Robert Telfer

Role: Son of the Scottish patriarch — stayed in Castleton, Roxburghshire his entire life
Born: 25 April 1803 — Castleton, Roxburghshire, Scotland
Died: 1878 (aged 74) — Castleton, Scottish Borders, Scotland
Buried: Likely Old Castleton Cemetery, Newcastleton, Scottish Borders, Scotland
Occupation: Clogger (1841 census) — a maker of wooden-soled clogs. Earlier drafts described him as a farm servant/agricultural labourer; that is not what the census records.

Family Stories

The Brother Who Stayed — A Life in Castleton

Of all the children of James Telfer and Betty Hutton, Robert was the one who lived and died within a few miles of where he was born. While his younger brother Francis crossed the world to South Australia, and his older brother James followed years later, Robert stayed put in the Liddesdale valley.

He married Elizabeth "Betty" Oliver around 1828 and they set up house in Castleton. The 1841 census shows them with four young children — Elizabeth (7), James (5), Jean (3), and John (2) — together with one female servant, Agnes Oliver (22). No other relatives shared the dwelling.

Robert worked as a clogger — a maker of wooden-soled clogs, and the trade recorded for him in the 1841 census. His father had been a hand loom weaver — hard work, modest means, family close. By 1851, things had changed. Robert was 46 and living with only two of his children still at home. His wife Betty was gone — whether she'd died or left, the records don't say.

He died in 1878 at age 74, in the same parish where he was born. The statutory death registration records his mother's maiden name as Hutton, confirming his place in the family.

Robert never saw Australia. Never sailed on a ship across the ocean. But his story matters too — the brother who stayed, kept the old name in the old country, and lived the quiet life that his more adventurous siblings left behind.

(From the Borders to the Bush, pp.17-20; 1841 and 1851 Scotland Censuses)

Family

Life Summary

Robert Telfer was born in 1803 in Castleton, Roxburghshire, the fifth child and third son of James Telfer and Betty Hutton. He was baptised on 25 April 1803 in the Church of Scotland at Castleton parish, the same Liddesdale valley where the Telfer family had lived for generations.

Unlike his younger brother Francis, who emigrated to South Australia in 1838, Robert remained in the Scottish Borders his entire life. He married Elizabeth "Betty" Oliver around 1828. The 1841 census shows the couple living in Castleton with their four young children and one female servant, Agnes Oliver (22). No extended family shared the dwelling — an earlier reading of this census placed John Telfer (64), Violet Telfer, and William Telfer in Robert's household; the transcript shows John Telfer (64, pauper) was a lodger in the Hardie household on the preceding page of the same enumeration district, and Violet and William Telfer lived elsewhere.

By 1851, Robert (now aged 46) was living in Castleton with only his daughters Elizabeth (17) and John (11) still at home. His wife Betty is absent from the 1851 census household — she may have died between 1841 and 1851, though her death has not been traced.

Robert's death at age 74 was registered in 1878 in the Castleton district. The statutory death registration records his mother's maiden surname as Hutton, confirming his parentage.

Timeline

Sources

• Birth/Baptism: Church of Scotland Old Parish Registers, Castleton parish, ref 784/10/82, Frame 87 — Robert Telfer baptised 25 Apr 1803, son of James Telfer & Betty Hutton. Accessed via ScotlandsPeople (WikiTree citation, accessed 25 March 2025).
• 1841 Census: Scotland Census, 1841 — Castleton, Roxburghshire, piece 784, enumeration district 13, page 2 (street "Village"). Robert Telfer (36, Clogger) with Betty (34), Elizabeth (7), James (5), Jean (3), John (2), and Agnes Oliver (22, Female Servant). Transcript read from FreeCEN, record for Robert Telfer (b. 1805, Castleton) — . (NRS ref given on earlier drafts as 784/13/1 — the FreeCEN transcript for this dwelling is piece 784, ED 13, page 2; page 1 of the same ED is the Hardie household, where John Telfer (64, pauper) lodged.)
• 1841 Census — Robert's parents, separate dwelling: James Telfer (75, Woollen Hand Loom Weaver), Betty (65), William Telfer (25, Woollen Hand Loom Weaver), same parish. FreeCEN transcript.
• 1841 Census — Robert's wife's profile on WikiTree: Elizabeth Oliver — Oliver-13532 (b. 1806 Castleton, d. 1846), the profile WikiTree actually links to Robert (Telfer-750). Note it is not Oliver-13562, which earlier drafts of this page cited and which has no spouse recorded.
• Roxburghshire marriage indexes — searched, no match: FreeREG ; full Telfer marriage set for Roxburghshire 1750–1870 (39 entries) contains no Robert Telfer × Elizabeth/Betty Oliver. Telfer marriages in the parish cluster are to Ruol (1765), Middlemost (1785), Blythe (1824), Hume (1834), Sinton (1836, 1808), Scott (1839), Armstrong (1848), Donald (1853). The "~1828" marriage date on earlier drafts is not from any register.
• 1851 Census: Scotland Census, 1851 — Castleton, Roxburghshire. NRS ref 784/10/10. Robert Telfer (46) with daughters. Accessed via ScotlandsPeople (WikiTree citation). Not re-verified.
• Death Registration: Statutory Register of Deaths, 1878, Castleton district. NRS ref 784/6. Robert Telfer death (age 74, mother's maiden name Hutton). Accessed via ScotlandsPeople (WikiTree citation).
• WikiTree: Robert Telfer (1803–1878) — Telfer-750, profile managed by Raymond Ashcroft. Accessed 28 May 2026. Note: WikiTree records Robert's death year as 1874 and links no children to him; the vault's 1878 comes from the statutory death registration citation, not from WikiTree.
• FindAGrave: James Telfer (1761–1845) — lists Robert Telfer as child #5. Old Castleton Cemetery. Accessed 28 May 2026.
• Telfer Family Genealogy Book (ca 1986) — records spouse as Elizabeth Oliver. Sole source for the maiden name; remains a LEAD.