Avoca Vale Public School

Occasionally I come across information that I was completely unaware of- just when I think I knew everything about Campbelltown there is to know! When researching an enquiry for someone, I discovered there was a school in the area named Avoca Park Public School. This school operated for a very brief period. It was established in 1881 and closed down about 1910. So where was it? Further research revealed that it was situated next to Kilbride homestead, today part of Kilbride Nursing Home in Rosemeadow. A parish map in our collection shows where the school was located: between Appin Road and the water race that ran close to Kilbride.

Amazingly, a search of our photograph collection resulted in a photograph of this school! Taken in about 1909, the faded and grainy image shows a group of children from a different age. A time when the world seemed more innocent. When the pace of life moved so much slower. When World War I had not yet arrived to scar and destroy families from throughout Campbelltown and the country. In front of the photograph are a couple of straw hats and perhaps a cap. I wonder what lives these innocent children were to have?

A search of the Government Gazette on Trove revealed some of the teachers at the school. A Mr Walsh moved there in 1885, followed by John Bath, Miss Crouch, Miss Dash, Miss O'Reilly and Miss McManus in 1908. The children are unidentified, although it is possible that a Haydon girl (later Mrs Jackson) is in the photo. An alderman on Campbelltown Council by the name of Roy Fitzgibbon also attended the school.

Nothing remains of the school today.

Written by Andrew Allen

The Way We Were- Part 4

Some more then and now photographs

The corner of Copperfield Drive and Archibald Crescent, Rosemeadow in 1999 and 2017. The view is looking towards Copperfield Drive. The photograph above shows the land sales office at the new Rosemeadow Gardens Estate.

Above is "St Elmo" in Broughton Street taken around 1900. Below is the same scene today with those pesky trees in the way!

 

Taken in Railway Street looking towards Campbelltown Railway Station. The photo above was taken in 1986, just days before the Royal Hotel was demolished. This was difficult to line up a then and now comparison and not just because it was taken from the middle of the road! There was also some strange looks coming our way. If you look carefully you can just make out a chimney under the street light in the 1986 photograph. This is the same chimney under the aerial and near the replacement street light in the bottom photograph. This then and now comparison provides an indication of where the Royal Hotel was in relation to the realigned Railway Street.

Written by Andrew Allen