The Good Intent

Earlier this year I wrote a brief article for the Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society's newsletter 'The Kernel' on the Hotel Good Intent. Below is the full article.

The Good Intent opened its doors to the public on March 24, 1939. It was built on the site of Alpha House which was demolished the previous year. The license was transferred in the names of Mr and Mrs Kerr from the nearby Commonwealth Hotel to the Good Intent.

Aubrey John Raymond, better known as “Titus” Oates, became the licensee of the Good Intent after winning the lottery. “Titus” seems to have been a divisive personality in the town. Many enjoyed his company and regarded him as a generous man. Others are less complementary. Whatever the views, no one could doubt his courage as a pilot. During the 1949 coal miner’s strike, he would go a on a “beer barn-storming mission” flying his Comper Swift, to ensure the beer supply at the Good Intent was kept flowing! He would fly as far as Adelaide locating supplies for the hotel. In 1954 “Titus” sold the Good Intent hotel, in order to enter television production and film making.

 

 

The Good Intent was one of the more popular pubs in Campbelltown during its existence, especially on Sundays. It was a two-story brick building at the front and had three levels at the rear. A large car park was situated on the southern side of the building. The pub was set on a large block of land and included a brick shed, living quarters and a large garden at the rear. In 1973 a drive-in bottle shop was added.

The hotel closed its doors for the last time on April 17^th, 1982. This was an unpopular decision and many regulars defied the demolition signs on the hotel doors and arrived for their usual drink on the Sunday morning- the day of the demolition. They were eventually coaxed out of the bar by a security guard. It was demolished to make way for Campbelltown Mall.

 

 

Written by Andrew Allen

Jack Crawford

Jack Crawford was a famous Australian tennis player from the 1930s. He is perhaps remembered best for almost winning the grand slam in 1933. He lost the US Open, the last slam for the year, after tiring in his match against Englishman Fred Perry, which he led by two sets to one. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1979 and the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame in 1997. Jack was known to have taken a shot of whiskey between sets if the game was tense. He was Queen Mary's favourite player.

 

Jack Crawford rolling his sleeves down in a match because of the cold (State Library of NSW)

Jack Crawford had connections to Ingleburn. His wife Marjorie Cox, also a tennis player and a State representative, came from Ingleburn. After his heroics in 1933, Jack and Marjorie returned to Australia and, needing time for relaxation after an exhausting schedule, spent some time at Ingleburn with her parents to recover. In early November the following year, Jack played in an exhibition match at the newly opened Ingleburn tennis courts in Memorial Park.

Jack Crawford died on 10 September 1991 and is buried with Marjorie at Denham Court Cemetery.

 

Jack and Marjorie's grave in Denham Court Cemetery

 

 

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources: KERR, David

               Old Ingleburn

               In Grist Mills: Journal of the Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society

               Vol. 21, No. 1, March 2008

 

Wikipedia

 

Ernest James Walsh - truth is often stranger than fiction!

Who would have thought that a simple request for information about why Ernest Walsh Reserve is so named, would take me down a rabbit hole of the fascinating history of a number of people with somewhat colourful pasts.
Ernest James Walsh was a well-known radio identity from the 1930s who broadcast from several radio stations including 2CH and 2UE and did voiceover work for Movietone. He married his first wife Kathleen in 1931, but married life did not suit Ernest. In 1936 he was put in charge of the evening radio session on 2UE and was a keen sailor on weekends, keeping him away from home for long periods.  The marriage was rocky, and eventually Kathleen took Ernest to court in 1938 on the grounds of desertion and a decree was given in 1939. Ernest was said to have claimed “he preferred the single life”.
Meanwhile, Robert Hudson, a timber merchant, and his wife Trixeena, had two daughters, Frances Verdie, and Trixeena Bertine. The family had homes in both Randwick and Leumeah, both named “Kumbogan”.  Frances was tragically killed in a car accident at age 20, leaving Trixeena the only remaining child. She would become the second wife of Ernest Walsh. They became engaged in August 1941, and married in September the same year. Trixeena and Ernest had two daughters, Verdie in 1943 and Ernestine in 1946. Ernest gave up the radio business and went into sales, before starting his own pottery firm – “Rochefort Pottery”, which became highly successful.

Robert Hudson was a keen racing man, and was the owner of the brilliant racehorse Lordly. Lordly had been purchased at the 1947 yearling sales by Robert for 190 pounds. He was trained by George Johnson, who, in 1948, after another of his horses returned a positive drug swab, was banned for life from racing by the A.J.C.  Upon hearing this news, Robert, who had a heart condition, had a heart attack and dropped dead at his property “Kumbogan”  in Leumeah. Lordly had won the Randwick Novice Handicap the previous week and continued to race under the syndicate of Mrs T. Hudson, and Trixeena and Ernest Walsh. He went on to win the Encourage Handicap a month after Robert Hudson’s death, and the Homebush Handicap another month later.

Lordly was retired to the newly formed “Kumbogan Stud” in Leumeah in 1953, managed by Ernest Walsh. However, trouble was brewing on the home front again for Ernest, and he and his wife Trixeena divorced. She remarried in 1957 to Gerrit Stel. It would appear that Ernest stayed on in Campbelltown, whilst Trixeena lived the life of a socialite. She divorced Stel in 1962.
Meanwhile, Ernest married Mary Ridgeway in 1961 in Campbelltown, with whom he would remain until her death in 1987. They lived on a property called “Wal-Park” and the family home stands on the corner of Leumeah Road and Parkhill Avenue.
Perhaps the most bizarre part of the tale is the ongoing story of Trixeena. She was named as a co-respondent in the divorce case of Lord and Lady Montagu in 1964 whilst they were living in Australia.  In 1966 she claimed the 27 year old Lord Angus Montagu was the father of her 5 month old baby. She had changed her name by deed poll to Montagu, and engaged a lawyer to represent her. Trixeena moved to London, and left the baby in a pram, with a note to Lord Angus, in trendy Quaglino's restaurant. She also claimed that Lord Angus owed her some money. A court ordered blood tests to prove paternity, which ultimately showed that Lord Angus was not the father of the child. Despite utterly denying that he was father, rumours were that no-one was more surprised than he when it turned out that he was not. Trixeena reverted to her middle and maiden name, and died as Bertine Hudson in 2002 in Queensland.
Ernest, on the other hand, became a well known and respected resident of Leumeah, and after his death in April 1992 his family requested that Parkhill Reserve, which had formed part of the Walsh property, was renamed  “Ernest James Walsh Reserve”.  This was granted by council in July 1992.


Written by Claire Lynch
Sources
Trove
Ryerson Index
CCC minutes

A Popular Young Man

In the library's recent cemetery tours, we looked at the tragic death of William Saunders. William's headstone had been flattened by vandals, so it was decided by some enthusiastic locals to get the stone standing upright once more. Led by local history devotee Learna Coupe and with the approval of St Peters Church, William's headstone was raised in recent weeks.

In May 1881, a contract was given for the construction of the tramway line between Camden and Campbelltown, to be completed by January 1882 for a cost of just under 13500 pounds. Generally the line followed the contours of the ground, with one exception- Kenny Hill, where a deep summit cutting was necessary. In August 1881, it was reported that "thousands of tons of stones have been removed" from the Kenny Hill cutting. This part of the construction was responsible for about half of the cost of the line.

The workers lived in a tent village, and among these workers was William Saunders. Young William, aged 18, died in an accident at the "Kenny Hill Quarry" on 16 February 1882. An inquest was held into his death on February 17th, and the cause noted as "death from a blast". William's estate was valued at two pounds. No parents or other family are noted in either his death or burial record, although it was recorded that William was born in Wales, and was a stonemason, hence his work at the quarry. William was buried at St Peters, with a memorial headstone raised by his co-workers. This indicated that William must have been a popular young man.

The tramway opened on 10 March 1882, just 22 days after the accident.

Written by Andrew Allen