Bravery Award

In 1935 The Committee of the Royal Shipwreck Relief and Humane Society awarded its certificate of merit to a young Campbelltown lad by the name of Jack Hadden. The award was for endeavouring to rescue Betty Humphries from drowning at Campbelltown on January 31.

According to the Campbelltown News, 16 year old Betty had been suffering from a nervous breakdown and, although she appeared to be recovering, managed to escape her mother's watchful eye one morning and ran to the cattle tank dam in Allman Street. Young Jack, a Boy Scout, just learning to swim, was also at the dam that morning. He saw her jump in and immediately swam after her. He managed to drag her to the stone wall. However, after again slipping back under the polluted water Jack could not hold off her struggles the second time and she once again disappeared under the water.

Eventually Betty was found by the son of a local constable but after an hour and a half of resuscitation, the rescuers failed to revive her. Jack Hadden received much praise from the community, the press and the scouting association. In fact the scoutmaster was so impressed by Jack's heroism he decided to have an award made to him. The coroner too in his report made special mention of Jack Hadden's efforts. He called him a very game little boy.

Above is the cattle tank as it looked for a regatta in 1917 and below is a photograph of Betty Humphries grave in St John's Catholic Cemetery

Written by Andrew Allen

Keighran's Mill

Just south of the original Woodbine homestead, and adjacent to the old Sydney Road (since renamed Hollylea Road) there once stood an imposing landmark named Keighran's Mill. John Keighran purchased the site in 1844 and in 1855 built the mill on the banks of Bow Bowing Creek. The mill was a relic of colonial days when wheat was harvested on surrounding farms. It was built of sandstone and had a shingled roof.

During the 1870s the mill fell into disuse when rust ruined local wheat crops. An 1875 entry in James Payten's diary, now held by Campbelltown Library, reads "Harris and I nailed up doors and windows in old mill". This suggests the mill was by then deserted. In 1879, Kidd and Fieldhouse acquired the mill but probably did not use it for gristing wheat.

Most Campbelltown residents who remember the picturesque landmark knew it as Payten's Mill. Percy Payten was the last member of the Payten family to own the mill. In 1954 he offered the mill to the Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society.

In later years, the mill became a favourite haunt of children's games. Young Rose Payten and her brothers loved to climb its secluded heights. In a recent interview I did with Leumeah local Noeline Jury (nee Hawkes) she describes how the mill entertained them as children and later as teenagers. On one occasion she was exploring the mill with a friend when they noticed a noose hanging from the rafters! This, combined with the constant croaking of frogs in the nearby creek, added to the creepiness of the place.

A large sign advertising 'Wolfe's Schnapps' was painted on the side of the mill. This can be seen in the photograph below taken by Steve Roach in 1959.

By the 1960s, Council considered the mill to be in a 'ruinous and dangerous state' and the Department of Main Roads indicated the Campbelltown Road was about to be widened. The historical society also didn't have enough funds at the time for its restoration and the Heritage Council of NSW had not yet come into being. So, in 1962 the mill was dismantled and the stone was used in the building of the RAE Memorial Chapel at the School of Military Engineering at Moorebank, which opened in 1968.

The old mill was one of the all-time favourite landmarks of our district. It even features as the logo for Campbelltown North Primary School.

Where is the site of the mill today? The re-alignment of Campbelltown Road makes it difficult to pinpoint its exact location using old photographs. After talking to a number of local residents who remember the mill, the general consensus is that it was located somewhere in the area bounded by the overhead railway bridge on Campbelltown Road, Bow Bowing Creek and Campbelltown City Ten Pin Bowl.

                   This undated photograph shows the mill adjacent to Campbelltown Road.

Written by Andrew Allen

Girl in the Tyre

Do you recognise the girl in this photograph? It was taken somewhere in the Campbelltown area on a date unknown. If you can help us then please contact the Local Studies section of Campbelltown Library or click on the comments link below.

Written by Andrew Allen

Bradbury Park House

In 1816, Governor Macquarie gave a grant of 140 acres to Joseph Phelps who sold it to William Bradbury the following year. Bradbury Park House was built on this land in 1822. That year Macquarie and his party were touring Airds and the Illawarra and they had breakfast at Bradbury's. Macquarie noted that Bradbury was then building a good two-storey brick inn on a "very pretty eminence immediately adjoining Campbelltown". He also wrote that he named it Bradbury Park. It would have been one of the first substantial private buildings in the town vicinity.

Bradbury Park House had a quadrangle of kitchen, servants' quarters, wooden stables, granary and barn behind. Elaborate flower and kitchen gardens lay to the south of the house. These gardens are featured prominently on an 1844 map of Bradbury Park Estate below.

When Bradbury died in 1836, his estate was inherited by his daughter, Mary Shiel. Bradbury Park Estate was subdivided in 1844.

The house was located about 140 metres opposite where the town hall is located in Queen Street. Today's Asher Place off Bradbury Avenue is the location of the house. The two storey house still standing at the corner of  Moore-Oxley Bypass and Lithgow Street is said to look very similar to what Bradbury Park House looked.

Unfortunately, Bradbury Park House was demolished in 1954. Interestingly, two nails from the building are held at the Powerhouse Museum at Ultimo.

                           Bradbury Park House around 1918. (Claude Haydon Collection)

Source:

Demolished Heritage Buildings of Campbelltown, 2005

Camden News 18 December 1941

Written by Andrew Allen

The French Pedestrian

He may not be as well known as other Australian explorers such as Sturt, Flinders and Burke and Wills but Henri Gilbert's achievements were just as admirable. The French journalist is believed to be the first white person to walk across Australia from west to east coasts. Gilbert travelled from Fremantle to Brisbane in 1898 solely on foot. His visits to towns and cities along the way, including Campbelltown, aroused much excitement and fanfare each time.

Gilbert was attempting to walk around the world by May 1900 and win a 10,000 pound bet put up by a Parisian syndicate. He left Paris on foot in February 1895 to walk around the world with special instructions not to beg his way or solicit help. By the time he arrived in Australia, he had already walked through Spain, the Middle East, India and Singapore.

At 32, he set off from Fremantle in August 1897, arriving in Brisbane in 1898. Gilbert had became something of a celebrity and large crowds came to see him. His diary, now held by the State Library of Queensland, is packed with Australian newspaper clippings about his travels. It talks about the harshness of the climate and countryside and describes his Australian trek as the "most suffering I have ever known". He came close to death when he collapsed from dehydration while following the telegraph poles through the Nullabor Plain.

                     Henri Gilbert photographed at Barcaldine in April 1900


Henri Gilbert's visit to Campbelltown in August 1898 created similar excitement. The Campbelltown Herald described him as the "French pedestrian". The newspaper wrote that "M. Henry Gilbert bobbed up serenely on Wednesday last. His arrival at Campbelltown was looked for by a large number of people, and during the time he remained in town he was the object of much curiosity. Immediately upon entering the place he sought the postmaster, and that gentleman, in a book provided for the purpose, certified to the arrival of Gilbert at Campbelltown on foot, the hour being 12 o'clock (noon)."

Gilbert took 3 hours to walk from Camden. After visiting the postmaster he visited the office of the Campbelltown Herald where he spent an hour or two and then set off in the direction of Sydney. He altered his plans at the last minute however and decided to remain at Campbelltown for the rest of the day and night. He left by train the next morning.

Nothing was heard of the adventurer after he left Brisbane bound for China. Dr Colin Dyer has recently published a book on the explorer. He has written to every fourth person with the Gilbert surname in his birth region of Nantes, France, and has tracked down Gilbert's birth certificate, but has been unable to discover his fate, or whether he indeed collected his bet.

Written by Andrew Allen

Source:

Campbelltown Herald August 24, 1898

Regarding Henri, Research at UQ at http://uq.edu.au/research/index.html?page=4164&pid=0

The Oar Factory

Campbelltown once had an oar factory. The factory, built of sawn timber framework, was founded in 1947 by Thomas William Gonsalves in a large garage in Queen Street. It was extended in 1954. It produced about 800 boat oars and 100 pairs of sculls per month. In 1957, the company branched out to make wooden crates for Crompton Parkinson and occasionally small boats and caravans.

To make the oars the factory used an oar shaped template to score out the basic shape from Mountain Ash wood. These were then shaped with a circular saw and sanded with a fine blue-metal sanding belt. A final dressing was applied and then the oar would be ready for the drying shed.

After Tom Gonsalves' death in 1956 the factory was run by his son-in-law, Brian Favelle.

In 1973, the factory closed as Rod Lawrence was interested in acquiring the property. The poor quality of mountain ash wood it received was another factor.

The factory was located at the northern end of Queen Street at what was once 20 Sydney Street which later became 32 Queen Street. The Brands on Sale business is now located on the site.

The oar factory was a recognisable landmark at the northern end of Queen Street for many years. (Photo supplied by Brian Favelle). 

Written by Andrew Allen

Source:

Favelle, Brian and Jennifer
The Oar Factory
In GRIST MILLS Vol. 3, No. 3, July 1986

Indecent Exposure

Readers of the Campbelltown-Ingleburn News would have choked on their corn flakes on the morning of Tuesday January 13, 1970 when they sat down to read their local newspaper. There on page 14 was an advertisement for Peter Williamson Toyota, Liverpool that featured a bare-breasted attractive young woman next to the heading of "Why Be Hot and Bothered". The ad went on to describe the benefits of buying their Toyota Hi-Lux and Hi-Ace and finished with the line "Demonstrators are always available".

Although 1970 was in the middle of the flower power and free love movements there was still a large element of conservative thought at that time. An ad like this would have been shocking for some. The advertisement attracted disapproval and condemnation and Peter Williamson Toyota was forced to make an apology in the following week's edition.

Below is the apology that appeared in the January 20 edition. The library holds past issues of local newspapers on microfilm and hardcopy.

Written by Andrew Allen