Isabella Lucieton Telfer

Born: 17 Jul 1880, Edgerston SA
Died: 30 Jun 1964, Klemzig SA (age 83)
Mother: Martha Henstridge (~1854–1921)
Father: John Telfer (1840–1913)
Spouse: Alexander Brown Thomson (m. 12 Jul 1911)

Family

Life Summary

Isabella Lucieton Telfer was the eighth of John Telfer's sixteen children — the fourth of his second marriage, to Martha Clara Henstridge. Born at Edgerston, South Australia on 17 July 1880, she married Alexander Brown Thomson on 12 July 1911. Together they had three children — Trevor, Roma and Murray. She lived to the age of 83, passing on 30 June 1964 at Klemzig, South Australia. Her death place — Klemzig, a north-eastern suburb of Adelaide — suggests she may have moved closer to the city in her later years, possibly to be nearer to family.

Note: Her records must be distinguished from other Isabella Thomsons of the same era — an Isabella Thomson who died in Western Australia (Karrakatta) in 1936, and a Scottish Isabella Thomson who died in Polmont in 1935. The 1964 Klemzig death date is the correct match for the Tantanoola Telfer line.

Burial record. Isabella was buried at Cheltenham Cemetery (Woodville), South Australia — Australian Cemeteries Index inscription 9495545, "Isabella Lucieton Thomson", interred 2 July 1964, aged 83, plot U. She died two days earlier, on 30 June 1964.

Those two dates are not in conflict. The death registration (Genealogy SA, Book/Page 975/4384) records her death on 30 June 1964 — the three gold books agree — and the cemetery index records her interment on 2 July 1964, exactly as expected for a burial held two days after death. Both cemetery indexes reproduce the same burial register, so they count as one source, not two.

Burial place. Isabella was buried at Cheltenham Cemetery (Woodville), Port Road, South Australia, in plot U. The burial registers for this cemetery are transcribed by Peter Olsen from the cemetery's own register — which is why no photograph of her headstone exists on either major index, and why requests for one cannot be met. Her grave is recorded; it has simply never been photographed.

Family Stories

Isabella Lucieton Telfer was the eighth of John Telfer's sixteen children — the fourth of his second marriage, to Martha Clara Henstridge. She married Alexander Thomson, and together they had three children — Roma, Trevor and Murray. Her life, like that of many of her siblings, was rooted in the Tantanoola district where the Telfer family had established themselves after arriving from Scotland.

(From the Borders to the Bush, p.261; A Telfer Family Tree, p.236; A Telfer Family Tree Supplement, p.235)

Timeline

Sources

Her name at birth — TELFER — is confirmed by four independent sources:

Marriage: Genealogy SA — Marriage Registrations, Book/Page 248/107: Alexander Thomson (50, single) m. Isabella Lucieton Telfer (30, single), 12-Jul-1911, Methodist Manse Balaklava, District Gilbert; bride's father John Telfer. Independently reproduced by the Thomson One-Name Study (thomson.one-name.net/g1/p1178.htm), which cites the same index entry.

Death: Genealogy SA — Death Registrations, Book/Page 975/4384: THOMSON, Isabella Lucieton, d. 30-Jun-1964, age 83, widow; Residence: Klemzig; Place of death: Adelaide; relative Alexander Brown THOMSON [DH] (deceased husband). This settles the death date: the three gold books give 30 Jun 1964 and the register agrees. The 2 Jul 1964 date carried by the cemetery indexes is the interment (burial) date, two days later.

Corroborating databases: Australian Cemeteries Index inscription 9495545 ("Isabella Lucieton Thomson", interred 2 Jul 1964, Cheltenham Cemetery, plot U); Lehmann–Henschke database (G. Moad) — "TELFER, Isabella Lucieton, b. 1880 SA, d. 1964, Father John TELFER, Mother HENSTRIDGE."

Son (confirmed): Australian War Memorial — Trevor Andrew Thomson, R1717206 — accessed 14 Aug 2026.

Note on an earlier citation: the previous entry here cited an approved deep-research report obtained via WikiTree/ozburials.com/falkirklocalhistory.club, and the John Telfer (1840–1913) vault profile. Those are aggregator/self-referential sources, not records, and have been replaced by the certificates and printed pages above.