17th Sep 2012. This site reviews some of my research so far on my paternal ELMER family line. If you're also an ELMER descendant of Suffolk or Norfolk I'd love you to email me to elmers@xtra.co.nz or telephone me on +64 21 710 234
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2nd January 2012. New Years resolution time (again) as I'm still trying to write up my Grandfather's life as a start on my recording what I know of he; his 2 brothers (one my exact namesake) and his 2 sisters, who lived in Elmswell from the 1860's to c1920.

9th July 2010 - my 58th birthday. Got a surprise this day when texted by my 1st cousin Jonathan Swift (we’d not met for 30+ years). Had a very pleasant birthday and then a nice catch up with Jon today at our home in Auckland. Typical of the Elmer line Jon has daughters (2). We have 3 daughters; my late bro had just 1 dau; my eldest sister 1 dau; my older sister 1 dau. My younger sister is the only one with 2 boys and yep, 1 dau.

28th Aug 2009 - 100 years to the day since my Grandfather Sidney John Elmer (S.J. Elmer) boarded ship in London for Australia (28th Aug 1909). An image of his embarkation card on the SS Rippingham Grange is on this site, and shows his intentions and motivations were a little different than those of his travel mate Frank Valentine. Grandfather (Passenger 171 on the card, but mis-spelt as Sid Elner), gave the Purser his profession as “Traveller”. Frank (Passenger 180) said he was a “Draper’s Assistant”, as both were at one time gentlemen's tailor's assistants in Ware, Cambridgeshire.

There's a family anecdote that the two 20year olds emigrated to Australia together after independently going up to London on the same day to book passage to the colonies, and then meeting serendipitously at Piccadilly Circus. Frank was said to be heading for the USA and Sid to Australia, but as they'd met up they flipped a coin to see where they'd go together..! The rest (as they say) is history.....

Les Elmer - Murrays Bay, Auckland, NZ - Mon 17th September 2012

• Les ELMER's Family Tree (5 KB)
  My tree

• 1979 - My brother David Elmer b12/2/63 d2/5/97 (152 KB)
  My late brother David John Elmer in 1979 when he was just 16, leaning on my Honda 350Four at his work as (then) a landscape gardener. He sadly died aged just 34 of a brain anurism in 1997.
• 1909 -The Elmer Family of Elmswell Suffolk (50 KB)
  The Elmer Family of Sunnyside, Elmswell, Suffolk c1909. Rear L-R are Sidney John ELMER; Arthur (Leslie) ELMER; and Edgar (Will)iam Dixon ELMER. Front L-R are Dorothy Lucy ELMER; Mrs Lucy ELMER (nee WAKELIN); and Ethel (Mary) ELMER. (Note: Parantheses denotes their commonly used first name where known). The boys all settled overseas; Sidney in Queensland, Australia; Leslie in Kitale, Kenya; and Will/Bill also finally in Kenya after various sojourns in e.g. Shanghai, China; & Islandmagee, Northern Ireland. Ethel died at 27 of goitre. Dorothy remained a spinster, living with her mother all her life, dying in 1951, just one year and 2 weeks after her Mother..
• 2008 - Myself at Great Ashfield, 26/01/2008 (290 KB)
  Myself in Great Ashfield churchyard in Suffolk, Jan 26th 2008, leaning on my Gt Gt Uncles' headstone, with my hand on my Gt Gt Grandfather's headstone. My namesake Gt Uncle Leslie Arthur Elmer (buried in Kenya) is also commemorated on my Gt Grandfathers (and Gt Grandmothers) headstone on the far right. The headstones of the prior Elmer family generation (i.e. my 3 x Gt Grandparents) stand in front of these three stones. All are by the porch door to the circa 15th century church in Great Ashfield village.
• c1895 - Henry Arthur Elmer & dau Ethel Mary (731 KB)
  My Gt Grandfather H.A.Elmer and his younger daughter Ethel Mary Elmer c1895. Henry Arthur died 2nd July 1896 aged just 34. Sadly Ethel Mary also died young (around 17years c1910) of goitre.
• 2008 - All Saints, Great Ashfield, 26/01/2008 (326 KB)
  A fresh winter view of the gloriously remote old village church of All Saint's in Gt Ashfield, Suffolk, where some 3 generations of my ancestors are interred. Co-incidentally taken on Australia Day...!
• c1890 - Harry & Harriet ELMER Woolpit, Suffolk (248 KB)
  1890s photo of Harry and Harriet Elmer. Harry was then miller of Elmer's Post Mill in Woolpit.
• 1919 - Leslie Arthur Elmer 23/06 Commendation (1446 KB)
  Letter of Commendation from Leslie Arthur Elmer's CO regarding his exemplarary service in WWI in the Natal Rifles and then the RA. I have garnished it with a WWI RA tunic button which has been turned into a brooch. I bought this evocative item at a Sunday Flea Market on April 15th 2009 in Brightlingsea, Essex.)
• 2008 - Stanton Post Mill, Suffolk, 28/01/2008 (170 KB)
  Stanton Post Mill, evoking what Elmer's post mills in Woolpit and Gt Ashfield would have looked like in their heyday. Sadly both are long gone - Woolpit was semi-derelict and finally collapsed in 1963. Elmers Mill in Gt Ashfield was stil there post WWII but unsure of when it was pulled down. I have an image of this mill that I will also load onto this site.
• c1870 - Elmers Bakery - Woolpit (215 KB)
  This wonderful old (Tudor) building still stands right on the 'square' (a triangle) in the centre of Woolpit.
• 1993 - Sunnyside, Elmer's in Elmswell Suffolk (195 KB)
  Sunnyside is smack in the middle of Elmswell village, and was the home of the Elmer family (previously of Great Ashfield and Norton) from c1865 to (I believe) the mid-'20s. I believe it was built by/for Henry Arthur Elmer d1896. It remained the family home until the matriarch (Lucy Elmer nee Wakelin) and eldest dau Dorothy Lucy, moved to London's East End >WWI & where Etherl is buried. They then moved again to 65 (& later again to 67) Alexandra Road, Ipswich >WWII.
• 2009 - Andrea Elmer & Ann Berry, Brightlingsea (322 KB)
  My wife Andrea Jean Elmer and distant relative Ann Berry in Ann's kitchen in Brightlingsea, Essex, 16th April 2009.
• 1926 Gt Aunt Dorothy Elmer, Sunnyside Elmswell (134 KB)
  This is my Grandfather's older sister, who died a spinster in 1951, just 1 year 2 weeks after her mother.
• 1999 - Me on my newly-restored 1929 BSA 500 (95 KB)
  I am only the 4th owner since new of my 1929 BSA. Its prev owner was my Dad Arthur's best mate Artie Ormes; before him his elder borther Reg; before that to an unknown person in Sydney. A friend helped me restore it 1998-99 from my 29 years of ownership as a rusted basket case, as I acquired it aged 17 and pulled it apart. Jul 2010 - the old bSA is still going strong.
• 1938 - My Dad (Arthur Wakelin Elmer) at 20yo (159 KB)
  My Dad aged 20 in 1938 with his pride and joy, his 350cc Levis Motorcycle. This was his 2nd motorbike, sadly appropriated by the Australian Govt in WWII for use as an Army Despatch bike, and (anecdotally) abandoned somewhere in the Western Sahara Desert.
• 1935 - Elmers Mill, Woolpit Suffolk (158 KB)
  Elmers Mill was said to be a dead ringer for the nearby (and still standing) Clovers Mill at Drinkstone Green, with one difference - they ran in opposite directions. Elmers Mill was tailwinded and fell down in 1963.
• 1909 - SS Rippingham Grange Embarkation 28/08 (345 KB)
  Passenger 171 is my Grandfather Sidney John Elmer (mis-spelt Elner by the Purser), and his travelling companion Frank Valentine is Passenger 180.
• 1921 - My Mum (Eleanor Greta Rebetzke) at 4yo (540 KB)
  This is a colour-retouched photograph of my Mum (nee Eleanor Greta Rebetzke) aged about 4 circa 1921.
• 1933 - Harry Elmer aged 85, Miller in Woolpit (175 KB)
  This is a wonderful shot of Harry at 85 from the Muggeridge Collection, which recorded all extant Mills (and Millers if working) in East Anglia.
• 2011 - Christmas Day - Me on 25/12/2011 (2274 KB)
  Early Christmas Day 2011 we put the leg of ham on to cook and shot up to feed some horses that we care for. Myself and our youngest (14yo) dau wore our Santa hats which got some smiles and waves from other motorists.
• 1925 - Prince of Wales Hotel ANZAC Day 25/04 (70 KB)
  This is the Prince of Wales Hotel in Mackay, North Queensland, Australia on ANZAC Day (April 25th 1925). My Maternal Gt Grandmother (Mary Ann Rebetzke) was then the Licensee, as seen by her M.A.Rebetzke emblazoned on the front of the building. My Mother, my Grandmother Grace, her sister Dorothy and their brother Les (all Rebetzke) all also lived in the Hotel. My Mum is said to be the small girl standing on the bottom balustrade rail of the upper verandah, to the left of the 3 men. We were told our Father first saw our Mother at this hotel when she was aged about 13 (i.e. c1930), and told our Grandparents 'I'm going to marry that girl one day'.....
• 1932 - Edgar William Dixon (EWD bka Will) Elmer (94 KB)
  This portrait photo was taken in Shanghai in 1932 of EWD (generally known as Will or Bill) Elmer, the eldest of my Grandad's 2 brothers, who I met when he visited Australia in about 1959. He was very rambunctious, loud and worldly-wise, in contrast to my Grandfather Sidney (SJ) Elmer, who had a quiet and reserved disposition.
• 1955 - My parents and I at a 'Do' circa 1955 (387 KB)
  L - R, my father Arthur Wakelin Elmer (aged 37); muself Leslie Arthur Elmer (aged abt 3); and my Mother Eleanor (Greta) Elmer nee Rebetzke (aged abt 38).
• c1870s - Elmers Bakery, Woolpit, Suffolk (215 KB)
  This is Elmer's Bakery in Woolpit village in Suffolk, East Anglia, England c1870s.
• 1971 - The Elmer family of Mackay, QLD, AU (62 KB)
  (L-R) My father Arthur Wakelin Elmer; my mother Eleanor (Greta) Elmer (nee Rebetzke); my younger sister Robyn Greta Elmer; my late brother David John Elmer; and myself Leslie Arthur Elmer, at our front gate in Mackay, Queensland in 1971.
• 1925 Cyril Power linocut Elmer's Mill Woolpit (142 KB)
  1925 Linocut by Cyril Power of Elmer's Mill in Woolpit. It seemes to have been a magnet for artists, perhaps due to its visibility from the A45.
• 1959 (Me) 7yo Leslie Arthur Elmer, Mackay AU. (97 KB)
  Myself dressed as Huck Finn at the Mackay West Infants School Fancy Dress Parade 1959, aged 7. I had a real fish on the hook of that toy fishing rod, and maybe due to that I won first prize.
• 1933 - Sybil Andrews linocut of Elmer's Mill (35 KB)
  This is a another between the wars linocut print of Elmers Mill by Sybil Andrews, similar to the Cyril Powers 1925 linocut also included on this site.

• Excellent Site: Simon Knott's Suffolk Churches
• Global Surname Search - Find Where ELMER is Most Common

Les (Leslie) Arthur ELMER
1 Westbourne Road,
Murrays Bay, North Shore, AUCKLAND, 0630
New Zealand
+64 21 710 234
elmers@xtra.co.nz

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