Hi Looby,
Thanks very much for your interest in my relative. He has been very elusive!
We know about him from a few sources;
1. Birth Certificate of his son “John Ellems”
Born on 27th April 1854 in Heidelberg (near Melbourne), Victoria, Australia.
States his father was “George Ellems” a “settler” born in “Elgin, Scotland” - no age or date of birth given.
States his father was married in Melbourne and had 4 children living at the time.
States his mother was “Margaret Ellems” with the maiden name “Macpherson”, aged “25 years” and born in “Ayrshire, N.B.”.
Interestingly, his 1895 death certificate states he was “John Elms”!
2. Marriage Certificate of his daughter “Annie Ellims”
Married on 7th July 1873 in Presbyterian Church of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia to Robert Rae.
States Annie was born in Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia.
States she was 21 years old when married.
States her father was “George Ellims” & mother “Margarent McPhillimy”
3. Marriage Certificate of his son “George Edwin Ellims”
Married on 12th February 1880 in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia to Bertha McEvoy.
States George Edwin Ellims was born in Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia.
States he was 26 years old when married.
States her father was “George Ellims” a “carpenter” & mother “Margaret McPhillimy”
4. Death Certificate of his daughter “Jane Ellims”
Died on 8th April 1885 in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia.
States she was 27 years old when deceased.
States her father was “George Ellims” a “carpenter” & mother “Margaret McPhillimy”
5. Newspaper extract from The Argus (Melbourne, Australia) in 1868;
“A man named Reid, alias Macpherson, was recently apprehended at Stockyard-hill, on a charge of swindling. He is now in Kilmore gaol. A more serious charge - that of bigamy - has since been preferred against him. His real name is said to be George Ellems, was married in Melbourne in 1848, and deserted his first wife and her five children in Ballarat in 1857.”
Not sure where the “Reid” alias came from, but the “Macpherson” alias was his wife’s maiden name!
In summary, I think he had 7 children in total, but we only know the names of 4. His son George Edwin Ellims had 12 children (George Edwin / Margaret Florence / Mary / Jane / Florence Ann / George Percy / Harold Victor / Maud / George Edwin II / Bertha Pauline / Vivian Bert). We have been unable to trace his 1848 marriage certificate, his 1868 court records, or his death certificate. Nor have we been able to find how he got to Australia – earliest records suggest he was in Heidelberg, Melbourne, Australia in 1848 (for his wedding). The birth year of 1830 was a rough estimate based on nothing other than the dates of his marriage and children.
It looks like the surname changed from Ellems to Ellims during this time, and was even documented as Elms so there appears to be some variation. There is an old parish called Ellem/Ellim in Berwickshire (merged with Longformacus) but we have had no success looking there either.
Any assistance you can provide me would be most greatly appreciated!
Cheers, drbono