Cecil Sidney Christopher Cock-Collins

Birth certificate registers him as Cecil Sidney Hopecook (?) Collins. He was born in London (West Ham) when his parents were there visiting his paternal aunt, Emily Kate Collins, from Cape Town. (See Emily's profile for more information.)

"England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2F6R-CX8 : 1 October 2014), Cecil Sidney H Collins, 1904; from "England & Wales Births, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, West Ham, Essex, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England.

---

By the time he got married aged (just) 23, his name was registered on the certificate as Cecil Sydney Christopher Cock-Collins. (It is not known at what stage Hopecook got exchanged for Christopher, but all of his brothers' surnames were registered as Cock-Collins in South Africa.) The wedding witnesses were H.A. Armstrong (?) and H.J. (Henry John) Hart (Lucy's father).

---

Memories of daughter, Betty (Helen Elizabeth): "I believe my father was a wild and uncontrollable youth who abandoned schooling early - who nevertheless starred at sport and was the mainstay of the school’s rugby team. He played soccer for the Caledonians, and played for South Africa in Johannesburg (1924 or 1929? http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/football-south-africa-timeline-18...). He had a Gold Medal commemorating the event, but it has been lost.

I was born when my father was 23 years old, and this upset his family greatly. Being Scots [Cecil's maternal grandfather was a Scots migrant who married an English migrant], they were Presbyterians, and therefore pretty Puritan. What made this worse was that my mother was 30, and her family, although also good Rondebosch people, were staunch Church of England, and had been for generations."

---

Cecil ran a furniture dealing business at one stage, ran a "tea room" (cafe-restaurant) along with his wife Lucy at Muizenberg, called Arcadia, during the war years.

---

Death certificate lists occupation as "general dealer".
Grave photo here: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=135975446&PIp...

---

Updated from MyHeritage Family Trees via by SmartCopy: Nov 30 2015, 10:36:57 UTC

---