Francis Adam Telfer

Role: Son of Adam Francis Telfer and Margaret Dougal Telfer

Born: 17 August 1875 — Edgerston, Tantanoola, South Australia
Died: 28 May 1955
Spouse: Clara Ann Millicent Dunn (m. 23 Oct 1899)
Children: 5 — Ronald Edgerston, Millicent Joyce, Dorothy Margaret Hope, Gordon Francis, Estelle May

Father: Adam Francis Telfer (1842–1925)
Mother: Margaret Dougal Telfer (1849–1936)
Wife: Clara Ann Millicent Telfer (1878–1966)

Family

Life Summary

Francis Adam (Frank) Telfer was born 17 August 1875 at Edgerston, Tantanoola, South Australia — the fourth of Adam Francis Telfer and Margaret Dougal Telfer's 12 children. He married Clara Ann Millicent Dunn (born 1 September 1878, Millicent, SA) on 23 October 1899 at the residence of Adam Telfer, Tantanoola. They had five children — Ronald Edgerston, Millicent Joyce, Dorothy Margaret Hope, Gordon Francis and Estelle May — and lived at "Pleasant Hill," Glencoe West. Frank died 28 May 1955; Clara continued to live in Mount Gambier until her death on 24 May 1966.

(Relationship spine of Frank + his wife Clara (b. 1 Sep 1878, d. 24 May 1966) and the five children by name is confirmed in both "From the Borders to the Bush" and "A Telfer Family Tree — Supplement 2008.")

Source: SA Death Registration (Book 826/Page 2940, district Grey, 28 May 1955) and Border Watch death notice, Tue 31 May 1955 p.6 (Trove article 296827265, "On May 28, at Hospital, Mount Gambier... aged 79") — confirm death 28 May 1955. From the Borders to the Bush (pp. 286–297) + A Telfer Family Tree — Supplement 2008 carry the 17 Aug 1875 birth, wife Clara Ann Millicent Dunn b. 1 Sep 1878 Millicent / d. 24 May 1966, marriage 23 Oct 1899 at residence of Adam Telfer, Tantanoola, and the five children — but gave the death day as 27 May, corrected here to 28 May on the two contemporaneous primary sources above. (FindAGrave memorial #215167931 "29 May" is the burial-transcription error.)

Sources & Verification (28 May 1955)

Two independent source-groups confirm the death date 28 May 1955:

The two family books recorded the day as 27 May; both contemporaneous primary records above give 28 May, so the recorded date is corrected. The "29 May" on FindAGrave memorial #215167931 is a transcription of the burial day (Sunday 29 May), not the death.

Family Stories

🖊️ Anecdote — as told in From the Borders to the Bush (book pp. 286): Frank was the plough-and-pencil farmer. He took up 'Pleasant Hill' down at Glencoe West, and for close on fifty years — 1908 to 1955 — he wrote his farming diary every blessed day. Weather, wool, the pigs, potatoes, the wheat and the barley; he kept the whole life of the place in those books, and his son Ronald kept them safe after him. They're a farm's heartbeat in ink. Sheep and cattle, crops, nothing too small to note. Five children grew up at Pleasant Hill around that steady, recording hand — and you get the feeling Frank believed if it wasn't written down, it hadn't properly happened.

(Anecdote only — family colour, told as the elders tell it. Does not establish any relationship, date or place.)