James Fitzpatrick

James Fitzpatrick had a long and eventful life. He was born in Limerick about 1800, and in 1822 was one of 43 Irish protesters transported to New South Wales aboard the Mangles. His charge was "attacking a dwelling with firearms" and he was sentenced to seven years. After his arrival in the colony, he was ordered to work on the roads. Large and powerfully built, James would've been a valuable asset to a potential employer. He escaped the road gangs and on recapture was returned to the road, until he was offered to the explorer Hamilton Hume.

James first came into prominence as a member of the Hume-Hovell expedition which went overland from Appin to the Geelong district in 1824. James was one of six convict servants who accompanied Hume and Hovell. Not a lot is known of James' experiences on the expedition. There is however, one amusing story. The crossing of the first river the party encountered provided one of the lighter moments of the journey, and a story that followed James Fitzpatrick for years afterwards. He hadn't learnt to swim, and when crossing Hume told him to hang on to the tail of one of the bullocks. He followed Hume's orders but was just enjoying the triumph of his arrival on the opposite bank when the beast covered him in excrement. This resulted in raucous laughter from the party.

Another interesting incident encountered by James was almost fatal. He wrote, "I went shooting ducks about half a mile or a mile from the camp, when five blackfellows ran me for my life. I sang out as I ran towards the camp; the blacks got close up and had thrown some spears at me, when Mr Hume and Boyd came to my rescue."

James was a great admirer of Hamilton Hume. After the Hume and Hovell expedition, he wrote, "I positively assert that the journey would never have been accomplished but for the indomitable perseverance of Mr Hume and that he was, in fact, the sole leader of the party."

James Fitzpatrick was given his ticket-of-leave on July 5, 1825 and acquired land in the Appin district. His sentence expired in 1829 and the following year he married Mary Ann Atkins. From his base in Appin, Fitzpatrick returned to the southern districts that he helped discover. By 1833 he had a squatting run in the Cootamundra-Yass district named Cucumla.

From the late 1840s, James purchased many farms south and west of Campbelltown. In 1859 he purchased Glenlee near Campbelltown. Glenlee, during his occupation, remained a dairy farm and a cattle-breeding stud of some note. It had 14 rooms, kitchen, pantry and cellar. The farm contained 1000 acres of grazing land and had a mile frontage to the Nepean River. It still stands today.

Glenlee taken in 1979 prior to renovation

James Fitzpatrick married a second time after Mary died in 1866. This was to eighteen-year-old Elizabeth Cummins and they had three children. She died in 1882 aged only 32. Three months later James Fitzpatrick died at Glenlee, leaving three young children without a parent and vast estates. He is buried in Campbelltown's St John's Catholic Cemetery.

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

Liston, Carol 1988
Campbelltown: the bicentennial history
Campbelltown City Council

Mackilin, Robert 2016
Hamilton Hume: our greatest explorer
Sydney: Hachette Australia

The Unknown German

Our local graveyards contain many interesting headstones. Sometimes they might reveal a little about the life of the person buried there. The grave of Karl Mettenheimer is unusual as its headstone is written entirely in German. Despite knowing about his German background, there is little else in the records that we can find on Karl.

This is what we do know: Karl Mettenheimer was born on September 7 1862 in Frankfurt, Germany. He was a farmer in the Appin area. The church register described him as a "Gentleman". He was 31 at the time of his death in 1894 and he was buried in St Peters Anglican Cemetery in Campbelltown. He died intestate and with no family.

Karl was obviously thought of highly by someone because he was provided with a decent headstone. Perhaps it was a lover, close friend or an employer? Maybe it was someone with connections to Germany, who was as proud of his homeland as Karl. We will probably never know.

Unfortunately Karl Mettenheimer's gravestone has been vandalized and now lies broken in St Peters Cemetery.

Written by Andrew Allen

The Notebook.

We receive many requests for information in Local Studies, and answers to many of these queries are often found in our pamphlet files. I always love to open a file and find a facsimile of notes from Jim Munro's notebooks, written in his neat cursive script. His contribution to our knowledge of the history of Campbelltown is immeasurable.

A sample of Jim's notebook entries

James Bertram Munro was born on the 28th April 1925, in Trangie, New South Wales, to parents Henry Walter and Irene Claire. He enlisted in Victoria on the 2nd June 1943, having just turned 18, whilst serving in the Citizens Military Forces. He had previously been working as a postal assistant for the PMG. Initially he served as a Signalman in the 13th Australian Linesman section at Bonegilla Army Camp and Balcombe Army Camp, both in Victoria. He then served in the Pacific in Morotai and Balikpapan. He suffered from pneumonia whilst overseas and was returned to Australia in February 1946, and was eventually discharged from the army in June 1946 suffering from rheumatic carditis.

James Bertram Munro, enlistment photo.

In 1951 Jim married Joan Annabel Chambers. They moved to Campbelltown in 1957 to raise their family of three children, Dennis, Ann and Judy. Jim had a passion for history, and joined the Campbelltown & Airds Historical Society a couple of years later. He was particularly interested in bushrangers, the Boer War, war memorials, and St John's Parish. He was the author of the book "Where Pioneers Lie : St John's Cemetery Campbelltown" and co-authored the book "Campbelltown and the Boer War, 1899-1902". He recorded headstone inscriptions, not only in local cemeteries but also those he visited whilst travelling, he donated photographs to the collections of both the CAHS and the Campbelltown Library, and he wrote copious notes about many subjects pertaining to the Campbelltown area. Jim was awarded a Life Membership of the CAHS in 1984, the Campbelltown Heritage Medallion in 1999 and a Certificate of Achievement by the Royal Australian Historical Society in 2001.
Personally Jim was described as much admired, a thorough gentleman, and having a cheeky sense of humour. He passed away on October 19th, 2001, at the age of 76, and was buried in his beloved St John's Cemetery.

Jim with an old Boer War Medal, 1997

Written by Claire Lynch

Sources:
Grist Mills Vol 14 No.3, Vol.15 No.3, Vol.12 No.3&4
Macarthur Advertiser 24.10.2001
National Archives of Australia Service Records

The Circus Comes to Town!

An ad for Wirth's Circus c1932. Wirth's made numerous visits to Campbelltown during their 83 years of touring the country

Step right up! Read about the escaping circus lions that sent Campbelltown into chaos. Learn about the day a freak wind blew down the big top. Did you know that a monkey once escaped a visiting circus here by jumping on an electric train! Read further to learn more about these stories from the history of the big top in Campbelltown.

Campbelltown has a long history of circus visits. In 1889 Fitzgerald's Circus performed to a packed house. One of the best features of their show, according to the Illawarra Mercury, was by the pony "Commodore" who enthralled the audience with his array of tricks. A contortionist also gave a display of his 'astonishing powers'. Other circus companies made visits to the town, such as Eroni's Circus in 1896. Two years later Bristol's Great American Circus visited the town. It featured for one night only 'European Eccentriques' such as August Roland, king of the high wire; the Bellmonts, trapeze and serial artists; Tom-Tom the famous clown and jester; Malic Zidoni, queen of the air, from the Cirque-de-Nouvre, Paris, who would accomplish her daring, awe-inspiring, death-defying terrific slide for life from the tip of the main pole to the ground amidst a blaze of colored fire illuminations.

One of the most regular companies to visit was the famous Wirth's Circus. In August 1907 a huge crowd of 400, almost a third of the entire population, watched their show of "side-splitting clowns, wild animals, wire-balancing acts, and Maori war dancers". They visited again in 1914 where the highlight was "Daredevil Desperado" who dived, from the roof, a distance of 50 feet, on to a crescent shaped wooden platform. It appeared that he must have been crushed to pieces, but he would slide along the platform, and in an instant was bowing and smiling to the astonished spectators.

Over the years there have been a number of locations where the Big Top has set up. In the early days this included a paddock across from Milgate Lane. Some years later the site of King's Paddock was used. This was on the corner of Queen and Broughton Streets where Campbelltown Council is now located. This was the site for many years. Other locations include between Lithgow and Dumaresq Streets between Moore-Oxley Bypass and Queen Streets. In later years a site around the vicinity of Marsden Park was used and also on the old showground site where Harlequins Rugby Club is based.

Ashton's Circus on a visit to Campbelltown in the 1980s. This location is believed to be near today's Marsden Park (Robertson Collection)

As mentioned above, there have been some unusual incidents over the years. On September 1, 1917 two lions escaped from a cage from Wirth's Circus at about 6am. This caused great excitement and panic and most people made themselves scarce! At first they prowled around a paddock and then wandered further afield. One ended up in Mr Kershler's garden under a pine tree and the other was captured in the Presbyterian Cemetery.

In 1934 an elusive monkey escaped from a circus camped at Campbelltown and boarded a train. After the train stopped at Liverpool railway station, frantic attempts were made to capture it. At one stage it was reported as 'bearing its teeth viciously at all who approached it.' It continued to fight off engine staff and at Cabramatta the stationmaster and guard endeavoured once more to remove it, but after mauling the guard's hand severely, the monkey hung on to a luggage rack. It avoided capture until it got to North Sydney! The monkey was returned to Campbelltown. It is not known if the circus company was charged for its fare.

In February 1979 a large scale disaster was averted when a freak wind caused a tent to collapse. The Great Hungarian Circus occupied a vacant allotment in Queen Street. The collapse occurred only 24 hours before it was to give its premiere performance. It was a financial disaster for the Urban family who had sunk $200,000 from their life savings into the circus. The only casualty was Karl Urban who was hit in the left eye by a support pole. The tent was damaged to the tune of several thousand dollars.

Do you have memories of the circus in Campbelltown? Please let us know what they are.

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

Illawarra Mercury, 31 August 1889, p2

Campbelltown Herald, 24 August 1898, p2

Campbelltown Herald, 9 May 1914, p3

Camden News, 6 September 1917, p2

Campbelltown Herald, 28 August 1907, p2

Campbelltown Ingleburn News, 20 February 1979, p1

McBarron, Eddie et al 1985
Campbelltown 1930-1940: Dumaresq Street and Environs
Campbelltown City Council

The "Pride of Campbelltown"

In 1881, 22 acres of land on Badgally Road were established as a State Nursery. It was bounded by what is now Blaxland and Johnson Roads, with Bow Bowing Creek flowing prettily through it. The first Superintendent of the Nursery was young Scotsman Alexander Moore. Born in 1855 in Dundee, he came to Australia with his family. His father Charles had trained in the Botanic Gardens of Trinity College, Dublin, and became the Director of the Botanical Gardens in Sydney. Alexander followed in his father's footsteps and was appointed to the State Nursery. Sadly, he would only serve there for 3 years, dying of consumption (tuberculosis) in 1884. His successor John McEwan would work at the Nursery until his death in January 1913. They were followed by a succession of dedicated men, many of whom after their tenure at the nursery, would go on to work in various positions at Centennial Park and the Botanical Gardens.
The role of the State Nursery was to supply, free of charge, trees, shrubs and seedlings to various institutions around the state. These included schools, councils, railway stations and many others. Plants were originally dispatched by rail to the Sydney Botanical Gardens for distribution.

An example of the huge numbers of plants distributed by the State Nursery in one year.

A Superintendent's cottage was erected in 1882. By the turn of the century, an arboretum had been established and the Nursery was connected to Sydney Water. After 1903, plants were packed and dispatched directly from Campbelltown by "rail, coach, and steamer".
The Nursery also played a role in research. The trees in the arboretum were tested for suitability for timber and other uses, and also for adaptability to soil and climate. Early experiments in cotton growing were conducted, and some 50,000 Phylloxera-resistant grape fines were planted. Phylloxera was a huge problem to the grape industry in the area at that time.
The grounds of the Nursery were beautiful, being described as "The Pride of Campbelltown". The entrance was marked by two magnificent Bunya pines and a formal driveway. High clipped hedges acted as windbreaks, and the creek was crossed by several rustic  bridges. The drive was flanked by lawn strips and throughout the garden trees and shrubs of many varieties grew, including some rare species. Over the years more improvements were made including bush houses, a glass house, a carpenter's shop, a propagating house, a seed room, a potting and packaging shed and a mess room. Subsoiling with explosives was undertaken and sprinklers installed for watering.

Ladies in the State Nursery Gardens. Photo courtesy CAHS, Tom Swann Collection

 Many of the men who worked there did so for up to 25 years or more. Twenty men, including Barkley Haydon, George Huckstepp, and Cosmos Meredith. Barkley Haydon worked as gardener there for about 30 years, and Cos Meredith drove a horse drawn cart taking potted seedlings to the railway station. George Huckstepp was head gardener, giving 26 years of service.
Sadly, and abruptly, in 1930 the Nursery was closed. Many of the workers transferred to the Sydney Botanical Gardens. Some employees stayed on to help with the heartbreaking task of removing trees and plants. Fortunately many plants were relocated and trees dug up and taken to Sydney by motor lorry. Although the State Nursery was never intended to be a paying proposition, in 1929 it ceased supplying plants free of charge, and the demand fell rapidly. This combined with the Great Depression was probably the major factors in it's closure.
Campbelltown was dismayed, and the Mayor tried to have the closure reversed. Apart from the loss of jobs, the State Nursery had played a significant role in supplying trees, shrubs and plants for many towns and institutions, parks and gardens. Sadly, the decision had been made, and the land was sold to a Miss Chapman, who then sold it to Mr Alf Highfield. Mr Highfield was a major shareholder in Searls and Jeans, and the State Nursery began the next chapter of it's life as a flower nursery for Searls Florist Shop in Sydney. After initially being managed by Jack Hay, Alf Highfield arranged for his cousin Eric Malvern to take over the management in 1938. Eric and Elma Malvern and their baby Max arrived from Mudgee, and moved into the old Superintendent's residence. The Malvern family made the nursery their home, and had four more children whilst living there. Many trees remained from the early days, and the Malverns planted more. The huge lawn in front of the house was big enough for Alf Highfield to install a mini golf course. Tennis courts from the early days remained, and these were made great use of by Campbelltown residents.
Eric Malvern would cut roses early every morning, and other flowers late in the afternoon. They would be carefully packed in special boxes and taken to Campbelltown Station to make the 7a.m. train to the city. The flowers would be picked up by van from the train and delivered to various florist shops.

1956 - Badgally Rd running diagonally across the photo, with the oasis of the State Nursery centre.

This idyllic setting remained home to the Malverns for about 30 years. The site was eventually rezoned industrial, and although factories now occupy the former State Nursery site, many of the old trees remain. The legacy of the State Nursery lives on through the many thousands of trees and plants that were sent around the state, to parks, cemeteries, convents, churches, court houses, The Domain, Centennial Park, Prospect Reservoir, Jenolan Caves, and the Soldiers Settlement at Campbelltown, to name but a few.

Written by Claire Lynch
Sources:
"Badgally Road : the other side of the line" by Marie Holmes
Grist Mills Vol.1 No.3, Vol. 10 No. 1, and Vol. 18 No.2
Trove

Lane to an Arcade

In early 1979 bulldozers began to remove the road surface of what was then known as Milgate Lane. The lane that ran between Downes Department Store and Flemings Stores was to be transformed from a road to an arcade to house shops and offices. The arcade would link the car park to the main shopping thoroughfare of Queen Street.

The transformation of Milgate Lane had begun some years earlier when many of the houses that lined the southern side were demolished. At one stage in the 1930s there were ten houses that stood in the lane. They ran from Queen Street all the way down to the railway line. In the early part of the 1900s, on the opposite side of the street, there was a paddock where circuses would often set up. A past resident named Eileen Duguid remembered Wirth's Circus using the vacant paddock. The houses were small two roomed timber dwellings, situated very close to each other. The names of the people who lived there in the 1930s included: Charles Selems; Thomas Curry; Charles Augustus Jones; Frederick Scott; Jack Hutchenson; Alfred Duguid; John (Chinnie) Hund and Robert Coogan who lived in the last house before the railway line. Other names living there before this included: Mrs Evans, Mrs Brookes, Larkins and Masons. A concrete car park now occupies this site.

The Coogan family lived here for many years. It was the last house in Milgate Lane before the railway line (Clissold Collection).


Milgate Lane was named after Spencer Samuel Milgate who in the 1870s and 80s operated a produce store on the site now occupied by Milgate Arcade. He was born in Sussex in the UK in 1834. He moved to Australia with his parents in 1840 and took over his father's store in Campbelltown after his death. Spencer bought Eschol Park off William Fowler in 1878. Then tragedy struck when his mother and three daughters all died within two years of each other. He sold Eschol Park and moved to Sydney. Spencer Samuel Milgate died at Wentworthville in 1911. Milgate Arcade and the remaining stretch of Milgate Lane remind us of this early pioneer.

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

Holm, Tess et al 1985
Campbelltown 1930-1940: Dumaresq Street and Environs

Oral History Interview with Eileen Duguid 1977 Held at Campbelltown Library

Macarthur Advertiser, 13 February 1979

Burning the Kaiser

The artwork above was painted by Arthur Streeton on 12 November 1918, the day after the signing of the Armistice to end World War One. It's titled Australian burning effigy of Kaiser in Square, Armistice Day. It depicts a crowd of soldiers gathered around a bonfire with an effigy of the Kaiser hanging from the gallows. The scene summed up the country's feelings towards the enemy after such a long and bloody conflict.

The people of Campbelltown carried out the same 'ceremony' at the end of the war. A large crowd gathered at Mawson Park, still then known as "The Green". They constructed an effigy of the Kaiser made out of straw and other materials and placed it on a large bonfire. The burning accompanied marching and dancing. Crowds massed in Queen street, church bells rang out and many locals took the train into Sydney where they jammed into Martin Place to celebrate.

Unfortunately there are no known surviving copies of the local newspaper to provide a more detailed description of the day's celebration.

Written by Andrew Allen

Source:

Digitised Oral History of Eileen Duguid 1977, Held at Campbelltown City Library