Left Hungry

On 17 August 1895, a banquet was held for John Kidd in the Town Hall at Campbelltown. Kidd, the owner of the Blair Athol property and prominent citizen, was a member of Sir George Dibbs' state government that had recently lost an election. Certain actions by Dibbs leading up to the election were seen as being too conservative and the reason why the election was lost. The banquet was a grand affair, with many dignitaries attending including the Mayor of Campbelltown. 

Despite being a political and social success, it was not a success from a banquet point of view. And considering that food can make or break a night like this, the verdict was that it probably failed. The Camden News described it this way: "...the viands being wholly insufficient for the wants of the guests. One party of four, after vainly attempting to get something to eat, went to a neighbouring hotel and had supper on their own". One would assume the caterers got the sack!

John Kidd successfully became a Member of the Legislative Assembly of the NSW Parliament. He was elected to the seat of Nepean in 1880. When Dibbs' lost the election, Kidd retired from politics. On hearing of his death, Sir Edmund Barton, Australia's first prime minister, said "I always found him to be a loyal colleague and a strictly upright public man".

John Kidd pictured with his family at Blair Athol in the 1890s (Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society Collection)

Written by Andrew Allen

Source:

Camden News, 29 August 1896, p6

The Much Loved Mr Newman

One of Campbelltown's most loved and respected teachers was Patrick Newman. Born in Ireland in 1832 to parents Joseph and Alice, young Patrick arrived in Australia in 1852 on the Herald of the Morning.

Patrick's first connection with Campbelltown came twelve years later in 1864 when he took charge of the Catholic School on Old Menangle Road. This building is known today as Quandong. The very popular teacher attracted students to the school and by 1880 enrolments had reached 140. Then in August 1880, amidst much controversy, the popular headmaster was transferred to Campbelltown Public School. Prominent Campbelltown citizen and politician John Kidd was largely behind the move. Enrolments for the Public School were falling and Kidd was aware of Patrick's reputation. Many Protestant children transferred from the Catholic School to the Public after Patrick's transfer, such was the high esteem that he was held in. The Catholics of Campbelltown were furious at what they saw was a deliberate attack on their school. Despite the protests, the Minister of Education refused to take any action.

The relationship between John Kidd and Patrick Newman became closer on his appointment. This relationship got Patrick into trouble on one occasion however. In 1880, not long after his transfer, Patrick drove Kidd to a political meeting at Narellan because Kidd's horse was lame. As attitudes to public and private morality were demonstrated most clearly in reactions to local schoolteachers, Newman was accused of political bias. Teachers were not allowed to express political opinions. The incident, in reality, didn't seem to affect Patrick's popularity with most of the community.

There are a couple of memories of past pupils of Campbelltown Public that provide an insight into Patrick Newman's term at the school. Cricket was a favourite game played by the boys. Mr Newman would not allow them to drive stumps into the ground, but he did allow them to use a stump of a box tree, after they had chopped the tree down, sawn it into logs and stacked it in his backyard. Can you imagine this happening today! One lesson, which Mr Newman insisted upon, was the identification of various snakes, especially venomous ones, and also the treatment of snake bite. He believed it was necessary because of the bush surrounding Campbelltown and a number of boys went shooting at weekends. He advised them, when going into the bush, to always carry in their pocket a length of string, a knife and a sixpence. In case of snake bite, the string was to be used as a ligature and the knife to scarify the wound. If they became lost and came out near a farmhouse, the sixpence was to be used for a meal and possibly transport home.

He had a reputation of being strict and used his cane frequently. Despite this, he was also considerate, especially to children who often became sleepy during lessons because they had to rise early, milk cows and then walk long distances to school.

By the late 1890s Patrick's formerly neat handwriting had become shaky. He was now in his 70s and had been the leading educational figure in the town for 37 years. Mr Newman eventually retired with six month's long service leave in 1901 to his home known as 'Tara" on the leafy hilltop overlooking the school and town he had grown to love. This house still exists on the corner of George and Condamine Streets.

Patrick Newman passed away on October 19, 1909. He was buried in St John's Catholic Cemetery. He died a year after his wife Elizabeth. Patrick took a great interest in the volunteer force and two of his sons served during the Boer War.

The only photograph I could locate of Patrick is this grainy image below. Taken around 1890, it shows Patrick and Elizabeth on a horse drawn buggy somewhere in the local area.

 

(Watson Collection. Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society)

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

Burns-Wood, J
Campbelltown Public School 1876-1976

Catholic Press, Thursday 28 October 1909, p29

LISTON, Carol 1988
Campbelltown: The Bicentennial History

Campbelltown Public School
Pamphlet Collection
Local Studies Collection
Campbelltown City Library

"Honest John"

The Kidd family at Blair Athol in the 1890s. John Kidd is on the right. (Photo courtesy Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society).


John Kidd was born at Brechin, in Scotland, in 1838, the son of a shoemaker. At the age of 18 he migrated to Sydney on the Mary Anne and established a bakery. In 1860, three years after arriving in the colony, he married Sophie Collier and moved to Campbelltown. Here he established a bakery and general store which he ran from 1860 to 1876.

John soon developed a reputation for honesty which was to last for the rest of his life. It won him many customers for his businesses and later was enough to be asked to run as a candidate for the Legislative Assembly of the NSW Parliament. He became known as "Honest John" in the Campbelltown community.

John was prominent in the Presbyterian Church and later became an elder. He was also involved in the local School of Arts. In 1870 he was appointed a magistrate and served as a chairman of the local licensing branch. He was a foundation member for the Masonic Lodge in Campbelltown and became the first Patron of the Campbelltown Agricultural Society.

After he returned in 1877 from a trip to Scotland, John took up dairying and began to breed Ayrshire cattle. He bought land at St Andrews and Campbellfields to graze the cattle on and by 1900 was one of the largest rate payers in the municipality. He also planted orchards and vineyards on the land.

John Kidd was elected to the seat of Nepean in 1880. In 1901 he was re-elected to the new seat of Camden until his retirement in 1904. John was a strong supporter of Federation and Free Trade.

He was a member for the steering committee to form a new council for Campbelltown and saw the first council incorporated in 1881. He was also asked by the NSW Premier to be Postmaster General in 1891. Kidd also owned the Campbelltown Herald in 1887.

"Honest John" and his family owned Blair Athol homestead built in 1881. They entertained extensively and their home was one of only very few in the district that had a ballroom. The house still stands in the Campbelltown suburb of the same name.

John continued to supervise his farms after his retirement from parliament in 1904 until his death at 81 years of age. Australia's first Prime Minister Edmund Barton said "I always found him to be a loyal colleague and a strictly upright public man". He died on April 8 1919 and was buried in the Presbyterian Cemetery in Campbelltown. John and Sophie had 4 children: Thomas Collier; Jessie Maud; Mary Elizabeth and Frederick Norman John Kidd.

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

Pamphlet by A. Robinson of Leumeah High School

HOLMES, Marie
The Presbyterian Cemetery Campbelltown

The Presbyterian Cemetery

The Presbyterian Cemetery was originally a gift made to St. David's Presbyterian Church by Alexander McDonald, most likely in the 1830s. The deaths of his two children Jane and William are the earliest deaths shown on a monument in the cemetery. Alexander's own death was in 1847.

There are 177 monuments in the cemetery recording the deaths of about 326 persons. The cemetery has some notable Campbelltown names that rest there. These include:

John Kidd- owner of Blair Athol. He was an MLA for Camden in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Thomas Swann- well known photographer from Wedderburn.

Percy Marlow- member of Campbelltown Council from 1926-56 including mayor for 3 separate terms.

Samuel Bursill- mayor of Campbelltown 1909-1914.

James W. Kershler- mayor of Campbelltown 1930-1937.

In 1987 that portion of the cemetery lying adjacent to Moore Street was resumed to allow for widening of the road to become the Moore-Oxley Bypass. The Department of Main Roads compiled a register of all persons buried in the affected area and contacted those descendants who were able to be located. In March 1987, graves and/or memorial stones were moved to other locations within the cemetery or other cemeteries.

A total of 17 remains were exhumed and reinterred into another section. All but one of the 55 headstones were relocated to another section and they now stand in 4 rows in the north-west corner. These remains were left in their original burial place under the new road.

St. David's Presbyterian Cemetery, Broughton Street, Campbelltown before the widening for the Moore-Oxley Bypass. 1984 (Copyright Verlie Fowler)

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

HOLMES, Marie
The Presbyterian Cemetery Campbelltown