Noel Elmslie (my uncle) was born at sea on Christmas Day 1873. He trained as an engineer and (I think) worked mainly overseas. I have been told that my grandfather thought that boys should go abroad or to sea and was annoyed when my father became a medical student in England..
He served in the army, I presume in R.E.. in 1914-18 but I do not know details of his service except that I have a certificate to say that he qualified as a grenade instructor.
After the war he became a civil servant in the Board of Trade. Under the Ottawa Agreement a DoT official was stationed in each High Commission with the job of encouraging trade. After a period as Assistant Commissioner in New Zealand, he served as Commissioner in South Africa for about ten years. I do not know the exact dates but he received the C.M.G. for this service in 1934.
In 1921 while on holiday in Cornwall in 1921 he met Mabel Clara (Theda) Bennett and they were married at St Margarets, Putney in London on 2 January 1922. They met on Pendower beach near Veryan. Aunt Theda once told me that if they had a daughter they determined to call her Veryan. They did not so we gave it to Frances as her second name.
His final appointment before retirement was in Ireland. At that time, the British Government considered Eire (the Republic of Ireland) to be part of the Empire and therefore should have a High Commissioner and not an Ambassador but the Irish Government considered that they were a foreign country and would only receive an ambassador. They were, however, prepared to take advantage of the Ottawa Treaty and accepted the posting of Noel. He was therefore the senior British representative in Eire and was unofficially treated as a channel of communication on non-trade matters.
He retired on reaching 60 in 1937 and lived in The White House, Rowledge, Surrey, next door to Aunt Essil. He was recalled on the outbreak of war and placed in charge of the Census Office. When the USA entered the war in 1941 he was sent to Washington to advise the Americans on how to set up censorship. He and Aunt Theda remained there the rest of the war. He acted as an unofficial adviser on British and European matters (Oh, Mr Elmslie, you are so well-informed!). I have a booklet about the U.K, issued to U.S. troops coming over here. I suspect he may have had a hand in writing it.
After the war, they lived at Boscastle in Cornwall until Uncle Noel died in 1956. His ashes were scattered at Plymouth Crematorium. Aunt Theda moved to Cranleigh in Surrey where she died in 1976. The funeral was at Woking Crematorium and her ashes scattered there.
James Elmslie email to GDS 24 January 2012.