William Keymer
(21 December 1856 - 30 October 1926)
Note: One family record states DOB 22 December and DOD 21 October
William Keymer was born on Arthur Street, St Helen, in Ipswich, Suffolk, England on 21 December 1856. He was the son of John Keymer (8 Sep 1826 - 8 July 1902), a gasfitter, and his wife, Eliza Farthing (13 April 1832 - 1899). Click here to see a photo of the church where William John & Eliza were married.
William Snr married Mary Elizabeth Smith (25 March 1857 - 29 May 1936) daughter of John William Smith (1830 - c1871) and Mary Ann Preston (19 May 1816 - 20 July 1898) at the St Lukes Parish Church, Kentish Town, Middlesex, on 6 August 1877. He was 21 years old. She was 20. Their 11 children were:
Prior to coming to New Zealand, the Keymer family lived in London. The Census of 1881 gives their address as 3 Hope Cottage, Kentish Town, London.
The Keymer family which included William Snr, Mary, Mary's widowed mother, Mary Ann Smith, nee Preston (19 May 1916 - 20 July 1898), and three children, left London on board the ship Northumberland, on 10 December 1883. The ship stayed at Gravesend until the 16 December. The Northumberland arrived in New Zealand on 18 March 1884, a journey of 93 days. They were Government Immigrants which means they were given cheap fares by the New Zealand Government to entice them to immigrate. En route to New Zealand, Mary Jnr gave birth to a daughter which they named Ada.
The school records for William's daughter, Alice, show that in 1896, the Keymer family were living at Brown Street, Ponsonby. The New Zealand City and Area Directories of 1887-8 and 1891 indicate that William Keymer's family lived on Summer Street, Ponsonby, on the right hand side from Ponsonby Road. The Keymer family later found a place to live at 25 Ponsonby Road in Auckland, on the right hand side just down a bit from Karangahape Road.
William Snr and Mary were baptised into the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1887 after studying the Bible with Pastor A.G. Daniells in 1886-87. They attended the Ponsonby SDA Church, 66 Mackelvie Street, as charter members. William was elected an elder of the church for a few years, however, "business perplexities" troubled him causing him to lose faith.
William Snr lived in Sydney, Australia for about one year around 1893. It is unclear why he went there and what he was doing. It is unclear if the whole family went. Not long after returning to New Zealand, son George Edward was born.
The Electoral Roll of 1896 shows William's occupation as being a plumber.
William placed the following advertisement in the Auckland Star on 13 February 1897:
William Snr married Mary Elizabeth Smith (25 March 1857 - 29 May 1936) daughter of John William Smith (1830 - c1871) and Mary Ann Preston (19 May 1816 - 20 July 1898) at the St Lukes Parish Church, Kentish Town, Middlesex, on 6 August 1877. He was 21 years old. She was 20. Their 11 children were:
- Eliza (Lilah) Keymer (31 (or 20th?) May 1878 - 24 Sep 1959)
- William John Keymer (3 Mar 1880 - 28 Nov 1961)
- Louie Keymer (15 Sep 1881 - 17 Dec 1981)
- Ada Keymer (14 Jan 1884 - 27 Oct 1974)
- Edith Keymer (22 Apr 1886 - 22 June 1971)
- Alice Keymer (23 May 1888 - 19 Mar 1973)
- Laura Keymer (23 Apr 1890 - 11 Jan 1983)
- Bertha Keymer (12 June 1892 - 1 Nov 1979)
- George Edward Keymer (9 Feb 1894 - 12 Oct 1917)
- Dorothy Keymer (26 Apr 1898 - 5 Aug 1968)
- Hector McDonald Keymer (13 May 1901 - 27 July 1994)
The Keymer family which included William Snr, Mary, Mary's widowed mother, Mary Ann Smith, nee Preston (19 May 1916 - 20 July 1898), and three children, left London on board the ship Northumberland, on 10 December 1883. The ship stayed at Gravesend until the 16 December. The Northumberland arrived in New Zealand on 18 March 1884, a journey of 93 days. They were Government Immigrants which means they were given cheap fares by the New Zealand Government to entice them to immigrate. En route to New Zealand, Mary Jnr gave birth to a daughter which they named Ada.
The school records for William's daughter, Alice, show that in 1896, the Keymer family were living at Brown Street, Ponsonby. The New Zealand City and Area Directories of 1887-8 and 1891 indicate that William Keymer's family lived on Summer Street, Ponsonby, on the right hand side from Ponsonby Road. The Keymer family later found a place to live at 25 Ponsonby Road in Auckland, on the right hand side just down a bit from Karangahape Road.
William Snr and Mary were baptised into the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1887 after studying the Bible with Pastor A.G. Daniells in 1886-87. They attended the Ponsonby SDA Church, 66 Mackelvie Street, as charter members. William was elected an elder of the church for a few years, however, "business perplexities" troubled him causing him to lose faith.
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| The Keymer family. 1889. Unknown photographer. |
William Snr lived in Sydney, Australia for about one year around 1893. It is unclear why he went there and what he was doing. It is unclear if the whole family went. Not long after returning to New Zealand, son George Edward was born.
The Electoral Roll of 1896 shows William's occupation as being a plumber.
William placed the following advertisement in the Auckland Star on 13 February 1897:
WANTED, smart canvassers, Monday
morning, eight o'clock. - Apply W.
Keymer, 25 Ponsonby Road.
I wonder what he wanted canvassers for! Perhaps he wanted people to go door to door selling something, or maybe, to advertise Mary's sewing business.
Mary was making curtains for a living, running her business from home.
On 26 April, 1898, daughter Dorothy was born.
Mary's mother, Mary Ann Smith, passed away in Auckland on 20 July 1898. She was 81 years of age. She was buried at Purewa Cemetery, Block D, Row 21, Plot 75.
William Snr's father, William John Keymer, immigrated to New Zealand to join his son and his family in 1899 shortly after his wife Eliza died. It is quite remarkeable for a 73 year old to make this journey!
In January 1900, William Snr and young lad named Harold Young, both employees of the Gas Company were caught in an explosion on Karagahape Road, Auckland. They were in the process of fitting a meter in the grocer's shop when Harold carelessly used a candle. William and Harold both receieved minor burns.
On 13 March 1901, son Hector McDonald was born.
William's father passed away on 8 July 1902 at the family home at 25 Ponsonby Road, Auckland. He was buried at the Purewa Cemetery Block D Row 21 Plot 76, next to Mary Ann Smith. He was 76.
In March 1903, William wrote a letter to the Grey Lynn Borough Council requesting that they level out the footpath on Chamberlain Street.
It seems that William was not great at keeping in touch with his family back in England. In August 1903, his sister Lizzie, (Elizabeth was one year older than her brother), put notices in the papers looking to reconnect with her brother.
On 24 January 1904, William and Mary's eldest son William, married Eliza Stow at her uncle's home.
The Keymer family moved to Chamberlain Street, Grey Lynn around 1905/06. William was working at this time as a gas company inspector.
It seems that William was a very practical person. In September 1909 William and someone named Parsons applied for a patent for a 'gas over boiler'. Also in 1909, William and others tried to patent a 'plate warming apparatus'. I wonder what has happened to the prototypes and if their inventions were made for the public.
From March 1910 to July/Aug 1915, the family lived in Birkdale, Auckland (address unknown). While in Birkdale in 1910, William and Mr Watford (a business partner?) were approached by the council to help improve the storm water drainage on Birkdale Road.
In August 1910 W Keymer advertised for sale, some rabbiting net. He gave his address as Birkdale, Birkenhead. It is unclear whether this was William Snr or Jnr.
Around 1911, William moved his family to Birkdale Road, Birkenhead, Auckland. He was still working as a gas company inspector.
On 16 October 1912, William and Mary hosted the wedding of their daughter Laura, and Walter Percy James, at their family home in Birkdale.
William Snr and Mary hosted the wedding of their daughter Louie to James Archibald on 19 April 1915 at their Birkdale home in Birkdale. The newly married couple settled in Papakura.
William and Mary moved house to a three bedroom homestead at 92 (now number 120, due to re-numbering of the street) Grange Road, Mt Eden, Auckland, in the middle of 1915. There they hosted the wedding of their fifth daughter, Alice, to Frederick Athol Sparks on 25 October 1915. The Keymers lived in Grange Road until mid 1917.
In 1917, William Snr was rebaptised after a renewed interest in spiritual matters. It is likely that the world affairs of the time and the prayers of his family played a part in his spiritual awakening. He liked to talk with others about his renewed faith in God.
Son George enlisted for war in early 1917. He departed for The Great War from Wellington on the ship HMNZT Pakeha on 26th April 1917 and reached the front lines on 8 October 1917 via Sling Camp, Tidworth Camp (both in England) and the New Zealand Military base camp in Etaples, France. At the time George was engaged to be married to Frances May Harkin whose family resided in Birkenhead, Auckland. The Keymer and Harkin families had a close relationship with the children growing up together and later the sons worked as firemen with the Birkenhead Fire Brigade.
From August 1917 and until 1922, William, Mary and Eliza resided at Waimamaku in the Hokianga, on a farm of 331 acres. It was here that they heard the devastating news that their son George had been killed during the battle for Passchendaele on 12 October 1917.
On the anniversary of his death, the family placed the following tribute in the Auckland Star:
KEYMER - In loving memory of our dear
son and brother, Corporal George Edward
Keymer, killed in action October 12, 1917.
Could we have raised his dying head,
Or heard his last farewell,
The shock would not have been so great,
For those who loved him well.
Inserted by his loving parents, brothers,
and sisters.
The Keymers returned to Ponsonby, Auckland in 1922 and lived at 69 Wood Street until William Snr passed away on 30 October 1926. He suffered from cancer. The following obituary for William Snr was placed in the church newspaper, the Australasian Record, on Monday 13 December 1926, p7:
William was buried in the Keymer family plot at Purewa Cemetery, Block D Row 21, Plot 75/76, where his father and mother-in-law were also buried. When Mary died, she was buried there too.
Sources
18 January 1906 W Keymer won the Maiden Handicap, 120 yards at the Helensville Athletic Sports.
morning, eight o'clock. - Apply W.
Keymer, 25 Ponsonby Road.
I wonder what he wanted canvassers for! Perhaps he wanted people to go door to door selling something, or maybe, to advertise Mary's sewing business.
Mary was making curtains for a living, running her business from home.
On 26 April, 1898, daughter Dorothy was born.
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| The Keymer family 1898 Photographer unknown (Photo courtesy of G J Bland) |
Mary's mother, Mary Ann Smith, passed away in Auckland on 20 July 1898. She was 81 years of age. She was buried at Purewa Cemetery, Block D, Row 21, Plot 75.
William Snr's father, William John Keymer, immigrated to New Zealand to join his son and his family in 1899 shortly after his wife Eliza died. It is quite remarkeable for a 73 year old to make this journey!
In January 1900, William Snr and young lad named Harold Young, both employees of the Gas Company were caught in an explosion on Karagahape Road, Auckland. They were in the process of fitting a meter in the grocer's shop when Harold carelessly used a candle. William and Harold both receieved minor burns.
On 13 March 1901, son Hector McDonald was born.
William's father passed away on 8 July 1902 at the family home at 25 Ponsonby Road, Auckland. He was buried at the Purewa Cemetery Block D Row 21 Plot 76, next to Mary Ann Smith. He was 76.
In March 1903, William wrote a letter to the Grey Lynn Borough Council requesting that they level out the footpath on Chamberlain Street.
It seems that William was not great at keeping in touch with his family back in England. In August 1903, his sister Lizzie, (Elizabeth was one year older than her brother), put notices in the papers looking to reconnect with her brother.
On 24 January 1904, William and Mary's eldest son William, married Eliza Stow at her uncle's home.
 |
| 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) |
The Keymer family moved to Chamberlain Street, Grey Lynn around 1905/06. William was working at this time as a gas company inspector.
It seems that William was a very practical person. In September 1909 William and someone named Parsons applied for a patent for a 'gas over boiler'. Also in 1909, William and others tried to patent a 'plate warming apparatus'. I wonder what has happened to the prototypes and if their inventions were made for the public.
From March 1910 to July/Aug 1915, the family lived in Birkdale, Auckland (address unknown). While in Birkdale in 1910, William and Mr Watford (a business partner?) were approached by the council to help improve the storm water drainage on Birkdale Road.
In August 1910 W Keymer advertised for sale, some rabbiting net. He gave his address as Birkdale, Birkenhead. It is unclear whether this was William Snr or Jnr.
Around 1911, William moved his family to Birkdale Road, Birkenhead, Auckland. He was still working as a gas company inspector.
On 16 October 1912, William and Mary hosted the wedding of their daughter Laura, and Walter Percy James, at their family home in Birkdale.
William Snr and Mary hosted the wedding of their daughter Louie to James Archibald on 19 April 1915 at their Birkdale home in Birkdale. The newly married couple settled in Papakura.
 |
| The wedding of James (Jim) & Louie. 1915. From left: Mary Keymer, Alice Keymer, William Keymer, David Mitchell (James' cousin), James Keymer, Frank Yates? Louie Keymer, The two girls at the front are Dorothy and Mavis Keymer. (Photo courtesy of G J Bland) |
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| William Keymer Snr, Laura and her nephew Willie (Ted?) Photographer and date unknown, but around 1915. (Photo courtesy of E Donaldson) |
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William Keymer Snr, Laura and her nephew Willie (William Jnr's son)
Photographer and date unknown, but around 1915.
(Photo courtesy of E Donaldson)
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In 1917, William Snr was rebaptised after a renewed interest in spiritual matters. It is likely that the world affairs of the time and the prayers of his family played a part in his spiritual awakening. He liked to talk with others about his renewed faith in God.
Son George enlisted for war in early 1917. He departed for The Great War from Wellington on the ship HMNZT Pakeha on 26th April 1917 and reached the front lines on 8 October 1917 via Sling Camp, Tidworth Camp (both in England) and the New Zealand Military base camp in Etaples, France. At the time George was engaged to be married to Frances May Harkin whose family resided in Birkenhead, Auckland. The Keymer and Harkin families had a close relationship with the children growing up together and later the sons worked as firemen with the Birkenhead Fire Brigade.
From August 1917 and until 1922, William, Mary and Eliza resided at Waimamaku in the Hokianga, on a farm of 331 acres. It was here that they heard the devastating news that their son George had been killed during the battle for Passchendaele on 12 October 1917.
On the anniversary of his death, the family placed the following tribute in the Auckland Star:
KEYMER - In loving memory of our dear
son and brother, Corporal George Edward
Keymer, killed in action October 12, 1917.
Could we have raised his dying head,
Or heard his last farewell,
The shock would not have been so great,
For those who loved him well.
Inserted by his loving parents, brothers,
and sisters.
 |
| The Keymer family, back row from left: William Jnr's son, Hector, Dorothy, William Jnr's son Front frow from left, Lilah, Mary, William Snr Photographer and date unknown but likely to be around/before 1924. (Photo courtesy of E Donaldson) |
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| Mary and William Photographer unknown, but around 1926. (Photo courtesy of E Donaldson) |
KEYMER - After a painful illness lasting over several months, Brother William Keymer passed away in the Auckland hospital October 31, aged sixty-nine years. Brother Keymer accepted this message under Pastoer A. G. Daniells in 1886-87, but after continuing faithful for six years - part of which time he held the office of elder of the Ponsonby church - business perplexities caused spiritual declension and for twenty years he ceased to grow in grace. In 1917 he was rebaptised, and the Lord used him in helping others to see the light of truth. Though he leaves behind a sorrowing widow, two sons and eights daughters, it is encouraging to know that through the Christian, God-like lives of loving parents, of the ten children living seven are with their mother in this glorious truth, and they look forward with a sure and certain hope that the one who has been snatched from them in death will come forth on that glad resurrection morning. Services were conducted in the Ponsonby church, and the Purewa cemetery, by Pastor Scraff. P. G. FOSTER
William was buried in the Keymer family plot at Purewa Cemetery, Block D Row 21, Plot 75/76, where his father and mother-in-law were also buried. When Mary died, she was buried there too.
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| The Keymer grave, Purewa Cemetery, Auckland (Photo by K Bland 2016) |
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| The grave of William and Mary Keymer and William's father, William Keymer Snr, and Mary's mother, Mary Ann Smith. (Photo by K Bland 2016) |
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| The Keymer grave marker. (Photo by K Bland 2016) |
Sources
- Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
- Keymer Family Tree
- The Stacey's of Somerset - Keymer family
- Births, Deaths and Marriages
- Papers Past
- The Australasian Record - Online archives
- Family records complied by Jessie McLean
- Purewa Cemetery & Crematorium
- Richmond Road School. Records, 1885-1987. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS-2002-116. Accessed 27 May 2016.
- Photographs - E Donaldson, G J Bland, K Bland
18 January 1906 W Keymer won the Maiden Handicap, 120 yards at the Helensville Athletic Sports.
Last updated 2 April 2021
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