Elijah Peasey and Emma Ward were married at All Saints Church in Filby, Norfolk, on 27th October 1887. At that time, Elijah was working as a groom. The couple started their married life in Filby and soon after, their first child, Mabel, was born. By 1890, the family had moved to Elijah’s home village of Rushbrooke, Suffolk, where two more children, Francis and Ethel, were born and, in 1893, the family were living in Melton on The Street. Eight years later in 1901, the family lived in Pinkney's on Turnpike Lane, also in Melton, from where Elijah was working as a coachman. The family continued to grow, with Victor, Thomas, Albert and Robert born in the village. Their youngest son, Alfred, was born in 1900 in Thurleston, near Bury St Edmunds. In 1911, the family had moved once more to return to The Street.
Four of their sons, Francis, Victor, Thomas and Robert, served in the First World War; only three returned. By 1917, Elijah and Emma had moved to Cumberland Street in Woodbridge and, in 1922, Albert was running a tobacconist’s shop in Woodbridge.