Science in a Somerset Quaker community: Alfred Gillett (1814-1904) fossil collecting and kinship networks in and around Street

Abstract

• Alfred Gillett (1814-1904) was a son of John Gillett, a Langport shopkeeper, and his wife Martha, part of a complex network of families which formed the core of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in eastern and south-eastern Somerset. He went into trade as an ironmonger. In 1841 he became a partner in the business of Hannam and Gilbert in Yeovil, which was sold to John Petter in 1865 and eventually gave rise to Westland Aircraft Ltd. About 1869, Gillett retired to the village of Street, where had many relatives, notably amongst the Clark and Clothier families. He took over his deceased parents' home at Overleigh House and spent his time in horticulture and geology.