Maria Clara Telfer

Born: ~1878 (South Australia)
Died: 22 Dec 1903, Tantanoola SA (age ~25)
Buried: 24 Dec 1903, Millicent St Michael's Church of England Cemetery, SA
Mother: Martha Henstridge (~1854–1921)
Father: John Telfer (1840–1913)
Marital status: Never married

Family

Life Summary

Maria Clara Telfer was the seventh child of John Telfer and Martha Clara Henstridge — the third of Martha Henstridge's twelve children — born around 1878. She was named with the middle name Clara after her mother. She died young, on 22 December 1903 at Tantanoola, South Australia, at approximately 25 years of age, never having married. She predeceased both her mother (who died in 1921) and father (who died in 1913) by ten and eight years respectively — an unusually early passing that cut short a life that might have continued long enough to see the family's later expansion.

Family Stories

Maria Clara Telfer died young at just 25 years of age, never having married. Her son. The family tree (A Telfer Family Tree, p.263) records one child under her entry — Ronald Telfer, born 24 August 1898 at Adelaide, SA, and died there three days later on 27 August 1898. He is numbered `1.` directly beneath her, the book's standard placement for a woman's child. He was born and died four years before his mother, and is buried with the family line on page 263 immediately preceding the entry for her sister Isabella. Evidence: A Telfer Family Tree, p.263 (entry `7.` + child `1. Ronald TELFER`); index p.236 records her as "1 child". Burial. She was buried at Millicent St Michael's Church of England Cemetery, South Australia — the Genealogy SA South Australia Cemeteries burial register records TELFER, Maria Clara, burial date 24-Dec-1903, age 25, cemetery Millicent St Michaels CE, source Burial Register, district code 22, with the note "Of Tantanoola." Her death was registered at Tantanoola on 22 Dec 1903 (district Nor, Book 313/Page 474); the two-day gap between death (22 Dec) and burial (24 Dec) is the ordinary death-to-interment interval, not a conflict. The burial place agrees with the compiled Find a Grave memorial 255689773 (also Millicent) — two independent source groups, so the burial place is recorded as fact. Her memorial card — printed in black with gold lettering — bore her photograph circled with the poignant words "Though lost to sight, To memory dear." Below the photograph was inscribed: "In Loving Memory of Maria Clara Telfer." Her early passing in December 1903 at Tantanoola was a sadness visited upon the family well before her mother's death in 1921 and her father's in 1913.

(From the Borders to the Bush, pp.242, 248–249)

Timeline

Sources

• ✅ Register (primary): Genealogy SA — South Australia Cemeteries, Burial Register: TELFER, Maria Clara — burial 24-Dec-1903, age 25, Millicent St Michaels CE, note "Of Tantanoola", district code 22. Read as member #24964, 18 Sep 2026.
• ✅ Register (primary): Genealogy SA — Death Registrations: TELFER Maria Clara, death 22-Dec-1903, age 25, place/residence Tantanoola, relative John TELFER (F).
• ✅ Corroborating (compiled): Find a Grave memorial 255689773 (Millicent) — agrees on the burial place. NOT cited alone; the register above is the authority.
• ✅ Approved Deep Research Report: "The Descendants of John Telfer (1841–1913) of Tantanoola" (Skippy review 29 May 2026) — via WikiTree, Trove cross-referencing
• John Telfer (1840–1913) vault profile — children table
• (From the Borders to the Bush, p.260; A Telfer Family Tree, p.236) — John Telfer household numbering: Maria Clara as seventh child of John Telfer, the third of Martha Henstridge's twelve children.