Telfair, Edward
- Harvey H. Jackson
Extract
Telfair, Edward (1735–17 September 1807), merchant and politician, was born in “Town Head,” Scotland, of unknown parents. He arrived in Georgia in 1766, joining his brother, William, who had emigrated earlier. They formed a partnership with Basil Cowper of Savannah and thus became members of the colony’s small merchant community. His base of operation was Savannah, but he had interests and property in the backcountry, which explains his election in 1768 to the assembly as a representative of upriver St. Paul’s parish. He also held offices in Savannah, and he moved as easily in low-country as upcountry circles. As a merchant he was concerned with the taxes and regulations passed by Parliament in the decade after his arrival, but there is little to indicate what role, if any, he played in the colonial protests of the period....
