William Henri Colchester Mollett
William Henri Colchester Mollett
b 1/5/1848 1 Hanover Park, Peckham
m Caroline Margaret Smith 22/4/1871 Portslade, Sussex
d 8/10/1903 Homeopathic Hospital, Great Ormond St., London
Children
Wilfred John - 1872-1955
Frederick Lewis - 1873-1939
Harold John - 1875-?
Arthur Leonard - 1876-1903
Margarette Jane May - 1878-?
Elsie Fanny - 1880-?
Gerald Osmond Hubert - 1882-1917
Jessie Kathleen Gertrude - 1884-?
Winifred Mildred - 1886-1886
Dorothy Mildred - 1888-1930
Documentation
Birth certificate
Marriage certificate
Death certificate
Census for 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901
Birth certificate of Gerald
Will
Baptism records of most of the children and census and marriage records for some of them
Many thanks to Philip Mollett, another grandchild of William Henri, via his son Wilfred, for the portrait above. Previous to our recent contact I had no photos, so, as is my wont, had chosen a portrait to represent him as I saw him in my mind’s eye. Then out of the blue came Philip with an actual photograph. Somewhat older than my imagined picture, but maybe they could be the same person?
What I know for real is that he was the youngest child of a pretty well-off businessman. His life must have been relatively privileged, and he grew up to take up the profession of accountancy, though one census record has his profession as stockbroker. A pretty ordinary representative of the Victorian middle-class I feel. A true Victorian too - his life almost mirrored the reign of Queen Victoria. But he looks genial enough in this photograph.
I am hoping that I will find out a little more. In the meantime click on the links below to see what I have made so far of the facts I have been able to gather.
William
origins
An extremely common name in the 19th century. It is apparently Teutonic in origin meaning will and resolve, but was taken to England by the Normans as Guillaume. His father had a brother called William.
variations
Guillaume, Gwilym, Wilhelm
abbreviations
Bill, Will, Wills is a current version.
Henri
origins
Yes the French spelling. We got quite excited about this, but I think it is probably more to do with romantic family notions of Huguenot ancestry rather than reality. Henri is, of course, the French form of Henry, which is Teutonic and means house ruler. Like William it is another royal name.
variants
Henry, Enrico, Heinrich
abbreviations
Hal, Harry, Hank
Colchester
origins
We discovered that his father had a business associate with the surname Colchester, so assume that this is where it comes from. Colchester is the county town of Essex.