A Father Figure

Few public figures have left their mark on Campbelltown like Clive Tregear. As Mayor from 1964 to 1972, Clive became one of the most respected figures in Macarthur politics and would not retire from council until 1980. He was involved in a huge range of community, health and planning bodies. He was devoted to the job and devoted to his beloved Campbelltown.

Clive Tregear was born at Wagga Wagga in 1918. During World War Two he served at Darwin during the attacks there, before being transferred to Ingleburn Army Camp's convalescent depot for medical reasons. He married an Ingleburn girl named Genevieve Kayless.

Clive began his service to council in 1956. Jeff McGill wrote that "he was viewed by many as little more than a left-wing ratbag when he was first elected as an alderman to Campbelltown Council." It didn't take long however for people to start respecting him. Through the early stages of Campbelltown's development, Clive's qualities of leadership were recognised by his fellow alderman who returned him as Mayor for eight successive years from 1964 to 1972. He was enlisted by the ALP and joined Alderman Frank Ward under the Labor Party banner.

Clive wasn't afraid to stand up for what he believed in. This would sometimes get him offside with developers, local press and some of his colleagues. It was his staunch opposition to rate rises however, that kept him onside with the public.

He was also, in some ways, a man ahead of his time. An example of this was how he saved the magnificent colonial terraces at the southern end of Queen Street from being demolished. This action wasn't popular with everyone at the time, but today his stance is looked on with admiration and relief.

Clive is pictured at council's Civic Centre with Harley Daley at the receiving of the new lamp standard in 1966

One of his other qualities was his public speaking prowess. His words were constantly sought at everything from civic events to local school fetes. Some recordings of his voice are kept at the library and from listening to these it is obvious what a great orator he was.

Clive wasn't always in control of things though. One day his dentist, Peter Benson, put him under hypnosis to attempt to ease his pain. Peter told Clive that he was Captain Scott down in the Antarctic. Clive immediately went blue with cold and began to shiver uncontrollably. When his dog walked past, he told him to get that husky out of here!

Some of his other notable achievements included the opening of the new and prestigious housing development of Sherwood Hills (now Bradbury), construction of a new swimming pool and the opening of a new library service. However, it was the declaration of Campbelltown as a city that was probably the biggest highlight of his term in office. This was celebrated on May 4 ,1968, and saw Clive at his best, making a number of speeches and decked out in his finest mayoral robes. Two years later he was prominent again when Campbelltown celebrated the Bicentenary of Captain Cook's discovery. A highlight was the opening of Glenalvon in Lithgow Street as a museum.

It came as a huge shock when Alderman Tregear lost the 1972 ballot to Cec Mulholland. Clive served as an alderman for the following eight years. In 1977 he was awarded the MBE for his outstanding record in public affairs. It was a sad day when Clive announced his retirement from local government in 1980.

Clive Tregear passed away on 5 August 2001 at his home in Ingleburn. His wife Genevieve died in 1996.

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

Leader, 2.2.1977, p2

Mayoral Minute, City of Campbelltown, 14.1.1977

Macarthur Advertiser, August 15 2001, p2

McGill Jeff 1996
First Citizen: mayors of Campbelltown since 1882

There was an old mayor who swallowed a fly...

 
Gordon Fetterplace served three terms as mayor of Campbelltown for a total of seven and a half years. His first term began in 1976 and his last year was in 1992. One of his favourite phrases according to local author and editor Jeff McGill was "good for the town". He always backed anything that would help Campbelltown. He was very popular with voters with his man-on-the-street personality.

In 1985, he was in to his second term as mayor. One day that year he arrived at Hurlstone Agricultural High School for speech day and was walking towards the stage as part of the official party when he accidently swallowed a fly. "Everyone was in academic robes, and everything was very proper, with me walking down in my mayoral robes as the kids got up to sing the national anthem" he said. "Somehow the fly got into my mouth and I just swallowed. But maintaining the dignity of the occasion, I just had to keep on walking and just let him flutter all the way down...it was the most nauseating-and embarrassing-experience of my life. I survived, but I don't know about the fly."

Written by Andrew Allen

 

Sources:

Macarthur Advertiser, 20.11.1991

McGill, Jeff 1996
First Citizen: Mayors of Campbelltown since 1982

Kathleen Whitten - Our First Woman Mayor

She has been referred to as a headline generator, a mould-breaker and a trailblazer, elected as mayor of Campbelltown at the end of 1961, Alderman Kath Whitten became the first woman to ever hold that position.

The idea of a woman holding such a senior rank dismayed many men and they made no secret of the fact that she had been elected because of a tactical mistake, the result of a political tug of war between council’s two most influential men, Greg Percival and Clive Tregear.

Nonetheless the new Mayor proved both talented and capable and the public grew to be proud of their “novelty” mayor, her biggest problem was winning over her colleagues.

There was friction from the start between the Mayor and her male colleagues, with Council refusing to buy her a better fitting mayoral robe (the existing robe was fitted for a large man and held together by safety pins) so she purchased her own sable–trimmed robe. Sympathetic media coverage of the matter only angered her opponents but her biggest confrontation was to be with councilor Guy Marsden over Government plans for Campbelltown to become a “satellite city”.

Whilst her one year term included walkouts by aldermen, an unsuccessful vote of no-confidence and the eternal opposition of several key councilors that resulted in a failed bid to regain the mayorship, even her harshest critics acknowledged her dignity and decorum that she showed in office.

Retiring from council in 1971, she remained Campbelltown’s only female Mayor until Cr Meg Oates was elected mayor in 1993.
 

By Samantha Stevenson

 

Opening of Campbelltown Fire Station in Broughton Street including (l to r) Norm Campbell, Mayor Kathleen Whitten (nee Robinson) and Mr Andrews (former president)   

Sources :

McGill, Jeff Campbelltown : a modern history 1960-1999

Local Information Pamphlets

Our First Mayor- A Tragic Ending

Not a lot is known about Campbelltown's first mayor John Ahearn. Local author and journalist Jeff McGill published a book on mayors of Campbelltown in 1996 and outlined what little information there is about him. Jeff wrote that "as mysteriously as Alderman Ahearn appeared on the pages of our history, he departed". Now, after a recent telephone call by a relative named Mrs Hobbs, I am able to explain what happened to our first mayor. It was a sad discovery.

John Ahearn was elected as Campbelltown's first mayor in February 1882, simply because he was a newcomer, who had less to do with the town than any other alderman. Most of the new council's members came from old local families with entrenched rivalries. John Ahearn was from nearby Appin and therefore no established faction could grab power.

Alderman Ahearn became frustrated by some of the parochial attitudes he encountered. When a tender for kerbing and guttering was offered he supported a new resident who had a cheaper quote. He was embarrassed however when his colleagues voted for a contract that was more expensive but from an old-town family.

It appeared that John Ahearn would have lost the Mayorship after his first term but the death of his sister forced him to leave the district. His sister Eliza died suddenly and left four children behind. Her husband was W.T. Airey who was also serving on council as an alderman.

John Ahearn was a contractor when he wasn't serving council. He was involved in a number of important constructions throughout Sydney, including construction of the Centennial Park reservoir.

After Campbelltown he completed terms as mayor for Burwood and Auburn councils. He also served as mayor of Mudgee council.

On the 18th of June, 1909 John Ahearn took his own life. He shot himself through the head at his office on the Arncliffe-Bexley tramline, for the construction of which he held the contract. A revolver was found in his hand by his son and another man. John had been depressed at the time. He was buried at St Patrick's Catholic Cemetery at Parramatta. A non-descript headstone marking the final resting place of Campbelltown's first mayor.

 

Written by Andrew Allen 

 

 

Sources:

McGill, Jeff 1996
First Citizen: Mayors of Campbelltown since 1882
Campbelltown: Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society

Sydney Morning Herald, June 19, 1909, p16

Politics in the Blood

I recently received a visit from former Campbelltown Council Alderman Frank Ward who now lives on the North Coast. He explained to me that he recently discovered the remarkable coincidence that his ancestor Charles Bull served as the second mayor of Campbelltown in 1883. He commented that had he known at the time he may well have got the few hundred extra votes he needed to win the State seat of Campbelltown in 1968. Frank served on Campbelltown Council from 1960 to 1969. He was proud to initiate the Council policy which required the electricity supplier to place its network underground. Campbelltown is today relatively free of unsightly and intrusive electricity poles.

Frank's great grandfather Charles Bull served as mayor from 1883 to 1884. Although gifted with using words and a smooth operator, he had an abrasive personality which quickly made enemies. He was replaced as mayor after one year by the more charismatic Alex Munro. Charles went on to later become mayor of Hurstville from 1891 to 1893 and later represented the seat of Camden in State Parliament. He died of blood poisoning after a bout of carbuncles in 1906, aged 60 years and is buried in Woronora Cemetery.

A new book on his son Charlie Francis Bull (Frank Ward's grandfather) is now available in the local studies collection at H.J. Daley Library.

                       Charles Bull, Campbelltown's second mayor from 1883 to 1884.

Sources: Charlie Francis Bull: His Life and Line by Diana Playford and Barbara Downie
              Boolarong Press 2011

              First Citizen: Mayors of Campbelltown Since 1982 by Jeff McGill
              Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society 1996

Written by Andrew Allen