William Truman Collett (1820 - 1879)

Born 22 Oct 1820 in Corsham, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Husband of Caroline (Rayner) Collett — married 13 Oct 1857 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Descendants

Died 5 Apr 1879 at age 58 in 'Mungerarie', Moruya, New South Wales, Australia

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Deborah Martin [send private message]

Biography

Birth William Truman Collett was born on 22 October 1820 at Corsham, Wiltshire, England. The Church of England Register of Baptisms for the Parish of Corsham shows he was baptized on 22 January 1821. His father’s occupation is listed as farmer. ^[1]

Parents William’s parents were Benjamin Collett (1792 – 1861) and Rebecca Collett nee Townsend (1794 – 1861). Benjamin and Rebecca married by licence on 22 June 1818 at Corsham, Wiltshire, England. ^[2].

Childhood William was the second of eight children. They grew up on Easton Farm at Corsham, Wiltshire, England. Corsham was a centre for agriculture, especially wool, and mining of Bath stone. His father Benjamin farmed at Easton Farm from 1819 to 1839; the farm was owned by Paul Methuen. ^[3]

Mary Eleanor Collett (Benjamin and Rebecca’s granddaughter) said that there was a terrible fire in the Collett home in Corsham with great loss and all the family except the two oldest children went to Canada. They would have been part of a great wave of immigration from Britain to Canada that occurred between 1815 and 1850. ^[4]

There was an auction of stock, hay and other implements on 20 February 1839 at Easton Farm “the property of Mr Collett quitting the farm” which suggests the fire occurred at some time before this date. ^[5]

Based on the items offered for auction in 1839, it appears that Easton Farm was primarily a dairy farm, with 16 dairy cows, 11 heifers, and a bull as well as horses and pigs listed for auction. Growing up, William would have learned useful skills for his new life in Australia as a farmer.

At the time of the 1841 census Benjamin and Rebecca Collett and their six younger children were living at Broughton Gifford in Wiltshire, a village about six miles south of Corsham^[6]. William had already left England for Australia, and their eldest daughter Sarah had married William Evers Newman in 1840.

Emigration William was the first member of the Collett family to come to Australia. He arrived in the colony on the 'Marquis of Hastings' on 4 February 1841 ^[7] . On the passenger list he is described as William Collett, aged 21, farm servant, Protestant, both reads and writes, born in Wiltshire ^[8].

Around 1851 William’s brother Benjamin Wood Collett (1826 – 1878) and his wife Margaret and children Benjamin and Elizabeth arrived in Australia from Canada via the UK. Possibly they arrived on the Asiatic, sailing from Plymouth on 16 March 1852 and arriving in Port Jackson on 10 July 1852 ^[9]

Their brother James Pierce Collett (1835 -1901) followed with their niece, Ellen Newman ^[10]. James and Ellen arrived on the ship Light of the Age travelling from London to Sydney and arriving on 19th January 1863 ^[9].

Benjamin and James also settled at Moruya.

Mungerarie William went to Moruya in July 1841 (five months after he arrived in the colony) and settled in the district at 'Mungerarie'. He purchased land from Gilbert Marjoribanks. Subsequently he acquired further land grants to form an estate of about 1000 acres. ^[11]. The land purchase was gazetted in the NSW Government Gazette of 1 February 1856 as 800 acres purchased on 24 July 1856, Part of Run called Monagerarie, purchased for 800 pounds^[12].

In 1847 William Truman Collett was granted 640 acres of land at Moruya for 160 pounds, described as:

“in the County of Dampier at Mungerarie in the District of Maneroo – commencing on the South bank of the River Moruya at the North West corner of a measured portion of six hundred and forty acres, and bounded on the East by part of the West boundary of the said six hundred and forty acres being a line bearing South seventy nine chains; on the South by a line bearing West twenty chains; on the West by a line bearing North eighty five changes to the River Moruya; and on the North by the South bank of that River Easterly to the North West corner of the six hundred and forty acres aforesaid.

Confirmation of this grant was gazetted on 9 March 1847 and described as:

“at Mungerarie, in the District of Maneroo, Commencing at the North East corner on the South bank of the River Moruya one chain, Westerly from the North West corner of Suburban Allotment number one, and bounded on the East by the West side of a Reserved Road one chain wide being a line bearing South twenty one chains eightly links; on the South by a line bearing West seventy nine chains; on the West by a line bearing North One hundred and six Chains to the River Moruya; and on the North by the South bank of that River Northerly and South Easterly to the North East corner aforesaid".

He is also listed has having another 160 acres at Maneroo ^[13]. Maneroo was the name of the coastal area south of the Moruya River down to Cape Howe.

In the 1850’s William built a home on the estate. Connie McDiarmid says “before building his home, which is still standing, he acquired what information he could from the local Aboriginals who assured him that the site he had chosen was a good one, well above any known flood”. Caroline Collett, Connie’s grandmother, told her “about a big flood in 1890, but the 1925 flood was about five feet higher and reached the verandah floor and was only inches off floor level in the house but started to fall then. The Aboriginal who was most helpful was named Wambunyah, and the creek now named after him is Wamban Creek.” It’s likely that Wambunyah was a member of the Yuin tribe which inhabited the Moruya area pre-settlement.

The house is described in Kiora Kith and Kin:

“The house had Oregon pine interior walls with 9 inch deep cedar skirting boards and thick cedar doors. The roof was made of shingles. It had a verandah along the front. The front door opened into a hallway which was 30 feet long. There were four rooms in the main part of the building, each one was 15 feet x 15 feet. In each of the ceiling centres was a rose which could be opened so that breezes could waft through the open windows and out the ceilings, keeping the house wonderfully cool in summer. The windows opening onto the verandah had wooden shutters…. These shutters could be closed and the windows left open to aid cooling. In winter the roses could be closed off to keep the house warmer. Thee was another verandah along the back with a kitchen on one end with an oven for baking bread which had been made out of packed ants’ nests. It also had an open fire and later a stove. There was another long L-shaped building, possibly added when the family grew, off the verandah with extra bedrooms opening off little landings. Off the last landing was a bathroom with an old fashioned hip bath.”^[11]

In 1871 Mungerarie was described in the Australian Town and Country Journal: “Mungeraree, the estate of W T Collett, Esq., J. P., a few miles from Moruya, consists of over 1000 acres, much of it really good land, suitable for pastoral and agricultural purposes. This year Mr Collett has placed over 200 acres under cultivation, with maize principally. Already growing arrowroot successfully, I was also glad to find that Mr Collett is one of those who are taking an active interest in the sugar industry, and possibly will, next year, have a quantity of cane fit for the mill. The arrowroot shown me was of excellent quality, and in such quantities that with a few others sufficient is grown to supply the district, and the storekeepers consequently do not now iport any.” ^[14]

William bought a suburban lot at Brulee on 18th February 1852.

On 19 September 1872 he registered a conditional purchase of 40 acres in the County of Dampier, Parish of Noorooma – forty acres commencing near a marked tree near Pooles’ path to Tilba Tilba then running East thence South thence West thence North to point of commencement about a mile South and West of Thomas Forster’s [illegible]. He paid a deposit of 20 pounds, with a balance of 60 pounds to pay. The next entry is a purchase of 40 acres by his nephew Benjamin Robert Collett.

On 26 September 1872 Willliam Truman Collett registered another conditional purchase of 40 acres in the County of Dampier, Parish of Noorooma – 40 acres adjoining and west of John Emmott’s ^[15]. Again he paid a deposit of 20 pounds, with a balance of 60 pounds to pay.

Marriage William married Caroline Rayner on 13 October 1857 at St James Church, Sydney ^[16][17] . Caroline’s older sister Jane Rayner had married Henry Clarke in 1847, and Henry was a neighbour of William, so it’s likely that William and Caroline met through this connection.

Children William and Caroline had ten children:

• Maria Jane Maud Collett born 16 July 1858, died 29 March 1942

• Hope Rebecca Collett born 26 January 1859, died 2 August 1927

• Amy Sarah Collett born 17 October 1861, died 1941

• Grace Ellen Collett born 12 July 1863, died 31 July 1947

• Alice Mary Collett born 19 June 1865, died 3 August 1919

• May Collett born 16 April 1867, died 1933

• William Rayner Collett born 3 February 1869, died 4 April 1927

• Ruth Collett born 2 July 1871, died 13 August 1919

• Walter Clarke Collett born 3 May 1874, died 2 December 1914

• Eva Florence Collett born 21 September 1876, died 22 April 1959.

All the children were born either at Mungerarie or in the district of Broulee.

Public life William was a considerable landholder in the Moruya area and lived there all his life ^[7]]. He was well-respected in the local community and held several public offices.

William was appointed a magistrate for Moruya on 26 October 1855, along with Henry Clarke and John McKeon. “Messrs Clarke and Collett were brothers-in-law, having married two daughters of that well known and respected gentleman, Mr Raynor, of Surry Hills, Sydney” ^[18]. The earliest record in the newspapers of William as a magistrate dates from 1856 and apparently he continued in this role until his death in 1879.

William was a member of the Moruya Church Society which was established in 1856 to raise funds for a church, finally completed in 1863. His wife Georgiana was a member of the Auxiliary Church Society which attempted and failed to raise sufficient funds for a pastor. At a land sale held at Moruya on 1 March 1861, William Truman Collett and Abraham Emmett purchased 2 acres 2 roods as trustees for the Church of England^[19].

William often participated in public meetings and sometimes chaired them. Meetings mentioned in newspapers of the time included: planning the 1859 Moruya Races; supporting the local Police Magistrate, Mr Caswell with a vote of confidence; improving the road between Araluen and Moruya; allocating relief funds to people left destitute by the 1860 flood; advocating for a proper harbour at Moruya Heads; erecting a monument to the late T S Mort on the Bodalla estate.

In 1859 William, along with Henry Clarke and John Hawdon, called a public meeting to induce investors into a crushing plant for gold found at Dwyers Creek. ^[20]

In 1865 he became a member of the Acclimatisation Society of NSW. The purpose of the society was to introduce exotic species of flora and fauna to Australia, for example, tobacco, sugar cane, sparrows and blackbirds.

Some few years before 1864 William had a schooner, the Hope, built for him by Captain Fletcher ^[21]. It was launched at Yarragee, on a bend of the Moruya River, but the river subsequently silted up with silt from the Araluen diggings and became too shallow to navigate.

In 1861 Henry Clarke appointed William Collett (his brother-in-law) and John Rayner (his father-in-law) as attorneys to act for him while he was absent from the colony ^[22]

In 1863 William was appointed to the Local Board for the Church of England School in Moruya. It’s likely William and Caroline’s children attended the Church of England School. In 1869 William was appointed to the Public School Board in Kiora. In 1871 there was still no public school in Moruya, just a Church of England School and a Roman Catholic School^[23]

In 1864 William judged a ploughing match and the first two prizes went to men from Mungerarie. With others in 1872 he established the Moruya Agricultural and Pastoral Society ^[7]. In 1877 William was one of the judges of vegetables at the Moruya Agricultural Show.

By 1873 William had been appointed as a Guardian of Minors, to give consent in cases of Marriages in the Colony, for the district of Broulee. He continued in this role for several years. ^[24]

Mining In 1861 a gold field adjoining Willliam’s estate attracted a rush of interest: “A rush has taken place to a spot near Kiora, about eight miles from Moruya, on the Wambanyan Creek, which is a tributary of the Burra. This place is adjoining to the estate of W T Collett Esq and the prospects that have been obtained betoken that a gold field of more than ordinary productiveness exists in the neighbourhood.” ^[25]

In 1862 there were reports of silver:

“Undoubted indications of silver have been discovered in the Wamban Creek (the incasing quartz in this instance being washed down from the hills) and at the estates of W T Collett and John Hawdon, Esqs. … The writer of this has just been assured that Mr Collett has determined on sinking a shaft or two on his estate of Mungeraree.” ^[26]

Floods 1860 Flood In 1860 the Illawarra Mercury reported on flood damage: “Several proprietors also have materially suffered in their property, independently of the reflex upon themselves of the damaged interests of their tenantry. The severest sufferer, perhaps, of this class is our deservedly popular magistrate, W T Collett, Esq., of Mungeraree, whose loss has been calculated at six hundred pounds.” ^[27]

1863 Great Flood at Moruya “Some of our neighbours have met with very great loss, Mr W T Collett appearing to be the chief sufferer. The river so long confided within narrow limits by the steep ranges bordering its course, swept with an irresisuble force over the open flats of Mungerarie, carrying the earth and tearing up the maize, destroying in a few moments the anxious tol of months. We learn that on the Mungerarie estate the riser of the water was within six feed of the limits attained by the fatal flood of three years back, and that large portions of the land will remain under water for a lengthened period. Mr W T Collett estimates his own loss at 600 pounds, besides the various serious loss sustained by Mr B Collett, whose farm adjoins, and by others on the property” ^[28]

March 1867 flood There was another flood in March 1867. “At Mungerarie the farmers do not appear to have sustained such severe injury, the potatoes being generally cleared, though much damage has been done to the corn and what remains of the potato crop. … in the matter of boats there seems to have been a great clearance of those belonging to Kiora and Mungerarie, amongst others the boat used for the Rev. D E Jones’s school, and that belonging to Mr W T Collett” ^[29]

April 1870 flood Another flood occurred in April 1870 “On the estate of W T Collett, Esq, who has had all his standing crops swept away, the tenants have sustained great loss …. The flood here was higher than it has ever been in former years” ^[30]

Death William died on 5 April 1879, at his home at ‘Mungerarie’, District of Moruya, NSW. The cause of death was a cerebral haemorrhage^[31].

Some insight into his life and into attitudes at that time and the circumstances of his death were set forth in the following article, written just after his death on 5th April 1879.

The Moruya Liberal, 9 April 1879: The hand of death has been busy in the district during the past few weeks. In this issue it is our painful duty to record the demise of the above gentleman, which took place at his residence on Saturday afternoon, the 5th inst. It is needless for us to say that when the sad intelligence arrived in Moruya, it fell like a pall as it were over the town, and became a topic of solemn conversation and deep commiseration. it would appear that the deceased had been ailing for some considerable time, and a short time since had a slight attack of apoplexy. He then placed himself under the medical care of Dr King and partly recovered from the shock - in fact was sufficiently strong to apply himself to business and attended the court last Tuesday week. On Saturday afternoon he and a portion of his family repaired to the river to pass an hour fishing. After being engaged in this amusement for some little time, the deceased complained of a numbness and paralysis of his left side, and told one of his daughters to procure assistance. The young lady at once complied with her dying father's request, but little dreaming at the time his dissolution was so near at hand. As soon as aid arrived, deceased was removed to his house, where he shortly afterwards expired. Dr King was summoned in all haste, but before he reached the place, Mr Collett was beyond human aid, having, to use a common platitude, stepped over the way to join the great majority. The late Mr Collett numbered among some of the oldest inhabitants in Moruya. he arrived in July 1841, thirty eight years ago, when the district was in its natural state, inhabited principally by hordes of savages. He was then a young, single man with nothing to recommend him but health and strength, and a willing heart to take to anything in the shape of honest labour to fight the battle of life. With that determination, he commenced on the Australian shores, and in a short time he made a home for himself at Mungerarie, where he resided for nearly thirty years.

Some twenty five years ago he was placed on the Commission of the Peace, a position he has honourably and efficiently filled.

The late Mr Collett had given considerable study to geology and minerology and only in last week's issue we referred to him as being one of the most competent to aid in gathering a collection of minerals for the forthcoming International Exhibition. But alas! man proposes, God disposes. The deceased was a native of wiltshire, England and was on the eve of sixty years. of age. He leaves a widow, children, and a large circle of friends to mourn their loss. His remains were interred in the Kiora Cemetery on Monday afternoon, and followed to the grave by a large concourse of people. ^[32][7]

Will William died intestate – surprising, for a man who was a magistrate – and his widow, Caroline, applied to the Supreme Court of NSW to be granted letters of administration for his estate.

Sources

1. ↑ Church of England Register of Baptisms for the Parish of Crosham, 22 January 1821, William Truman Collett
2. ↑ Register of Marriages, Parish of Corsham, County of Wiltshire, Collett - Townsend
3. ↑ History of Easton Farm, Corsham (unpublished, courtesy of Wiltshire Buildings Record)
4. ↑ Undated handwritten document Cousin Nellie Collett gave to Beatrice Eva Martin nee Collett
5. ↑ Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette, February 14 1839
6. ↑ UK 1841 Census
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3} , author, date and publisher unknown
8. ↑ New South Wales Australia Assisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1828 - 1896
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} New South Wales Australia, Unassisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1826 - 1922
10. ↑ Cousin Nellie Collett writing to Beatrice Eva Martin nee Collett, transcript of unpublished handwritten document in the collection of Deborah Martin
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Jurmann, Shirley, Kiora Kith and Kin, Moruya & District Historical Society, 2014
12. ↑ New South Wales Government Gazette, 1 February 1856
13. ↑ New South Wales, Australia, Land Grants, 1788 – 1963
14. ↑ Australian Town and Country Journal 21 October 1871
15. ↑ Selection at Tilba Tilba taken this 26 Sept 1872
16. ↑ Marriage Certificate of William Truman Collett and Caroline Rayner, reference 815/1857, New South Wales Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages
17. ↑ Marriage notice, Sydney Morning Herald, 21 October 1857
18. ↑ ex Senior Superintendent Brennan, ‘Looking Backward over Fifty Years’, Freeman’s Journal, 4 November 1909
19. ↑ NSW, Australia, Land Grants, 1788-1963 – Register of Conditional Purchases
20. ↑ Gibbney, H. J, Eurobodalla, History of the Moruya District
21. ↑ Empire, 7 October 1864
22. ↑ Sydney Morning Herald, 2 March 1861
23. ↑ Australian Town and Country Journal 14 October 1872
24. ↑ New South Wales, Australia Public Service Lists 1858-1960, Blue Book of New South Wales 1873 – Guardians of Minors
25. ↑ Freeman’s Journal, 7 August 1861
26. ↑ Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser 5 August 1862
27. ↑ Illawarra Mercury 2 March 1860
28. ↑ Sydney Morning Herald 26 February 1863
29. ↑ Sydney Morning Herald 2 April 1867
30. ↑ Goulburn Herald and Chronicle 9 April 1870
31. ↑ Death Certificate William Truman Collett 4709/1879 New South Wales Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages
32. ↑ The Moruya Liberal 9 April 1879

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