A Brave Soldier

One of Campbelltown's bravest soldiers was Walter John Hagan. He was born in Campbelltown on the 14th of February 1892. At the age of 23, he decided to enlist in the AIF in January 1916.

Walter left Sydney Harbour on the Beltana on the 13th of May 1916 and arrived in England in July. After further training, he proceeded to the frontlines in France as a runner with the 36th Battalion. In 1917, his unit was moved to the Ypres Sector in Belgium, where they took part in their first major operation, the Battle of Messines on the 7th of June. Following on from this success, they then participated in the Third Battle of Ypres, fighting in the mud around Passchendaele Ridge on the 12th of October. The following day Walter was reported missing in action.

Back in Campbelltown the Hagans awaited for news of Walter for about 6 months. When the bad news eventually reached them of Walter's fate, they were naturally devastated. A Court of Enquiry concluded that Walter was killed in action on 12th of October 1917 at Passchendaele Ridge. A Captain Goldrick gave his report: We were in action at Passchendaele on the 12/10/17 near the Cemetery. Hagan was my Runner. I had just asked him to take a message and he replied "Very Good, Sir", when he fell shot by a machine gun bullet.

No trace of Walter's resting place could be found and the whereabouts of his body is still unknown. He was posthumously awarded the Military Medal for "magnificent conduct". His name is recorded on the Menin Gate memorial in Belgium. Walter's brother William also served in the Great War and survived.

Written by Andrew Allen

Source:

HOKIN, Lauren
ANZACs of Macarthur: The Men and Women who served in The First World War
Campbelltown: Veteran's Recreation Centre

"Having a voice" - Heritage Festival 2017 (20th April - 18th May)

Every year Campbelltown Library takes part in the National Trust's Heritage Festival. This year's theme is "Having a voice", and we have interviewed a number of people who have fought for change in our community. In a 25 minute video running continuously throughout the event we hear from such change makers as mammalogist Dr Robert Close, Pacific Awards Night co-ordinator Mal Fruean, mental health campaigner Sandra McDonald, former newspaper editor Jeff McGill and aboriginal elder Uncle Ivan Wellington.
Also represented in our display are those who are sadly no longer with us, but whose voices were heard in the past and made a difference to our community. Among these are

• John Hennessey, who gave evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse about his experiences at the Christian Brothers Boys Town.

• Long serving alderman and Mayor Clive Tregear and his community spirited wife Genevieve Tregear.

• Lorraine Cibilic, who spoke out for people with medically acquired AIDS.

• Local businessman and philanthropist Ron Moore.

• Legendary local physician Dr Ivor Thomas who delivered the majority of babies in Campbelltown during the '40s.

 Also given a voice are locals from all walks of life who were asked the questions "What do you love about Campbelltown" and "if you could change one thing about our city, what would it be?"
See for yourself their responses and our whole display from Thursday 20th April to Thursday 18th May.

Behind every great man....Genevieve Tregear's story

Much is written of Mayor Clive Tregear, but not so much about his wife Genevieve. A local Ingleburn girl, Genevieve was loved by her community and worked tirelessly for it.
Born to parents Oliver and Belinda Kayess in 1918, Genevieve spent her early life in Ingleburn, before meeting Clive Tregear. Clive had been transferred to Ingleburn Army Camp, after serving in Darwin during the Japanese attacks. They became engaged in 1941, and married in 1942.
In 1946, what should have been a joyous occasion for any young couple became a tragedy. On May 6th, Genevieve and Clive became parents to twin girls, who only survived for four days. Named Virginia Sue and Christine Cheryl, they were buried at Rookwood on May 14th. Sadly, the Tregears would not have any more children.
A couple of years later Genevieve opened a haberdashery business at 2 Ingleburn Road, Ingleburn. This business would remain open for 28 years. Later, Genevieve would also become a partner in Ingleburn Travel Service.
Genevieve helped to establish the Ingleburn Baby Health Centre. It opened in 1951, and Genevieve maintained a special relationship with it, bringing her in touch with many local families.
In 1956 Clive stood for council and became an alderman. With Genevieve by his side Clive then became Mayor in 1964. Genevieve was Lady Mayoress for the next 8 years. She welcomed newcomers to Campbelltown and Ingleburn, particularly those from overseas. She loved to help them adjust to their new lives.
 

Genevieve on her last day in the haberdashery shop - (Campbelltown Ingleburn News)

 
Genevieve was a founding member of the Quota Club of Campbelltown, and in 1976 was elected Lieutenant Governor of the 35th District of Quota International. In 1977, Genevieve closed the doors of her business at Ingleburn, and the same year was appointed to District Governor of the 35th District. Also active in many other organisations such as St Barnabas Church Ingleburn, Ingleburn Girl Guides, Ingleburn CWA, Ingleburn View Club and Ingleburn Ladies Bowling Club, Genevieve was always busy helping others.
She was described as "a most sincere and gracious person, always happy and bright, never complaining, always busy, mostly working for organisations concerned with helping mankind." She was sometimes affectionately known as "Mrs Ingleburn".
On 29th May 1995, Genevieve passed away, having suffered a stroke 4 days earlier. The community was devastated, as Genevieve had been so active amongst them. She was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery at Leppington.
The following year Genevieve was honoured with a posthumous Australia Day Award for Citizen of the Year. A plaque in her memory is installed in Hallinan Park, Ingleburn.
Clive Tregear survived his beloved wife by six years. Ingleburn Centrelink staff would see him every day in Hallinan Park cleaning up rubbish, to keep the park tidy for Genevieve's memorial.

Genevieve's plaque in Hallinan Park.

Written by Claire Lynch
Sources -
Campbelltown Ingleburn News
Trove
NSW BDM

Campbell Town to Campbelltown

Our local studies section was recently asked when Campbelltown changed from being known as Campbell Town to Campbelltown. The answer is not a straightforward one. All of the library's resources were consulted for an official date but with no success. The only way to get close to the answer came from a search on Trove. Using a variety of search terms used in newspaper articles from the early days, and ignoring the many references to the town in Tasmania by the same name, we were able to get a general idea of when the spelling of our town changed.

The first reference to the Campbelltown spelling that we could find was in 1830. Prior to this both Campbell Town and Campbell-town were used.  Throughout the 1830s all three versions: the 2 worded name, the hyphenated name and today's spelling were used as much as one another. By the late 1830s and into the 1840s, Campbell Town was becoming a more infrequent way of spelling. It gradually became more infrequent through the 1850s to the 1870s, with only the very occasional spelling this way. By the 1880s it had all but disappeared.

There doesn't appear to be any official announcement or ruling on the change of spelling. Rather, the Campbelltown form of spelling appears to be simply the result of a morph from one version to the next or a corruption of the original two worded version.

An 1829 article from the Sydney Gazette

Written by Andrew Allen