Catastrophic Lightning Strike

As I sit at my desk this afternoon anticipating a much welcome storm brewing from the south, I remember recently reading about a devastating storm that struck Campbelltown a time long ago. The day was the 9th of February 1856 and the Sydney Morning Herald described it as "the most terrific storm opened that has occurred within the memory of the oldest resident".  I'm amused at the language that was used then to describe such events, like the apocalypse had arrived and the earth would be destroyed "...lightning shot down in vivid streams, awfully grand, quivering like blades of fire in deviling streaks; filtering like radiant streamers till lost among the clouds, which looked like giant batteries erected in the heavens; when on a sudden, a flash of lightning with startling thunder, that was sufficient to appal the stoutest heart and shake the strongest nerve, induced each one to conceive his own doom at hand".

A bolt of lightening had struck the road near Fieldhouse's Store. It appeared to bounce off the road and struck the shop with an almighty force. It smashed the doors, windows and shelves into "atoms" as the report described, and set fire to various articles. Inside the shop were the Fieldhouse brothers, a Mr Whiteman and a little girl named Byrne. Edwin Fieldhouse was knocked down senseless and lost his sight for around five minutes. The others were all injured but survived the experience. The Fieldhouse's suffered severe financial losses and it was feared that the shop would be re-built. It wasn't and in fact still stands today at the southern end of Queen Street.

An early but undated photograph of Fieldhouse's Store.

Written by Andrew Allen

Source:

Sydney Morning Herald Tuesday 12 February 1856, p5

Southern Queen Street Then and Now

The two images above reveal just how much the southern end of Queen Street has changed in the last 50 years. Both photographs are taken from approximately the same spot- near the exit to Kentucky Fried Chicken. The photograph at the top was taken by local historian Alex Goodsell in the early 1960s. It shows the soon to be demolished Commonwealth Flats in the foreground with the orange roof. The Commonwealth Flats was formerly the Jolly Miller Hotel and then the First and the Last Hotel (see my August 19 post). To the left of the Commonwealth Flats is today's Macarthur Legal Centre building formerly Fieldhouse's Store and later home to the Campbelltown News. Looking in the distance past this building is what used to be known as Miss Raymond's Cottage. It was a timber house with brick nogged walls. It had an attic upstairs that was said to be haunted. This house was pulled down in the early 1980s. It stood where the old pizza hut building and later Anytime Fitness building is today. The petrol bowser on the other side of the road would be where the footpath is in front of the KFC car park shown in the bottom photograph. Note the absence of the telephone poles in the bottom photograph.

Written by Andrew Allen