Alan Dale Telfer
Biography
Born: 27 Oct 1890 (Tantanoola, SA) | Died: 13 Sep 1937 (Wilga Tank, Girilambone, NSW) | Mother: Martha Henstridge (~1854ā1921) | Father: John Telfer (1840ā1913) | Occupation: Coalminer / Ganger (railway labor) | Buried: Unknown (Girilambone district)
Family
| Relation | Name |
|---|---|
| Self | Alan Dale Telfer |
| Father | John Telfer (1840ā1913) |
| Mother | Martha Clara Henstridge |
| Siblings | James Telfer (1866ā1946), Elizabeth Telfer (Clarke), Susan Telfer (Agnew), Martha Telfer (Cameron), Mark Telfer (1877ā1946), Maria Clara Telfer, Isabella Lucieton Telfer (Thomson), John Roland Telfer, Clara Blanche Telfer (Lane), Robert Freddy Telfer, Douglas Telfer, Colin Roy Telfer, Alma Tressy Telfer (Cullen), Marian Telfer Cornish (1896ā1977) |
Life Summary
Alan Dale Telfer was born on 27 October 1890 in Tantanoola, South Australia, the 13th child of John Telfer (1840ā1913) and his second wife Martha Clara Henstridge.
He never married. During the Great Depression of the 1920s-1930s, Alan migrated far from the agricultural safety of South Australia's Limestone Coast to the interior of New South Wales. He found work as a ganger (railway labor foreman) and coalminer ā a gruelling and highly itinerant profession that took him deep into the state's central-west.
Death ā Resolved (NSW Government Gazette)
Alan's fate was a long-standing mystery in the Telfer family tree. The resolution came via an NSW Government Gazette intestate estate notice, which confirmed:
Alan Dale Telfer, late of Wilga Tank, Girilambone, in the State of New South Wales, died intestate on 13 September 1937.
Girilambone and the associated Wilga Tank area was a remote railway siding and copper mining outpost in central-western New South Wales. His death there, without a will, paints a picture of a rugged, transient, and likely impoverished life in his final years ā a stark contrast to the settled farming life of his Tantanoola siblings.
His exact burial location is unknown but likely in the Girilambone district.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 27 Oct 1890 | Born at Tantanoola, South Australia |
| 5 Jan 1913 | Father John Telfer died at Tantanoola |
| ~1920sā1930s | Migrated to New South Wales for railway and mining work |
| 13 Nov 1921 | Mother Martha Clara Henstridge died at Adelaide |
| 13 Sep 1937 | Died intestate at Wilga Tank, Girilambone, NSW |
Family Stories
Alan Dale was born at Tantanoola in 1890, the 13th child of John Telfer (1840ā1913) and Martha Henstridge. The family history records him as "Allan Dale (1890ā1955)" in the family tree. He never married. During the Great Depression he migrated to New South Wales, finding work as a ganger (railway labour foreman) and coalminer. He died intestate at Wilga Tank, Girilambone, a remote railway siding in central-western New South Wales, on 13 September 1937 ā a rugged end far from the settled farming life of his Tantanoola siblings. (From the Borders to the Bush, p.258)