Telford Family of Ellinbank
Ellinbank - R. G. Telford and Family
Raymond Gordon Telford was born at Wynyard Tasmania on 19th January 1901 to John Dempster Telford and Charlotte Elizabeth Gordon Telford nee Docker. For the story of that family at Table Cape click the button below.
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Grace Matilda Gilbert was born at Brighton, Victoria on 15th September 1900 to Lionel Gilbert and Clara Elizabeth Gilbert nee Johnson - see Gilberts of Ellinbank.
Grace Matilda Gilbert married Raymond Gordon Telford on 4th July 1931 at the Ellinbank Church of England, pictured above on their wedding day.
The Warragul Gazette recorded their wedding as follows:
" St Georges Church ( Ellinbank) was the scene of a picturesque wedding on Saturday July 4th . The bride was beautifully gowned in white satin, her rich lace veil lent by Mrs. A. Lene of Camberwell, held in position by a wreath of orange blossoms and pearl ornaments which were lent by the mother of the bridegroom. Miss B. Gilbert, the only bridesmaid wore a frock of pink satin with a headdress of silver lame and carried a bouquet of pink carnations. Mrs J.D.Telford a brown frock with hat to match and the bride’s aunt, Mrs.E. Gilbert dressed in blue with a black hat. Presents included a handsome 8 - day dining room clock from St Georges congregation." (this clock sat on our dining room mantlepiece for many years but had a tendency to lose time)
The Gazette also published an obituary to Grace Telford on November 1958 which reads, in part:
“ The death of Mrs. Grace M. Telford of Ellinbank at the age of 58 years was keenly felt throughout the Warragul district in which she was held in the highest regard. She came to Ellinbank as a small child - born in Melbourne, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lionel Gilbert. Her father was with the PMG department for a number of years and left to take up farming in the rich Ellinbank district. “
Grace Gilbert worked as the “Sewing mistress” at Ellinbank State School until her marriage - this is in effect the assistant to the head teacher, particularly teaching the younger pupils. She was Sunday School superintendent at St Georges C of E and church organist. She was active in a number of local organizations including State School Mothers Club, Red Cross and CWA.
pictured -
June, John, Alan and Barbara, about 1946
Ray and Grace with June, Barbara and John, 1937
Grace with baby Alan 1941
Ray and Grace had 4 children - June Elizabeth born 12 June 1932
Barbara Jean born 21 January 1935
John Raymond born 10 January 1937
Alan Peter born 15 April 1941
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Life at Glendearg revolved around the milking schedule every morning and night , 365 days per year, school during the week and church on Sundays. The dairy herd consisted of about 50 Jersey cows which were milked in the shed pictured above. In the ’50s the vacuum machinery was driven by a petrol engine which was provided with a crank handle to start it. The milk was collected and run by gravity over an open heat exchanger cooled by cold tank water, in the “Cooler room” and into milk cans.
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The original cowshed ( with rusted roof) can be seen in the photo above.
The property initially consisted of 160 acres with 2 creek gullies running though it and a mix of clay and brown loam soils. This was later subdivided into 2 x 80 acre farms to be owned by Ray and his brother Doug respectively. The crops consisted mainly of perennial rye grass and subterranean clover which was grazed and harvested annually for hay and silage. Other crops grown for feeding the cows included maize, millet, oats and latterly turnips. Ray had a brief try at growing flax when the government made an appeal for flax growers during the war years ( 1939 -45); flax is used to make linen and canvas for tents. There was a processing factory at Drouin.
Until about 1950 the farm work was assisted by a pair of draught horses ( Bonny and Clyde). Cans of milk were taken to the front gate for collection and hay fed to the cows, on a wooden sledge ( with steel runners) pulled by the horses. The horses were superseded when Ferguson tractors became available in the early ‘50s. There was also a grey pony “Nancy” which June sometimes rode but it was sold before I could learn to ride.
The farm at Ellinbank was not an easy property to work. Ray Telford worked hard and diligently to clear the place of noxious weeds which particularly invaded the creek gullies—blackberries, thistles, bracken fern, ragwort and capeweed. Main fertilizer used was an annual application of superphosphate. The milk was supplied to the butter factory at Warragul, most paid for on the basis of butterfat content but a proportion of it was under contract for use as whole milk and needed to be supplied all year round. From an early age we children took it in turns to help Dad with the milking and as we got older sometimes to relieve him but for decades he was the first up in the morning, around 5.30 am for a quick cuppa and outside into the frost to bring in the cows.
My mother worked at creating a warm home where we were all well fed and cared for. As well as providing 3 meals a day she made jam and bottled fruit ( with help from her children) each season, enough to last the year—the only jam we bought was Rosella apricot in 2 litre cans. For the first 20 years or so of her married life she managed without electricity, all cooking done on the wood stove and reading by kerosene lamps and clothes and sheets washed in a copper boiler. She however made time to be active outside the home as organist and Sunday School superintendent at the local Church of England, in the CWA ( Country Women’s Assoc. ), Red Cross and as president of the school Mothers Club.
Photos below show the draught horses with sledge and the Ferguson tractor.
More on the early days of Ellinbank and the arrival of John Dempster Telford and family:
On Sundays after church we regularly went to the Gilbert’s for afternoon tea unless we were visiting other friends or relatives for Sunday lunch. The picture at left is of a typical Christmas Day (or maybe Boxing Day) when the family including the Gilberts would gather at Glendearg, from left to right: Bernice G., Auntie Bessie, Elaine and Kathryn, Lindsay White ( and his boxer Snowy), Uncle Hal Gilbert, June and Tom Wallace, John T, Glenda G, Barrie G, Dad ( Ray T.). The 2 obscured are presumably Barb. White and Auntie Doris Gilbert. Photo taken by Alan T.
My father was also involved in many local organisations, frequently going to evening meetings or Saturday working bees e.g. Hall, Sports Ground, School, Fire Brigade, Church ( where he was the Rector’s Warden). He was also the honorary auditor for a number of local volunteer organisations, presumably because of his accounting knowledge ( gained during his time at Hawkesbury Agricultural College ?) but also because of the regard that he was held in the community.
The Ellinbank Primary School ( no. 2189) was, until about 1960, a single classroom with a head teacher and a “sewing mistress” who largely took charge of the grades 1 and 2. ( There was no preschool or kindergarten class— school starting age was at the beginning of the year you turned 6 ).
Before she was married my mother was employed as the sewing mistress for a number of years. There were about 35 pupils in grades 1 to 6. For most of my time there ( 1947—1952) I walked the 2 miles each way.
Apparently June, Barbara and John all spent only 5 years at the Ellinbank school as they all managed to skip a grade.
Our secondary education was at Warragul High School. This entailed a daily trip on the school bus—in June’s day the driver used to schedule a stop for a smoke at our front gate to give her a little extra time to get ready. For the last 2 years of her schooling Barbara went to boarding school at “Firbank”, Brighton. The curriculum at Warragul was mostly academic—English, French, History, Geography, Maths and Science ( no computers) but we also did a bit of woodwork and metalwork , and of course sport . Friday afternoons consisted of a double period of “clubs or cadets” followed by an hour and a half of sport which for the boys was Aussie Rules in winter and cricket or tennis in summer, hockey and netball for the girls. While in years 1 an 2 my "club" was the junior choir which was led by the music teacher, Miss (Jean) Walker; I have always enjoyed singing but only became fully involved with choral music somewhat later whereas my brother John took part in the school musicals such as "The Gondoliers". From form 3 on I was in the school cadets for 4 years—the best part was the annual week long cadet camp at either Mildura or Seymour.
Family holidays were invariably at the beach. For many years my mother took the children to Frankston during the Christmas break to stay with Grandma ( Lottie) and Auntie Jean at “Romana”, 10 Plummer Ave. The highlight of every day was swimming in the water of Port Phillip Bay despite the temperature averaging about 15 degrees. Dad rarely had time to stay over night but would drive down to be with us for the day and take us home. When we all went away as a family it was more often to camp at Inverloch.
After John Dempster Telford died at Bright in 1931 his widow Lottie moved back down to Gippsland and lived for some time at Drouin with Basil but eventually joined daughter Jean who had bought the Frankston property some time in the late ‘30s. They lived there until shortly before Jean’s early death at the age of 59 in 1957 Grandma then moved back to Ellinbank until about 1962 before spending the next 2 years at Perth, WA with son Will and Alice - she died there in September 1964 and was cremated at Karrakatta cemetery.
During school holidays, when not at the beach, I spent a lot of time reading books.
We were brought up to expect that we would leave home and go on to higher education when we had completed secondary school and with the hope of traveling overseas. John had an opportunity to travel to the UK with the “Sun-Advertiser” Youth Travel as a teenager and went on to study Agricultural Science at Massey College, NZ.
June won an Education Department scholarship to do a Bachelor of Arts ( English and History) and Dip. Ed. at Melbourne University and Barbara likewise to study Domestic Science ( especially cookery ) at “Larnook” Tertiary College. These scholarships entailed a commitment to work in Victorian Government secondary schools for 3 years minimum. After the 3 years each of them headed off to UK and Europe with a girl friend, beginning with a 4 week voyage by ship to England.
Barbara’s trip was unfortunately cut short when our mother Grace was taken ill with duodenal cancer and died in November 1958. At the time I was 17 years old and in my last year at school. June was already teaching at Warragul High School and living at home. Barbara also obtained a job at Warragul High so that Dad was looked after during this difficult period.
I moved to Melbourne at the beginning of 1959 having obtained a cadetship with the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories ( now CSL Ltd) at Parkville. This enabled me to study for a Bachelor of Science ( and later M. Sc.) at Melbourne University. I remember June coming to Melbourne with me while I searched for a suitable boarding house to stay. I didn’t get to go overseas to Europe until 1974 with Isabel and 3 year old Fiona, but I did spend 4 weeks in New Zealand when I went to John and Elaine’s wedding at New Plymouth in 1963.
When visiting Melbourne we often visited my mother Grace's second cousin Bessie Gilbert at Armadale. Auntie Bessie was a school teacher and when I first knew her lived with her mother Nellie, father Gerald, brother Charlie and sister Nellie. She was my godmother.
In 1962 my father Ray married Auntie Bessie and they had 15 good years together, mostly at Glendearg until Ray died of a heart attack on 31st May 1978. At the time he died he had 15 grandchildren living - 5 at Ellinbank, 5 at Coffs Harbour, 3 in Sydney and 2 in Wales, UK.
The photos below of (1) Ray in his front garden with granddaughter Fiona in 1976, (2) first grandchild Ian with mother June Wallace,
June Elizabeth b. 12 June 1932 m. Tom Wallace, June was a teacher before joining Tom on the dairy farm at Ellinbank ( “Elderslie”, Seaview Rd.) Tom eventually also took over the farm at “Glendearg”. Tom was a leading figure in the sporting world around Ellinbank, particularly football ( Aussie Rules and cricket).
June died tragically early just after her 50th birthday from cancer in July 1982.
Children — Ian 1961, surveyor, m. Amanda Fisher April 2010 - 1 child, Gemma Elizabeth, 1966 speech therapist
David 1963, IT specialist, m. Chris - 1 child, Josh 2002 Peter 1964, farmer, m. Wendy - 3 children, Ashley, Toby and Chloe Jenny 1972 m. Daryl Young - 3 children
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Tom Wallace remarried 1983 to Barbara, mother of Wendy; he died September 2013.
Barbara Jean Telford b. 21 January 1935, m. Lindsay White, pictured at right with their 5 children - Michael, Susan, Robyn, Judith and Andrew. Barbara and Lindsay were teachers at Alexandra and Queenscliff, Victoria and Lindsay later became a full time pastor in the Calvary Life Assemblies church at Coffs Harbour NSW - died August 2005.
Michael m. Melissa - ch. Simone, Jonathon, Joseph
Susan m. Russell Tasker - ch. Jamin, Simon, Jessica, Caleb
Robyn m. Gary Blackford - ch. Sarah, Rachel, Naomi, Laura
Judith m. Geoff Harrigan - ch. Samuel, Jemma, Alissa
Andrew m. Angela - ch. Ethan. Alexandra, Zacariah
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John Raymond b. 10 January 1937, m. Elaine Sargent from Taranaki, NZ. They are pictured here in the Blue mountains with daughter Kathryn and Charlie and children.
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Kathryn married Charlie Vaughan - ch. Jessica and Hamish
Michelle - long term partner Raoul
Amanda unmarried
John trained as an agricultural scientist and he and Elaine have worked with a Christian aid organization in many parts of the world before settling back in Sydney and then retiring to the Blue Mountains.
Alan Peter born at Warragul on 15 April 1941, married Isabel Mackie from Edinburgh Scotland.
Isabel was born 19 August 1942 to Peter Wilson Mackie and Isabella McIntyre Robertson. She migrated to Australia with her parents in 1963.
Alan and Isabel married in Melbourne at the Kew Presbyterian church on 29th December 1967, pictured below. They have lived in Melbourne, in South Wales, Kingaroy and Brisbane Queensland and from 2003 in Weldborough Tasmania.
Alan worked as a scientist / manager in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry: until 1976 at CSL in the production of insulin, heparin and antibiotic formulations; 3 years at Miles Laboratories in Bridgend, Wales developing diagnostics and treatments for pollen and house dust mite allergies; 6 months with the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) in Melbourne; 18 months at the Peanut Marketing Board in Kingaroy, 4 years as Laboratory Manager of the Quantum Agricultural Laboratory in Brisbane. From 1986 to 2003 he was Director of Operations at Mabco / Agen Biomedical in Brisbane and after moving to Tasmania worked as consultant to Rockeby Biomedical, Perth W.A.
Isabel had a varied career working as teacher, chef, theatre director and sometime volunteer with the Iona Community in Scotland, plus sharing her musical talents on piano, violin, harp and ukulele. She died in Launceston of amyloidosis on 10th November 2011.
Offspring of Isabel and Alan:
Fiona Isabel b. 17 April 1971 and Catriona Ruth b. 15 June 1976
Fiona is a trained singer but more recently qualified and working in health education and promotion, married to Tony Sharp, a Catholic priest - they live in Adelaide with their 4 children, Matilda b. 17 May 1997, Laura b. 14 August 1999, Liam b. 27 June 2002 and Milla ( “Milly”) b. 3 July 2006. Fiona and Tony changed their name to Telford-Sharp in 1998.
In 1974 Isabel, Alan and Fiona took a 6 month sabbatical to Scotland where Isabel proudly introduced me the rich heritage of her home country and to her numerous uncles, aunts and cousins (she had 10 uncles and 13 aunts).
The photo below showing Isabel and 3 year old Fiona standing atop the Glenfinnan Monument was taken in 1974 with Loch Shiel in the background. The monument was built in 1815 as a tribute to the Jacobite clansmen who fought and died in the cause of Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1715 - 1745. and at right Catriona and Alan in San Francisco 2014..
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These memorials for Grace Telford nee Gilbert and Ray Telford and for their daughter June Wallace are in the Warragul cemetery in Burke Street.
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Copies of these grave photos have been added to the findagrave website where there are links to other members of the Telford and Gilbert families; follow this link -
view from back garden at Glendearg clearly showing Mount Worth with hayshed, Mazda 323 belonging to Alan and Isabel ca. 1972. Mt Worth as it was with single stand of trees;
