Cyril Brookes 1938-2007

Cyril Henry Putnam Brookes was born in 1938 to parents Cyril and Mary Brookes. Cyril Snr was born in England and Mary in the United States. They met in the States whilst both were working for the same engineering company. (see blog re Mary Brookes)
After coming to Australia in 1929, the Brookes settled in Sydney and in 1938 had their only child Cyril Jnr, or "little Cyril" as he was known. When Cyril was 11 the family moved to the old gothic sandstone mansion "St Helen's Park". It would be the family home for the next 40 years. Cyril was sent to school at St Ignatius College, Riverview, for 5 years from 1950 to 1955, and then attended Sydney University.
Cyril dated and later married local girl Diana Milliken, and he is remembered by David Milliken, Diana's brother, as "hugely intelligent, and such a lovely man. He was going to Sydney University and ..when he first went out with Diana he would come home with books lent to him by figures like Harry Messel, and the Cadbury Chocolate man Professor Sumner Miller. You look back on it and you realise that he must have been pretty bright then because they recognised it".
Cyril obtained a Bachelor's Degree and a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering with First Class Honours, and in 1962 was awarded a scholarship to St Edmund Hall, Oxford University to complete his Doctorate. His thesis would become legendary amongst some circles.
In 1964, Cyril joined BHP and in the late sixties was asked by BHP management to go the United States and oversee the purchase of a new computing system, a huge responsibility with a budget of over a million dollars. The story goes that towards the end of this journey in the US, the local consultant announced that there was a budget problem - there was too much left over!!! Over the next few days, staying at the Plaza Hotel in New York, cases of champagne were ordered, and the budget problem solved!!
By 1972 Cyril was responsible for BHP's entire computing function, with a staff of over 1000 in six locations across Australia. In 1974, at the age of 36, Cyril became founding professor of Information Studies at the University of New South Wales. A defining moment in his career, he would build up one of the world's largest applied information technology schools.

Cyril Brookes (photo courtesy SMH)

His research work allowed him to move into the corporate world, resulting in the formation of Grapevine Technologies Ltd, and EIS Pathfinder. He also wrote a blog called Cyril on Business Intelligence. In 2003, Cyril was named on The Bulletin's list of top 100 Smartest Australians.
Tragically, Cyril lost his life in 2007, in a tragic accident at home. Whilst standing in the driveway, a load of timber being delivered and unloaded came loose and fell upon him, and he died shortly after.
He had devoted his life to the development of information technology and knowledge management, but was also devoted to his wife, family and his passions. His was a life cut way too short. 

Written by Claire Lynch
Sources
SMH Obituaries "An innovator with flair"
Consensus IT Writers Awards Judges' Profiles 2005
https://cyrilonbi.wordpress.com/  "Cyril's Last Post".

The Way We Were- Part 2

Here are some more then and now photographs of Campbelltown as promised!

Above: Flood at Minto looking from front door of Minto Railway Cottage No.2 along the railway line towards Ingleburn with Victoria Road straight ahead. This was taken in 1961.

Below: The same site in 2017. Note the same tree in the foreground.

Three photographs taken at the intersection of Rose Payten Drive and Pembroke Road

Above: This photograph was taken in about 1960 and shows the charming house "Kialba" owned by Alfred Payten.

Below: A 2017 view of exactly the same spot. The palm trees still stand here, including the one on the extreme left of the photograph.

Above: Camden Road looking west from Hurley Street towards the level crossing and new overbridge on Narellan Road

Below: The same site in 2017. Traffic no longer flows on this part of Camden Road.

Written by Andrew Allen

"Sweet" Memories of the Cordial Factory

"Here was made the finest soft drinks in the land...the sweet sickly smell of syrup and sugar permeating the atmosphere for a hundred yards or so". This was how former Campbelltown resident John Hepher described Hayes Cordial factory- an institution in the town for many generations.

In fact cordial manufacturing has been part of Campbelltown's history since early times. Newling and Walker were operating a cordial factory in Queen Street in 1880. In the 1880s Gilbert Bray and Company operated a cordial factory and later manufacturers included Samuel M. Jenner and Joseph Pickles Seddon. Seddon arrived in Campbelltown in 1895 and took over the business from a Mrs Hurley (another reference has a Mr Druitt as the owner). When the Campbelltown Co-operative Creamery Company opened in 1899, it shared premises with the cordial factory and was also managed by Joseph Seddon. The site for this was in the area bordered by Queen Street, Patrick Street, Railway Street and the railway line.

Joseph Seddon standing in front of the cordial factory with an unknown man in the delivery cart (Photo: Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society)

In 1924 Gus Hayes worked for Seddon and when Gus died suddenly, his son Reg left school to work there. The factory had been known as Hayes and Seddon and then Hayes and Howell after that. After Reg joined Seddon, he bought Howell out. Joseph Pickles Seddon retired about 1927, living for another ten years in a cottage in nearby Railway Street. Reg Hayes now owned the business and it became Hayes Cordials.

Reg Hayes holding a child near his loaded truck (Photo: Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society)

Reg employed two young lads to help him in the factory: Paul O'Loughlan and David Milliken. Now both aged in their seventies, they recently described what it was like working there:

David: "In those days to make ginger beer and ginger ale, you had to boil the ginger root then get the syrup off. Once the mixture was boiling in the huge copper pots over the fire, we would stir it up and skim the ginger. Burn you to death when you tasted it although it was really good! He used to make special lemonade for the hotels which was a lot stronger then ordinary lemonade. It was in a green shaded bottle, which was how you knew it was pub lemonade and available in shops. You would have to line up the bottles, add a little syrup in each one, then put them in the machine for carbonating. The dry ginger ale was beautiful. The ginger beer was just the best ever. All the cordials were handmade, the lemonades, orange, lemon, passion fruit, it was all made from fruit provided by "Just Fruit" up at Keith Harris at Thornleigh.

There was a big bottle washer that used caustic soda, which you didn't play with too much. It was a good machine. Sometimes the bottles were too dirty and you would have to get there with a brush and clean the bottles by hand. That was another bad job. I must have spent hours and hours cleaning the bottles with a brush."

Paul: "I commenced helping Reg before I started school. I was the bottle washer helper. His washing machine was the old style full length machine which was on a belt and you put the dirty bottles on at the front. It would go around the cycle, take off the labels and clean the bottles. Every now and then the exit end would get clogged up with labels and Reg, not being a small man, required someone of smaller structure to get in and clean it out, and I was the key for that. I enjoyed it very much and at the end of the day there was always a bottle of lemonade or creaming soda to take home to mum."

The building was far from glamorous. It was originally just a slab timber building that was later extended by Reg Hayes with corrugated iron. The original wooden building had beautiful old timber stairs and undressed sapling roof-ceiling rafters. It had sandstone flagstones on the floor. These flagstones were reputed to be the original ones used on the Campbelltown Railway Station which was built in 1858.

The cordial factory not long before its demolition. The road is Short Street and the site now a car park. (Photo: Bagley Collection, Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society)

Progress eventually caught up with the building and the business in 1970. Reg Hayes sold the business to Jim Goldfinch who set up in the industrial area. The property was purchased by Campbelltown Council for a car park near the Railway Station. The site today is the tar car park between Short and Hurley Streets.

Update

I've been contacted by the Coogan family in relation to the information contained in the caption below the bottom photograph. The demolished building in the foreground was the home of Col Coogan. Its address was 21 Short Street and was on the corner of Short and Patrick Street. The large building next to it was not the cordial factory but a shed belonging to Col Coogan. The cordial factory is the building with the pointed roof behind it.

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

Campbelltown-Ingleburn News, September 8 1970

Interviews with David Milliken and Paul O'Loughlan held at Local Studies, H.J. Daley Library and available on the library website

LISTON, Carol 1988
Campbelltown: The Bicentennial History

Campbelltown News, November 26 1937

Trainer of Champions.

Thomas Payten, or Tom as he was known, was a highly skilful horse trainer, especially of two year olds. Born at Menangle to Irish parents Martin Payten and Mary Connors on April 5th 1855, he was the second of twelve children. He was brought up on his fathers farm, and at the age of 19, he joined Michael Fennelly, trainer for James White of Kirkham Stud, Camden. James White built the lavish Newmarket Stables at Randwick, and by 1881 Tom Payten was foreman there. In 1881, Tom also married Jean Renwick.
When Michael Fennelly died in 1887, James White appointed Tom as his trainer. The Town and Country Journal described Tom as "most trustworthy and a very capable man with a horse".
In 1877, James White had purchased the brown colt "Chester" who, the following year in 1878, would win the AJC Champagne Stakes, AJC Sires Produce Stakes, VRC Mares Produce Stakes, VRC Derby and the VRC Melbourne Cup. "Chester" would sire many Stakes winners for White, including "Dreadnought" and "Abercorn", for Tom Payten to train.

Abercorn, trained by Tom Payten. (Photo - www.sporthorse-data.com)

In 1890, James White sold most of his racehorses, and Tom Payten formed a syndicate to purchase the Kirkham yearlings. He also purchased the Newmarket stables. Tom would go on to become the first Australian to train winners of 200 feature races. Despite his success the venture folded in about 1896. Tom purchased a property at Canowindra for bloodstock breeding, and would continue to breed and race successfully. He sold Newmarket to William Inglis and Son in 1918, and built new stables in Botany Road, Randwick.
On November 5th 1920, Tom died at his home in Randwick, and his third son Bayly William Renwick Payten inherited the Botany Road stables. Bayly continued in his father's footsteps as a horse trainer, and was leading Sydney trainer for most of the 1940s.

Tom Payten  (Photo - Racing Victoria)

Tom Payten was described as having a neat dark beard, with a tall, slightly stooped figure that hardly changed over the years. He was a devout Catholic and a generous subscriber to church charities. Tom was also "brimful of a dry humour" and a great practical joker. He was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2006.

Written by Claire Lynch

Sources
Australian Dictionary of Biography
Australian Stud Book (www.studbook.org.au)
Wikipedia
Racing Victoria (www.rv.racing.com)
Trove

The Way We Were

Here are some then and now photographs to further demonstrate how much Campbelltown has changed over the years. Hope you enjoy them!

Looking north up Queen Street towards Reeves Emporium c.1900 and 2016

 

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Looking up Anderson Street, St Helens Park where it intersects with Kellerman Drive March 5, 1999 and 2016

 

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Cheviot Place, Airds November 1981 and 2016

 

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13 Lindesay St, Leumeah 1960 and 2016

 

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Looking towards Emily Cottage on corner of Camden Road and Old Menangle Road 1950s and 2016

 

 

More to come early in the new year!

Written by Andrew Allen

 

Stuck in the Mud

Every now and then I discover a photograph in our collection that fascinates me. Images like the one above are remarkable for highlighting how much Campbelltown has changed over time. This photograph was taken around the late 1920s to early 1930s and shows a truck bogged in mud in Queen Street.

There are many components of this image that are interesting. Firstly, it's difficult for us to imagine today that a truck could get bogged in Queen Street! Also, look at the simple design of the truck. Definitely no bells and whistles with this one. Look at the small child on the left posing rigidly for the camera. There's even a small dog in front of the truck that seems to know he has to look straight at the photographer. Someone has ridden to the scene on a push bike. Look at the number of people crammed into the trailer so they could be part of the photo, although those at the back could not stay still, and therefore appear as a blur.

The truck is bogged in front of Wilkinson's Plumbing business in Queen Street. William Wilkinson was a plumber who had businesses in Camden and Campbelltown. He began his Campbelltown business in 1912 and shared this building with saddler Cyril "Midnight" Brown. You can just make out the name Brown on the side of the awning on the right hand side. William Wilkinson's son Fred took over his father's business when he returned from the First World War. The building to the left of the plumbing business with the two tall chimneys would be the Old Post Office building.

The location of this photo today would be approximately in front of Campbelltown Newsagency and H & R Block Tax Accountants buildings.

Another photograph of Wilkinson's Plumbing. This image is an earlier one and is dated 1912.

Both images come from the Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society Collection.

Written by Andrew Allen

Foti's Fireworks

When you think of New Year’s Eve celebrations, you think of fireworks, in particular the spectacular Sydney Harbour New Year fireworks display that is seen by over a billion people globally.
It might be surprising for many to discover that the company behind these fireworks since 1997, Foti International Fireworks, had its humble beginnings in Menangle Park.
The Foti Family has a family tradition of making fireworks in Italy dating from 1793, Celestino (Charles) Foti first came to Australia as a prisoner of war in World War II and was interned as a POW at Cowra. Returning to Australia as an immigrant in 1951, he began working in the Vulcan fireworks factory at Menangle Park, his sons Sam and Vince later joining him.
The Menangle factory had originally started its life in the Soldiers Settlement, with Bill Simpson purchasing the land in Macquarie Avenue for £3000 and using the existing poultry sheds to start a “cracker” factory. During the time the factory was in Macquarie Avenue, numerous fires and explosions happened, but were of little danger to the community and confined to the property. However in 1956 it was decided to move the factory to Menangle Park.
Whilst working for Vulcan Fireworks in Menangle Park during the ’50s and 60s, Celestino Foti made the fireworks enjoyed by generations of Australians at Queen’s Birthday celebrations whilst continuing his family’s tradition of display fireworks. The displays he performed were mostly for the local Sydney Italian community’s religious celebrations, as well as for local Agricultural Show Societies.

In 1969, Celestino, with his son Sam, bought Vulcan Fireworks, and thus International Fireworks was born (the name Foti was added later). The Foti's re-invented their business, developing pyrotechnic displays instead of volume firework sales. In 1983 Fortunato Foti began working full-time in the family business, with Grandfather Charles, father Sam and Uncle Vince, three generations of the family working together to continue the Foti family tradition of fireworks.

Fortunato, Sam, and Charles Foti. (Photo courtesy Macarthur Advertiser 4.3.1987)

Almost every firework spectacular that happened in the Macarthur region at one time was produced by the Foti family, with one time Executive Director of the Fisher’s Ghost Festivals John Leary, remembering mild mannered Celestino (Charles) quietly checking every device for effectiveness and safety. “Each year he would wander out onto the centre ring of the show or down into the bed of Fisher’s Ghost Creek for the festival to confirm all was well before the display was fired. Celestino, a man of few words, used to say “John, don’t worry it will be a good display”, and it always was”.
In 1987 the manufacturing facility is moved from Menangle Park to Leppington and the business continues to grow - they win International awards, are asked to co-present the 1997 Sydney’s New Year’s Eve fireworks and they are awarded the contract as the official Pyrotechnic Consultants, Designers and Suppliers for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
After co-presenting the New Year’s Eve fireworks since 1997, Foti International are awarded the entire contract for Sydney’s New Year’s Eve fireworks after the contract is put out to open tender for the first time. Foti have produced every Sydney New Year’s Fireworks display since and will continue to do so until at least New Years Eve 2016/17.


Written by Samantha Stevenson.

Sources:

Grist Mills Vol 25 No 2 July 2012 - Fireworks in Campbelltown

http://fotifireworks.com.au

Macarthur Advertiser 4.3.1987