would wish to hear from friends in Engalnd they will send their address to William MORRIS, Post Office Melbourne.
Doutta Galla was an area of Melbourne near what is now Flemington, although it was also an early name for the settlement of Melbourne.
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Thanks to Siouxie, deeiluka, judb, Just Moi and PrueM for the very rapid response to my plea for help!
I apologise for not including Mary Ellen's parents' names with my initial query - thank you, Judith, for supplying the information.
As you say, Prue, Henry appears to have been born in Glos. I think that the question mark after his place of birth (which I also read as 'Painswick') may have been entered by a confused Enumerator, somewhat taken aback by the very unusual place of birth details offered for Mary Ellen!
The advertisement in The Argus (supplied by Judith) is very interesting and I will certainly be looking at the possibilty that the family may have remained in Australia for several years after the birth of Mary Ellen, particularly in view of the fact that the next child to be listed in the 1861 Census after Mary Ellen was John R COLLETT born 1856. His birth was registered in Northleach (Glos.).
Thanks again for all the help and information that will give me something more to go on!
Lyn S
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Hi,
If you read Brian Collet's amazing research into the Collett family. Easy to find on a search. You will see an extensive tree, going back to 1500s.
I have copied in part of it.
My partner is a Collett, and descended from the Chedworth Colletts.
Kind regards
Barbara
3N4
John Collett was born at Chedworth on 18.04.1822 and he was a grocer and mealman. During 1845 he married (1) Mary Ann Silk at Bristol and the following year their first child was born at Stonehouse near Stroud. The birth certificate for daughter Martha Ann Collett confirmed the child’s parents as grocer John Collett and Mary Ann Collett formerly Silk.
However, it seems very likely that Mary Ann died shortly after, since John’s second child was born at Stonehouse and baptised at nearby Painswick to parents John and Sarah Collett. It is established that John married Sarah Rowland at Cheltenham during the second quarter of 1855 and it therefore seems very likely that she was his third wife, and the second to be called Sarah.
It must therefore be assumed that, following the death of his first wife Mary Ann Silk, John Collett married (2) Sarah with whom he had two children. Not long after the birth of the first of these two children the family emigrated to Australia, and it was there that Sarah’s second child by John was born at Donta Galla in Victoria
Life may have been particularly hard for the settlers in those early pioneering days, and it would appear that John’s second wife Sarah died while the family was in Australia. This may have been the reason why John and his three young children returned to England between 1851 and 1854.
Once back in England, John and the family may have initially lived in Cheltenham where he married (3) Sarah Rowland between April and June in 1855, following which they settled in John’s home village of Chedworth. And it was at Chedworth that a further four children were added to the family.
Sarah Rowland (see Ref. 10M5) was John’s first cousin once removed, she being the niece of Mary Rowland who married Henry Collett who were the parents of this John Collett’s father Henry Collett (Ref. 2M21).
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Hello Barbara
Many thanks for letting me know about the COLLETT Family Research web page.
There is such a lot of information there to take in - I'll have to spend some time going through it.
With some invaluable help from a Rootschatter, I managed to find out a little more about Mary Ellen COLLETT and her Australian connection. Now, I need to see if there is anything more I can glean from the web page you alerted me to!
Many thanks - kind regards,
Lyn S