"The Campbelltown Sensation" Update (Link now fixed!)

Check out an update to one of my posts from a few years ago.


https://campbelltown-library.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Kershler%20Thomas%20Oxley

Catastrophic Lightning Strike

As I sit at my desk this afternoon anticipating a much welcome storm brewing from the south, I remember recently reading about a devastating storm that struck Campbelltown a time long ago. The day was the 9th of February 1856 and the Sydney Morning Herald described it as "the most terrific storm opened that has occurred within the memory of the oldest resident".  I'm amused at the language that was used then to describe such events, like the apocalypse had arrived and the earth would be destroyed "...lightning shot down in vivid streams, awfully grand, quivering like blades of fire in deviling streaks; filtering like radiant streamers till lost among the clouds, which looked like giant batteries erected in the heavens; when on a sudden, a flash of lightning with startling thunder, that was sufficient to appal the stoutest heart and shake the strongest nerve, induced each one to conceive his own doom at hand".

A bolt of lightening had struck the road near Fieldhouse's Store. It appeared to bounce off the road and struck the shop with an almighty force. It smashed the doors, windows and shelves into "atoms" as the report described, and set fire to various articles. Inside the shop were the Fieldhouse brothers, a Mr Whiteman and a little girl named Byrne. Edwin Fieldhouse was knocked down senseless and lost his sight for around five minutes. The others were all injured but survived the experience. The Fieldhouse's suffered severe financial losses and it was feared that the shop would be re-built. It wasn't and in fact still stands today at the southern end of Queen Street.

An early but undated photograph of Fieldhouse's Store.

Written by Andrew Allen

Source:

Sydney Morning Herald Tuesday 12 February 1856, p5

Arnold St Claire

During the 1960s, Arnold St Claire lived in Campbelltown with his wife Claire. A talented artist, he was a finalist in the 1965 Sulman Prize, and a finalist in the 1966 Archibald Prize. It was during this period that Arnold was also a regular cartoonist for the Campbelltown Ingleburn News.
A real character, Arnold held an art exhibition in a butchers shop in 1966, with 35 paintings on show. He also painted murals on the walls of the Railway Hotel in Queen Street.
Gordon Fetterplace remembered Arnold pulling off the "most successful hoax in Campbelltown history". The artist had negotiated with Fontainebleux (the former sister city of Campbelltown), for a prestigious local exhibition of French art. Gordon recalled dropping in to see Arnold a few nights before the exhibition to find him hard at work painting a number of boat and wharf scenes. Unfortunately the art had failed to arrive from France, so Arnold was improvising. The big night was a huge turnout, with art critics and official visitors, all looking at Arnold's paintings!
During the early seventies, Arnold completed a 3 tonne, 7 metre high statue of a rearing horse for  his friend Tommy Sewell, Hawkesbury businessman and horse trainer. The statue stood in the forecourt of Tommy's Tourmaline Hotel, named after Tommy's sprinter King Tourmaline. Tommy Sewell said of Arnold "he was a wonderful man - never before or since have i ever met a character like him".
Sadly, Arnold suffered from mental illness and alcoholism, and during one of his stints in hospital, he painted murals on the walls of the Male Admission Ward building, part of the Parramatta Psychiatric Centre Complex.

Mural at Parramatta, Photo Dr Terry Smith 1985

Mural at Parramatta, Photo Dr Terry Smith 1985

Arnold died on the 24th May 1974 in Hornsby Hospital of pneumonia following 8 days of the now infamous and discredited "Deep Sleep Therapy" administered at the Chelmsford Private Hospital.
A recent interviewee said of Arnold "He was one of our first known resident artists. A fantastic gifted man".

Written by Claire Lynch

Sources
Campbelltown Clippings - Jeff McGill
http://picbear.com/fleet_street_heritage_precinct
http://hdinews.com.au/hawkesburys-finest-tommy-sewell/
Local Studies Pamphlet Files
Robyn Watson Oral History
Trove

Big Industry Moves In

Campbelltown had to wait until 1956 before it got its first major industrial factory. Crompton Parkinson, an electrical equipment manufacturer, purchased the Blair Athol estate in July 1945, but postwar credit restrictions delayed its move to Campbelltown. This was much longer than the two years they were expecting to be in operation by. Already a major enterprise in Five Dock, the original factory had little room to expand. Campbelltown had been chosen because of its proximity by road to the raw material supplies at Port Kembla and the Sydney market. It was also cheaper land that wasn't hemmed in by an urban area. Despite an inadequate water supply or road access, the western side of the railway was eventually chosen to expand its production facilities. The company soon became the biggest employer in Campbelltown.

Crompton Parkinson's new factory can be seen in the foreground of this 1957 aerial shot of Campbelltown (Lennie Hayes Collection)

Crompton Parkinson's main production line consisted of hand-wound electric motors and electric pumps of very good reputation. The products were used in many places, ranging from the Blue Mountains' sky-way service to many backyard pools and ponds. Virtually every petrol bowser had the work of Crompton Parkinson employees within.

Two workers on the assembly line

An addition to the plant was built in 1978, which gave the facility an area of 155,000 square feet. By 1980, when it was at its peak, Crompton Parkinson employed 120 at its Campbelltown facility. In 1989 the company became Brook Crompton Betts as a result of a merger with Betts Electrical Motors. In the early 1990's new management saw the decision to close down the Campbelltown operation and move it to Revesby. After only six months this plant closed down too and the company moved overseas.

Staff Christmas Party in 1991

Crompton Parkinson started a move by a number of major industries to move to Campbelltown. These included clothing and table linen manufacturer Nile Industries who opened in 1960. It was followed by Harco Steel in 1968, Blue Strand Industries in 1969 and Bullmer's Strongbow Cider in 1970.