Elsie Buckton was the wife of Ross Buckton and mother of Charlie Buckton. She married Ross in the 1990s, at some point after his relationship with Morag Bellingham had ended. That relationship had been derailed by Ross's devotion to his job as as police detective. When Charlie was fourteen, she was raped by her boyfriend Grant Bledcoe. Nine months later she gave birth to a baby girl - Ruby. Elsie and Ross raised Ruby as their own daughter and hid the truth from her. Ruby was fifteen when she learned the truth.
Elsie's marriage to Ross wasn't the happiest and they only stayed together because of her illness. She died in 2008.
Shortly after Elsie's death, Ross was sent to Summer Bay to work on a murder case. He reignited his old romance with Morag Bellingham, though it was briefly derailed when she found out he had lied about when Elsie had died.