One Missing

These days Campbelltown is immensely proud of the row of colonial terraces opposite the Queen Street entrance to Campbelltown Mall. They add so much character to a street that has unfortunately seen too many demolitions in the name of progress over the years. We owe a lot to former mayor Clive Tregear for saving these three wonderful old buildings through his defiant stance in the 1960s. It might come as a surprise to you that one of the group didn't survive the bulldozer however. It was known as Ealing Cottage.

Ealing Cottage stood where the vacant block of land now is between the former Legacy House to the north and Coaching House to the south. It's address was 296 Queen Street. According to historian Carol Liston, the building was possibly built in the 1850s. The portion of land was purchased from the Bradbury Park Estate in 1844 by Samuel Lovely, conveyed to him by Patrick McMahon in 1853, who may have built the cottage to carry out his business as a wheelwright.

The cottage was already standing by the early 1870s. The image above shows the building in 1871 taken by the photographer William Boag. It looked similar to this right throughout its existence. The cottage passed through a number of hands until 1884 when it was used as a shop and residence and occupied by G Lindsay. The 1891 census shows that the householder for this portion was William Rose and the building was occupied by four men and two women. An Ellen Rose Wilkinson owned it from 1912 to 1956 and she then sold it to Berty Richard Rixon and his wife. They then sold it to the Cumberland County Council in 1962 for 6,100 pounds.

Ealing House is on the far right of this photograph taken in 1950 by Ivor Thomas (Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society)

The brick cottage became known as Ealing House in its later years. It was described as a single story cottage with verandah. Unfortunately it was deemed to have "no architectural or historical significance" and was demolished shortly after the land was acquired by the Cumberland County Council.

Do you have memories of this building? Please share them with us.

Source:

LISTON, Carol 1990
Queen Street Terraces, Campbelltown: Historical Investigation