Robert Telfer

Role: Second son of James Telfer (1796–1863) to emigrate — manager of Moorak Station
Born: 1835 — Jedburgh, Roxburghshire, Scotland
Died: 12 January 1907 — Yahl, South Australia (FindAGrave headstone gives 14 Jan 1907 — day conflict, see Sources)
Spouse: Susan Burton Telfer (1844–1924) (m. 1865)
Father: James Telfer (1796–1863)
Mother: Elizabeth Beattie (1802–1891)

Family

Life Summary

Robert Telfer, the second son of James and Elizabeth, was born at Jedburgh in 1835. He came to Australia at sixteen on the "Oliver Lang" with his brother James and sister Elizabeth. He spent his entire working life in the employ of Dr. J.W. Browne and his successor, eventually becoming manager of Moorak Station near Mount Gambier.

Family Stories

Stories drawn from the family book, From the Borders to the Bush, pp. 225–227.

The young emigrant. Robert was only sixteen when he left the old family town of Jedburgh behind and set out for the far side of the world. Travelling as the second son alongside his brother James and sister Elizabeth, he sailed for Australia on the Oliver Lang and reached Melbourne in 1854. Rather than settle in the colony of Victoria, the young party pushed overland into South Australia, where Robert made contact with his uncle Francis Telfer at Macoota, Kersbrook, before pressing on to the South East with the promise of land and work ahead of him.

The rise at Moorak. Robert's working life began under Dr J.W. Browne, who first sent him to the Gawler Ranges in the remote north of the colony. From there he moved south to Browne's Moorak Station near Mount Gambier and steadily climbed the ranks — trusted first with the German Creek section, then raised to overseer, and finally made manager of the whole station. He was living at Moorak when he married Susan Burton on 11 April 1865; Susan was twenty, the daughter of James Burton of Claraville, and the ceremony was performed at her family home by Reverend Needham. The marriage certificate is almost illegible now. The couple had five sons and four daughters — James Robert, William, Lindsay Burton, Robert Allan Burton and Francis John Burton; and Elizabeth, Helen, Susan and Edith Mary Kathleen. After more than fifty years' service to the Browne family, ill health at last forced Robert to resign, and he went on to build his own home, which he named Carlowrie, at nearby Yahl.

Taken too soon. Robert spent his last months confined to bed at Carlowrie, his strength worn down by a series of paralytic strokes. He died there on a Saturday evening at the age of seventy-two, having been a colonist for fifty-two years. He left his widow and nine children to mourn him. His obituary in The Chronicle of 19 January 1907 recorded that he was "72 years of age and was highly respected," a colonist of fifty-two years standing; he was described as "a man of sterling worth, of a quiet and unassuming disposition, who had made a host of friends." His funeral was conducted by Reverend Caldwell of the Presbyterian Church, and a long cortege followed him to the Mount Gambier Cemetery.

Susan Burton Telfer lived on until 1924, outliving her husband by seventeen years.

Sources

• Source: Find a Grave — Robert Telfer (1835–1907), Memorial 201532427 — Lake Terrace Cemetery, Mount Gambier; d. 14 Jan 1907, aged 71–72 — accessed 19 Aug 2026
• Source: Donald Telfer, From the Borders to the Bush (ISBN 0 7316 6387 X), pp. 34
• Source: The Chronicle, 19 January 1907 — obituary (age 72)