Francis Telfer Smith

Role: Son of Esther Jane Telfer and John Smith

Born: 14 Feb 1874, Mount Gambier, SA
Died: 9 Jul 1945, Nyngan District Hospital NSW

Father: John Smith (~1827–1895)
Mother: Esther Jane Telfer (1834–1909)

Family

Life Summary

Francis Telfer Smith was born 14 Feb 1874, the fifth child of Esther Jane Telfer and John Smith. He married Ellie Valentine Forbes on 7 Oct 1908 at Mullengudgery, then Catherine Gibson. He died 9 Jul 1945 at Nyngan District Hospital, aged 71, and is buried in Nyngan General Cemetery. (Birth place as Mt Gambier per vault + FamilySearch G4C5-KMQ; A Telfer Family Tree supplement p.12 lists "Reedy Creek" — see Leads.md discrepancy.)

⚠️ Verified correction (07 Aug 2026): Previously the relationship fields in this file had Father and Mother reversed (listing Esther Jane Telfer as "Father" and John Smith as "Mother"). Corrected — John Smith is the father, Esther Jane Telfer is the mother. Sources: WikiTree Telfer-591 (Esther Jane as daughter of Francis & Jean Murray), WikiTree Jorgenson-248 ("Hans Hansen (Jorgenson) Smith", husband of Esther Jane), FindAGrave 60478615/60478626.

Source: A Telfer Family Tree (Supplement) p.12 · From the Borders to the Bush Ch.3 (pp.36–57) — accessed 07 Aug 2026. Parentage cross-verified via FindAGrave 60478615/60478626 + WikiTree Telfer-591 / Jorgenson-248.

Family Stories

🖊️ Anecdote — as told in From the Borders to the Bush (book pp. 39–40, 47–57): Frank, the young one, got his own place in 1898. The family took up a block at Mullengudgery — about seven-and-twenty miles out from Nyngan — and Frank drew it and named it with a pretty name, Eudora. He put up a great big weatherboard home on it, and he didn't stop at a house. He planted an orchard, and set shade trees all around so you'd get away from that western sun, and built a tennis court — you could see they meant to live properly out there. And he stocked the place with sheep and built up the Eudora Merino Stud, and he was that proud of them he'd take his rams right down to the Royal Sydney Show to parade them. And it was Frank, barely a man, who'd climbed on his pushbike with his brother Jack and ridden six hundred miles to see the country — the very loop that brought the whole family west. Eudora wasn't just a farm to Frank; it was a kingdom.

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