Author: Telfer, James
Biography:
TELFER, James (1800-62: ODNB)
Born at Southdean, Roxburghshire, he was the son of Isabel (Taylor; d 1807) and John Lillico Telfer, a shepherd. He worked as a shepherd, but gradually educated himself enough to become a schoolmaster, first at Castleton and then, from about 1830, at a small “adventure school” (that is, a school not regulated by the church) at Saughtree, Liddesdale. He knew James Hogg (his 1824 book is dedicated to Hogg), Walter Scott (in 1824 he sent Scott a manuscript copy of the ballad “Parcy Reed”), William Laidlaw, and Robert White of Newcastle (qq.v.). He married Janet Beattie (no record has been located); they had three daughters. His friendship with Robert White (q.v.) was particularly important in encouraging his publishing career: he contributed verse to the Newcastle Magazine and the Tyne Mercury, and his 1835 novel, Barbara Gray, was published in Newcastle upon Tyne by E. Charnley who also published White’s verse. A collection of his work, Tales and Ballads, was published in 1852; it is dedicated to the Duke of Northumberland. On 5 Nov. 1855 he wrote to the RLF requesting assistance. At the time, two of his daughters were in service and one was living at home but all were in need of financial assistance. His income from schoolteaching was less than £20 annually. The request was denied. He died of apoplexy on 18 Jan. 1862 and was buried in the Old Castleton cemetery. (ODNB 16 Nov. 2020; N&Q [1868]; GM [1862]; ancestry.co.uk 16 Nov. 2020; RLF file 1394) SR