In the Name of Progress

Those locals old enough would remember Oxley Street before the bypass went through in the early 1980s. The street was lined with houses instead of the car parks that dominate on the western side of the bypass today. Two such delightful cottages were "Tripps Cottage" on the corner of Oxley and Dumaresq Streets and Mrs Chinnocks' next door in Oxley Street. Both fell victim to the construction of the Moore Oxley Bypass. Luckily, photographs were taken before they were demolished to keep memories of them and their owners alive.

When I came across the photograph above I couldn't get over how much this scene has changed. Replacing this quaint little cottage with its picket fence, shrubs and verandah is an ugly car park. The cottage was removed to make way for the bypass. This photograph is looking south towards Bradbury Avenue.

The cottage belonged to Miss Hannah Chinnocks. She was from accounts a remarkable woman. Born in Queen Street in 1880, she was a cleaner and teacher at Campbelltown Public School from the age of 14 until in her seventies. Her standards were very high with rooms and furniture kept spotless. Pens and pencils found on the floor were invariably swept into the garbage bin, where their owners would find them if they wished. Teachers were also expected to be tidy as nobody wished to be assessed lowly on the Chinnocks tidiness scale. Even the headmaster felt pressured to live up to her expectations.

She was regarded as one of the most effective teachers on staff. Hannah Chinnocks died in Campbelltown in 1957 aged 77. She was the daughter of another well known Campbelltown character and shop owner George Chinnocks.

The photograph above is of "Tripp's Cottage" on the corner of Oxley and Dumaresq Street and next door to Hannah Chinnocks' cottage. The house belonged to Vincent Tripp and later to his brother Charles. Vincent was born in 1899. He at first drove hire buggies for his father Charles and from 1910 conducted a mail delivery to Wedderburn. He then operated a produce store in Queen Street in the 1920s. He was a thin man with restless energy and the eternal fidgets. An avid bowler, he even had a strip of lawn prepared in his backyard to practise bowls.

Vincent's brother Charles Tripp, was known as Lizard. Locals remember him sitting on the toilet with the door slightly open where he would watch people come and go. Occasionally he would yell out to them as they passed. "Tripps Cottage" was demolished in 1982.

Written by Andrew Allen

Source:

Holm, Marie et al
Campbelltown 193-1940: Dumaresq Street and Environs, 1985

Controversial Castle

Campbelltown has a well known medieval castle that was recently sold after initially going to auction. The castle in Leumeah was built in the 1970s by a local with a passion for the subject. However this is not the only medieval castle that Campbelltown has been home to.

In the mid 1980s a castle was constructed by Commonwealth Employment Program labour on NSW Housing Department land. It was specially designed as a community project and novel tourist attraction. The castle was built with sandstone and mud bricks. It was located on Rixon's Hill at Ambarvale near the corner of Woodland and Appin Roads.

The sandstone and mud brick castle on Rixon's Hill at Ambarvale in the 1980s

Unfortunately the castle soon became a haven for vandals. Local residents hated it from the time it was first built and regularly lobbied council to have it demolished. One local resident claimed that the crumbling castle provided vandals with a source of stones to pelt neighbouring houses.

Alderman Jim Merry branded the landmark "Folly Castle". It was also known as "Rixon's Folly" or "Rixon Hill Folly". The structure was bulldozed on the 18th of July, 1988.

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

McGill, Jeff 1993
Campbelltown Clippings

Macarthur Advertiser, July 13 1988 p1

Dog Saved Alderman's Life

C.J. Marlow was a Campbelltown Council alderman in the early 1900s. He owned a drapery store in Queen Street and was a well known and respected citizen of the town.

Alderman Marlow lived on the Appin Road at Campbelltown. One morning in 1910 as he was making preparations for milking his cows, he was savagely attacked by a bull.  The Campbelltown Herald reported " Rushing at Mr Marlow, the bull caught him between its wide horns and with the unfortunate man pinned and helpless, charged at a tree, and jammed its victim against the trunk. Drawing back a little, the animal made a second rush, Mr Marlow being again crushed against the tree trunk. The length of the bull's horns alone saved Mr Marlow from a fearful death. Retreating a little from the tree, the bull tossed its victim completely over its head, and then commenced pawing at him".

Marlow was at the mercy of the bull when a fox terrier ran up and started barking at it. This distracted the attention of the bull and while it was charging at the dog, Marlow took advantage of the respite to crawl through a gate. Having managed to reach safety, he collapsed.

C.J. Marlow suffered severe injuries but made a full recovery. He later moved to Dulwich Hill and died at Bowral in 1916 aged 65. His son Percy Marlow became mayor of Campbelltown and served three terms.

Apparently the bull had been regarded as a quiet animal. It is not known what reward the little fox terrier received for saving C.J.'s life.

            Above is C.J. Marlow shortly before he died in 1916

Written by Andrew Allen

Source:

Evening News, 1st November 1910

A Gift From Our Namesake

Recently I discovered in our tape collection a recording of the ceremony to accept a gift from Campbeltown in Scotland to our Campbelltown Council. The gift was a lamp standard and was placed in a position near the civic hall. The ceremony took place on August 27, 1966 at the civic centre.

The recording contains speeches made by Mayor Clive Tregear, Town Clerk Harley Daley and other dignitaries. Also present at the ceremony was a man named Christopher Swan from Ingleburn who provided a 'Highland welcome by the rich swirling sound of the bagpipes'. The tune he played was the Campbelltown Loch.

In 1961 Alderman Greg Percival, the then mayor, visited Campbeltown in Argyle and they presented him with a coat of arms. An association between the 2 places continued. Campbeltown, on the west coast of Scotland, has been described as one of the prettiest places in Scotland.

The audio cassette of the ceremony is one of a large number of cassettes that will be digitised by the library in the next 12 months and made easily accessible to the public. Our cassette collection contains a large number of oral histories recorded in the 1970s and some in the 1980s. The funds for the digitisation project are through a Community Heritage Grant that the library received last year.

Town Clerk, H.J. Daley and Mayor, Clive Tregear, receiving the Lamp Standard given by Council of the Municipality of Campbelltown, Scotland and installed at the Civic Centre, Campbelltown (Tregear Collection, Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society).

Andrew Allen

Source: Campbelltown and Ingleburn News August 30, 1966

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