Chapter 14: 

Peter Elers (1687-1753)

8 generations between Peter Elers and James Rupuha Elers

The lives of Peter Elers and Dorothy Elers (nee Carew)

• Dorothy was the fourth, and youngest child of Thomas Carew and his wife Mary (Heatly) Elers.

• She was baptised on 2 October 1684 at St. Martin Orgar and Saint Clement Eastcheap, London.

• She married Peter Elers on 7 May 1716 at St. Mary’s, Rotherhithe, Southwark, Surrey.

St Mary's Church

• Peter, son of Peter Elers and his wife Ann (Price) Elers, was baptised on 6 August 1687 at St George The Martyr, Southwark, Surrey.

• The record below is from the parish records at St. George The Martyr.

• He held the office of Justice of the Peace, Middlesex (many cases can be seen online where Peter was representing people in court).

• Peter became involved in the South Sea Company which would ultimately damage his financial wellbeing; some references say he was ruined. The UK national debt at this time was overcome with problems over financial speculation and its management. Certain government bonds could not be redeemed without the consent of the bondholder and had been issued when interest rates were high; consequently, each bond represented a long-term drain on public finances, as bonds were hardly ever redeemed. In 1719, the South Sea Company proposed to take over £31 million (three fifths) of the British national debt by exchanging government securities for stock in the company. The Company offered bribes to high-level public identities to support their plan. The Company enticed bondholders to convert their high-interest, irredeemable bonds to low interest, easily tradeable stocks by offering apparently preferential financial gains. Company prices rose rapidly, the shares had cost £128 on 1 January 1720, but were valued at £500 when the conversion scheme opened in May. On 24 June the price reached a peak of £1050. The Company’s success led to the speculative flotation of other companies, some of a bogus nature, and the government, in an attempt to suppress these schemes, and with the support of the Company, passed the Bubble Act. With the rise in the market now halted, uncontrolled selling began in August, which caused the stock to plummet to £150 by the end of September. Many individuals, including aristocrats, lost vast sums and some were completely ruined. 

• Various motivations have been suggested for the Act, including the South Sea Company itself wanting to prevent other bubbles from forming that might have decreased the intensity of its own, ie it was passed to prevent other companies from competing with the South Sea Company for investors’ capital.

• The rates book of 1751 shows that Peter Elers lived at Tudor House in 1751 only two years before his death.

Tudor House (sometimes known as Queens House), 16 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea

• Dorothy pre-deceased her husband when she died on 7 June 1727 and was buried in the southern cloisters of Westminster Abbey six days later.

• The record below pertaining to Dorothy, was sourced from the Westminster Abbey Registers (page 320).

• Peter died on 10 March 1753, and was buried alongside his wife in Westminster Abbey, ten days later. 

• The two-page will of Peter Elers is below. The script used at the time makes it difficult to write a transcription. The probate number is 11/801/106, dated 10 April 1753. The document is held by the National Archives, Kew.

• It would be desirable to find someone who can translate the script.

• Two points that can be gleaned are…….”desiring it (his body) may be deposited by the remains of my late dear wife in the cloisters of the Abbey, Church of St. Peter Westminster,” and he refers to “so many casualties and misfortunes that has attended me” (presumably a reference to the damage he suffered as a result of his involvement in the South Sea Company).

PROGENY OF PETER and DOROTHY ELERS

1. Ann Elers

• Ann was baptised on 30 May 1717 at St. Lukes, Chelsea.

• She married William Poston on 19 October 1745 at St. Stephen’s, Wallbrook, London.

• William paid a bond of £200 as part of the Bonds and Allegations process, on 14 October 1745.

• Ann died on 4 August 1759 at her husband’s home in Manor Street, Chelsea, and was buried in the southern cloisters of Westminster Abbey.

• Ann and William left no issue.

• The Westminster Abbey Registers state that Ann was the “only surviving dau. of Peter Elers”. I have been unable to find another child. It can be reasonably assumed that if another child did exist, then it died as a baby.

• In his will William directed that he be buried near his mother and his first wife in the churchyard of Edmonton, Middlesex.

2. George Elers

• See the bio for George in “The Lives of George Elers and Mary Charon” (chapter 15).