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Collet History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Collet History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
France

The Anglo-Saxon name Collet comes from the given name Nicholas. A common diminutive of the name Nicholas was Col and Ard was a Norman French suffix that meant son of. "William Colet was resident in Normandy 1180-95 (Mag. Rot. Scac.); Humphry and William Colet in 1198." 1

Alternatively, the name could have been an occupational name for a "colet, or acolyte, [one] who waited upon the priest and assisted in carrying the bread and wine, in lighting the candles, and performing all subordinate duties.' 2

Early Origins of the Collet family

The surname Collet was first found in Oxfordshire where "the Colletts of this county are mostly found in the Oxford district. The name of Collet was represented in Oddington in the reign of Elizabeth. In the 13th century Colet was an Oxfordshire, Shropshire, and a London name. The "colet" was the old English form of "acolyte," a church servant, and it is remarkable that, as a rule, the homes of the Colletts are, or have been, in the vicinity of ecclesiastical centres." 3

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 included: Colett de Sautre, Huntingdonshire; Walter Colet, Salop (Shropshire); and Dyonisia Colet, Oxfordshire and later the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 listed

Coleta Elot; Henricus Tayllour, et Collette uxor ejus; and Johannes Colet. 2

Early History of the Collet family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Collet research. Another 151 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1202, 1273, 1433, 1467, 1480, 1486, 1505 and 1519 are included under the topic Early Collet History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Collet Spelling Variations

Before the last few hundred years, the English language had no fast system of spelling rules. For that reason, spelling variations are commonly found in early Anglo-Saxon surnames. Over the years, many variations of the name Collet were recorded, including Collett, Colett, Collet, Coullet, Caullet, Cowlett, Cowllett, Colleyt, Coulett, Caulett, Caullett, Coullett, Collette, Colette, Collete and many more.

Early Notables of the Collet family

Notables of the family at this time include John Colet (1467-1519), a humanist and divine, a friend of Erasmus who helped bring the new learning to England. He was the Dean of St. Paul's, and founder of...
Another 37 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Collet Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Collet Ranking

In France, the name Collet is the 131^st most popular surname with an estimated 22,817 people with that name. 4

Collet migration to the United States +

To escape oppression and starvation at that time, many English families left for the "open frontiers" of the New World with all its perceived opportunities. In droves people migrated to the many British colonies, those in North America in particular, paying high rates for passages in cramped, unsafe ships. Although many of the settlers did not make the long passage alive, those who did see the shores of North America perceived great opportunities before them. Many of the families that came from England went on to make essential contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Research into various historical records revealed some of first members of the Collet family emigrate to North America:

Collet Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Jon, Collet Jr., who arrived in Virginia in 1653 5
Sam Collet, who arrived in Virginia in 1653 5
Jer Collet, who arrived in Virginia in 1653 5
Jon Collet, who landed in Virginia in 1654 5
John Collet, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1682 5
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Collet Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Michel Collet, who landed in New York in 1709 5
Abraham Collet, who landed in America in 1780 5

Collet Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Joseph Collet, aged 30, who landed in Missouri in 1846 5
Matthias Collet, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1846 5
Franz Collet, who arrived in America in 1853 5
Jean Pierre Collet, aged 41, who arrived in New York in 1854 5

Collet migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Collet Settlers in Canada in the 17th Century

Jeanne Collet, who landed in Montreal in 1668
Jean Collet, son of Nicolas and Marguerite, who married Jeanne Deschards, daughter of Pierre-Claude and Jeanne, in Montreal, Quebec on 16th February 1668 6
Jean Collet, son of Nicolas and Marguerite, who married Élisabeth Lefebvre, daughter of Pierre and Jeanne, in Batiscan, Quebec on 13th January 1687 6
Jean Collet, son of Nicolas and Marguerite, who married Marguerite Aubé, daughter of Jean and Marguerite, in Pointe-aux-Trembles, Quebec on 19th October 1688 6

Collet Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Mathieu-Benoit Collet, who married Élisabeth Denis in Quebec City in 1713
Mathieu-Benoit Collet, son of Benoit and Antoinette, who married Élisabeth Denis, daughter of Paul and Louise-Madeleine, in Quebec on 7th January 1713 6
Joseph Collet, son of Pierre-Joseph and Marguerite, who married Marie-Françoise Alard, daughter of Georges and Marie-Marguerite, in Charlesbourg, Quebec on 26th April 1728 6
Joseph Collet, who married Marie-Françoise Alard in 1728 in Charlesbourg, Quebec
Noel Collet, son of Pierre-Joseph and Marguerite, who married Marguerite Dorion, daughter of Pierre and Jeanne-Andrée, in Quebec on 21st November 1735 6
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Collet migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Collet Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mrs. Elizabeth Collet, (b. 1826), aged 32, British settler travelling from Gravesend aboard the ship "Indiana" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 28th November 1858 7
Mr. Samuel Collet, (b. 1832), aged 26, British carpenter travelling from Gravesend aboard the ship "Indiana" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 28th November 1858 7
Miss Amanda E. Collet, (b. 1853), aged 5, British settler travelling from Gravesend aboard the ship "Indiana" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 28th November 1858 7
Mr. Ernest Collet, (b. 1853), aged 5, British settler travelling from Gravesend aboard the ship "Indiana" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 28th November 1858 7
Mr. George Collet, (b. 1855), aged 3, British settler travelling from Gravesend aboard the ship "Indiana" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 28th November 1858 7

Contemporary Notables of the name Collet (post 1700) +

Christopher Collet (b. 1968), American actor
Sir Mark Collet (1816-1905), 1st Baronet, English merchant, banker and baronet
Mark Wilkes Collet (1826-1863), US Civil War officer
Sir Wilfred Collet KCMG (1856-1929), British colonial administrator
Philippe Collet (b. 1963), retired French pole vaulter
Robert Collet (b. 1948), French thoroughbred racehorse trainer
Cédric Collet (b. 1984), French football midfielder
Major-General Philibert Collet (1896-1945), French General Officer Commanding Pyrenees Frontier (1945) 8
Henri Collet (1885-1951), French composer and music critic
Montagu Collet Norman (1871-1950), English financier and governor of the Bank of England from 1920 to 1944, he was made the 1st Baron Norman of St. Clere in 1944

Citations +

The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Internoscia, Arthur E., and Claire Chevrier. Dictionnaire National des Canadiens Français 1608-1760. Vol. 1, Institut Drouin, 1958.
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
Generals of World War II. (Retrieved 2011, October 3) Philibert Collet. Retrieved from http://generals.dk/general/Collet/Philibert/France.html