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Walter Collins and the Beet family

I am revisiting the site to see if any info has emerged since last year regarding Walter collins and my mother May Hackett. it seems I had been following the wrong grandmother and thought that Julia Collins parents were called Finn. i now know that she in fact was of the Collins/Atterbury clan. Julia went on to marry my grandfather Charles Hackett and lived in Cowper Street. I am still confused as to why the 1901 census shows that she was born in the USA. I think that Kate first married a Walter Collins as shown on the 1881 C and the after he died had George Atterbury as a lodger in 1891, then after that they all seemed to be called Collins! what a mix up.
Walter who died in 1937 appears to have been Julia's son but who was the father as there is no birth certificate? If any one has had their memory been jogged about all this and remembers my mum May I would love to hear.
many thanks,
JOF
 
These children and a gentleman named Collins are buried next to my grandparents in an old part of Witton Cemetery. I always look at the tombstone as it is so sad.


John Houghton said:
Can any one help with this request from
Joan Foster.

Hi John,

I am not sure whether you will be able to help me in my quest but here goes!

Do you know where or how I may be able to find anyone who lived in Gt Russell Street in 1937? I am interested to find someone who may remember a tragedy in this street in June of that year.

There was a house fire that killed 3 children of the family Beet and Walter Collins aged 30 who tried to rescue them but they all perished. It was reported in the Times and am sure it would have been in a local paper.

I live in York so have been unable to get down as yet to research it in the Library.

Walter was a relative of mine believed to have been my Mothers half brother; unfortunately no one is around to give me any info.

Walters birth entry apparently is a rogue one so I cannot even find out from that who his parents really were. He is somewhat of a mystery.

If anyone remembers him is there a way to contact through your site? This is a long shot I know.

Thank you, and I have really enjoyed looking at the site as most of my family lived in this area at one time.

Kind Regards,

Joan Foster.
Click to expand...
 
Have just come across this. My g grandparents Frederick & Ann Davis lived in Great Russell Street. He was a bicycle maker. Ann´s mother (my g grandmother) was Elizabeth Beet who married a Charles Price.
Have lots of family history on the Beet family as well as the Davises if anyone is interested.
Lots of the Beets were in the jewellery trade.
 
I am revisiting this site after a year or so break. I am still interested in finding anyone who remembers my gt Grandmother Julia Collins who married Charles Hackett.
My uncle Walter died in the house fire along with cousins (Beet). My mother was May Hackett and father Albert Vinning. Grandparents as far as i know lived in Summer Lane.
Gt Grandmother Kate collins lived with George Atterbury.
Walter was stated on previous thread as being in Fire service, he was in Army. The picture of him in uniform is Duke of Cornwalls Light Infantry, and I believe this is how my father Albert met my mother May as my father was also in the D.C.L.I's.
What I am researching now is when did Kate go to America to have Julia born there. Where was Walter born in 1906.
Any help greatly appreciated. When I first started this thread way back with help of John Houghton I was suprised at the number of replies and that Harry at last found his siblings grave. If I never discover anything else I am pleased that the thread has been of help.
Kind regards to all who are probably related to me albeit distant.
JOF.
 
gingerjon said:
Can any one help with this request from
Joan Foster.

Hi John,

I am not sure whether you will be able to help me in my quest but here goes!

Do you know where or how I may be able to find anyone who lived in Gt Russell Street in 1937? I am interested to find someone who may remember a tragedy in this street in June of that year.

There was a house fire that killed 3 children of the family Beet and Walter Collins aged 30 who tried to rescue them but they all perished. It was reported in the Times and am sure it would have been in a local paper.

I live in York so have been unable to get down as yet to research it in the Library.

Walter was a relative of mine believed to have been my Mothers half brother; unfortunately no one is around to give me any info.

Walters birth entry apparently is a rogue one so I cannot even find out from that who his parents really were. He is somewhat of a mystery.

If anyone remembers him is there a way to contact through your site? This is a long shot I know.

Thank you, and I have really enjoyed looking at the site as most of my family lived in this area at one time.

Kind Regards,

Joan Foster.
Click to expand...
Hello Joan,

On Friday 8 March 2019, I accidentally stumbled across your post dated 15 April 2009 concerning Walter Collins & Daisy, Alfred & Tom Beet who died in a house fire in Great Russell street in 1937. My mother, Irene Yeates (nae Beet) is the daughter of Alfred Beet (as shown aged 12 in 1901 census), his brother being Frank Beet the father of the children who died in the fire. My mother is now 98, I told her about your post & it appears she recalls the incident clearly, sadly however she does not recall Walter Collins who was clearly a very brave man. If we can be of any help (10 years later) please let me know.

Best regards
Peter Yeates
 
Yeatesy1 said:
Hello Joan,

On Friday 8 March 2019, I accidentally stumbled across your post dated 15 April 2009 concerning Walter Collins & Daisy, Alfred & Tom Beet who died in a house fire in Great Russell street in 1937. My mother, Irene Yeates (nae Beet) is the daughter of Alfred Beet (as shown aged 12 in 1901 census), his brother being Frank Beet the father of the children who died in the fire. My mother is now 98, I told her about your post & it appears she recalls the incident clearly, sadly however she does not recall Walter Collins who was clearly a very brave man. If we can be of any help (10 years later) please let me know.

Best regards
Peter Yeates
Click to expand...
I have seen the Beet children grave in Witton, it is very close to my grandparents.
 
An account of the tragedy from the Coventry Evening Telegraph 23 June 1937. A report appeared in many newspapers across the country. Viv.


FEA960FA-23F2-4478-A806-57F79B6C55EA.jpeg


And an account of the funeral from the Birmingham Daily Gazette. Utterly devastating. Viv.

30359DDA-26E5-4A70-B9FE-A0E42E85C75B.jpeg
586FA9E7-99AB-481D-8C5A-D223E40FCE96.jpeg
 
jof said:
Hi thank you to everyone who has replied to my request for info on Walter Collins. Walter as I have previously explained was apparantly my mothers half brother. i have the original photo of him in uniform as priinted in news paper. he was in the Duke of Cornwalls light Infantry. How lovely lt was to see the grave restored however i believe that his mother was Julia Collins and not Julian, as this was my grandmother unless anyone knows different? does anyone know my mother who was May Hackett, her mother was Julia Collins, she had been married to a william Pearce then to Charles hackett. My mother married Albert Vinning.
Click to expand...

hi jof i asked mikejee to scour the newspaper archives for the article which contained a photo of walter collins in his uniform but to no avail i believe it was in the birmingham post...if you are still looking in could you please post the photo if you still have it or if any other of our members can find it in the newspaper archives that would be very helpful...thanks for any help

lyn
 
Cookie55 said:
Thank you Astoness
Click to expand...

most welcome reg was happy to post the headstone for you....i know you have only recently re joined the forum after many years absence and are finding your way around again so if you need any help just give us a shout..

lyn
 
Hi this is really ironic and of course so sad but I have a bit of a back story too regarding this , my grandad and gran lived next door to them at this sad time Charles Henry Field and Hilda Field . I did a bit of digging on this and found also a piece in the sunday mercury about the tragedy and it stated that my he my grandad also tried to climb a ladder to get into the house to rescue the children but were beaten back by the ferocity of the flames and is mentioned in the paper which ive highlighted







1591897774451.png1591898635192.png
 
Reg Cook said:
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Hi, I am related to Julia Collins. From what I have found out Kate Pickering married Walter Collins they had two sons in this country they went to the US sometime after 1881 census, Julia and I think an Alice was born there. Both Walter Jno. and Alice died there, I think George Atterbury was living over there at the time, he is Kate's cousin by her sister Sarah. They came back to this country by the 1891 census. Walter senior either died there or here. George Atterbury moved in with Kate but I don't think they ever married, all the children they had were down as Collins but later when married had Atterbury as their fathers name. Julia I assume had Walter out of wedlock as he is down as a Collins. Not sure whether anyone is still on this thread, but this help. If Walter was trying to save his cousins, I assume the Beets must be related somehow.
 
hotpot said:
Hi, I am related to Julia Collins. From what I have found out Kate Pickering married Walter Collins they had two sons in this country they went to the US sometime after 1881 census, Julia and I think an Alice was born there. Both Walter Jno. and Alice died there, I think George Atterbury was living over there at the time, he is Kate's cousin by her sister Sarah. They came back to this country by the 1891 census. Walter senior either died there or here. George Atterbury moved in with Kate but I don't think they ever married, all the children they had were down as Collins but later when married had Atterbury as their fathers name. Julia I assume had Walter out of wedlock as he is down as a Collins. Not sure whether anyone is still on this thread, but this help. If Walter was trying to save his cousins, I assume the Beets must be related somehow.
Click to expand...
Tragic ...I dont know the people that you are referring to , i just know that my grandad was involved.
 
So, has the headstone (post #104) been carved incorrectly and it should say Walter beloved son of Julia rather than Julian?

Sad if it is.
 
I doubt it, maybe this one is the wrong family, but the Julia born in the USA is definitely related to me, the other poster mentioned her mother as May Hackett and reading the clip posted it mentions Walter Collins mother as Mrs Hackett? Somewhere all this is related but when you go back in time, people often lived with others and took their name even if it wasn't official. As there are few around now that know the truth very often it is guess work. But why would the clip mention a Mrs Hackett? page 5, 2nd article, 5 paragraph but the gave stone say different?
 
Julia Collins married Charles Hackett in 1919, Walter was out of wedlock so was a Collins, May was Walters half sister surname Hackett. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?
 
There was more than one Julia Collins around this time, both born in USA and both then living in Birmingham. Walter was a common name, so it maybe that two families are mixed up a bit. Tricky
 
Looks like it is probably the same family. Julia Collins married Charles Hackett after having at least 2 illegitimate children - Walter b1907 & George b1913 both registered as Collins no mmn. George is with Charles and Julia in 1921 and Julia's birthplace is listed as America.

The mother of the Beet children who died was Daisy Atterbury/Collins (also mentioned previously), Julia's half sister.

I think it is mentioned that Walter was a cousin to the Beet children, which the above would make him.

The other Julia Collins (born America) dies in 1911.
 
I didn't know about George born 1913, so it does sound like the same family, can't understand the gravestone being wrong unless it was put up a long time after, I see Daisy is on there so maybe it is a mistake. I think what threw me was someone mentioned about them coming from Ireland. Are you related to them all?
 
George was Julia's brother, so the child was named after him, Walter after her dad and May must be from the Hackett side of the family. No May's on Julia's side.
 
No I'm not related, just interested and then noticed the headstone. As you say it was possibly done after Frank's death (1952) by which time memories may have faded a little sadly.
 
Julia is related to me through her Mum, Kate Pickering, Kate's sister Caroline was my great grandmother
 
What I couldn't understand was that all Kate's children were put down as Collins and on the 1911 census George Atterbury (head) is also put down as a Collins, searched forever for a George Collins before I realised they had just never married. The children like Daisy on her wedding cert. put Atterbury as her surname and George Atterbury as her father. Seems they weren't to hot on checking actual stuff then.
 
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