Come for a Stroll

I have always held a love of cemeteries. There is something calming about them. I disagree that they are places to avoid and that they are scary, forbidden or melancholy. Instead, I have the opinion that they are havens in a crazy and frantic world. Even in Campbelltown, St Peter's Anglican Cemetery, bound by busy roads, generates a feeling of peace amongst the hustle and bustle of the CBD. Occasionally I will wander up to St Peter's during a lunch break to reflect, clear my mind and soak up that peace it provides.

Working as local studies librarian means I get to perform quite a lot of research and often it leads me to learn about our town's pioneers and to the amazing lives some of them lead. It often feels like you get to know them personally! Irene Scattergood is an example. Many times I have read about the tragic circumstances that lead to her premature death in 1925 and the shock felt by her family and the Campbelltown community. Irene and others whose stories I have stored in my brain are people that I wish I could meet. I wish I could interview them like I do with the living's oral histories and record how they made their journey through life...and death.

This year marks 200 years since the first burial in St Peter's Cemetery, making it almost as old as Campbelltown itself. I hope you can join me next month for a Stroll through St Peter's Cemetery and discover some of the people buried there. You will learn about Australia's first millionaire, a Melbourne Cup winning jockey and the man who saw Fisher's Ghost- a man who is often overlooked when it comes to the Fisher's Ghost legend. And of course I will introduce you to Irene Scattergood and explain her heart breaking story as well as others that left such an indelible mark on our beloved Campbelltown. 

Details of the cemetery tour are as follows:

St Peter's Anglican Cemetery, Howe Street, Campbelltown.

Saturday, 15 April from 10am-1130am. Meet at the main gate. Bookings are essential and are through Eventbrite. Cost is free.

Irene Scattergood's headstone in St Peter's Cemetery

White Man's Justice

The year 1830 will be remembered as one of the most gruesome in Campbelltown's long history. Between 6 February and 31 August, nine people were hanged in the town for various crimes. This is interesting, as I can find no other records of executions outside of this year, apart from John Holmes hanged in 1829 for setting fire to a barn. Other capital punishment crimes outside this period were carried out in other parts of the Sydney area. 

The following is a list of people hanged in 1830 in Campbelltown and the crimes they committed:

• Richard McCann – 6 February 1830 – Hanged at Campbelltown for theft, assault and putting in fear in the Goulburn district
• Thomas Beasley - 8 February 1830 - Hanged at Campbelltown for burglary with assault in the Airds district
• Joseph Moorbee (Mowerby, alias Nuttall) - 8 February 1830 - Hanged at Campbelltown for burglary with assault in the Airds district
• Mark Byfield – 8 March 1830 – Hanged at Sydney for the theft of a silver watch^[67]
• Broger – 30 August 1830 – Indigenous. Publicly hanged at Campbelltown for the murder of John Rivett at Kangaroo Valley
• Peter Dew (alias Saunders) – 31 August 1830 – Hanged at Campbelltown for burglary and putting in fear at Goulburn
• William Haggerty – 31 August 1830 – Hanged at Campbelltown for cattle theft from Francis Lawless in the Liverpool district
• John Spellary – 31 August 1830 – Hanged at Campbelltown for cattle theft from Francis Lawless in the Liverpool district
• James Welsh – 31 August 1830 – Hanged at Campbelltown for burglary from the house of David Reece at Burra Burra, near Taralga.

The usual location for these public hangings in Campbelltown was "The Green" opposite the Court House at what is now Mawson Park. Each of the nine criminals appear to have been buried in the nearby St Peter's Cemetery. Burial records confirm this.

One of the unfortunate people hanged that captured my attention was the aboriginal Broger. He was indicted for the wilful murder of a stockman named John Rivett at Shoalhaven on 6 February 1829. Broger was tried at Campbelltown Assizes on 20 August 1830, found guilty and death ordered for 30 August. His execution had been postponed for a week.

Broger (sometimes written as Brogher), was born about 1800 at Broughton Creek, known today as Berry. His brother's name was Broughton. According to Keith Campbell in the Australian Dictionary of Biography, the brothers responded in different ways to the challenges posed by the increasing numbers of European settlers. Broughton tendered to accept the challenges posed while Broger refused to adapt. One day Broger and another native went to two sawyers, and promised to show them a quantity of cedar trees, but they suddenly attacked the sawyers in the bush, and killed one of them- John Rivett. The other escaped. Broger was eventually captured. When he was brought to the police court he encountered the surgeon, explorer and merchant Alexander Berry. Berry described how 'poor Broger smiled when he saw me. I addressed him and said 'I am sorry to see you here, accused of killing a white man. I did not think you would have killed anyone, I have more than once walked with you alone in the bush when I was unarmed and you were armed with a spear, and might have easily killed me, had you wished'.

Broger, who could speak English, replied, 'I would not have killed you, for you was my master, and was always very good to me'.

Broger's defence was that the sawyers threatened him, and that he killed him in self-defence. However, he was not allowed to speak in his own defence. Meanwhile, the Chief Justice visited him there, when he made a confession, and said that he had eaten the tongue of the sawyer "that he might speak good English". 

Broger's execution on a cold Monday at the end of a Campbelltown winter, was witnessed by a party of natives who claimed that Broger had suffered unjustly and that he had killed in self-defence. Given the nature of the time, I believe this is most likely and that an injustice was served. The fact that Broger was unable to defend himself in court was an appalling reflection of injustice at this time.

Various sources give different locations for the murder of John Rivett. These range from Kangaroo Valley, Gerringong and the Shoalhaven River. The location of Broger's End on the upper Kangaroo River is named after Broger.

Broger's brother Broughton became a tracker and constable, dying in about 1850. As his knowledge and skills lost their value, Broughton was gradually forced into the margin of European Society in the Shoalhaven. His devotion to Alexander Berry entitled him to regular rations but also alienated him from his relatives.

Next time I wander through old St Peter's Cemetery I will spare a thought for this proud aboriginal man. Although buried far from home in a white man's cemetery, I am certain his spirit still lingers in the land he loved in the beautiful Kangaroo Valley.

This is the reputed site of the murder of John Rivett by Broger

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

ORGAN, Michael 1990

Illawarra & South Coast Aborigines 1770-1850

Aboriginal Education Unit Wollongong University

CAMPBELL, Keith

Australian Dictionary of Biography

In Memory of Violet

Occasionally in my research I stumble upon a story that tugs at the heartstrings. One such story was an accident that occurred at the St Andrews farm at Minto almost one hundred years ago.

On the afternoon of 10 May 1923, Phillip Gray was cutting chaff on the farm at St Andrews, assisted by his two sons. The chaff cutter was a horse-driven machine, and whilst engaged in the work five-year old Violet Gray walked into the shed without being seen by her father. Phillip was busy working the chaff cutter at the time. Violet reached across for a bag near the chaff cutter. Her frock was caught in the driving-wheel of the machine, and she was hurled around several times before her father was able to stop the machine. Poor Violet's head was injured too severely to be saved by the doctor and she died a few minutes after his arrival.

The Gray's had recently moved from near Robertson in the Southern Highlands. Violet was born at Kangaloon near Robertson in 1917. She was the second youngest of nine children born to Phillip and Ellie (nee Papworth). Phillip died in Iolanthe Street, Campbelltown in 1932 and Ellie died in 1964. All three are buried in St Peter's Cemetery in Campbelltown.

Violet's grave in St Peter's Anglican Cemetery. The dates for Violet are incorrect. She was born in 1917 and died in 1923. Her father Phillip died in 1932 and not 1930 and he was born in 1878 and not 1874.

 St Andrews Farm in the 1960s- scene of Violet Gray's accident in 1923. (Thomson Collection)

Written by Andrew Allen

Source:

Sydney Morning Herald, 11 May 1923, p12

Campbelltown Federation Register 1900-1920, 2008
Campbelltown District Family History Society Inc.

A Popular Young Man

In the library's recent cemetery tours, we looked at the tragic death of William Saunders. William's headstone had been flattened by vandals, so it was decided by some enthusiastic locals to get the stone standing upright once more. Led by local history devotee Learna Coupe and with the approval of St Peters Church, William's headstone was raised in recent weeks.

In May 1881, a contract was given for the construction of the tramway line between Camden and Campbelltown, to be completed by January 1882 for a cost of just under 13500 pounds. Generally the line followed the contours of the ground, with one exception- Kenny Hill, where a deep summit cutting was necessary. In August 1881, it was reported that "thousands of tons of stones have been removed" from the Kenny Hill cutting. This part of the construction was responsible for about half of the cost of the line.

The workers lived in a tent village, and among these workers was William Saunders. Young William, aged 18, died in an accident at the "Kenny Hill Quarry" on 16 February 1882. An inquest was held into his death on February 17th, and the cause noted as "death from a blast". William's estate was valued at two pounds. No parents or other family are noted in either his death or burial record, although it was recorded that William was born in Wales, and was a stonemason, hence his work at the quarry. William was buried at St Peters, with a memorial headstone raised by his co-workers. This indicated that William must have been a popular young man.

The tramway opened on 10 March 1882, just 22 days after the accident.

Written by Andrew Allen

Ferrets in the Vault

This wasn't the first time that Campbelltown folk had to deal with ghosts in their town. One night in early December 1929, unexplained lights were seen emanating from St Peters Anglican Cemetery. The newspapers reported that The light was first seen by a local baker, who informed his next-door neighbor. When they came out the front of the shop, however, the light had vanished, only to reappear a few minutes later, and to twinkle for a minute or two, and vanish again. It was thought that tramps had made their home in the cemetery, particularly as it was summer.


Observers could make out that the lights were coming from the vault of the Tyson family. The vault was well known to the population, as James Tyson was regarded as the country's first millionaire. The vault was on the southern side of the cemetery.


It didn't take too long before the mystery was solved. Two boys, one of them a Camden boy by the name of Jimmy Meredith, had come across to do some rabbit hunting, and had lost their ferrets. Some boys had told them they had seen them in the cemetery. This means it was probably a moonlit night, but how could they still know there were ferrets in the cemetery and what were these boys doing hanging around there anyway?

Showing great courage, the boys then braved the perils of the fallen-in vault and retrieved their ferrets. What I found remarkable was that this story was news for many newspapers around the country for this day.

The Tyson vault in St Peters Cemetery in the 1950s (Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society)

Written by Andrew Allen

Source:

Evening News (Rockhampton, QLD), Friday 13 December 1929, page 8

The Unknown German

Our local graveyards contain many interesting headstones. Sometimes they might reveal a little about the life of the person buried there. The grave of Karl Mettenheimer is unusual as its headstone is written entirely in German. Despite knowing about his German background, there is little else in the records that we can find on Karl.

This is what we do know: Karl Mettenheimer was born on September 7 1862 in Frankfurt, Germany. He was a farmer in the Appin area. The church register described him as a "Gentleman". He was 31 at the time of his death in 1894 and he was buried in St Peters Anglican Cemetery in Campbelltown. He died intestate and with no family.

Karl was obviously thought of highly by someone because he was provided with a decent headstone. Perhaps it was a lover, close friend or an employer? Maybe it was someone with connections to Germany, who was as proud of his homeland as Karl. We will probably never know.

Unfortunately Karl Mettenheimer's gravestone has been vandalized and now lies broken in St Peters Cemetery.

Written by Andrew Allen

A Father's Love

For eleven weeks of the bleak winter of 1864, George Monk kept a vigil at his son's bedside. Six year old John Nimrod Monk, the second of six children born to George and Emma Monk, was suffering from an unknown illness, a condition that would probably be cured today but deadly in 1864. Young John Nimrod eventually lost his battle on August 24 of that year. Imagine the heartbreak George and Emma experienced and the shock felt by the small village of Campbelltown.

George was a plasterer and painter by trade, so we know he was a skilled craftsman. When his precious son passed away, George put his skills to use by carving his tombstone. The monument is decorated with images of fish and birds. However, the most striking feature is the likeness of a young boy. His head sits at the top of the monument located in St Peter's Anglican Cemetery.

Most believe that the young boy is carved in the image of John Nimrod. I'm convinced it is- a father's eternal tribute to the memory of a son taken from him far too soon.

Written by Andrew Allen

Source:

FOWLER, Verlie 1994
A Stroll Through St Peter's Churchyard Campbelltown, NSW

St Peter's Cemetery Stonemason

Few of us today have the luxury of living close to work. Most of us waste long hours on clogged freeways endlessly staring at bumper stickers or tail lights. For one lucky Campbelltown identity however, work was literally just across the road.

Eugene Glyde Wells, better known as Hughie, was born in Shoreham in Sussex, England in 1886. At an early stage in his life he lived on The Isle of Wight where he was apprenticed as a stonemason. He moved to South Africa and later came to Australia. Hughie was a monumental mason in Campbelltown after arriving here about 1940.

Hughie and his wife Ethel lived and worked in a house in Broughton Street directly opposite St Peter's Church of England Cemetery. He was responsible for making headstones for the cemetery during his time living in Broughton Street. The house was demolished not long after the photo seen above was taken in 1977. The Scout Hall now stands on the site.

Not much is known about Hughie. A local resident remembers him staggering out of Lack's Hotel and getting into his little ute and wobbling his way down Queen Street before turning into Broughton Street. His son Frank, who lived in nearby Warby Street, worked with him at the stonemason's yard. Hughie died in Campbelltown in 1973.

             Hughie and Ethel's headstone in St Peter's Cemetery

Written by Andrew Allen

Lesson Not Learnt

Thomas Rudd came from Bermondsey in London, England where he worked as a dustman. He was transported to Australia twice! The first time for stealing a pair of women’s shoes for which he spent two years in the hulks at Portsmouth and then was sent to New South Wales for five years. He was transported again in 1801 on the Earl Cornwallis for stealing a bag of sugar.

He married fellow convict Mary Kable in 1806. Thomas was granted 50 acres of land at Campbelltown on the 20th of June, 1816. 

Rudd died on December 15, 1830 and is buried in St Peter’s. His headstone reads that ‘He laft a wife and nine children to lament his loss’. Rudd Road in Leumeah is named after him.

One of his descendants is former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Mr Rudd has visited the grave of his ancestor in St Peter's and has a keen interest in his ancestry. He was highly amused that his ancestor was transported out here twice.

Thomas Rudd was featured in the library's tour of St Peter's Cemetery last Wednesday for the 2014 National Trust Heritage Festival. The next tour will be next Thursday May 8 at St John's Catholic Cemetery at Campbelltown. Contact the library for bookings and more information.

Details of the inscription on Thomas Rudd's headstone in St Peters Cemetery (Verlie Fowler Collection).

Written by Andrew Allen

 

Australia's First Millionaire

The remains of Australia's first millionaire are buried in Campbelltown's St Peter's Cemetery. James Tyson was born at the Cowpastures in 1819 and was one of eleven children, many of whom married locally and lived in Campbelltown. When James died he did not leave a will and his estate of over 2.3 million pounds was divided among about 30 nephews and nieces, several of whom lived in Campbelltown.

James Tyson had a reputation of being extremely frugal. When he was a boy on the family farm at Appin, his mother once gave him a flute as a birthday present only to find a few days later that he had sold it. Asked the reason the young Tyson explained: "I needed the money to buy a heifer because heifers can breed and flutes can't." He used the same philosophy of money-making all his life. He always boasted that his personal expenditure never exceeded a pound a week.

Later when he was worth an estimated five million pounds, someone tried to upset him by pointing out that his heirs would blow the lot when they got their hands on it. His reply was "If they have as much pleasure spending it as I did in getting it then that money won't be wasted." He was given the nickname Hungry Tyson, which clung to him even after death.

How did Tyson make his money? It started in 1852 when James and his brother set up a butcher's shop at the gold diggings at Bendigo. Within three years they had sold out, having made 80,000 pounds and they invested in grazing stations near Deniliquin. He began to expand his pastoral interests across the eastern colonies, overlanding cattle from Queensland, fattening them on his Riverina stations and then droving or railing them to Melbourne. When he died in 1898 he held about 9.6 million acres.

He also had a reputation for disliking women. A Sydney barmaid is alleged to have won a wager of 20 pounds by kissing him. She achieved this by catching him when he was looking the other way. He regarded women as "wasteful extravagant creatures". Tyson could not understand men "spending their time giggling at girls and multiplying children".

For all the tales about his meanness, there are just as many about his quiet generosity and silent kindness. He made significant donations to the building fund of the Sydney University Women's College and various Church of England charities.

On the morning of December 4, 1898, James Tyson was found dead in his bed at his sparsley furnished room at Felton Station on the Darling Downs in Queensland. He was buried in Toowoomba, Queensland, but reinterred in St Peter's cemetery in 1901.

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

Fowler, Verlie 1983
A Stroll through St Peter's Churchyard
Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society: Campbelltown

Daily Mirror, October 19, 1977 p58

Sunday Telegraph, April 20, 1986, p142

Liston, Carol 1988
Campbelltown: The Bicentennial History

The Man who saw The Ghost!

A great deal has been written about Frederick Fisher, of Fisher’s Ghost fame, but there would have been no story if John Farley had not seen the ghost! There is only a little information about John.

John Farley arrived in Australia in 1812, having been tried at Old Bailey Second Middlesex Jury in 1810 for stealing a quantity of clothing from a dwelling house. He was found guilty and sentenced to life. Transported to New South Wales, aboard the “Guildford” in 1812, he spent the next five years in the service of Governor Macquarie. He petitioned for mitigation of sentence in 1818. John may have received this mitigation of sentence, as he was on a list of persons to receive land grants in September 1818. 
John became a settler, and was described by Rev. Reddall and Major Antill as ‘capable and industrious’. He again appeared on a list of orders for land grants in 1825.
In 1826 John played a role in the mystery of Fred Fisher, being the one to whom the ghost “appeared” thus leading to the finding of the body. Theories abound as to the veracity of this sighting; regardless it has made its way into the history books. It was certainly not enough to scare John Farley away from the district!

By 1828 John and his wife Margaret were prospering on their 325 acre farm on the Appin Road south from Campbelltown. He had also been appointed a Constable.
John Farley was recommended for Absolute Pardon later in November 1837; the same year he built the early colonial home “Denfield”. There is no doubt that John was a respected citizen. He died in 1841, and is buried in St Peter’s Churchyard, Campbelltown. John went to his grave saying he had seen the ghost of Frederick Fisher.

 

Written by Claire Lynch

Sources -

www.historyaustralia.org.au

http://www.oldbaileyonline.org

http://colsec.records.nsw.gov.au

http://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au

Library Pamphlet files

A Stroll through St Peter’s Chuchyard Campbelltown N.S.W  by Verlie Fowler

The Local Undertaker

Charles Alexander Nicol, known affectionately as Charley Nicol, was born in Campbelltown in 1884. He was the son of George and Martha Nicol. During his youth he worked with his brothers on the family farm on Appin Road. Being a teamster, his father was often away and the boys needed to run the farm in his absence.

Being one of 14 children he soon found he would have to move out and fend for himself. He had some years of working for wages before going into business. This was at first a sawmill at Appin but later he went to Campbelltown where he opened a timber yard in Iolanthe Street. Soon after starting his timber business, he became the local undertaker and used his timber in making the coffins. He kept his empty coffins in the roof of a large shed at the rear of Iolanthe Street. Charley also dug the graves at the cemeteries and filled them after the funeral. He was well known in the Campbelltown community for his caring and sympathetic nature and for the comforting words to the deceased's relatives and friends.

According to local identity Norm Campbell, Charley was adamant that Frederick Fisher was buried close to the corner of Howe and Broughton Street in St Peter's Cemetery. This was against the most people's belief that it was more towards the bowling green corner.

Charley was a real character of Campbelltown. He could be regularly seen in the company of local barber Mort Clissold. If you wanted any information to do with the town you would call in and catch up on all the gossip from the pair.

Charley was also a builder and constructed many of the timber buildings in King, Iolanthe, Warby and Chamberlain Streets. He was a keen cricketer and lawn bowler. Charley also owned the land where rugby league was played and the ground was often known as "Charley Nicol's Paddock".

Another of his interests was motorcycling. In his younger days he was one of the first in Campbelltown to own one of the "boneshakers" as they were known at the time.

In 1920 he was elected as an alderman on Campbelltown City Council and served several terms on council.

Charles Nicol died on May 30, 1969 aged 85 and is buried in St Peter's Cemetery. His grave can be seen in the photograph below. I wonder did he catch up with Fred Fisher to confirm if he was correct or not!

Written by Andrew Allen