Chapter 18.3: 

George Wyndham Elers (1864 - 1912)

3 generations between George Wyndham Elers and James Rupuha Elers

The lives of George Wyndham Elers and Ellen Maria Rowson

• George Wyndham Elers was the fifth child and third son of Carew Thomas Elers (1829-1870) and his wife Sarah Elers (nee Field) (1837-1868).

• George was born in June 1864 at Aston, Warwickshire.

• The 1871 Census shows George and his two older sisters, Sarah Elizabeth and Charlotte Louisa, were all living at the home of a Fanny Stevens.

• By this time both of the childrens’ parents were deceased so Fanny had obviously taken all the living members of the family into her care.

• All the living members that is, with the exception of their brother, Carew Thomas Elers, who was soon, in 1880, going to emigrate to New Zealand. 

• In the year of 1871, Carew was admitted to Christ’s Hospital to do his schooling (more about that in Chapter 19), which explains why he wasn’t living with his sisters.

• The 1881 England Census shows George was seventeen years old and was a lodger at the home of Walter and Clara Anderson at Calverly Road Aylesbury Cottage. He is listed as an Assistant Teacher.

• By the time of this 1881 Census, George’s older brother Carew had departed England and had settled in New Zealand (he arrived in New Zealand in June 1880).

• As can be seen below, George married Ellen Maria Rowson in July 1891 at Islington, Middlesex.

• Ellen was born in September 1872 in Pancras, London.

• At this time, it is difficult to ascertain Ellen's date of death.  The Elers / Kenny family tree in ancestry.com records that Ellen died in 1916 in Islington, Middlesex.

• This registration of deaths in the image below confirms 1916.

• However, in the 1911 Census, George declared himself a widower at that time. 

• The youngest child (George Henry Elers) of George and Ellen was born in 1909 so Ellen must have died somewhere between 1909 and 1911 (if we accept the 1911 Census information is correct about George being a widower). 

• George died in March 1912 in Steyning, West Sussex.

• According to the admission record of George and Ellen’s daughter Eleanor to Prospect Terrace School on 22 August 1898, the family lived at 11 Mecklenburg Square.

THE PROGENY OF GEORGE and ELLEN ELERS:

1. Eleanor Louise Elers (1892-1936):

• See her bio in “The lives of Eleanor Louise Elers and Albert Percy Porter” (Chapter 18.3.1)

2. George Wyndham Elers jnr (1893-1893):

• See his bio in “The life of George Wyndham Elers Jnr” (Chapter 18.3.2)

3. Leonora Elers (1903-1974):

• See her bio in “The lives of Leonora Elers and Alfred J. Dyer” (Chapter 18.3.3)

4. George Henry Elers (1909-1969):

• See his bio in The lives of George Henry Elers and Muriel Alice Jerrold” (Chapter 18.3.4)