Margaret Wright Telfer

Role: First-born daughter of Adam Francis Telfer (1842–1925) and Margaret Dougal Telfer (1849–1936) — the eldest of their twelve children, who died young, unmarried.

Born: 26 August 1869 — Koppio, South Australia
Died: 21 April 1890 — Tantanoola, South Australia (aged ~20, of pneumonia)
Marital status: Single (never married)

⚠️ Not to be confused with Margaret Wright Telfer (1810–1892) — that is the aunt / mother-in-law (third wife of Francis Telfer, and the mother of Margaret Dougal). This profile (1869–1890) is the daughter. The two share the exact same name but are different people.

Family

Life Summary

Margaret Wright Telfer was the first of Adam and Margaret's twelve children, born at Koppio in the Port Lincoln region in 1869. She died at Tantanoola in April 1890, aged about twenty, unmarried, of pneumonia. Her mother's biography records that Margaret was to receive a piano as a present for her twenty-first birthday but never lived to see it — a loss that, by family account, never left her mother.

Her name is the same as her aunt, Margaret Wright Telfer (1810–1892), which has repeatedly caused confusion in record transcription; they are separate people.

Timeline

Sources

Source: From the Borders to the Bush — pp.268, 276-277 (chapter covering Adam & Margaret; first child born Koppio 1869, died of pneumonia before her 21st)
Source: A Telfer Family Tree — p.287 — "Margaret Wright Telfer, b. 26 Aug 1869 Koppio SA, d. 21 Apr 1890 Tantanoola SA, single" — accessed 28 Aug 2026 (via Book Digester swing-11 report)
Source (lead — NOT corroboration): Find a Grave — Memorial 245337994 — read directly 11 Sep 2026. This URL resolves to Adelaide Elsie Pearl Telfer (1889–1976), buried Mitcham General Cemetery, Adelaide — not Margaret Wright Telfer. It is an individual memorial for a sibling, not a "family cluster". It names Margaret in a list of eleven siblings with dates that conflict with the books (Lillian May 1873 vs 1872; "Effie Oliver" for Effie Olive; Hazel Rose omitted). Its only reliable content is the transcribed SA birth line for Adelaide Elsie Pearl (442/344). Treat as a lead only — it does not corroborate this page and must not be used to amend sibling dates or the sibling count.