School's Early Troubles

It was believed that the construction of a new bridge over the Georges River would increase the demand for land and therefore result in an increase of the population around Wedderburn. In the decade before, many settlers had cleared the bushland for planting of orchards and farms, although at the time that land was being set aside for a school in the early 1890s, there were still not enough students. Wedderburn School opened in 1896 on a two-acre block of land granted by the Government.

Following its opening, the school encountered problems. The Campbelltown Herald reported "Travellers along the Wedderburn Road have often been surprised, and sometimes amused, to have that once uninviting structure - the Wedderburn School- pointed out as the building set aside for educational purposes. Its wooden walls, unpainted and stained by all sorts of weather, and its galvanised iron roof presented anything but a charming appearance to the passers-by".

Dwindling student numbers were another problem faced by the school in the early years. In 1916, enrolment had dropped to just 14, with eight under school age. The parents were fighting to keep the school opened and to make the necessary repairs. The neighbouring Campbelltown South School took the furniture from Wedderburn School thinking that it was closed! They were immediately asked to return it. In 1919 the school was described as "in a disgusting state".

Termites were a real menace. They were so bad that one teacher had to stand or sit on one of the children's desks, because her chair had been eaten by termites, and there were no other chairs available. Problems with termites persisted in the following years, with continual repairs carried out. They were still around in 1928, after the school was reopened after being closed from 1921 to 1924. An inspection found the old building to be "riddled every inch by white ants and beyond repair". Solutions were sought but within four years the school again needed repairs as the white ant capping was found to be defective.

The present weatherboard building was moved there in 1936 from Nepean Dam. It also needed repairs due to termite infestation. In 1956, the school closed as a provisional school and opened as a public school. The school finally closed in 1976. Today the site is used by WestWords, a Western Sydney centre for writing, as a writer's retreat.

Above is the weatherboard building moved to the school in 1936 (photo courtesy of Marie Holmes)

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

"Wedderburn" by Marie Holmes

In Grist Mills: Journal of Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society

Vol. 10, No. 2, April 1997 pp 26-48

Campbelltown Herald, 7 December 1898, p2

Campbelltown News, 22 October 1937, p2

HOLMES, Marie 2012

A Scrapbook of History: stories of the Macarthur District 

Campbelltown: Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society

Wedderburn Charcoal Pits

Did you know that charcoal was once used to run cars instead of petrol? During World War II, petrol rationing forced many people to find alternative methods of running vehicles. The rationing meant business people with trucks were particularly affected. Campbelltown did not escape this problem, so some Wedderburn orchardists set up a charcoal production business on the opposite side of the road from the school and across the creek. Four pits were dug in the bush. The pit method required a large pit to be dug in the ground and lined with bricks or sheet iron to prevent the charcoal becoming contaminated, and then a small amount of kindling wood was placed in the bottom for lighting purposes after the pit had been stacked with the timber to be carbonized. 

The orchadists used hardwood from the Wedderburn bush for the pits. Once produced, the charcoal was stored and transported in disused grain stacks, with a sack of charcoal weighing about 18 kg. The charcoal was used by those who had fitted a charcoal gas producing unit to their vehicle. The charcoal was placed in a box at the rear which in turn produced gas power to the vehicle. Their are however many stories of poor performances using charcoal, particularly a loss of power.

Pits like these would have been used across Sydney, but most would have since been lost. The pits at Wedderburn still exist owing to their remote location and the stone lining which has helped to keep them from caving in. Only three of the four pits exist.

The Hawkes family with their charcoal burning vehicle at Leumeah around 1941

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

HOLMES, Marie 2012

A Scapbook of History: Stories of the Macarthur District

Campbelltown: Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society

The Old Swaggie of Wedderburn

When I think of old swagmen from our country's distant past, the photo above is the sort of image that my mind conjures up. There was always something mysterious about them. Like they had no name and didn't come from anywhere in particular and weren't planning on going anywhere special. I remember my grandmother relaying stories of swaggies who visited her shack in the bush during the Great Depression and how they would often 'scare the blazes' out of her and her siblings. They're such a fascinating component of that time when life was so difficult and every day proved a challenge just to survive.

I recently discovered an interesting account of such a swagman in one of the library's resources. Hollie Rees (nee Knight) was born in Warby Street Campbelltown around 1924, but spent her childhood at Wedderburn. She describes her memories as a small child and that of a swaggie well-known at Wedderburn during the height of the Depression. It's compelling reading. Rather than me summarizing it, I thought I would provide her full description in this post. I've no doubt you'll find it enjoyable.

Once a year there used to be an old swaggie. I used to love that old swaggie. He used to come up opposite where the church is, there used to be an old building called the dump. It was a big square place where people that didn't have a lot of fruit used to put it there and the man in the truck used to call there first and he knew if it was Rice's fruit he didn't have go to Rice's, if it was Thompson's fruit he didn't have to go to Thompson's or wherever, and the swaggie used to camp in there.

He had this beautiful cattledog. He came there every year for about four or five years and we all used to race up after school and we'd see the smoke from his fire and we'd say oh, he's back. We never ever found out his name. His dog was blue, and he would disappear the same as he arrived. He'd have a rest and about three or four days later he would just disappear. We never knew where he went or where he came from, but he was a nice old bloke.

He carried his bedroll rolled up, it was a grey blanket with a red stripe, and everything rolled up in it with his billy hanging off the side. It was over his back with two leather straps and practically everything he owned was in that. He just slept on the ground with his dog to keep him warm and he had a bigger billy as well, that was all he had. To us he was ancient, but I would say he may have been maybe his mid-fifties , early sixties, with a beard. He was ruggedly built with vivid blue eyes, I'll always remember those eyes. They would look right at you, he was real happy, he was always laughing. Just happy. He always used to greet us with "Hello kids, been to school again. He'd say "Good, learn what you can".

The old billy was used as a cookpot, I think it used to be stew cooking in there, but what he ate the dog ate. I have never ever seen him go to a shop or anything, he carried it all with him in that bedroll.


Written by Andrew Allen

Source:

"Why Campbelltown?" Interviews




  

Lost Girls

Every family's worst nightmare came true for two sets of Campbelltown families one day in the Spring of 1926. Elsie Egelton and Lydia Scattergood went into the bush at Wedderburn to gather wildflowers. Elsie was aged 24 and Lydia about 13. At about 4 o'clock they found themselves lost in the wild, rough and rugged country and were unable to find their way home. Night fell and they were faced with spending a night in the bush.

Meanwhile their parents became worried and went into the bush to search for them. Unable to locate them, they contacted the police. Two policeman organized about 30 volunteers to help in the search.

A noted tracker and expert bushman named Mick Rixon found fresh tracks around 10pm and half an hour later they heard a cooee from down in the gully. The girls were found about an hour later, over 15 kilometres from their homes.

They made slow progress back as the girls were exhausted and nervous and by 1.30am could go no further because of their sore and swollen feet. The men lit a fire and the group rested until just before dawn when they again made out for home. By 6.30am the girls were back at their homes to the relief of their families. The outcome could've been far worse if not for the skills of Mick Rixon.

Lydia married Ronald Foster in 1940 and died at Camden in 2007 aged 94. Elsie never married and died in 1986 aged 83.

School children at Campbelltown South Public School c 1917-18. Lydia Scattergood is the girl in the front row with her head down. 

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

HOLMES, Marie 2012
A Scrapbook of History: stories of the Macarthur District
Campbelltown: Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society

Campbelltown-Ingleburn News, October 8 1926

The Struggles of a Local Postmistress

It is difficult to imagine anyone surviving on just 10 pounds a year, even in the first half of last century. Yet this was all that Elizabeth Greenwood survived on for running the post office at Wedderburn from 1896 to 1927. Miss Greenwood was appointed to run the postal service at her stone cottage at Wedderburn following a petition by the residents in March 1896. Michael O'Shannesy would deliver the mail to Wedderburn Post Office on horseback, three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Letters held by the postal archives reveal her struggles to make ends meet. She begged for a few pounds to buy pigeonholes and a notice board. The Postmaster-General responded however saying he was not obliged to pay for extra expenses for "non official" offices. Over the years she also requested postal authorities to boost her yearly income of 10 pounds but without success.

In 1927, the post office closed its doors when Miss Greenwood became too ill to run it any longer. She eventually sold the cottage in 1936.

The stone cottage that Miss Greenwood ran as a post office still stands in Wedderburn Road. It has been neglected for years though with only the external walls still remaining.

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

Macarthur Advertiser 9.2.1994

HOLMES, Marie
"Wedderburn" in Grist Mills Vol. 10, No.2
April 1997

Gracius Broinowski

Gracius Joseph Broinowski, artist and ornithologist, was born in Poland in 1837. He sailed to Australia in 1857 on a windjammer from London and first went ashore at Portland in Victoria. Broinowski soon began painting landscapes and scenes of various towns around Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. After settling in Sydney in 1880 and teaching painting to private pupils and at colleges, he then lectured on art and exhibited at various showings of the Royal Art Society.

Broinowski was commissioned by the Department of Public Instruction in New South Wales to draw pictures of Australian birds and mammals. These would be hung in classrooms in many schools. They later became bound and the Mitchell and National Libraries showed them as "Birds and Mammals of Australia". In 1888 he published "The cockatoos and nestors of Australia and New Zealand".

Broinowski had begun in 1887 to prepare a series of volumes entitled "The Birds of Australia". The works were accomplished while he was farming at Wedderburn and was completed in 1891. He took up a tract of land on today's Minerva Road, intending to divide it amongst his sons, and for some years endeavoured, with the help of his sons, to make farming pay. However, this was not a success and he lost money. Although he was able to build an attractive home with outstanding gardens, his financial difficulties meant he was unable to keep it going.

The house he built at Wedderburn with his wife Jane and children was called "Morning Glory". It was one of the earliest cottages built in Wedderburn. The building as it stands has a series of three pitched roofs (resembling a saw tooth roof). The building is an unusual design but it appears most of the original outside fabric has been removed. It is listed under the New South Wales Heritage Act. Today it is used as a church camp or retreat.

Gracius Broinowski died at Mosman on April 12, 1913. His reputation survives, not just as an artist, but as an advocate of fauna conservation.

                        

                       "Morning Glory" is now the Christian Campsite at Wedderburn. This shot was taken in 1984 by Verlie Fowler (Fowler Collection).

Sources:

Australian Dictionary of Biography: Melbourne University Press

"The Emu" Vol. 16, 1942

Written by Andrew Allen