Adam Telfer

Role: Brother of Francis Telfer (1809–1895)

Adam Telfer was born on 18 October 1799 at Greenholm, near Newcastleton, Roxburghshire, Scotland. He was the fourth child of James Telfer (1761–1845), a hand loom weaver, and Elizabeth "Betty" Hutton (1774–1853).

His baptism was recorded in the Old Parish Register of Castleton (Volume 784/1) as: "1799 October 18 — Adam to James Telfer and Betty Hutton at Greenholm."

The family later moved from Greenholm to Blackburnfoot, at the northern end of Newcastleton, where two more children were born. Blackburnfoot had its own weaving industry, and the cottage where his brother Francis was born still stood into the 1980s.

The book states: "We have no further information about four members of this family; namely Isobel, Adam, Margaret and William." Like his older sister Isobel and younger siblings Margaret and William, Adam's fate after the family records is not documented.

He is one of the "Other Children" on the family tree, distinguished from his nephew Adam (1796–1863, son of James Telfer and Elizabeth Beattie).

Source: From the Borders to the Bush — pages 17–20

Family Stories

The Lost Thread

Adam Telfer was born on 18 October 1799 at Greenholm, near Newcastleton — the fourth child of James Telfer, a hand loom weaver, and Elizabeth Hutton. The family moved to Blackburnfoot, where the cottage his brother Francis was born in still stood into the 1980s.

And then the thread goes cold. The book puts it plainly: "We have no further information about four members of this family; namely Isobel, Adam, Margaret and William." Adam's fate after the family records ends is not documented.

He's one of the ghosts of the family tree — a name in the parish register, a son of the Scottish Borders, whose life was lived beyond the reach of the record book.

(From the Borders to the Bush, pp.17-20)