Mark Telfer

Born: 12 Apr 1877, Up and Down Rocks SA
Died: 23 Jul 1946, Adelaide SA
Mother: Martha Henstridge (~1854–1921)
Father: John Telfer (1840–1913)
Spouse: Julia Matilda Seebohm (1876–1939) (m. 9 Jul 1902)

Family

Life Summary

Mark Telfer was born on 12 April 1877 at Up and Down Rocks, South Australia, the first biological child of John Telfer (1840–1913) and his second wife Martha Clara Henstridge. He was the eldest of eleven children from the second marriage.

He married Julia Matilda Seebohm on 9 July 1902. Together they had seven children: Floris Ethel Victoria (1904–1951), Kenneth William John (1904–?), Gilbert Melville known as Mel (1908–1973), Jean Maryann Martha (1910–1984), Joyce Elizabeth (1912–2012), Maifie Beryl (1913–1948), and Lindsay Roland (1920–1976).

The book From the Borders to the Bush confirms all seven, listing them as: Floris, Ken, Mel, Jean, Joyce, Maifie and Lindsay.

Mark died on 23 July 1946 in Adelaide, South Australia, at age 69. His death location (Adelaide, not Tantanoola) suggests he may have moved from the family's Tantanoola home base later in life.

Family Stories

Mark Telfer was John Telfer's sixth child — the first born to his second wife, Martha Clara Henstridge. He married Julia Matilda Seebohm (known as Tillie) in the Tantanoola Public Hall on 9 July 1902, with the Rev. James Davies officiating. Both Mark and Tillie were active in Sunday School teaching at the Tantanoola Presbyterian Church, and the congregation presented them with a large family Bible on their Silver Wedding anniversary.

Mark took over his father's farm, "Brackenridge", when John retired, growing crops and running sheep and cattle. He lived there until about 1940, then purchased a house in Millicent and retired with two of his daughters, Jean and Maifie. Mark was a fine sportsman — he played football and cricket, served as Timekeeper for the football club when his sons took the field, and was a capable batsman and slow bowler who won a medal for the highest batting average in the Tantanoola Cricket Club. He and Tillie raised seven children: Floris, Ken, Mel, Jean, Joyce, Maifie and Lindsay.

(From the Borders to the Bush, pp.240–241)

🖊️ Anecdote — as told in From the Borders to the Bush (ch. 7) and carried in the press: In June 1926 Mark was driving his family to the Mount Gambier races when an armed, masked man held up the car on the Glencoe road. The Barrier Miner (21 June 1926, p.1) reported it as "one of the greatest sensations the south-east has known since the memorable recrudescence of 'the Tantanoola tiger'", linking it to a house robbery at Tantanoola the same morning; police chased the man through the Glencoe scrub and an arrest followed. Mark Telfer (1877–1946) lived at Tantanoola and is the only Mark Telfer of the right age and place at that date — a strong identity match, though the anecdote itself establishes no relationship, date or place. (Anecdote only — the spine facts above come from the sources below.)

Timeline

Sources