Eleanor Gryffen was the wife of Alistair Gryffen and mother of Jacob and Mina Gryffen.
Eleanor and the children were killed in a freak accident. The tragedy psychologically scarred the Professor for an eternity. He was not only emotionally crippled but was motivated to recover his family by any means necessary, obsessing over it for the next decade of his life. In 2050, the totalitarian Department installed a Korven Space-Time Manipulator in his home, allowing him to reach his wife and children, although his attempts to recover them never succeeded. Eventually this began to harm the continuum, warping reality into the shapes of his family. These ghostly apparitions invaded the mansion and tried to trade places with Gryffen's new family, K9 and the youngsters, but The Professor was able to let go of the past and banish them back through the STM. (TV: The Fall of the House of Gryffen)
