Gaoled for Stealing Peaches!

In the small hours of February 8, 1898 four Campbelltown men were charged and gaoled for a heinous crime: eating another man's peaches from his tree!

Daniel Dwyer, Patrick Meredith, Michael Daly, Daniel Daly, and Alfred Brown were brought up charged with having been found in the enclosed garden of William Gee for an unlawful purpose. The case was withdrawn against Brown and he was used as a crown witness. The rest pleaded not guilty except Meredith.

William Gee had suspected that his orchard was being raided in the early mornings and had arranged with police to catch the culprits in the act. At about 1.45am on the 8th of February Gee, armed with a gun, and Constable Auckett waited for the orchard raiders to appear. A quarter of an hour later five men jumped the fence and commenced to pull the peaches from the tree. Gee called upon them to stand or else he would shoot but instead of obeying him after Gee did fire his gun, they ran away and climbed back over the fence. Meredith however was caught by Gee and detained until Auckett joined him and was taken to custody. The other four were arrested at their residences.

At the court hearing, Alfred Brown swore to Meredith and Dwyer being in the garden but would not swear to the others. Daniel Dwyer gave evidence on his own behalf. He admitted being one of the group, but denied entering the garden. None of the other accused wished to give evidence.

The Bench considered the offence proved, and sentenced the four accused to one month's imprisonment in Parramatta Gaol.

William Gee was a local builder and also served as an alderman on Campbelltown Council. He was involved in the Congregational Church in Campbelltown and was also an undertaker at one stage. He died on the 11th of September, 1915 and is buried in the small Methodist Congregational Cemetery on St John's Road, Campbelltown.

               Above is a photograph of William Gee taken in 1912

Written by Andrew Allen

The Upper Canal

The Upper Canal photographed in the 1980s (Macarthur Development Board)

You may have noticed when driving along Narellan Road heading towards Mount Annan a long drain type structure. This is actually a canal or water race known as the Upper Canal. It is a system of aqueducts, tunnels and open canals which enable water diverted through the Nepean Tunnel to flow a distance of 64kms to the major distribution reservoir at Prospect. The canal runs along the western boundary of the Campbelltown Local Government Area.

Construction of the canal was carried out from 1880 and completed in 1888. It relies on gravity to divert water, so it was a remarkable feat of the time and functions today much as it did more than 100 years ago.

The canal is 3.7 metres wide and 2.5 metres deep and relies on natural sandstone bedding, lined where necessary with sandstone rubble or cement, and with brick in the shale country nearer Campbelltown.

Campbelltown welcomed the building of the canal in the 1880s as it provided employment for local men and income for shopkeepers, carriers and tradespeople. It also added to the town's population. Another benefit was to the town's water supply. It was the first town to receive water from the system.

According to former Campbelltown resident and St Gregory's College student Ted Sedgwick the water race claimed the lives of a number of students from the college. (see update below) Attracted by the prospect of a refreshing swim on a sweltering day the victims underestimated the freezing temperatures of the water and tragically drowned in the canal. Mr Sedgwick also remembered how the canal became a potential threat during the Second World War. Authorities were concerned that the water supply could be sabotaged by the enemy. This lead to mounted guards patrolling the canal for a period of time.

The canal is still in use today. There have been threats over the years to the structure, particularly from longwall mining near Appin. It has local heritage listing and is classified by the National Trust (NSW).

*Update: Further research has revealed the names of the people drowned in the water race. Harry Miggins was drowned in it in 1948 and Graeme Cook from Randwick in 1958. Another person was saved, the wife of the racekeeper, who overbalanced into the water and was found by a day student clinging to a crack in the wall, a short distance from the inlet to the tunnel.

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

LISTON, Carol
Campbelltown: The Bicentennial History, 1988

Macarthur Advertiser, Dec 5, 2007 p28

AIRD, W.V
The Water Supply, Sewerage and Drainage of Sydney, 1961

BOYLE, Valens
Pioneering Days: St, Gregory's, Campbelltown 1923-1951, 1987

A Skilled Craftsman

The name John Charles Rider would not be familiar to most Campbelltown people, yet his skills in glass decorating in the late 1800s and early 1900s won him the admiration from people around the country. Examples of his delicate crystal engravings are now highly sought after by collectors.

Born in Stourbridge, Worcestershire, England in 1850, Rider was apprenticed to glass manufacturers Thomas Webb and Sons at the age of 14. Rider settled in Sydney when the firm decided to open branches in Australia. After occupying various premises in the city, Rider moved with his wife and son Fred to Minto in 1896. However, he continued to work in the city and was assisted by his son. It is assumed that Rider commuted by train daily to the city since it would have incurred too great a risk transporting glass engraved at home to clients in the city.

Rider's method of glass decorating was carried out with a mixture of oil and fine abrasive powder. He was known to have used etching as a support for his engraving. His subjects were said to have displayed movement and strength and were more scenic than the works of his original masters- Thomas Webb and Sons. Often the tumblers he worked on were of thin and delicate metal and light in weight. His touch was equally as light and delicate.

Some examples of his creations that won him much praise were an engraved glass with arms of the colony of NSW and an engraved bucket-shaped tumbler featuring a group of 3 aborigines spearing a possum in a gum tree.

                            An example of Rider's engraving on a glass.

 
John moved with his wife and son to Condamine Street in Campbelltown just before he died aged 82 on 18 July 1934. He was buried at St Peter's Cemetery. Interestingly, the Campbelltown News carried no obituary notice. Fred did not follow his father's trade and took up farming in Minto before his move to Condamine Street. He died in 1951.

Are you fortunate enough to possess a Rider engraving? Please let us know.

The Rider home "Kiera-Ville" in Hansen's Road, East Minto. (Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society)

Written by Andrew Allen

Gated Campbelltown

Think Narellan road is a pain? Early last century, a night trip to Camden meant waking up Mrs Mortimer so that the gate might be opened for you to cross the railway track.

In the days of sulkies, drays and even into the 1930’s and the era of the motor car, both the North and South ends of Campbelltown were barred by gates in order to regulate road and rail traffic.

Gatekeeper George Morgan attended the North Gate, with his ‘old walking stick and a cheery goodnight to those going or coming.’ The crossing was a well-known black spot to locals. A newspaper article of 1926, entitled ‘Morgan’s Gates Again’ reports that the driver of a Hudson Motor car travelling along Queen Street failed to see the closed gates until it was too late, ploughing through Mr Morgan’s fence and into his garden. The occupants suffered no injuries.

Tragically, Irene Ruby Orontess Scattergood was not so lucky dying in an accident at the gate in 1925.

Irene Scattergood in the back row on the left at Campbelltown South Public School c 1917.

Photo: McMahon Collection

It was this accident that began the crusade of the Local Member of State Parliament Mr Andrew Lysaght. He requested the Main Roads Board and the railway department construct an overbridge. ‘There is no money’ came the answer.  Mr Lysaght had a big say in the Lang Government and so with additional labour from council workers the original Morgan’s gate overbridge was opened for traffic on the 7^th March 1930.

 Plan of the proposed overbridge 1926

Mortimer’s gate had not quite so many accidents. It was tended by H Mortimer and after his death his wife Emma. A ‘blanket around her shoulders’ on cold days, she helped travellers on their way until her death in 1923 aged 58.

Afterwards the job went to the railways. A gatekeeper’s box stood by the gate with a coal stove to keep them warm in winter. Connected by telephone to the signal box at Campbelltown station three men maintained three shifts around the clock.  James Ashford worked with two one armed men,  Joe McGarrity who could still hold a cigarette with his stump and Hilton Charles Rumery, victim of a shunting accident.

 

Bibliography

Thanks to Fred Seers and Norm Campbell

Campbelltown Ingleburn News 22.1.1926

Campbelltown Ingleburn News 27.08.1937

Campbelltown: the Bicentennial History – Carol Liston

Memories of South Western Campbelltown NSW 1931-38 Fred Seers 1990

Norm Campbell – Oral History, Campbelltown Library

Written by Michael S

 

A Grusome Discovery

Imagine the horror the driver of a train from Sydney felt one night in May of 1928 when he came across the decapitated body on the line near Ingleburn. News reports described how the driver stopped the train, walked back along the line, and found the dead man's head lying some distance away from the body. After informing the stationmaster at Ingleburn of his discovery, the Campbelltown police were sent for and the body removed to the morgue.

It was believed that the man deliberately put his head on the line in front of the train. There were no marks on his clothing and no papers to identify him. A portion of the lining of his hat, supposed to have been described with his initials, was torn out apparently to prevent identification.

The man was dressed in a dark blue suit, black patent boots and a grey hat. He was aged about 25.

Further reports revealed the man's identity. He was a man by the name of Pont from Balmain. A check of the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriage records shows a man by the name of Levy T. Pont dying in 1928 aged 25. The death was registered at Campbelltown.

   A steam train leaving Ingleburn Station

The House Built by the Man Who Saw Fisher's Ghost

The charming house "Denfield" was reported to be built by John Farley in 1837- the man who first saw Fisher's ghost in 1826. Farley, an emancipist, was transported for life arriving in the "Guildford" in 1812. Capable and industrious according to Reverend Thomas Reddall, he received a conditional pardon and as his farming prospered he added Denfield to his property in 1826. He settled down with his wife Margaret on their 325 acre farm on the Appin Road, south from Campbelltown.

John Farley's grave in St Peter's Anglican Cemetery. He died in 1841. (Verlie Fowler Collection).

In 1840 Farley sold Denfield to John Bray and it remained in the Bray family for many years. Bray was appointed magistrate in Campbelltown in 1852.

In 1866 Joshua Bray wrote from Denfield "They are very much excited about here, the Mail was robbed ten days ago....The night before last they stopped it about a quarter of a mile from this house- the coachman and passengers came about 4 o'clock in the morning to tell us. These robberies take place in the night...they were hiding all their jewellery. Papa has loaded his pistol".

The house was built of sandstone brick on stone footings with stone flagged verandahs. The kitchen was detached to reduce the risk of any kitchen fires spreading and was linked to the main house by an open "breezeway" with a flagged stone pathway.

Denfield was typical of the colonial homesteads of the time with a wide central hallway and bedrooms running off the hall and a lounge/sitting room with an open fireplace and marble mantlepiece.

The property passed from the Bray family about 1917, to people named Hickey, who leased it to the Carroll family. The house became derelict and was vacated in 1963. It was restored about a year later by the architect S.C. Palmer.

Like most old homesteads there is supposed to be a resident ghost that haunts Denfield's kitchen. A past female owner would never go to bed until her husband was ready to join her.

Today the surrounding housing estates hug the perimeters of Denfield. The original 320 acres of rolling hillsides with the picturesque views are now groaning under the pressure of urban sprawl.

Unidentified family on the verandah of "Denfield" taken on March 14, 1914. (Gately collection)

Written by Andrew Allen