John Alick Ralph Telfer

Lifespan: born 8 September 1918 – died 3 August 2008 (Adelaide, SA) — death pending second source; see note

Branch: Telfer — son of Albert George & Beatrice Telfer (grandson of John & Caroline)

Biography

John Alick Ralph Telfer was one of the six children of Albert George Telfer (1881–1970) and Beatrice Rowe Telfer (1877–1951), born at Hawker (Warcowie, district Frome) before the family's 1923 move to Hill River (near Clare).

His birth is sourced from two independent source groups (primary SA civil register + independent wartime service record, agreeing exactly on date and place). His death rests on a single source — the family's own printed Supplement (2008) — and is therefore recorded as a lead pending a second source, not as vault fact.

He enlisted in the 2nd AIF in January 1940, aged 21, as Private, service number S56961. After the war he trained as a primary school teacher with the SA Education Department, taught on Eyre Peninsula from 1941, married Marjorie Parsons in 1942, and taught at Victor Harbor Primary School for 21 years.

Family

Sources

• Source: Genealogy SA — SA Birth Registrations index, member session read live — "TELFER, John Alex Ralph — Date of Birth 08-Sep-1918 — Father Albert George TELFER — Mother Beatrice ROWE — Birth Residence Hawker — District Frome — Book/Page 25A/453" — accessed 22 September 2026
• Source: Virtual War Memorial Australia — TELFER, John Alex Ralph, people/551967 — Service No. S56961, Private, enlisted 23 January 1940, born Hawker SA 8 September 1918 — accessed 22 September 2026
• Source: From the Borders to the Bush (Telfer, 2017), pp.144–146 — names John Alick Ralph as one of Albert & Beatrice's six children; records his birth 8 Sep 1918, schooling at Clare, teaching career (Eyre Peninsula 1941; Victor Harbor Primary 21 years) and his 1942 marriage to Marjorie Parsons
• Source: Supplement to A Brief Account of the First Telfer Families to Settle in South Australia (2008) — entry "John Alex Ralph TELFER, b. 8 Sep 1918 Warcowie, SA, d. 3 Aug 2008 Adelaide, SA; m. Eva Marjorie Parsons, b. 31 Aug 1914 Chelswood NSW, m. 14 May 1942 Payneham SA" with children Timothy Ross, Philipa Mary and Fergus Nall — the source of record for his death, marriage and children
• Source: A Brief Account of the First Telfer Families to Settle in SA (1986) — family-line form "Alick Ralph Telfer m. Marjory Parsons"
• Source: headstones2.weebly.com Clare Old Cemetery transcription — confirms Albert & Beatrice's family at Clare (John Alick Ralph himself has no separate dated headstone listing) — accessed 10 Aug 2026