James Telfer (of Sorbietrees)

James Telfer of Sorbietrees (also recorded as Sorbytrees) is the earliest confirmed Telfer ancestor in the Scottish branch of the family. He was born around 1740 — the exact date is lost — and spent his life in the rolling border country near Newcastleton, Roxburghshire. He married Margaret Armstrong, and together they raised a family at Sorbietrees, a smallholding in a region marked by centuries of cross-border raiding, reiving, and hard pastoral life.

Though no portrait or personal writings survive, James almost certainly worked the land as a shepherd or farmer. The Border hills were sheep country, and a man living at a place called Sorbietrees would have been intimately tied to the rhythms of lambing, shearing, and the seasonal drives to market. Life in eighteenth-century Liddesdale was rugged and self-reliant — a world away from the cities, and one that shaped the generations to come.

⚠️ Same-name note: This James Telfer — of Sorbietrees, husband of Margaret Armstrong, father of James Telfer (bap.1762) (bap. 24 Sep 1762) — is a distinct person from James Telfer (1761–1845) (bap. 14 Jul 1761, son of John of Castleton, father of SA immigrant Francis) — a different, older James born barely a year earlier. Also distinct: James Telfer (1829–1913) (South Australian pioneer). Do not merge them; public user trees routinely blend the Sorbietrees and Castleton Jameses into one man — that is wrong (see Corrections Log, 30 Aug 2026).

Family Stories

The Sorbietrees Connection

Sorbietrees — sometimes spelled Sorbytrees in older records — was a small farm or croft in the parish of Castleton, Roxburghshire, not far from the modern village of Newcastleton (formerly Copshaw Holm). The name likely refers to a stand of sorb (rowan) trees, a common feature of the Border landscape. It was here that James Telfer and Margaret Armstrong made their home, and here that their known children were baptised in the local kirk.

The first clear documentary trace of James appears in the parish registers. His son James was baptised at Castleton on 24 September 1762, followed by a daughter, Jean, on 24 June 1764. These entries, brief as they are, anchor the family in time and place. For a man of humble station — unlikely to have left a will, a land deed, or a tombstone of his own — a baptismal record is the closest thing to a signature.

The Headstone Evidence

Beyond the baptismal entries, a second piece of evidence fills out the family picture. In Castleton Cemetery, a headstone commemorates several individuals who are almost certainly children or close relatives of James and Margaret. While the stone does not name the parents directly, the combination of names, dates, and location makes the connection persuasive:

• Francis Telfer (1768–1836)
• Jenet Telfer (1770–1842)
• Adam Telfer (1771–1846)

If these three are added to James (bap. 1762) and Jean (bap. 1764), the family grows to five children born over roughly a decade — a typical span for a Border farming family. Francis, Jenet, and Adam would have been young adults during the turbulent years of the Napoleonic Wars, a time when many Scots from the border counties began to look abroad for opportunity, setting the stage for the family's later emigration.

(From the Borders to the Bush, pp. 17–18)

Sources

• Parish baptismal registers, Castleton, Roxburghshire: James Telfer (24 Sep 1762), Jean Telfer (24 Jun 1764).
• Castleton Cemetery headstone inscriptions, recorded by Hope Simmons.
• Simmons, Hope. From the Borders to the Bush. 1989. pp. 17–18.