Arthur Henry Collett (18 April 1870 – 20 August 1930) was an Australian politician who served as Mayor of Parramatta from 1912 to 1913 and 1928 to 1930 in his second term. His second and last mayoral term came to a sudden end when he died, making him one of the few Mayors of Parramatta to die in office.

Biography

Collett was born in Mudgee during Colonial New South Wales. His father, Henry Collett, was an English soldier and came to Australia with one of the regiments. Later his father joined the Prisons Department and saw service at several New South Wales gaols. At the age of ten, Collett came to

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

with his widowed mother and younger brothers and sisters. He said he helped support his family by selling newspapers at

Parramatta Railway Station Parramatta railway station is a heritage-listed railway station located on the Main Western railway line, Main Western line, serving Parramatta in New South Wales, Australia. It is served by Sydney Trains' North Shore & Western Line, T1 Wester ...

. He attended Parramatta Public School. On leaving school he went to work at Hudson Bros carriage works at Clyde, where he remained for a few years. In 1895, he married Frances Maud Bailey at Parramatta and shortly afterwards entered the dairying business, though later on in his life he remarried to Georgina Eliza Sarah McDonald. At the time of his death, he had been conducting a dairy for 35 years. For many years he was a member of the Parramatta Licensing Board. Collett was appointed deputy sheriff at Parramatta three years before his death. For more than 20 years, he was secretary of the Dairymen's Association and when the recently established Milk Board came into being he was elected unopposed as the metropolitan representative. In February 1903, he was elected unopposed to Parramatta Council as a representative of Gore Ward and had sat continuously in the council for 27 years. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he worked on behalf of various patriotic funds. In Parramatta, there is a park named after him called "Collet Park" which opened in 1932 with a memorial dedicated to Collett. The tablet reads: ''Collett Park'' ''In memory of the late

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

A. H. Collett (Mayor)'' ''This tablet was unveiled by His Excellency Sir Philip Woolcott Game G.B.E, K.C.B., D.S.O

Governor of New South Wales The governor of New South Wales is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia, Governor-General of Australia at the national level, the governor ...

on the 1st Day of September, 1932''

References

External links

Arthur H Collett 1912-13, 1928-30 , Parramatta History and Heritage

Alderman Arthur Collett , Monument Australia

Arthur Henry Collett

12 Dec 1929 - COLLETT AGAIN - Trove

12 Feb 1913 - Parramatta's Mayor. - Trove

20 Aug 1930 - SUDDEN DEATH - Trove
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collett, Arthur 1870 births 1930 deaths Mayors and lord mayors of Parramatta

20th-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian public servants