Laura

Laura Keymer

(23 April 1890 - 11 January 1983)

Laura Keymer was born in Auckland on 23 April 1890. At the time, the Keymer family lived at 25 Ponsonby Road, in Auckland (on the right hand side, just down a bit from Karangahape Road), then moved to Brown Street (c1896), then Chamberlain Street around 1905/06, and then, around 1911, to Birkdale Road, Birkenhead, Auckland.

The Keymer family 1898

Photographer unknown

(Photo courtesy of G J Bland)

Education
Laura was enrolled at the Richmond Road School, Ponsonby on 7 August 1899, by her father, William. She later left the school and began attending the Beresford School, but later returned to the Richmond Road School on 25 August 1902. Laura finally completed Standard V on 17 December 1903 and left for 'home' duties.

Laura. Date unknown but around 1903/4.
Photo by The Edwards Studio, Queen & Victoria Streets, Auckland.
(Photo courtesy of O Keymer.)

The Keymer family, 1904.
Seated back from left: Bertha (or could be Edith), Edith (or could be Bertha), Alice
Seated middle from left: Eliza, Louie, Laura, William Snr, Mary, Ada, William Jnr
Front, from left: George, Hector, Dorothy
Unknown photographer.
(Photo courtesy of G J Bland)

Laura married Walter Percy James (1884 - 27 May 1958) on 16 October 1912 at her family home in Birkdale. His parents were Joseph and Mary James. The notice of their marriage was published in the 

Auckland Star on 14 December 1912:

JAMES - KEYMER - On October 16, 1912
at the residence of the bride's parents, 
Birkdale, by the Rev ?, Walter Percy
eldest son of the late Joseph James
Tororoa? Bay to Laura, sixth daughter
of W Keymer, Birkdale.

Walter and Laura had no children.

William Keymer Snr, Laura and her nephew Willie (William Jnr's son)
Photographer and date unknown, but around 1915.
(Photo courtesy of E Donaldson)

Laura. Date unknown.
Photo taken by Tadema- Newton, Auckland.
(Photo courtesy of O D Keymer)

The Keymer family 1915/16, probably just before George went off to the war.

Standing from left: Louie, William Jnr, William Snr, George, Eliza, Edith

Seated from left: Ada, Alice, Mary, Laura,  Bertha

At front: Dorothy & Hector

Photographer unknown.

(Photo courtesy of E Donaldson)

The Keymer sisters in the early 1920s
Standing from left: Laura, Alice, Ada
Seated from left: Dorothy, Bertha (or could be Edith), Eliza, Edith (or could be Bertha), Louie
Photographer unknown.
(Photo courtesy of E Donaldson)

On May 29 1936, Laura's mother, Mary, passed away at her home in Opaheke. Her funeral was held at the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Mackelvie Street, Ponsonby on the following Sunday afternoon. She was buried at the Purewa Cemetery.

The Auckland Star 25 July 1939 reported that Walter James passed a St John Ambulance Association First Aid exam. It is interesting to note that two other extended family members also passed the same test - Herbert Parlane and Theo Liggett.

The Keymer siblings in 1939, possibly at the occasion of William Jnr's second marriage.
Standing from left: Dorothy, Bertha, Laura, Alice, Edith, Ada, Louie, Lilah
Seated from left: William Jnr, unknown woman (possibly William's second wife, Lola), Hector
Photographer unknown.
(Photo courtesy of E Donaldson)

Walter died 27 May 1958 aged 74 years. He was buried at the Waikaraka Cemetery, Area 5 Block B, Plot 426.

Keymer sisters
L-R: Louie, Lilah, Dorothy, and Laura
Photographer and date unknown
(Photo courtesy of G J Bland)

On Tuesday 15 September 1981, Laura attended the 100th birthday celebration for her older sister Louie at the Bethesda Home and Hospital (at the time it was located in Mt Eden) where both of them lived.

Laura (green cardigan) and Hector (grey suit and maroon tie), at the 100th birthday celebrations
for their sister Louie (seated centre with white cardigan).
Unknown photographer.
(Photo courtesy of G J Bland)

Laura passed away on 11 January 1983 at the Bethesda Home, aged 92. The following obituary appeared in the Australasian Record on 26 February 1983 Vol No. p15:

JAMES. Laura James (nee Keymer) was born in
Auckland, New Zealand, in 1890, and died in
Auckland on January 11, 1983. Her parents were
Seventh-day Adventists. She was first a member
at Ponsonby church, but after her marriage to W.
P. James, she transferred to Balmoral, later called
Brentwood Avenue church, and more recently to
Royal Oak. She became a patient at Bethesda
Home, and in great faith passed to rest. To her
only surviving brother, Hector Keymer and his
wife, and to many relatives and friends, words of
hope and comfort were spoken at a service in the
Royal Oak church on January 13, and afterwards
at the Waikaraka Cemetery. Pastor Frank Baker
assisted the writer at these services. A loving and
lovable Christian awaits the glorious resurrection
day. Douglas Hokin

Laura was buried in the Waikaraka Cemetery next to her husband. (Area 5 Block B, Plot 426.) Their headstone reads: JAMES - In loving memory of Walter Percy dearly loved husband of Laura James died 27 May 1958 aged 74 yrs. Also his loving wife Laura died 11 Jan 1983 aged 92 years.



Bibliography

Anonymous. (1912, 14 December). Marriages. Auckland Star. 12. Retrieved from https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19121214.2.94

Anonymous. (1939, 25 July). Ambulance Tests. Examination Results. Auckland Star. 9. Retrieved from http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19390725.2.87 

Other sources

• Births, Deaths and Marriages
• The Australasian Record - Online archives
• Auckland Council - Cemetery Records
• The Stacey's of Somerset - genealogy
• Papers Past
• Richmond Road School. Registers of admissions, progress and withdrawals, 1885-1987. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS-2002-116. Accessed 27 May 2016.
• Family records complied by Jessie McLean
• Photographs - O D Keymer, G J Bland, E Donaldson

Last updated 21 March 2021