William Henry Etchells

"I only hope it is all a great mistake". This line jumped out at me as I scrolled through the service record of Harry Etchells, a soldier from Campbelltown who died on the Western Front in 1917. Amongst all the formal documents and official wording of the correspondence between the Base Records Office and Harry's sister Rubie Etchells, it was this line from Rubie that brought home to me the personal tragedy of war. As ANZAC Day approaches, I thought I would briefly tell the story of one of Campbelltown's brave men that never returned.

William Henry Etchells, better known as Harry, was the son of Harry and Nellie Etchells who lived at Eckersley about 1890. When his mother died in 1894, Harry and his sister were raised by relatives in Campbelltown.

William Henry Etchells (on right) with an unidentified friend during the First World War. (Clive "Oke" Etchell Collection).

Harry enlisted in the First World War in 1914, reaching the rank of lance-corporal in the 3rd Battalion. He suffered greatly from sickness and injury during his service. At Gallipoli he was evacuated with shell concussion and he suffered a gunshot wound in France in 1916. In England, he married a woman called Florence. He returned to the front in 1917 where he was badly wounded after losing both his legs and died soon afterwards. Unfortunately for his sister Rubie and the rest of the family there was no mistake.

W.H.Etchells' grave in Hooque Crater Cemetery, Zillebeke, Belgium. (Clive "Oke" Etchell Collection).

Written by Andrew Allen

Source:

McGill, Jeff    2001
Campbelltown & World War One 1914-1918
Campbelltown: Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society

Mossberry

Another wonderful building from Campbelltown's past that was demolished was "Mossberry". It was built on land that was originally granted to Robert Kable by Governor Macquarie in 1816. The land that "Mossberry" was built on later passed to the Warby family.

"Mossberry" consisted of a group of two buildings linked by a lattice breezeway, together with a timber shed. There was also an outbuilding which was believed to have been built by Kable around 1820. The main building was thought to have been built about 1840 and likely to have been constructed some five years after the first. It was a Georgian house with external walls of dressed stone which were later rendered and painted.

The lattice breezeway and the north east verandah to the main residence were added during the 1930's and used to link the living areas of the main house with the utilitarian areas located in the original residence.

The property passed from the Warby family to various owners up until the early 1990's. In 1993, an Interim Conservation Order was made on the building but because of constant vandalism, decay and neglect the house was seen as beyond restoration and was demolished. It was located at 15 Chamberlain Street.

                                                            "Mossberry" taken in 1977

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

KYDD, Ronald 1994
Heritage Report Mossberry
England & Kydd Pty Ltd

PB & EP Committee Meeting minutes 1993

Friend of the Strays

There is a strong argument for Patrick "Paddy" Hunt as the most colourful character in Campbelltown's history. Over the years Paddy earned the title 'friend of the strays' and became a familiar figure as he searched for food to give the stray cats and dogs of Campbelltown. Locals always knew when he was around by the number of dogs gathered.

Dressed in a navy blue suit and hat Paddy walked Queen Street almost every evening regardless of the weather, searching the garbage cans for scraps to feed the strays. In 1970, the then Member for Campbelltown said "Paddy Hunt was Campbelltown's conscience with regard to the treatment of animals" and "Paddy would go without things himself so that he could have food for his animals."
On one occasion, Paddy was featured in a TV program for his kindness to stray animals.

Paddy Hunt was born in Leichhardt in 1897 and came to Campbelltown with his parents in 1930. He was described as a "natural hard-doer" and worked at odd jobs around the town, particularly gardening.

According to Paul O'Loughlan, Paddy was also a very keen racehorse follower. He would regularly describe an entire race from start to finish and this once included the 1940 Melbourne Cup won by a 100-1 outsider named Old Rowley. He backed it and won a fortune!

Paul also described how Paddy would retrieve half smoked cigarettes from rubbish bins and keep the unused tobacco. He would then add a liquid to it and add it to his tobacco supplies.

Paddy was knocked down by a car while attempting to cross Queen Street one night in 1978. He was searching for scraps to feed the animals at the time. He never fully recovered from this accident and died in hospital on January 7, 1979. During his time in hospital he requested that a bird bath be installed in Mawson Park. This wish was fulfilled and a memorial to Paddy next to the bird bath was erected early that year.

This is the Patrick "Paddy" Hunt Memorial Bird Bath in Mawson Park, Campbelltown

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

Campbelltown-Ingleburn News 30.1.1979, 5.12.1978, 9.5.1978
"Campbelltown Recollections: stories from our past" interview with Paul O'Loughlan

The Struggles of a Local Postmistress

It is difficult to imagine anyone surviving on just 10 pounds a year, even in the first half of last century. Yet this was all that Elizabeth Greenwood survived on for running the post office at Wedderburn from 1896 to 1927. Miss Greenwood was appointed to run the postal service at her stone cottage at Wedderburn following a petition by the residents in March 1896. Michael O'Shannesy would deliver the mail to Wedderburn Post Office on horseback, three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Letters held by the postal archives reveal her struggles to make ends meet. She begged for a few pounds to buy pigeonholes and a notice board. The Postmaster-General responded however saying he was not obliged to pay for extra expenses for "non official" offices. Over the years she also requested postal authorities to boost her yearly income of 10 pounds but without success.

In 1927, the post office closed its doors when Miss Greenwood became too ill to run it any longer. She eventually sold the cottage in 1936.

The stone cottage that Miss Greenwood ran as a post office still stands in Wedderburn Road. It has been neglected for years though with only the external walls still remaining.

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

Macarthur Advertiser 9.2.1994

HOLMES, Marie
"Wedderburn" in Grist Mills Vol. 10, No.2
April 1997

We Need Your Help!

Campbelltown Library recently had some photographs donated to us. One of these photographs (above) is of a Fisher's Ghost Festival street parade in the early 1960s. The image shows a large group of girls in front of a banner that reads "The Flying Garlands" (click on the image for a larger view). Behind this banner are others that read Please Help! Note the young girl at the front about to perform a hand stand.

The photograph is taken in Queen Street near the corner of Browne Street. In the background is the old Macquarie Cinema demolished in 1979 and a house now also demolished.

Does anyone know who the flying garlands were? Please let us know.

Written by Andrew Allen

Update

One of our library staff located a State Library photograph of a group of girls performing acrobatics in the same parade on the same day. The photo has a caption of "Parade and fete in Campbelltown to aid the Beverley Park Orthopaedic Hospital for handicapped children". It is dated the 5th of September, 1957.

Escaped Prisoners

Campbelltown was thrown into a state of panic one day in 1963 when two prisoners escaped from the lock up at the local police station. The Campbelltown-Ingleburn News reported that the men used a piece of board wrenched from the cell to prise open bars at the top of the lock up yard.

The two men were James Thornton aged 20 and Alfred De Bono aged 23. They had both appeared earlier in the day at the Campbelltown Quarter Sessions and had been remanded. Thornton had been charged with breaking, entering and stealing and De Bono with two counts of stealing.

As soon as the escape was noticed, the police organised a wide search. Police sirens wailed, road blocks were set up and police examined all cars leaving the area. A watch was kept on the railway station. The escape soon became the talk of the town.

Early next morning a wet, muddy and tired Alfred De Bono was spotted by an Ingleburn nightwatchman and later surrended to police without resistance.

The newspaper report explained that police were still continuing their search for James Thornton. I checked the following week's edition and it mentioned that he still hadn't been apprehended. A check of subsequent editions revealed no further mention of him.

The photograph above shows the back of the police station and its outbuildings in Railway Street. This image was taken a year after the escape from the lock up.

Written by Andrew Allen

Source:

Campbelltown Ingleburn News, November 1963

St Marks Collegiate School

Of all the wonderful images we have in the library's collection, I think this is my favourite. It dates to 1866 and shows officers and other ranks of the St Marks Collegiate School Cadet Corps in front of Macquarie Field House. It was established as a boarding school for boys by the Reverend George Fairfowl Macarthur.

The school was moved from Darling Point by Macarthur to the 800 acre property of Macquarie Fields in 1858. It would come to prosper here and resident enrolments rose to more than 80. Macarthur built up a cadet corps, systemized the curriculum and enlisted the aid of university professors. He also insisted that boarders should wear the cadet uniform every day as normal school uniform but day boys were not required to do so.

Military drill had been introduced to some schools in Sydney as early as 1834. A member of Macarthur's staff had been on a visit to England where he had observed the greater public schools operating cadet-training schemes. He noted the benefits that the boys derived from such training. This led to Macarthur requesting 'consideration of a proposal to institute a corps of cadets'.

The local studies section of the library contains the full list of names of the cadets and staff in this photograph.

Written by Andrew Allen