Margaret Dougal Smith

Role: Second child of Esther Jane Telfer — matriarch of the Parkins line
Born: c. 1868 — Burra, South Australia
Died: 30 October 1961 (aged ~93)
Spouse: Thomas Parkins (1860 – 9 June 1917)
Telfer line: Granddaughter of pioneer Francis Telfer (1809–1895) via her mother Esther

Photo

The portrait of Margaret Dougal Smith herself — studio portrait, late 19th century (c. 1890s), captioned "Margaret Dougal Smith" printed at lower left. Dark high-collared dress with puffed sleeves and pleated bodice, hair in a neat updo, hands resting on a studio chair rail. (From the Borders to the Bush, p.39; photograph supplied by Mark Telfer)

Four generations — Margaret Parkins (seated) holding Lesley Maida Bottrill, with Kathleen Bottrill, Miriam and Clarice. (From the Borders to the Bush; Smith/Parkins chapter)

Old schoolhouse at "Galore" — the local outback schoolhouse in the Nyngan / Marra Creek district of western New South Wales, Australia, where the Parkins (and later Heckendorf) children were educated, against a background of flood years and hard seasons. (From the Borders to the Bush, p.38)

Family

Children

Life Summary

Her Place in the Telfer Line

Margaret was the second of the six children of John Smith and Esther Jane Telfer. Through her mother she is a granddaughter of the pioneer Francis Telfer (1809–1895), who sailed from the Isle of Skye in 1838. Despite the Telfer blood, she took her father's surname Smith — a Telfer by descent, a Smith by name, and a Parkins by marriage.

Marriage and Family

She married Thomas Parkins of the Nyngan district, New South Wales, and together they raised seven children on the property. In 1917 Thomas was killed in a tragic accident — thrown from a sulky — leaving Margaret to keep the farm (their run called "Melrose", on the Crooked Creek near Warren) going on her own. She became a very capable manager, spinning her own wool and knitting socks for the family and her brothers Frank and John, and doing fine crochet and needlework.

She continued to live on the property for many years after her husband's death. The family memoir recalls her as a determined and hard-working woman who held the family together through flood years and lean seasons. (From the Borders to the Bush, Smith/Parkins chapter)

Schooling in the Outback

The family's schooling was done through a small government-subsidized school — a school room in a house, or later "a small tin shed" with a governess and Correspondence School lessons. The old schoolhouse at "Galore" (photograph, p.38) stands for this chapter of the family's life in the dry Nyngan / Marra Creek district, where the harsh country and recurring floods (1925 and 1929) shaped how Margaret's children and grandchildren grew up.

Later Life

Margaret lived to a great age, dying on 30 October 1961 at about 93. She is part of the great wave of the Telfer-Smith farming families of the Nyngan / Warren district.

The Four Generations Photograph

A formal studio portrait taken with her daughter Miriam (standing), her granddaughter Clarice (standing, née Heckendorf), and her great-grandchildren Lesley Maida Bottrill (the baby) and Kathleen Bottrill (the young girl) — four generations of the one line on a single camera. (From the Borders to the Bush, Smith/Parkins chapter)

Sources

• From the Borders to the Bush (family memoir) — p.39: portrait of Margaret Dougal Smith; Four-generations photograph; p.38: "Old schoolhouse at 'Galore'"; Smith/Parkins family chapters.
• Vault profile Esther Jane Telfer (1834–1909) — parent/child relation, birth place Burra, death 30 Oct 1961; the Ebenezer farm photographs.
• A Telfer Family Tree Supplement 2008 — Parkins/Heckendorf/Bottrill descendants' dates.
• Photographs supplied by Mark Telfer (pages 38 and 39 of the book).