Switching On

When the question of whether or not Campbelltown should get electric lighting back in 1921, the town was almost split down the middle. Campbelltown Council held a referendum to gauge support. There were 80 votes in favour and 65 against. Many people were a bit afraid of this "new-fangled business". Three years later however, electricity was turned on for the first time, lighting up the town like a Christmas tree.

The honour of flicking the switch fell to Mrs Hannaford- wife of Mayor Charles Hannaford. This occurred on the evening of 23 January 1924 at the power station in Cordeaux Street. An excited crowd of 1000 people gathered to look at the illumination of hotels and shops in Queen Street. A number of business houses that included The Club, Federal and Royal Hotels, Reeves Emporium and the Railway Station, were decorated with dazzling lights and flags.  The mayor's house, named Miramichi, situated next to the court house, was also decorated with rows of coloured lights.

The Electric Power Plant and Power Station was the first of this particular type in New South Wales to produce energy on the alternating current system and fed by crude oil. It was a source of loud noise and could be heard all over town when it was started. It therefore ran only at certain times of the day and night.

The Electricity Power Station in Cordeaux Street (Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society)

The two diesel-powered generators installed in the power station had less than one hour's down-time in four years, but they soon became obsolete and in 1929 Campbelltown was connected to the Railways Department electricity supply system. The electricity station was located about where the front yard of the Catholic Presbytery is today. A cement slab remained for many years until the new presbytery was built on the site. It's likely that remains of concrete pylons to the immediate left of the presbytery's front door are connected to the electricity station. It was demolished in 1931.

Ingleburn eventually got electricity in 1930 and loans raised were able to extend it to Macquarie Fields, Glenfield and Denham Court in 1936.

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

ALLEN, Andrew 2018
More Than Bricks and Mortar
Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society

HOLMES, Marie
Charles Newton Hannaford
In Grist Mills: Journal of the Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society
Vol. 27, No. 3, November 2014

LOW, R.A
Switched On In The West

Victim of Progress

(Bruce Hatfield Collection)

I have written about Railway Street in Campbelltown before and how it has transformed over the years. This photograph was taken in the 1980s. The view looks east and shows the police station and residence, as well as a group of shops, including a hairdresser and an electrical contractor. Lack's Hotel is on the corner and the Royal Hotel is just out of the picture on the right. Lack's Hotel was demolished in 1984, so it probably dates to the early 1980s. All of the buildings and plants in this scene have vanished. Only the plants in Mawson Park in the background and the court house (the chimney can just be made out in the background on the left) still exist. The new court building on the left and a car park on the right now dominate this same view.

Written by Andrew Allen

Historic Loo

It's not often that a toilet block is honoured with a permanent conservation order. In February 1982 this rare event occurred when a disused four-seater lavatory at Denham Court was recognised for its heritage significance. The "four seater" model outhouse, hidden for decades by a bougainvillea, was believed to have been built in the early days of Queen Victoria's reign, when Denham Court homestead was converted to become the Miss Lester's Seminary for Ladies. The two-room timber construction is about six by three metres and each room has a bench with two holes suspended over a deep pit. It was believed to have been built between 20-30 years after the homestead and, as it seemed to big to belong to the house, must have been associated with the school. The design suggested it could have been a demountable structure to be moved to another location if the occasion arose.

The four seater "dunny" at the Denham Court property pictured in 1994 (Photo by Alex Goodsell, Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society)

The Heritage Council originally planned to put the order on the entire Denham Court property but the owner protested saying that only the house and the lavatory justified preservation. It was decided that all the other outhouses were not of historical interest.

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

Campbelltown-Ingleburn News, February 16 1982

[Denham Court] by [Ruth Banfield]

Sydney Morning Herald, February 10 1982

Latest Then and Nows

These images are taken near the intersection of Appin Road and Woodland Drive, St Helens Park. The above shot was taken in 1983. St Helens Park House can still be seen through the trees.

This shows St John's Catholic Cemetery taken in 1984 and today. The 1984 service was for the Sesquicentenary of the church.

The service station in the above 1981 photograph has gone replaced by the front lawn of Council's Civic Centre.

Many changes in this comparison shot. The Quest Campbelltown now blocks out the view of the two-storey Hollylea on the left of the 1980 photo.

The older images come from our recently acquired Trevor Richardson Collection.

Written by Andrew Allen

The "Hope Inn" - on this day 165 years ago

We have mentioned the “Hope Inn” a couple of times in other posts, but have managed to unearth some more information about it.
Henry Thatcher was the earliest  publican of the Hope Inn (1838)  that we know of, followed by Michael McQuade (1839). The Inn which was situated on a block fronted by three streets – the Sydney Road (now Queen Street), Browne and Howe. This large block originally belonged to William Howe. It's frontage on the main street was 118 feet, (36 metres).

Bordered by Browne, Howe and the Main Road, opposite the court house.

The two storied brick building was built on stone foundation, and had 10 rooms, a bar, and a flagged verandah the whole length of the building. Outhouses included a brick kitchen with a store attached, two stables – one weatherboard and one brick, capable of housing 14 horses, and a granary. A large yard and garden were at the back of the building.
Isaac Rudd had the licence from 1840 to 1846. He was followed by William Rixon who took on the Hope Inn licence in 1847, however Rixon died the same year, and the following year his wife Ann Rixon took on the licence. Records do not show who held the licence from 1849 to 1853 however William Henry Phibbs had it in 1853, after marrying Ann Rixon in 1852.
The Hope Inn was advertised in February 1854, for sale by auction. It is reasonable to assume Edward Fitzgerald purchased the Inn at the auction held on March 1st of that year as his licence was dated 21st April 1854. Unfortunately this would not be a happy purchase for Edward.
On Tuesday 14th November 1854 a fire destroyed the Hope Inn completely. All of Edward Fitzgerald’s furniture, stock of spirits, ale and porter, and 200 pounds cash were destroyed. Locals took up a collection for Edward, and he moved to the other end of town, taking up the licence of the Farrier’s Arms. Along with the Inn a store also burned down, which had only recently been opened by a Mr McGrath. It was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald that “in consequence of the want of an engine people could only stand and look on, instead of lending efficient aid”. A fire brigade was still 37 years away.
We do not have a picture of the Hope Inn, however it does appear on an 1840 map of Campbelltown, faintly written. The large block on which it stood eventually was absorbed by Mawson Park and the Bowling Club.

Very faintly, the Hope Inn is marked on this 1840 map of Campbelltown.

Written by Claire Lynch
Sources
Trove
With many thanks to Brendan Leenders of Museum Macarthur

Making Cider

With the increase in Campbelltown's population beginning in the 1950s, industry became important to the town. People needed somewhere to work. Crompton Parkinson and Nile Industries were established early. Another significant company named Bulmer Australia was to set up a plant in Campbelltown in 1969.

The plant cost 1.5 million dollars when it was erected on Badgally Road that year and a further one million dollars in machinery completed the operation. In 1972 Bulmer's bottling plant was opened. This meant that the entire process of making cider "from the apple to the bottle" would be carried out in Campbelltown. The cider was formerly transported in bulk to a bottling plant near Sydney. The cider produced at Campbelltown supplied 90% of the use in NSW in 1972.

The company would make a strange brew called 'scrumpy'. It had the most alcoholic content at 8.5% and was one of Bulmer's principal lines. They also made Strongbow, Sweet Strongbow and the non-alcoholic Apple Cyder (with a Y). The name of the vats where the cider was fermented were called Brisbane and Wattle. A Bulmer tank was either named after a capital city or a native Australian wildflower.

The company made significant extensions to the Badgally Road factory in 1982. Bulmer's were having trouble keeping up the demand for cider around this time and business was booming. The factory was also great for local employment. It had also broken new ground by selling to Japan.

In early 2003 Carlton and United Breweries (CUB) bought the Bulmer's Australia business.

Witten by Andrew Allen

Sources:

Campbelltown-Ingleburn News: Nov 7 1972, Dec 18 1979, Jun 15 1982

Hairdressing to Health Foods

A recent request for information regarding a particular building in Campbelltown led me to discover some information about a former resident as well as the building he occupied.

Born in 1842, Francis Joseph married wife Mary McMahon in 1885, and then came to Campbelltown in 1886, wasting no time setting up in business as a hairdresser and tobacconist on Queen Street.

It would appear that four children were born to the Josephs during their time in Campbelltown.

Frank operated out of the same building for just over 12 years, but then, it seems, moved into a brand new building in 1900, on the corner of Queen Street, and Sewer Lane (later to become Dumaresq Street).


F. Joseph Hairdresser and Tobacconist on the side of the building right in the
 centre of the photo. (Photo c1900 Campbelltown City Library)



Frank must have been a bit of a character, as his advertisements in the paper often took the form of poetry, with such entertaining stanzas as

“ Who is it when you’re old and grey

Takes the snow of age away

And makes you jolly, young, and gay,

FRANK JOSEPH”

The Joseph family stayed in Campbelltown until 2nd May 1907 when Frank and his family moved from the district. He was given a farewell at Edmonson’s Railway Hotel, where he was presented with a gift by a number of residents as a token of their esteem and respect. 

The census of 1913 shows Frank Joseph living in Leichardt, and in 1916 he died. I was unable to trace any further information about his family after leaving Campbelltown. Over the years other businesses operated in the store, including Mort Clissold's barber shop (before he moved further up Queen Street to Atherstone). During the 1960s and '70s a health food was operated here by Daphne and Colin Hendrie. It's street address was 237 Queen Street.

The Health & Bulk Foods store sometime between 1971 and 1977.
Photo - CAHS

 It, along with its neighbors, was finally demolished in 1977 and is now the site of David Wilson Chemist.

237 Queen St was demolished with it's neighbours in 1977.
Photo - Trevor Richardson Collection, Campbelltown City Library

Thanks to Julianne, daughter of Daphne and Colin Hendrie, who spent a lot of her childhood in this building.
Written by Claire Lynch


Sources
Trove
Our Past in Pictures
Norm Campbell
Grist Mills Vol.31 No.1
1974 Phone Directory