When the 1939 Register of the population was made, at the outbreak of World War Two, the vast majority of the adult population of Wickhamford were engaged in horticulture or agriculture.  One of the exceptions was Percival Saxby Dewey, who was living at 1 Manor Cottages, Wickhamford Lane, with his wife and small daughter, Jane.  He had married Elena Mary Relf in 1936 and their daughter, Jane, was born in November of that year.

Family Background

A settlement certificate dating back to 1789 has recently come to light in the loft of Badsey Vicarage.  This has now been placed in The Badsey Society Archive, but here is the story about the young couple whom it concerns.

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What is a Settlement Certificate?

In May 2023, Paul Foreman contacted the Badsey Society concerning his Knight ancestors.  Paul’s father, Malcolm Foreman (1931-2010), by the time of his death, had accumulated a vast amount of material relating to his mother, born Ada Knight in Badsey in 1898, and his aunt, Daisy Knight, 19 months younger, who had both been sent to an orphanage after the death of their mother.  Using documentary sources provided by the orphanage that the girls were sent to, combined with information from Badsey records, this is the story of Ada and Daisy Knight.

The surname Collett is a common name in Badsey records.  Ruby Collett, who is the subject of this article, was not from a Badsey family, having grown up in Huntingdonshire.  But, as she spent a number of her working years based in Evesham, she would undoubtedly have visited Badsey, Aldington and Wickhamford in her role as an inspector in the Ministry of Agriculture.  Thus, her story is told here of this pioneering woman.

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