The Murrays of Minto

Charles Murray was born in Ulladulla, and married his wife Catherine in 1895. They had a son, Claude Charles and a daughter Gladys Mary.

Charles and Catherine on their wedding day.

Photo - Ancestry 

 In 1901, the Murrays leased out their farm Avondale, at Yatte Yattah, and Catherine took on a mortgage of several portions of Campbellfield, including Dr Redfern’s homestead. The home was re-named Buena Vista, and the family set up a dairy farm. In an article about Minto, J. Hall remembers ‘Mr Murray (Claude’s father), who only boasted one can of milk centred in the body of his spring cart on which he sat, and in rain or heat held an umbrella up, as his old creamy pony jogged along from the Old Redfern home on the hill to the railway station’. Charles passed away in 1912.
Claude went on to become the mayor of Ingleburn from 1934 to 1939, then again in 1948. The farm had grown into a successful dairy, and the Ayrshire cattle they bred were Royal Show winners.  It was reported in the newspaper that Buena Vista Playmate produced 4501b. of butter-fat in 273 days as a mature cow in 1936!

Campbellfield (aka Buena Vista) 1950

Photo - CAHS

The property passed to Claude Charles after the death of his mother in 1958. Claude’s son Jack worked on the farm and also became the local milk carrier, picking up milk cans from the surrounding dairy farms. His friend Bryan Chrystal recalls helping him on his truck, opening the dairy gates for Jack, and helping to unload the empty milk cans and stack the full ones. Most of the smaller dairies would have about six cans of milk. A far cry from the days when Jack’s grandfather Charles would take his one can of milk in a spring cart to the railway station!
The property was sold after 1958, and is now the site of the Minto Marketplace.

Written by Claire Lynch

 Sources
Early Memories of Minto by D. Hall
Grist Mills Vol.4 No. 4 “Minto” by Joan Murphy
Campbellfield, Guernsey Avenue, Minto : a heritage study