Newsletter No 4

Collier/Kemp/Gaucheron Gathering in City of London

I am very grateful to Iris Saich for her account of the Gathering of the Collier family with the Huguenot line via Thomas Collier (Kemp/Gaucheron).

Unfortunately Chris and I were too jet-lagged to go!

“I went, with my husband, on Saturday, and we arrived there about 11.30am.

Having signed in, we had a look around, and spoke to Doreen Furby, then a lady called Ruth ( How Cheen Kwun) to whom we gave some details and she said that she would put them on her website.

There were mostly Kemps and Gaucherons there, to start with, I think, but after we had had some lunch, Wendy Bennett, the organizer, took us to speak to someone called Glynda. We sat, for some time, going through the Collier people, and, gradually more people came and sat down, at different times, to join in.

Eventually I sat with Glynda and someone called Jane, and we had a really good chat, and were in deep discussion over James Collier, Thomas Collier, and in fact the other members of the family too.

Jane had heard, from her mother, that in the family, it was a known story, that way back, a son had been dis-inherited, due to the fact that he had married a servant. As most of the others were mentioned in the father's will, we thought it could be James.

I have found a marriage for James, and if this is the right James, he was the eldest child to William and Phoebe.

Glynda had a will written out by William , the father, and there was no mention of James on it. She said that she would send me a copy. I have been trying to find a will for William Delves Collier, to see if he left anything to his brother, James, but cannot find one, at the moment.

Some time, during the day, some of the people went for a walk, around the relevant places, of their research, and some went home, after that, but then more came, so there was a steady flow of people throughout the day.”

Iris has provided a series of photos that illustrates the day well:

Dirty Dicks, Bishopsgate, City of London

The Gathering!

A group close-up in which the lady in the middle, more or less, with the mauve coat on, is Ruth, and the lady, to the right of her, as we look at them, is Glynda, and the lady in the blue coat is Jane:

It would be marvellous if out of these new contacts we could settle who the parents were of James Collier, fatther of Charles Collier, Silk Weaver!

Colin Bower
24 October 2009

I may not have made the Gathering but I have worked in the office building where the photos were taken!