JENNINGS, Elsie
Born c 1887; died 4 December 1918; buried 6 December 1918; age 31
The only information about Elsie JENNINGS that has been located is recorded in her death certificate. The informant for the death certificate was the undertaker, who would presumably have acquired the information from Elsie’s husband, William Jennings. The death certificate states that Elsie had been born in New Zealand, where she had lived all her life. She was said to be 31 years old, and she and William had married in Palmerston North when she was 29 years old. It was also recorded they had a 1-year old son. The residential address recorded was 27 Hutt Road, Kaiwarra [i].
There is no information on who Elsie’s parents were, and in the absence of a maiden name there is no way to trace her birth or members of her birth family.
The information about Elsie’s death, though is clear and specific. She died at the Normal School Temporary Hospital in Thorndon (now Thorndon School) to which she was taken when ill with influenza. She died on 4 December 1918, of bronchopneumonia and influenza, and her death was certified by Dr Hardwicke-Smith.
Elsie was buried in the Church of England 2 section of Karori Cemetery on 6 December 1918.
William Jennings continued to live on the Hutt Road though in his 1919 entry on the electoral roll in Wellington North, the address given is as number 17 Hutt Road, and his occupation was “driver”.
The funeral costs for Elsie of £11 were met by William Jennings in two instalments - £10 on 11 December 1918 and the remaining £1 on 11 March 1919 [ii]. Her plot though was never paid for. No notices were inserted in the local newspapers to advise people of her passing or funeral arrangements, nor were there any In Memoriam notices published in the next few years. There is no mention of Elsie on Papers Past, in street directories, or elsewhere to give us insights into her life in Wellington and even more puzzling is that neither her marriage nor the birth of her son is accessible on BDM records online.
Elsie’s life therefore remains essentially unknown, beyond the bare facts laid out in the death certificate. More than 50 years after her interment, her plot was resold (having never been paid for in the first instance) and is now occupied by other people. What remained of Elsie would have been disinterred and reburied in the small area between the headstones [iii].
It is also difficult to find any additional information about William, or the unnamed son. William’s name is not unusual; there is no-one in Wellington electoral rolls after 1919 whose details match what little is known of Elsie’s husband; and the only NZ soldier in WW1 with the name William Jennings died in France of wounds in 1916. Without additional identifying information it is next to impossible to trace any further William Jennings, driver, married to Elsie for a short time.
Researched and written by Jenny Robertson
Grave Information:
Section: CH ENG2
Plot: 179 E
[i] Kaiwarra was the spelling used at the time. 27 Hutt Road is currently the Kennards’ self-storage site in Thorndon
[ii] Page 280 of the July to Dec 1918 volume of the E Morris Junior funeral register held by the Turnbull Library, Wellington.
[iii] In the late 1960’s the cemetery advertised nationally the names of people in plots which had never been paid for, inviting family to come forward and make payment. In cases where this did not happen, the plots were offered for resale. Though the cemetery was officially closed in 1965 i.e. there was no room available for new plots, there must have been an ongoing demand for plots, and the resale mechanism adopted at the time was a response to this demand.
Born c 1887; died 4 December 1918; buried 6 December 1918; age 31
The only information about Elsie JENNINGS that has been located is recorded in her death certificate. The informant for the death certificate was the undertaker, who would presumably have acquired the information from Elsie’s husband, William Jennings. The death certificate states that Elsie had been born in New Zealand, where she had lived all her life. She was said to be 31 years old, and she and William had married in Palmerston North when she was 29 years old. It was also recorded they had a 1-year old son. The residential address recorded was 27 Hutt Road, Kaiwarra [i].
There is no information on who Elsie’s parents were, and in the absence of a maiden name there is no way to trace her birth or members of her birth family.
The information about Elsie’s death, though is clear and specific. She died at the Normal School Temporary Hospital in Thorndon (now Thorndon School) to which she was taken when ill with influenza. She died on 4 December 1918, of bronchopneumonia and influenza, and her death was certified by Dr Hardwicke-Smith.
Elsie was buried in the Church of England 2 section of Karori Cemetery on 6 December 1918.
William Jennings continued to live on the Hutt Road though in his 1919 entry on the electoral roll in Wellington North, the address given is as number 17 Hutt Road, and his occupation was “driver”.
The funeral costs for Elsie of £11 were met by William Jennings in two instalments - £10 on 11 December 1918 and the remaining £1 on 11 March 1919 [ii]. Her plot though was never paid for. No notices were inserted in the local newspapers to advise people of her passing or funeral arrangements, nor were there any In Memoriam notices published in the next few years. There is no mention of Elsie on Papers Past, in street directories, or elsewhere to give us insights into her life in Wellington and even more puzzling is that neither her marriage nor the birth of her son is accessible on BDM records online.
Elsie’s life therefore remains essentially unknown, beyond the bare facts laid out in the death certificate. More than 50 years after her interment, her plot was resold (having never been paid for in the first instance) and is now occupied by other people. What remained of Elsie would have been disinterred and reburied in the small area between the headstones [iii].
It is also difficult to find any additional information about William, or the unnamed son. William’s name is not unusual; there is no-one in Wellington electoral rolls after 1919 whose details match what little is known of Elsie’s husband; and the only NZ soldier in WW1 with the name William Jennings died in France of wounds in 1916. Without additional identifying information it is next to impossible to trace any further William Jennings, driver, married to Elsie for a short time.
Researched and written by Jenny Robertson
Grave Information:
Section: CH ENG2
Plot: 179 E
[i] Kaiwarra was the spelling used at the time. 27 Hutt Road is currently the Kennards’ self-storage site in Thorndon
[ii] Page 280 of the July to Dec 1918 volume of the E Morris Junior funeral register held by the Turnbull Library, Wellington.
[iii] In the late 1960’s the cemetery advertised nationally the names of people in plots which had never been paid for, inviting family to come forward and make payment. In cases where this did not happen, the plots were offered for resale. Though the cemetery was officially closed in 1965 i.e. there was no room available for new plots, there must have been an ongoing demand for plots, and the resale mechanism adopted at the time was a response to this demand.