BAKER, Ernest Reuben
Born 6 April 1881; died 12 November 1918; buried 14 November 1918; age 37
Regimental number 91333
Ernest BAKER enlisted as a soldier but never saw active service and died after Armistice Day of influenza. He is buried in the soldiers’ section at the Karori Cemetery.
Before enlisting, he had lived for many years in Wellington with his wife and two children. He was originally from Mudgee in New South Wales, Australia.
By the 1850s, Mudgee had emerged as a servicing centre for the fertile farmlands to the northwest of Sydney and the region was beginning to be known for its wine growing potential. Ernest’s family was well established in the locality and both of his parents, father Andrew Baker and mother Sarah Ann née OAKLEY had been born and brought up in the Mudgee district. The couple married in 1869 when he was 27 and she was 19. They began their family in the following year, Sarah eventually giving birth to eleven children, six boys and five girls.
Ernest was the eighth child, born in 1881. It seems that although his siblings stayed in Mudgee or at least in Australia, Ernest in his early twenties made his way to New Zealand. He appeared on the Wellington Central electoral roll for 1905/06, when he would have been about 25, working as a blacksmith for the Wellington Meat Export Co. That roll also included an entry for one Sarah Ann Baker, a married woman living in Aro Street. Possibly that was Ernest’s mother, but if so, she was in New Zealand for a short time before returning to Australia and she did not re-appear on future rolls in this country.
Ernest married on 27 November 1907 at Trinity Methodist Church in Newtown. His bride was Elsie Mildred EWARDS, third of the five children of Newtown residents Emma and George Edwards. At that time, George was employed by the Wellington Harbour Board although subsequently he found work as a clerk.
The newly married couple began living in Melrose, at 40 Sutherland Road, and remained there for the rest of Ernest’s life. Their first daughter, Beryl Emma, born in February 1909, was an only child for 8 years until the birth of Elma Jean in 1916. School records show that Beryl was enrolled as a pupil at St Mark’s School in Dufferin Street in 1917, the year of its founding as an independent Anglican school for primary age boys and girls, and she continued there until 1923.
Around the time of his marriage Ernest began working for the Wellington City Tramways Department. The City Council had taken over the tramway network in 1900 with the intention of extending its coverage to service the newer suburbs and replacing the older horse-drawn trams with electrified tramcars. The new arrangements were launched in 1904 with a route from the city to Newtown, with new lines being added, through the newly built Hataitai tunnel to the eastern suburbs; out to Island Bay; up the hills to Brooklyn in one direction and to Karori Cemetery in the other. He might have held other positions first, but by 1907, Ernest was able to record his occupation as ‘motorman’, or tram driver, on his marriage certificate. His work must have been well regarded because by 1916–17 he had progressed to the role of timekeeper, and by 1918 was working as a tramways inspector.
When Ernest enlisted for war service in 1916, he appeared on the Army Reserve Roll with a ‘B’ classification, meaning that at that stage he had two dependents, his wife Elsie and his daughter Beryl. Within a month or two, his second daughter Elma was born which would have changed his classification to ‘C’. Nevertheless, he was still subject to the ballot, and indeed his name came up and he attested for service with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in June 1918. In October of that year he said his farewells. He first went to Trentham for the normal medical examination and attestation for service and to receive a posting to the New Zealand Medical Corps; and he then travelled to Awapuni, near Palmerston North, the training ground for NZEF new recruits. After a month of training, he was entitled to a brief period of leave and returned to Wellington. It is not clear whether he had caught the flu before he left camp or whether it was something he picked up in Wellington, but while on leave, he took ill. He was taken to the Victoria Military Ward, Wellington Hospital, and there he died on 12 November 1918. He was 37 years old and he left children aged nine and two.
The Evening Post published a memorial notice inserted by Elsie and the two daughters on the anniversary of Ernest’s death in 1919. During 1920 Elsie remarried, but Beryl and Elma continued to commemorate their father with their own notices published annually until 1927.
Researched and written by Max Kerr
Grave Information:
Section: SOLDIERS
Plot: 11 A
Born 6 April 1881; died 12 November 1918; buried 14 November 1918; age 37
Regimental number 91333
Ernest BAKER enlisted as a soldier but never saw active service and died after Armistice Day of influenza. He is buried in the soldiers’ section at the Karori Cemetery.
Before enlisting, he had lived for many years in Wellington with his wife and two children. He was originally from Mudgee in New South Wales, Australia.
By the 1850s, Mudgee had emerged as a servicing centre for the fertile farmlands to the northwest of Sydney and the region was beginning to be known for its wine growing potential. Ernest’s family was well established in the locality and both of his parents, father Andrew Baker and mother Sarah Ann née OAKLEY had been born and brought up in the Mudgee district. The couple married in 1869 when he was 27 and she was 19. They began their family in the following year, Sarah eventually giving birth to eleven children, six boys and five girls.
Ernest was the eighth child, born in 1881. It seems that although his siblings stayed in Mudgee or at least in Australia, Ernest in his early twenties made his way to New Zealand. He appeared on the Wellington Central electoral roll for 1905/06, when he would have been about 25, working as a blacksmith for the Wellington Meat Export Co. That roll also included an entry for one Sarah Ann Baker, a married woman living in Aro Street. Possibly that was Ernest’s mother, but if so, she was in New Zealand for a short time before returning to Australia and she did not re-appear on future rolls in this country.
Ernest married on 27 November 1907 at Trinity Methodist Church in Newtown. His bride was Elsie Mildred EWARDS, third of the five children of Newtown residents Emma and George Edwards. At that time, George was employed by the Wellington Harbour Board although subsequently he found work as a clerk.
The newly married couple began living in Melrose, at 40 Sutherland Road, and remained there for the rest of Ernest’s life. Their first daughter, Beryl Emma, born in February 1909, was an only child for 8 years until the birth of Elma Jean in 1916. School records show that Beryl was enrolled as a pupil at St Mark’s School in Dufferin Street in 1917, the year of its founding as an independent Anglican school for primary age boys and girls, and she continued there until 1923.
Around the time of his marriage Ernest began working for the Wellington City Tramways Department. The City Council had taken over the tramway network in 1900 with the intention of extending its coverage to service the newer suburbs and replacing the older horse-drawn trams with electrified tramcars. The new arrangements were launched in 1904 with a route from the city to Newtown, with new lines being added, through the newly built Hataitai tunnel to the eastern suburbs; out to Island Bay; up the hills to Brooklyn in one direction and to Karori Cemetery in the other. He might have held other positions first, but by 1907, Ernest was able to record his occupation as ‘motorman’, or tram driver, on his marriage certificate. His work must have been well regarded because by 1916–17 he had progressed to the role of timekeeper, and by 1918 was working as a tramways inspector.
When Ernest enlisted for war service in 1916, he appeared on the Army Reserve Roll with a ‘B’ classification, meaning that at that stage he had two dependents, his wife Elsie and his daughter Beryl. Within a month or two, his second daughter Elma was born which would have changed his classification to ‘C’. Nevertheless, he was still subject to the ballot, and indeed his name came up and he attested for service with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in June 1918. In October of that year he said his farewells. He first went to Trentham for the normal medical examination and attestation for service and to receive a posting to the New Zealand Medical Corps; and he then travelled to Awapuni, near Palmerston North, the training ground for NZEF new recruits. After a month of training, he was entitled to a brief period of leave and returned to Wellington. It is not clear whether he had caught the flu before he left camp or whether it was something he picked up in Wellington, but while on leave, he took ill. He was taken to the Victoria Military Ward, Wellington Hospital, and there he died on 12 November 1918. He was 37 years old and he left children aged nine and two.
The Evening Post published a memorial notice inserted by Elsie and the two daughters on the anniversary of Ernest’s death in 1919. During 1920 Elsie remarried, but Beryl and Elma continued to commemorate their father with their own notices published annually until 1927.
Researched and written by Max Kerr
Grave Information:
Section: SOLDIERS
Plot: 11 A