James Rupuha Elers - Who was his birth father?

An introduction

Who was the father of James Rupuha Elers, born in Masterton in 1906 to Elizabeth Matangihau Elers?

James is the grandfather of myself (Tony Elers) and Riria “Missy” Himona who are 1st cousins.

James’ father is said to have been one of two men: George Henry (Harry) Waite or Stephen Broughton. Uncle Pani Himona had told me that Harry Waite was the father, so the Elers family has accepted his word as being correct. Conversely, the Broughton family in the Wairarapa apparently is of the opinion that Stephen Broughton was the father. There is an entry in Find A Grave that Elizabeth and Stephen married in 1910 and were divorced sometime later before her death in 1914. I can find no official records to verify either the marriage or the divorce. Her death certificate does state however that she died unmarried.

A lot of assertions in Find A Grave I have tended to ignore as they more often than not lack any form of official documentation to back them up.

Riria has recently been connected via an ancestry.com dna test, to Karen Martha Pickford. Riria found this by seeing her name on Karen’s family tree. Karen explained to me that her relationship with Harry Waite was via her great great grandmother, who was a sister to Harry’s mother, Julia Robottom.

The following report was written by David De Maine of Napier, an expert on matters pertaining to dna interpretation. He concludes that George Henry (Harry) Waite was the father of James Rupuha Elers.

David De Maine's Report

I have built a family tree and it would appear that Karen and Riria are 4th cousins. They share 17cM. by extension Tony would also be Karen’s 4th cousin.

The paper trail shows Karen and Riria are 4th cousins and share 17cm. Does the amount of shared cM (centiMorgans) match the 4th cousin relationships?

From DNA Painter 17cM can be one of the following relationships.

The histogram on the following page shows there were 579 submissions for 17cM being a 4th cousin relationship.

4th cousins share on average 35cM, but this can range from 0cM to 139cM.

This is why Riria is a DNA match to Karen, and you are not Tony.

These statistics have been gathered from a citizen science project in the USA organized by Blaine Bettinger a respected genealogist – people worldwide reported the amount of shared DNA for a confirmed relationship. The results were incorporated into a tool (called the Shared cM tool) developed by Jonny Perl an English genealogist and software developer. 

Hence the 579 submissions for 17cm as below.

The only matter to resolve is:

Were Harry Waite and Elizabeth Matangihau Elers in the right place at the right time for James to be conceived? We are looking at early – mid November 1905. Matangihau lived in Masterton and Harry in Napier. This needs to be resolved. Can it be proved they were in the same place?

In the 1905 – 1906 electoral rolls Harry was living in Battery Road Napier. Occupation Clerk.

Yes, Rita married James Colin Bell 24th June 1939. James died overseas on the 5th of February 1943 while attached to the RAF. He enlisted 1st April 1942 and was living in Hamilton at the time.

Did they have any children in the three years that they were married? Yes, Yvonne Margaret Louise Bell was born in 1940. Her birth was registered in the 2nd quarter 1940 in Hamilton. Hamilton was where James and Rita were living. 

In 1945 Rita married Grant James McGregor Smith. He died in late 1952. At the time Grant made his will in August 1952, Grant and Rita were separated. They filed for divorce in 1952 at the Gisborne High Court. Grounds for divorce appears to be adultery as Robert Phillips is named in the petition.

In part Grant’s last will states

The other half of his income was left to his niece. No children of Grant and Rita are mentioned. The will was made in November 1952. They were together for 7 years.

Did Rita marry for a 3rd time? Yes she did, marrying Robert Spence Haworth (Have not located a marriage record but when Rita died in 2011 the following notice appeared in the Hawkes Bay Today dated 13th August 2011. 

“Haworth Rita Julia – Passed away peacefully at Summerset in the Bay, Napier on August 12th  2011 aged 97 years. 

Loved wife of the late Robert and mother and mother-in-law of Yvonne and Dennis Whittle. Dearly loved Nana of Bridget, Linda and Michelle & great grandmother of her seven great grandchildren.

Beth Shan Funeral Directors”

Robert had died the previous year on the 31st  of May 2010 at Hampton Court, Napier. In part his funeral notice said

“Loved stepfather and Father-in-law of Yvonne and Dennis Whittle”

Yvonne was the only child of Rita and Colin Bell. Her only other child was a son Keith to her third husband Robert Spence Haworth.

I located Yvonne Margaret Louise Whittle and Dennis Frederick George Whittle in the 2010 electoral roll living at 54 Squire Drive Napier. The house was sold in 2016. 

Following this I found a death notice for Dennis Frederick George Whittle who had passed away August 12, 2015, at home.

Information taken from the Birth and Marriage microfiche held at Taradale library

Yvonne Margaret Louise Bell married George Dennis Carolin 1959 

The following children were born

• Bridget Ann Carolin 1960 Birth registered Lower Hutt

• Linda Marie Carolin 1963 Birth registered Lower Hutt

• Michelle Beth Carolin 1965 Birth registered Lower Hutt

A search of the 2023 electoral roll for Napier 

• Yvonne Margaret Louise Whittle living at Unit 57 145 Battery Road Napier. (I believe this is the Princess Alexandra Retirement Village.) She will be aged 83/84. Occupation Retired.

• Bridget Ann Carolin living at 1/15 Laurent Place, Greenmeadows, Napier.  Bridget will be 63/64. Occupation Barista.

• Linda Marie Carolin – last reference I can find for Linda is the 1987 electoral roll when she was a student in Dunedin North. It is possible that she married but the microfiche only goes up until 1990 and there were no marriages that I could find for the Carolin sisters. There is a Linda Marie Carolin who has been a sole trader since 2002 and living in Western Australia. Postcode indicates the business is in Perth.

• Michelle Beth Carolin was living in Whitby, in the Wellington area in 2010 and her occupation is Housewife. 

It appears she has retained her maiden name. Michelle with Stephen Peter Head are living at 50 Youngson Road, Tauranga.

Conclusions

I have been unable to establish how Stephen Broughton may be the father of James without further details from the Broughton whanau about Stephen (I cannot locate a Stephen Broughton) as to how they have arrived at this conclusion.

Some trees at MyHeritage suggest that Stephen Broughton may be the father of James. 

Whilst I have not been able to resolve the question was George Henry Waite in the right place at the right time it appears that through dna connections alone, he is possibly the father of James Rupuha Elers.

This would also confirm the family story/rumour that he was. 

Recommendation

Because the match is only 17cM with Karen Martha Pickford I believe that you need to consider approaching either Yvonne Whittle or one of her daughters to see if they are prepared to take a DNA test. If they do and they are a DNA match to you then I have outlined their possible relationship to you (and Riria) on the next page.

This of course would then give you definitive proof that George Henry (Harry) Waite was your great grandfather or not. 

Results of DNA Test for Yvonne Whittle

Email to David (DNA Specialist)

Subject: YVONNE WHITTLE DNA

 Good morning David

As discussed this morning, here are our matches with Yvonne.

All of them are my nephews/ nieces except Gabby Stewart who is my 1st cousin and of course Tony William Elers is me. All these names are listed on Yvonne's DNA report

 All are listed as 2nd-3rd cousins to Yvonne

All are 2% shared DNA except lpw_elers (3%)

All are listed as parent 1's side: 

• • • • • • • • • lpw_elers 188cM.

                • Gabbystewart48  172cM

                • Te Irimanuka Adams  168cM

                • Betty Hamlin  168cM

                • Cruznhepi  152cM

                • Tony William Elers  128cM

                • Riria Kauone  110cM

I would appreciate your expert opinion on this data please.

 Regards

Tony Elers

Conclusion

Preparatory work:

As recommended by David De Maine, I (Tony Elers) travelled to Tauranga to meet Michelle Carolin (great granddaughter of Harry Waite) in the hope of securing her approval to do a DNA test.

Although Michelle was agreeable to doing so, she suggested it may be a better idea to ask her mother Yvonne to do a test, as she is one generation closer to Harry Waite.

Yvonne agreed to participate, and arrangements were made for me to visit her in Napier once a DNA kit was received. The test was done and the sample sent to USA for analysis.

Whilst we awaited the result to be received, cousin Steve Elers found a piece of evidence that David De Maine said was important for our mission to prove James’ father was Harry Waite. 

The Hukarere Girls’ School was, in the early 1900’s, situated on what is now known as Bluff Hill Napier. The 1905 school roll reveals Elizabeth and her sister Ethel had left Masterton and were attending Hukarere in that year. And, as can be seen in David’s report, the 1905-06 Electoral Roll showed Harry Waite was living in Battery Road Napier. That road continues to exist to this day and is situated at the foot of Bluff Hill!

So we had proved Matangihau and Harry were both in Napier at the time of the conception of James Rupuha Elers.

Receipt of DNA test:

On the 24th of November 2024, the results of Yvonne’s DNA test were received.

The links to Yvonne were identified as follows with their cM (centimorgans) in brackets:

 Tony Elers (188cM), Gabriel Stewart (172cM), Riria (Himona) Kauone (110cM). All three of us are 1st cousins to each other.

Te Irimanuka Adams (168cM), Betty Hamlin (168cM), Cruz Nicholls-Hepi (152cM). These three are all nephew and nieces of Tony, Gabrielle, and Riria.

All are listed as 2nd-3rd cousins to Yvonne

All are 2% shared dna

All are listed as parent 1’s side

Conclusion:

Having perused these results, David De Maine sent me the following report:

“The paper trail surmised that Yvonne’s grandfather George Henry (Harry) Waite was your great grandfather and that you, Gabrielle, and Riria are Yvonne’s Half 1st cousins once removed. (ie you are a generation younger than Yvonne). Your cM matches of Gabrielle 172, you 128, and Riria 110 are consistent with a half 1st cousin once removed genetic relationship which proves the paper trail.

Half 1st cousins once removed share a cM range of 62-469 with an average of 224. Whilst the amount you all share with Yvonne is slightly lower than the average, the percentages are still acceptable Gabrielle 32%, You 14%, and Riria 8% (taken from DNA Painter).

It follows that your nephews and nieces will be half 1st cousins twice removed from Yvonne. Their matching cMs of 188, 168, and 152 are consistent with half 1C2R (ie half 1st cousin twice removed) who can share between 16-269 cM with an average of 125. All their cMs are slightly higher than the average.

As far as I am concerned Tony, with the above dna results and the fact you have solved the right place at the right time scenario, you have proved that George Henry (Harry) Waite is your great grandfather.

A great result for you and puts to bed any doubts the family may have had about who was the father of James Rupuha Elers.”