Aero Estate

An early housing estate in the area was Aero Estate at Ingleburn. The estate, situated on the western side of the railway line, was also known as Blomfield Estate. The Blomfields were descendants of Captain Richard Brooks of nearby Denham Court. Richard's daughter Christiana married Thomas Blomfield. 

The vacant paddocks were subdivided in the 1920s and marketed as Aero Estate later in the decade. Information about the sales appeared in Sydney newspapers in early 1927. In the Daily Telegraph of 12 March 1927, the following notice appeared under the heading of Subdivisions: Six Estates Offering- Today's Sales and under Ingleburn "Today, at 3pm, Peach Bros. will offer at public auction, on the ground, 850 acres of choice residential and farm land, fronting the main Southern Road and the railway, at Ingleburn. The land for sale is known as the Aero Estate, and is subdivided into one, three, five and acre farmlets, in addition to a number of home sites". Advertisements the next month boasted it was "right at station" and buyers could choose between one, three and five acre lots from 30 pounds.

In 1939 Aero Road, which ran through the estate, became the first road in Ingleburn to be sealed. It was sealed for army purposes from the Military Camp to the railway station.

The estate continued to be developed into the late 1950s. In late 1969 Council announced plans to rezone the entire area light industry. All hell broke loose. Protests and petitions were the order of the day. Local residents who were living the dream on the estate were about to have their lives turned upside down. However, residents were eventually victorious, and the plan was dropped. Only a decade later Council overruled objections and approved light industry.

Aero Road was blocked off and became a minor road. In 1987 a new road bridge over the railway connected with Williamson Road. The level crossing closed, and Old Aero Road was renamed MacDonald Road, in honour of early landholders.

How Aero Estate and road got its name is confusing. According to locals Arthur and Jean Hounslow, around the First World War years when aviation was in its infancy, students from Sydney University used to travel there to use grass sledges. They then started using gliders and once they got used to it, they would sit in the glider and have it projected and come down over the flats over Ingleburn. However, according to Margaret Firth in her 1977 oral history interview, an early model aeroplane landed in a property named Moorland where the estate was later developed. A man and a woman had flown the plane and either a mechanical fault or lack of fuel forced them to land in the paddock. A huge crowd gathered, with "people coming from miles around".

An undated photo of Aero Road below the twin bridges from the freeway (Copyright NSW Main Roads 1929-1984)

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

Margaret Firth oral history interview held at Campbelltown Library 23 November 1977

Arthur and Jean Hounslow oral history interview held at Campbelltown Library 23 May 2013

McGill, Jeff et al Campbelltown's Streets and Suburbs: How and why they got their names 1995

Daily Telegraph, 12 March 1927, p10

Kerr, David, Old Ingleburn in Grist Mills: Journal of the Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society, Vol 21. No.1, March 2008

The Collins family stores and Ingleburn

The Collins family arrived in Ingleburn in 1884, having come from Gunning. William John Collins Snr had established a brickworks in Gunning which supplied bricks used in connection with the railway in that district. He, his wife Honora and their five children then moved to Ingleburn where William set up a general store in the small village of Ingleburn. This wattle and daub building was on the southern side of the Oxford and Ingleburn Road intersection.

William Snr also continued to use his brickmaking skills supplying handmade bricks for local building projects. He was active in having a school opened in Ingleburn, starting a church, and providing the mail service from his home. He was one of the founding Aldermen of Ingleburn’s Municipal Council in 1896.

The early W.J. Collins General Store c1880 (Photo courtesy CAHS)

William Snr and his wife Honora’s (known as Nora) sixth child, a son, was born in Ingleburn, and was named Thanet. This name was derived from the place in Kent where William John Snr was born – the Isle of Thanet.

The J.W. Collins Store was on the corner of Oxford Road and Ingleburn Road, right near Ingleburn Railway Station. It sold everything, including explosives for which William had obtained a permit in 1888.

After their father died suddenly in 1919, the store was taken over by William John Jnr and his brother Thanet and became W.& T. Collins Store. In 1922 they called for tenders to build a new brick store. This would be situated on the northern side of Oxford Road opposite the old location. Groceries, paint, produce, hardware, haberdashery were among items sold. Eventually a milk bar and petrol and oil service were added. Train commuters were catered to with the store being open as early as 6am and closing as late as 7.30pm. 

W.&T. Collins Store c1930 (Photo Courtesy CAHS)

When William Jnr died in 1936 the store was continued by Thanet, and became known as T. Collins Railway Store. Thanet remained a storekeeper into the 1960s, but had retired by the time of his death in 1972. The Collins family had served the Ingleburn community for close to 90 years. 

Written by Claire Lynch

Sources: Trove, Grist Mills Vol.1, No.4, "More than bricks and mortar" - Andrew Allen

Cora Lynn

Cora Lynn once stood at the end of Douglas Boulevard in Ingleburn. The site is now part of Symonds Reserve. It was one of many lovely old houses sadly demolished in Ingleburn.

The building was originally a Cobb & Co Coach stop. It was built in 1890 by Thomas Townsend, after he purchased the block of land from the Redfern Estates. The house was made of brick and the roof was of galvanised iron painted in stripes. The house looked like it could have been transported straight from the suburb of Redfern, as it was similar to terrace houses of the inner city. It was like there was two semi-detached houses put together.

Thomas Townsend opened a general store and later also sold wine. In the middle of the shop was a trapdoor that lead to a type of cellar for the wine. He later bought the adjoining land and on this he established an orchard and vineyard.

At the end of the house was a big room that Townsend later added on. In an interview that Florence Allen gave in 1979, she described how the room was used as a dance hall. Because of this it was sometimes called The Club. As well as dances, the room was used for surprise parties and large gatherings of people. This was in the days that Robert Allen and his large family lived there.  When the property was sold in 1909, it was bought by Thomas Marks who sold it to Charles Symonds. It remained in the Symonds family until it was subdivided by Jack Symonds in the late 1970s. The house was still standing in 1979, although it had almost fallen down and was derelict.  

Cora Lynn taken in 1977

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

KERR, David

Old Ingleburn in Grist Mills: Journal of Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society

Vol. 21, No. 1, March 2008, pp1-20

Florence Allen oral history interview, November 1979, held at Campbelltown Library.

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

 

Ingleburn Weir

What exciting news it must have been for the people of Ingleburn when they found out they were getting a pool built in the George's River for them. This was pre World War Two and ahead of its time compared to other councils in Western Sydney. The pool proved to be very popular with Ingleburn families, with almost every child from then on recalling fond memories of the Ingleburn Weir as it was known.

The first reference to building the Ingleburn Weir is in the Ingleburn Council meeting of 10 November 1936 when it was resolved that "the clerk [HJ Daley] be authorized to obtain information and estimates for the construction of a weir across the George's River for the purpose of providing a swimming pool". A recommendation to proceed was adopted the following month. Council records indicate that the weir was constructed between 6 March 1939 and 22 January 1940.

 

Above photograph: How Ingleburn Weir looks today

 

The weir was constructed by local Fred Goodsell. According to Arthur Hounslow "he was a builder of sorts and he lived locally and he was given the job." It is believed that stone for the weir was quarried in an area off Cumberland Road. Bert Wallace was the overseer.While Fred Goodsell was responsible for building it credit for organizing its construction is given to Harley Daley. Peter Benson explained that unemployed people were used to help with the building the weir. It became known by Ingleburn people as "Harley's Folly".

 

The weir became the recognized swimming hole in Ingleburn in the years after its construction. Scouts would regularly attend camps near the weir and it was used for swimming events. This remained the case for many years.

 

Campbelltown City Council have identified Ingleburn Weir as having local heritage significance. The weir has also been identified by the Department of Primary Industries (Fisheries) as a high priority site for remediation work to facilitate the passage of fish, which may impact on the heritage significance of the weir. Despite its heritage significance, the weir was in a dilapidated state until conservation works were undertaken in recent years.

 

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

 

Ingleburn Weir Heritage Impact Statement, November 2007

 

Leishman, Alan J. July 1997

Ingleburn Weir: History and Status Discussion Paper

 

 





The Duck King

George Craft was a leading citizen of Ingleburn and was to the fore in most community activities. He was also one of its most memorable characters. A stockrider, saddler, bootmaker, sports fanatic, blue cattle dog breeder and poet, George Craft was what you might term a great all rounder. It was through his breeding and showing of ducks however that people remember him most and earned him the title of the Duck King.

George Edward Oscar Craft was born at the Robin Hood Inn on Bunbury Creek near Campbelltown on 14th October, 1869. The Robin Hood Inn was one of the early inns in the area but is long gone. George's parents were William Craft and Jane Maria Bolger. William and Jane and their children left Campbelltown in 1872 and travelled to Bundaberg in Queensland. They settled at a small place called Gin Gin.

George spent his boyhood years at Gin Gin and grew up to be a stockrider. Horse riding was something that he excelled at. His stockriding life was cut short however, after an accident in 1886 at Mt Perry when his horse fell and rolled on him, resulting in multiple fractures of his left leg. Expert medical attention was not available in Bundaberg but a Sydney bound boat was in port, so his mother and two younger sisters accompanied him to Sydney.

George's leg was saved, although he was to have a limp thereafter. He did not return to Queensland but stayed at Campbelltown where, at the age of 23, he married a cousin, Edith Annie Bolger. They had two daughters.

George was particularly interested in sports and became known as "the daddy of sports in the Ingleburn District". Women's athletics had a special interest for him and he trained and promoted Miss Bessie Grandemange in match races.

Poetry became another of his passions. Dreams of his boyhood days in Queensland were never far away and, as the years passed, G.E.O. as he became known, took more and more to expressing his memories and dreams in prose and verse. Some of these were sent to Bundaberg where they were published in the "Bundaberg Daily News". Other pieces appeared in the "Campbelltown News". Below is one of his poems with the title of  Gents (Also on Roller Skating at Ingleburn in 1913).

Long Charlie L. skidded and fell,
In this way made collision.
He struck the floor,
Flew out the door,
Competing in his division.

A. McI.*, being somewhat shy,
Leastways when he's askatin',
But 'mong the "Soo's,
Likewise the "Coo's",
He sure tak's a d'al o' b'atin

There's Lennie from Bunbury Creek,
Who often makes a blunder.
The floor he hits,
Up he sits
To star-gaze around in wonder.

Liverpool boys, they make some noise,
At times a little too rough.
Though well they know
It's time to go
When the M.C. raises his cuff.

Lady and Gent, surely content
With what goes on at the Rink;
E.C.'s coffee,
Chocks, toffee,
And other nice treats and soft drink.

(*A. McI. refers to Alan McInnis)

It was, however, his knowledge of ducks that Ingleburn locals remember most. George had a barber shop in Ingleburn as well as his saddlery. It was at the back of the barber shop that he had his ducks. One old identity remembers "Out the back he had his duck farm. He was a character of a fellow. He had his multi-purpose shop with saddles, stirrups and boots and things like that and next door he had a barber shop. I used to go down there as a child to have my hair cut. He would come in with a grey flannel singlet and waist coat all covered with pollen from where he had been feeding the ducks." He goes on "George was usually seen in his old dirty clothes with chook feed all over them. He bred ducks and even had a duck named after him called the Inglecraft Duck. I remember once I was either going to school or university and here turns up this fellow with a cane, bowler hat and spats. Blow me down, it was George Craft. He was going to the Royal Show in Sydney to judge the ducks."

Another local had a funny story about George. "as a youth, George told me that one could grow new hair on old scars of horses by applying a mixture of black sulphur and lard. I have grown new richly coloured hair on new fire brands of horses with this mixture. It occurred to me many years later that I may be able to grow hair on my thinning scalp. So I made up the dreadful concoction and spent a horrible weekend plastered with hot black fat running down my face. It wasn't until the last day that I remembered that George had said it didn't work on bald headed men!"

George Craft died in 1951. Rest in peace Duck King.

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

The Verse of George E.O. Craft

Old Ingleburn - Recollections by David Kerr
In Grist Mills
Vol. 21, No. 1, March 2008

Oral History Interview of Peter Benson held at Campbelltown Library

Ingleburn House

  

  Possibly members of the Allen family outside Ingleburn House. Photo is undated. (Tregear Collection)

Another of Campbelltown's beautiful old buildings that is no longer with us is Ingleburn House. Those of you familiar with Ingleburn would know the site now as Ingleburn Fair next to the railway station. All traces of the house were obliterated in the mid 1970s to make way for this shopping centre. Again, history came off second best.

There appears no exact date for the construction of Ingleburn House. An amateur historian from Ingleburn believes the first stage of it was built before 1840. We do know that the land the house was built on was originally a land grant of 80 acres given to William Neale. In 1831, it was bought by David Noonan and then sold in 1851 to Mary Kennedy, formerly Ruse and her husband. Mary retained it until her death in 1871. It is thought that the name Ingleburn House was used after Mr and Mrs Laycock bought the house in 1881. They added a bay-windowed wing.

When the southern railway line was built in 1858 it took most of the front yard of the house, a barn and some cowsheds. Also the western side of the grant was divided by the railway tracks.

In 1898 Mr and Mrs William John Collins were living on the property when they celebrated their silver wedding anniversary. In the same year their daughter Maiben married Percy McDonald and their ceremony was also celebrated there. Another wedding occurred there in 1907. In the early 1900s the house was described by a local as 'a rambling old cottage'.

                             Collins family wedding at Ingleburn House in 1898

Mr and Mrs Robert Allen lived in the house in 1908 until about 1923 and during their occupancy another wedding was held there. It was recorded that the house had nine rooms and one large room that was used for roller skating, dances and social functions. Jean Hounslow, a descendent of the Allen family, remembered her mother said the kitchen had a dirt floor. She remembered a story about her grandmother seeing a snake coming along the wall and she got the shovel and jumped out the window and killed the snake. That area near the railway was noted for its large amount of snakes. Apologies to all you herpetophobics!

An amusing fact about the house was that during the Second World War the house was jazzed up and called the Moulin Rouge (in a neon sign) and opened as a night club. Imagine this in 1940s Ingleburn!

                   Allen family wedding portrait outside Ingleburn House c. 1917


The last resident to call Ingleburn House home was a Mrs Campbell who lived there for many years. In 1975, a Campbelltown Ingleburn News article described the colonial building as falling to neglect and destruction. Its colonial architecture had been degraded and the verandah completely destroyed the week before. It talked about council's plans to comprehensively develop the area. Ingleburn House was demolished not long after.

Its Moulin Rouge night club days long gone. The house photographed in 1973 not long before it was demolished (Helen Proudfoot; courtesy of Business Land Group, Campbelltown)


So next time you're approaching Ingleburn Station, take a glance towards Ingleburn Fair and imagine the 'rambling old cottage' that once graced this piece of land.

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

Campbelltown Ingleburn News May 13, 1975

Arthur and Jean Hounslow Interview, Campbelltown City Library, May 23, 2013

Kerr, David
Recollections of Old Ingleburn
in Grist Mills, Vol.21, No.1, March 2008

Did James Ruse Suicide Here?

The old stone cottage on Mercedes Road, Ingleburn has a mysterious past. In 1988, a descendant of Australia's pioneer farmer James Ruse made the sensational claim that his ancestor lived in the cottage and committed suicide by hanging himself there in 1837. He had been depressed by the recent death of his wife Elizabeth so took his own life. This claim was disputed however by a woman from northern Sydney suburb who explained that the cottage had no connection with Ruse and had been the home of the McInnes family. She was the granddaughter of master stonemason Malcolm McInnes who started building the cottage in 1890. The McInnes family moved into the cottage in 1892 when the woman's father was six weeks old. She lived in the house from her birth in 1926 until 1932. Her uncle occupied the home until the 1960s.

Supporting the woman's claims are details from the council's local heritage register. Although it finds it difficult to date, the stone outbuilding being of rusticated, not ashlar stone, denotes a later date. It describes the façade as not strictly symmetrical; windows have four panes, and the door four panels.

The suicide claims have never been substantiated and are dubious to say the least. Details of James Ruse's later years are scant. Most sources have him working as an overseer for Captain Brooks of Lower Minto in 1828. We do know he was living at Macquarie Fields in 1834 and died on September 5 1837. He was buried in St John's churchyard in Campbelltown. Ruse carved his own epitath on his tombstone which was removed from St John's in 1994 due to the threat of vandalism. It was relocated to a secure area in the grounds of the Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society's headquarters at Glenalvon.

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

Macarthur Advertiser January 13, 1988

Ruse, James Pamphlet File at local studies section, H.J. Daley Library

Harry and Vic Chivers

The Chivers family of Ingleburn were much loved and respected. Harry is best remembered as the former Ingleburn Council's longest serving mayor from 1921 to 1931. His son Vic had a distinguished war record and played a prominent role in early Ingleburn's commercial life.

Harry Chivers as mayor (on the extreme left) is on the platform with 3 other unidentified men

Thomas Henry Chivers, better known as Harry, was born in New Zealand in 1871. He came to Ingleburn around 1907 and joined Ingleburn Council in 1913 before becoming mayor in 1921 and for the next 10 years. He had endless energy and achieved much for the Ingleburn community. Water from the city was connected to Ingleburn homes during his term but his crowning glory came in 1930 when electricity was first switched on in Ingleburn. Harry was listed as a farmer but also had a shop in Ingleburn. The family home was a beautiful old house known as "Dunrobin" in Sackville Street. He lost his first wife Sarah in 1918 and re-married in 1919 to Alice Smith. Harry died in 1935.

Chivers family outside their shop in Oxford Road, Ingleburn 1925-1925. Harry is on the left with 2 unidentified girls. (Verlie Fowler Collection)

Albert Victor Chivers, better known as Vic, was one of two sons of Harry that served in the First World War. He was born in 1897 and was working as a printer when he enlisted in 1915. He served at the Somme but in February 1917 was sent to England with bad trench foot and did not rejoin until August. He served at Ypres and in April 1918 was admitted to hospital ill.    

 Chivers family outside their home Dunrobin, Ingleburn (Verlie Fowler Collection)

After the war Vic worked as a shop assistant. He married Hilda McIlveen, the daughter of a local shop owner. He joined the 4th Battalion in World War 2 and was discharged in January 1945. Vic Chivers lived with his family at 34 Chester Road, Ingleburn. He died in 1976.


L. to r.: "Wac" Allan, Victor Chivers and Bill Hilder at the opening of Ingleburn RSL in Chester Road, Ingleburn (Enid Lowsby Collection)

Peter Benson: Memories of a Long and Wonderful Life- Part 2

Not long after Peter Benson graduated from dentistry he set up a business in Liverpool. While he was there Peter set up a small branch practice in Ingleburn, renting a premises in Ingleburn Council Chambers. That was next to the Ingleburn Hotel where Woolworths in now. There was a baby health centre on one side of the hall and Peter's dental surgery on the other.

       Ingleburn Council Chambers in Ingleburn Road 1917-1936

Peter became interested in hypnosis after trying it on a patient and finding it worked. One day he demonstrated this to a group of sceptical dentists at a meeting at the Western Suburbs Dental Society in Strathfield. Peter explains: "I said to some of my dental colleagues I don’t need to use any anaesthetic these days I just wave my hand. They said I was having them on. I said that I would give a demonstration. I took a patient down from Liverpool who was a very good hypnotic patient who needed an abscessed tooth out. I took my nurse, a lass named Shirley who was also a very good hypnotic subject. This was an all-male thing in those days and if they would go to tell a ribald joke, they would say we can’t tell that Shirley is present. I would say “go to sleep Shirley” and Shirley would go to sleep and they could tell their joke. Anyway, I said here is a man who needs a tooth out, it is an abscessed lower molar. I will hypnotise him, so can I have a volunteer who will extract this tooth. They hummed and hawed and in the end, a fellow said that he would do it. We had facilities there to wash up. He came and swung on this tooth which was quite difficult to take out. The patient Keith Coppin was his name looked up and said 200 dentists here and no bugger can take my tooth out. By that time the tooth was out and over with. That was my introduction to hypnosis." 

For Peter the principle of hypnosis is that you don't have to be in a deep trance to not feel pain so much. If you hypnotised everyone though, it would be very time consuming. He said that it would make the whole business a lot more comfortable.

One of Peter 's patients was former long serving Campbelltown Mayor Clive Tregear. Once he suggested to Clive that he was Captain Scott down in the Antarctic. He immediately went blue with the cold and shiver and his dog would come past and he would say get that husky out of here.

Another famous patient of Peter's was former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. "On one occasion he had bent down to tie his shoelace and broke one of his front teeth,’’ Peter said. "I asked him how urgent it was and he said ‘well I’ve got to speak in Parliament tomorrow and it wouldn’t look very good if I did it like this’, so I made him a quick crown." He said Mr Whitlam was a "clever fellow" who always remembered the names of his children and inquired after them. "He would make an appointment for 10am and at exactly 10am he would walk through the door". "I’d have local hairdressers who would show up 20 minutes late, but here’s the Prime Minister of Australia, never late once."

He also was required to treat victims of the Milperra Massacre in 1984. "One particular fellow had some of his front tooth shot off and the roots were still there, so I had to extract them. I had to go to court later on to give evidence about the extent of the damage."

Peter retired from dentistry at the age of 75. He had worked in Liverpool for 53 years. Besides dentistry he is also interested in horticulture, swimming and has been an active member of the scouts and the Lodge. He was made Pioneer Citizen of the Year in Liverpool and a Companion of the Order of Liverpool.

Peter's interview in full is available on Campbelltown Library's Local Information website.

Written by Andrew Allen

Peter Benson: Memories of a Long and Wonderful Life- Part 1

Photograph taken in December 2013 of Peter Benson outside his home in Sackville Street Ingleburn


The 29th of December last year marked the 90th birthday of one of Ingleburn's finest men. Peter Benson was born in Sackville Street, Ingleburn in 1924 and continues to live in the same street 90 years later. He has contributed so much to the community of Ingleburn and surrounding areas and is well known as a dentist ahead of his time, mainly through his use of hypnotherapy.

I interviewed Peter at his home last year and I thought I would share some of his fascinating stories with you. The first of this 2 part blog will look at some of his stories associated with growing up at Ingleburn. The next part will focus on his experiences as a dentist.

Peter's earliest memories are of grape vines growing all around his father's property at Ingleburn. His father grew table grapes for the table grapes market. He originally had a poultry farm there.

Peter remembered his school days with fondness. The young Benson boy walked 25 minutes through the bush to Ingleburn Primary School every day. It had 3 teachers for 100 pupils, all Anglo-Saxons until 3 Italian students arrived. This caused great interest for the students. One of them was Jimmy Simone who became a notable citizen and whom Peter became good friends with.

One of Peter's earliest memories was when he was 8 years old and he was visiting a neighbour who lived on a hill overlooking his house in Sackville Street. In the evening one of the ladies went outside to shake a tablecloth and said there was a huge fire. Everyone went out on the veranda to have a look and, to their horror, realised it was Peter's family's home "Bonny Brae" in flames. The family raced back in their 1924 Buick only to find nothing left. This was the place right next door to his present house where our interview was conducted. The Bensons had to rely on neighbours while their new house was being built. Their temporary home was a shed which caused much embarassment to young Peter.

He recalled how there wasn't one refrigerator in the district, not even in the shops. They had dry ice in canvas bags. The ice man used to come if you were wealthy enough to own an ice chest and you could buy ice. The children used to hang around his truck and get chips as they broke off. It was a big deal in those days.

Peter left Ingleburn Primary to go to Hurlstone Agricultural College. He would take the steam train. To supplement the steam trains they had a diesel or electric train called "Farting Fanny". It was a very small train that would service between the steam trains. Later, when he attended university in the city, he would take a train called the "Big 6". It would leave Central at 5.22pm and its first stop would be Ingleburn arriving at 1 minute to 6. According to Peter if you missed this one you were in big trouble!

Another early memory from his childhood was watching the Sydney Harbour Bridge being built. From the top of Eagleview Road he was able to watch the 2 spans of the bridge come together. As a young boy he found this interesting and fascinating. He described how unpopular Jack Lang, the Premier of the day, was and the uproar when Francis De Groot cut the ribbon before Lang could officially open the bridge.

Check out my next post on Peter's adulthood and in particular his time as a dentist using the breakthrough method of hypnotherapy. The story of him hypnotising a former Campbelltown mayor is a must read!

Written by Andrew Allen

Milton Park Homestead

For years this charming two storey house dominated the landscape between Ingleburn and Macquarie Fields. Built in 1882 by hotelier David Warby, Milton Park changed ownership and uses many times during its history. Why it was named Milton Park is unknown.

At one stage it had a rooftop garden, tennis court, private golf course and an orchard all surrounded by superb gardens. A large verandah once surrounded the house but was pulled down after it was purchased in 1937 by Allan Newmarch.

The property was purchased by the McGarvie Smith Institute in 1952. One interesting use for the property was as a poultry farm and model stud that covered 44 acres. The farm had accommodation for 2000 birds, 1500 of which were white leghorns, some prize-winners at the Hawkesbury Agricultural College.

The property continued to be used as a research laboratory by the McGarvie Institute until 1972 when it was sold to Cantua Pty Ltd., who then sold it to Campbelltown City Council. A large sporting complex that now adjoins the old house site is called Milton Park.

Photograph of Milton Park taken in 1981. (Verlie Fowler Collection)

Do you have any experiences of Milton Park homestead that you would like to share with us? Please click on the comments link.

Sources:

Liston, Carol
Campbelltown: The Bicentennial History
Campbelltown: Campbelltown City Council, 1988

"Milton Park" Pamphlet File, Campbelltown Library

Written by Andrew Allen

Whatever Happened to Steven Roach?

Steve Roach was a remarkably gifted artist and teacher. His talent saw him commissioned to create many works, mainly focusing on drawing historical buildings in the local area and further a field. He supplemented his business by selling his works in shops throughout the region and teaching art to his students in a studio in his home. He took part every year in the Fisher's Ghost Art Festival.

In November 1993, Steve Roach vanished without a trace despite an intense police search for him. He was last seen on November 9 leaving his cottage and was seen in the Ingleburn shopping centre. He drove there in his 1980 Datsun which was also never located. Steve was suffering from Alzheimer's disease at the time of his disappearance and was believed to be worried about becoming a burden to people. The mystery of his disappearance remains unsolved.

Some time after his disappearance Campbelltown Library acquired the working papers, photos and associated ephemera of Steven Roach. Included in the collection is material related to his time as a Sergeant in Morotai and Dutch Borneo during the Second World War as well as drawings and paintings of local buildings.

Sketch by Steve Roach of Macquarie Field House (Steve Roach Collection)

Written  by Andrew Allen

Ingleburn's First Car

I came across the gem in our photograph collection recently. Imagine taking this beast for a Sunday afternoon drive! The writing on the photograph taken in 1913 is ""Wells Family of "Jaclyn Park" in their Swiftsure car, the first car in Ingleburn". After doing some investigation I can confirm that the car is a Model T Ford and made in 1913. My research revealed that there was no Swiftsure cars listed for production in Australia. This was a surprise considering the mention of Swiftsure on the photograph. Swiftsure was used to describe cycle cars in the early 1900s and was used in the 1950s as a colloquial term for a car's ability to roll down and up hills.

Apparently, depending on where the car was purchased, the lights on the vehicles were extras as well as the horn!

There is little information about the Wells family. According to local historical researcher Marie Holmes "Jaclyn Park" was located about a half a mile from Ingleburn station and was a poultry farm.

*Update

More feedback has revealed that Swiftsure does appear to be a legitimate brand of car. There are 3 advertisements post 1910 for second hand Swiftsures in the Sydney Morning Herald. A search of the Trove database reveals that Swiftsure was more a pre-1910 manufacturer and another February 1907 article titled "Testing a Motor Waggon" states that "Messrs W. Arnott Ltd. are greatly pleased with the success of a test to which their Swiftsure motor biscuit waggon was subjected during a journey across the Blue Mountains to Bathurst and the return via Goulburn to Sydney". It appears the sole agent for Swiftsure motor cars was I. Phizackerley 187 and 171, Elizabeth Street, Hyde Park.

Thanks to the Model T Ford Club of NSW for their assistance.

Written by Andrew Allen