Two Entrepreneurs Who Made Penarth Their Home (Part 1)
ARTICLES of GENERAL INTEREST
TWO ENTREPRENEURS WHO MADE PENARTH THEIR HOME (Part 1)
As part of my work in Barry library to process historical artifacts for the “Peoples Collection Wales” I came across an engineering drawing of a sewerage scheme for Penarth and west Cardiff proposed by a Mr John Kyte Collett. Unfortunately it is undated but appears from the context to be from the late 1800s. Text on the drawing says that JKC’s scheme is far superior to that being promoted by the Cardiff City Engineer.
The document intrigued me so I set out to find more about its author. From Internet and Ancestry searches using his unique name together with helpful staff at Cardiff’s Heritage Library in Cathays I was able to reveal a wealth of interesting information about him and his many and varied interests in matters of his time. The second entrepreneur is his nephew Fredrick Speed, about whom, more later.
JKC was born in Kilvert Street, Shepton Mallet in 1836. The 1841 census records that his mother Julia is the Head of Household as Robert his father had died in June 1838. Also mentioned in this record is his sister Ann Mary Collett born in 1831. What an impoverished start to life he must have had.
JKC won a place to Shepton Mallet Grammar School but he left at the age of 15 to work for a linen draper in Bristol. He then moved with his mother and sister to the Bute Town area of Cardiff in 1853 where together they established a grocery shop, and also had stalls in the Cardiff Market.
From such humble beginnings, JKC expanded his business interests and reputedly became a millionaire “provision factor and commission agent” and importer of foodstuffs from USA and Canada in partnership with a Mr Whitefield. This was at a time when Cardiff was growing exponentially and the business in the wholesale supply of foodstuffs thrived and made them wealthy. In 1872, and before fridges, he took out a patent “for an improved means of preserving and transporting butter”. Historical records show how the firm of Collett, Whitefield & Co (Cardiff) Ltd continued to grow in the second half of the 1800s.
In 1866 JKC married Sarah Ann Orledge Reeves (1840 – 1922) in Pilton Somerset and they had a daughter Florence Edith Jeffries Collett, born in 1875. Judging from the census records as to where the family were living, the business was obviously thriving: from Bute Town, to Canton, to (in the early 1900s) a 12 room mansion at 5 Beach Road, Penarth (Rose Mount) in the 1901 census.
His nephew Fredrick Speed was born in Shepton Mallet in 1846. The 1871 census records him living in Romilly Crescent, Cardiff, a lodger with a Julia Collett, i.e. JKC’s mother. He is a single man working as a carpenter. FS moved away from south Wales for a number of years, but in the mid 1880s his uncle enticed him back to exploit the potential for Penarth’s development after its connection to the Taff Vale Railway. More about FS in Part 2.
Amongst his many acts of philanthropy, JKC founded, substantially contributed funds and ran “The Children’s League of Peace and Goodwill”. As an adjunct to this, provided a sanctuary for adolescent girls who had migrated from the Valleys seeking work as domestic servants locally. There is some evidence that the League was eventually subsumed into The League of Nations which was being promoted contemporaneously by David Davies, 1st Baron Davies (1880 – 1944).
The firm of Collett, Whitefield & Co (Cardiff) Ltd is recorded in several trade directories of the era, viz;
- 1866 City and County Directory – Grocer and Commission Agent – Hope Street
- 1876 Mercer and Crocket’s Directory – Provision Merchant – Gladstone Street
- 1880 / 81 Butcher’s Cardiff Directory – Provision Merchant – stalls 161,164,165 in The Central Market and 235 Bute Street.
An article in a June 1919 edition of “Commercial Motor” gives an indication of the scope of the business which reads in part:
They use a 13 year old 3 ton Lacre chain driven lorry. The vehicle is sometimes seen fully laden with Caerphilly cheese. The lorry covers up to 400 miles per week. It frequently travels to Barry up to 3 times a day. Also the company uses a Garner 30 cwt lorry for deliveries within Cardiff covering about 300 miles a week
He never forgot his west country roots. In the early 1900s JKC donated land in Shepton Mallett to create a park because he had not been allowed to play there as a child. That area is still known as “Collett Park” Closer to home on Penarth Beach he provided for a children’s Paddling Pool which remained in use until the late 1950s.
From this photograph provided by Penarth Library, it is apparent that he was well regarded locally. It shows JKC being presented with a picture and a testimonial which (in part) reads:
To John Kyte Collett on his 91st Birthday. Penarth UDC desire to offer you, a highly esteemed and distinguished resident of the Town. We are proud to have you as a fellow citizen
In the 1921 census the 85 year old JKC is living at 2 Plymouth Road, Penarth (Sun Rise). JKC died on 16th October 1933 and in his will he left effects to the value of £1,211 (about £150,000 today – the balance from the “millionaire status” surely having been used for funding his philanthropic ventures and in financing his nephew’s enterprise): indeed a life well lived!
Tony Hodge