Camden Memories of Your Suburb

Gregory Hills

2011-08-01T22:17:00.000-07:00

Before white settlement this was the land of the Tharawal and Gundungurra peoples. Located between Camden Valley Way and St Gregory's College, the new suburb of Gregory Hills is part of the South West Growth Area. It is built on land which was formerly St Gregory's College farm. This land was given to the Marist Brothers by Thomas Donovan in the 1920s for the development of a boys school to teach young men the skills to have careers on the land.

Gregory Hills includes more than 280 hectares of rolling hills and undulating land with views across the district and beyond to the Blue Mountains. Nearly 300 families have bought blocks in the suburb in the last year and 2,400 homes are planned. Gregory Hills will feature its own primary school, shopping centre and an extensive network of parks linked by bike paths and walkways. Gregory Hills Drive will join Badgally Rd giving access to Campbelltown railway station.
(Information provided by Camden Council Library Service, NSW Dept. Planning & Infrastructure & Dart West Developments.)

Camden

2009-03-22T15:54:00.001-07:00

Camden is one of Australia's most historic towns, enclosed on three sides by a sweeping bend in the Nepean River on land originally home to the first inhabitants, the Dharawal people. Camden and its surrounds were originally known as The Cowpastures after missing cattle from the Sydney colony were eventually found in the area.

Agriculture was key to the prosperity of the district, with the Macarthur family establishing wool growing, dairying, wheat growing, vineyards and orchards on John Macarthur’s original 5,000 acre land grant, from 1806 onwards. The village of Camden was created following sales of land by the Macarthurs in 1841. The Macarthur family became synonymous with Camden, being responsible for the construction and establishment of landmarks such as Camden Park house, St John’s Church, Macarthur and Onslow Parks.

The Macarthur family’s agricultural enterprises also provided employment for immigrant workers, who came to the area under Governor Burke’s 1835 plan as tenant farmers. Many later obtained their own landholdings and established businesses in the area. Descendants of these families remain in Camden today.

Originally part of Nepean Shire, The Municipality of Camden was proclaimed in 1889. Camden township contains many historic buildings which were established during the 19th century to provide services such as the police, Court House, churches, schools, banks and School of Arts (now Library and Museum). The present day town reflects the layout of its earlier establishment in the 1840s, and some of the shopfronts and facades remain from the early decades of the 20th century.

Aside from agriculture, industries such as mining provided employment for the inhabitants. Mines situated in the outlying areas provided coal and silver ore, which was shipped by rail once the tramway was established in 1882. One of the locomotives, affectionately known as ‘Pansy’, travelled on the branch-line from Campbelltown, and in the 1940s had 24 weekday services which were a mixture of goods and passenger services. The line ceased operation in 1963 and was replaced by road transport when coal trucks were a familiar sight in Camden. Today there exists a mix of rural, retail, and light industrial activities in Camden, with many residents now employed outside the local area.

From a population of 242 in 1846 the Camden Local Government area has dramatically increased to include a population of 51,000 in 2006. This expansion follows the State Government’s Growth Centre Plan from the 1970’s and continues with current government plans for increased urbanisation and expansion. The geography of Camden township, with the surrounding flood plain, has allowed the township to retain much of its historic form, with development being concentrated in non-flood prone areas.
(Information provided by Camden Historical Society, Camden Council Library Service and Camden Council Community Profile)

Camden South

2009-03-22T15:48:00.000-07:00

The area known as Camden South is established on land originally home to the Dharawal and Gundangarra people and acquired by the Macarthur family as part of their extensive land grant in the early 1800s. The area supported the farming of wheat, sheep and dairy cattle. An original house Murrandah is now known as Camden House Nursing Home.
The expansion in population in Camden in the 1960s and 1970s saw the establishment of two large housing areas to the east and west of the Hume Highway. These were known as Elizabeth Macarthur, honouring the contribution to the development of agriculture by Elizabeth, wife of John Macarthur, and Ponderosa. The new areas were originally collectively known as Benkennie but this later changed to Camden South.

The 3.4km Nepean Cycleway links Camden South to the township of Camden passing under the Camden bypass and along the Nepean River. The flat lands of Camden South are home to a number of sporting fields for local soccer and rugby clubs. Camden Valley Inn is a landmark on the old Hume Highway and a popular gathering place for local people.
(Information provided by Camden Historical Society, Camden Council Library Service and Camden Council Community Profile)

Oran Park

2009-03-22T15:47:00.000-07:00

Oran Park is on the traditional land of the Dharawal people. The area has a rural character with open pastures and rolling hills. The area was originally made up of two principal land grants, one of 2,000 acres, Harrington Park, granted to William Campbell in 1815 and another to George Molle in 1817, Netherbyes, of 1600 acres. Oran Park appears on the pre-1827 map as part of Harrington Park. The Oran Park portion was sub-divided from the Harrrington Park estate in 1829 and acquired by Henry William Johnston in 1852. The Oran Park estate is representative of the layout of a country manor estate with views afforded to and from the manor over the landscape and to the important access points of the estate. The two-storey Georgian-style house was built in c.1857. The house was acquired by Thomas C Barker (of Maryland and Orielton), who sold it to Campbelltown grazier Edward Lomas Moore (of Badgally) in 1871. The property was later owned by Atwill George Kendrick and then the Moore family who sold the house and land to B Robbins and a Mr Smith operated a golf course with trotting facilities. It was sold in 1945 for £28,000, and in 1963, 361 acres was purchased by ER Smith and J Hyland, farmers. The homestead and stables were sold in 1969 by John and Peggy Cole and purchased by the Dawson-Damers, members of the English aristocracy. John ‘DD’ Dawson-Damer was an Old Etonian and car collector. He was a prominent motor racing identity and was killed in an accident in West Sussex in 2000. After her husband’s death his wife sold the house, with its historic gardens and 107 hectares of pasture, in 2006 for $19 million to Valad Property Group.

During World War II Narellan Army Camp was based at Oran Park. Part of the original estate is the location of the Oran Park Motor Racing Circuit. The main grand prix circuit is 2.6 km long with a mixture of slow, technical and fast sweeping corners as well as changes in elevation around the track. Apart from the main racing circuit there area has had a number of subsidiary activities including a two dirt circuits, two four wheel training venues, a skid pan and a go-kart circuit. The racing circuit has been used for a variety of motorsport including club motorkhanas, touring cars, sports sedans, production cars, open-wheelers, motocross and truck racing The track will close in 2010 to become a housing estate developed by
Leppington Pastoral Company (owned by the Perich family) in a joint-venture with Landcom with an estimated 11,500 dwellings and 33,00 people in Oran Park and Turner Road. Proposed suburbs include Raceway Hill and Gregory Hills. Oran Park Town opened for land sales on March 2010. Oran Park is part of the South West Growth Centre Area which is eventually planned to accommodate 295,000 people by 2031.
(Information provided by Camden Historical Society, Camden Council Library Service and Camden Council Community Profile)

Leppington

2009-03-22T15:43:00.000-07:00

The name Leppington comes from the property granted to William Cordeaux in 1821. Leppington Park House was a huge two storey home with its own private ballroom built by convict labour. It was destroyed by fire in the 1940s.The bricks at the base of the outdoor stage at Leppington School came from this building.
In 1914 an area of Leppington was subdivided as the Raby Estate, named after the property Raby some 3269 acres granted to Alexander Riley in 1810. The 1914. The subdivision was developed by Arthur Rickard & Co. People interested in buying a lot would be met by a sulky either at Ingleburn or at the Coach crossing at the Water Canal Bringelly Road. Rickard Road in the estate was named after the developer.

The school on the estate was opened as Raby School in 1923. The first teacher was Mr Cox and he taught about 40 pupils between the ages of 6 and 15. It remained a one-teacher school until 1951. In 1955 the name was changed to Leppington Public School. The Post office, also on the Raby Estate was established in 1930 and remained on its original site until 1981. The Riley estate south of the Raby Estate was subdivided in 1956.The area has supported small farms and vegetable and flower market gardens. The area is subject to planned development as part of South West Sydney Growth Area. A corridor of land is being resumed by NSW State Government for an extension to the Liverpool rail line with a station in the north-eastern part of Leppington due to open by 2014.
(Information provided by Camden Historical Society, Camden Council Library Service and Camden Council Community Profile)

Rossmore

2009-03-16T22:04:00.000-07:00

The area was originally called Cabramatta an aboriginal word for place of the cobra grub. It was later named Rossmore, a Scottish name refering to high ground by John Dickson a Scottish engineer who was granted 3,000 acres of land here by Governor Macquarie. A number of other settlers received land grants in the area including Barker, Riley, Moore and Bell.

The area was initially used for wheat and sheep farming and later for dairying, poultry farming and orchards. The bushranger Jack Donahoe was shot by an ex soldier, Mugglestone on Robert Lowe's property just south of Bringelly Rd in 1830.

After World War 1 Ashley McCann bought 1,400 acres at Rossmore for dairy farming and named the property Allenby after General Allenby the hero of the 4th Light Horse.

From 1950s the area was settled by immigrants from Europe who established small farms and market gardens providing food for Sydney markets. The area continues to perform this function although large scale development is planned as part of the South West Sydney Growth Area.

(Information provided by Camden Historical Society, Camden Council Library Service and Camden Council Community Profile)

Mount Annan

2009-03-16T21:49:00.000-07:00

The suburb is on the traditional lands of the Dharawal and Gundungurra people. Mount Annan is the name given to a high point in the western part of the locality and is 190 metres above sea level. It only appears on published maps after 1834. This point was part of Glenlee which was owned by William Howe, who built a fine Georgian house (1824) on the property. Glenlee was acquired by James Fitzpatrick in the 1850s and his descendants ran it as a dairy farm until 1978 with associated cropping and grazing.
The first land release for housing at Mount Annan was in late 1980s for first home buyers and low income families. Later land releases such as Garden Gates were aimed at second and third home buyers. The population growth encouraged the establishment of new shopping facilities, a leisure centre and schools.
The Mount Annan Botanic Garden is the highlight of the suburb. It is a native plant botanic garden and arboretum in an attractive garden and parkland setting and is managed by the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust.
On the eastern side of the Mount Annan Botanic Gardens is a little piece of history which was constructed in 1880. It is a water canal (aqueduct) which is partly made of sandstone blocks thought to be quarried from Mount Annan. It is part of the Upper Nepean Scheme which supplies water by gravity from the dams on upper Nepean River to Prospect Reservoir along a course of 62 km. Until Warragamba Dam was finished in 1960 this canal supplied most of Sydney’s water.
In 2001 Mount Annan had a population of 6,761, and which was an 85 per cent increase from 1996. The demographic profile of Mount Annan is predominantly young families, with 35 per cent of the population under 18 years of age.
(Information provided by Camden Historical Society, Camden Council Library Service and Camden Council Community Profile)

Smeaton Grange

2009-03-16T21:13:00.000-07:00

Before white settlement this was the land of the Tharawal and Gundungurra peoples. The property later known as Smeaton Grange was originally called Naralling Grange and was a land grant of 283 hectares (700 acres) by Governor Macquarie in 1816 to Captain William Hovell.
Smeeton was also an adjoining land grant to Charles Throsby who was an early settler and town leader in Campbelltown. Both of these landholdings were purchased by James Fitzpatrick who had come to Australia as a convict in 1822 and who worked as a servant of Hamilton Hume. Fitzpatrick accompanied Hume and Hovell on their famous 1824 expedition to Port Phillip Bay. He later became a prosperous farmer. The property first grew wheat, and when rust developed, moved into sheep production and later dairy farming.
During World War Two the house was used as a residence for army officers. The Catholic Church acquired the property in the early 1960s and the Patrician Brothers Order used it as a religious house, retreat centre and novitiate till it was developed as part of Magdalene High School in 2000. In the early 1990s the area of land north of the house was zoned industrial. The new industrial estate has been able to attract a wide range of business both large and small and continues to grow as an industrial centre for the area.
(Information provided by Camden Historical Society, Camden Council Library Service and Camden Council Community Profile)

Spring Farm

2009-03-09T22:23:00.000-07:00

Spring Farm covers the southern section of John Oxley’s land grant of 1816 and the south-western section of William Howe’s grant of 1818.There were also nine land grants to smallholders along the floodplain in the western part of the suburb. Spring Farm has had a long history of industrial, mining and agriculture activity. From 1930s-1970s there were extensive orchards and vineyards along Springs Road with a mixture of stone fruit, apples and grapes. Another land use has been the production of poultry: chickens for eggs, and both chicken and turkeys for meat. The Tegal family were one of the major operators from the 1950s.
There has also been industrial land use in the area including treatment of nightsoil, sand mining, gas extraction, coal washing and waste facilities.
The first urban development in Spring Farm in an otherwise rural setting was in the Ettlesdale Road area in the 1960s. The most recent urban development in Spring Farm comprises a series of urban villages. The area is planned to have around 3900 housing lots.In 2006 the population of the Spring Farm was 287 predominantly made up of young families with 44 per cent of the population under 25 years of age. The suburb will be subject to an increasing number of new arrivals.
(Information provided by Camden Historical Society, Camden Council Library Service and Camden Council Community Profile)

Harrington Park

2009-03-09T21:51:00.000-07:00

Captain William Campbell was granted land in 1815 and built Harrington Park homestead in 1827 named after the supply brig Harrington of which he was commander. The property was bought by Sir Warwick Fairfax in 1944 and an extensive garden created.
In 1990s a residential estate centred around a 15 hectare lake was developed and further stages of development continue.
(Information provided by Camden Historical Society, Camden Council Library Service and Camden Council Community Profile)

Kirkham

2009-03-09T21:30:00.000-07:00

John Oxley the surveyor general of the colony was granted land in 1815 on the eastern bank of the Nepean which he called Kirkham after his home in Yorkshire. Only Kirkham Stables 1816 remain from this period. Oxley’s son built a flour mill on the estate which operated until rust destroyed wheat crops in 1863. In 1885 James White a later owner of the property built a Gothic Revival styled mansion named ‘Camelot’ by the subsequent owners, the Faithful-Anderson family.
In 1811 Rowland Hassall was granted 400 acres in a loop of the Nepean river, west of Kirkham which he named Macquarie Grove. Camden Airport now occupies much of this property and was used in the Second World War as a flight training centre.
Charles Cowpers’s residence Wivenhoe was built in 1838 and was sold in 1910 to the Catholic Church. It is now the site of Mater Dei School.
Kirkham railway station at the bottom of Kirkham lane was a stop on the Camden to Campbelltown tramway to pick up passengers and milk. Remnants of the embankments for the line can still be seen.
From the 1990s there has been large block residential development of some parts of Kirkham with a preservation of hilltops and flood prone low lying land.

(Information provided by Camden Historical Society, Camden Council Library Service and Camden Council Community Profile)

Narellan Vale

2009-03-09T18:46:00.000-07:00

Narellan Vale is on the traditional lands of the Dharawal and Gundungurra people. William Howe was given the original grant of 3000 acres called Eskdale in 1818 on which most of Narellan Vale is located. He was a member of the local gentry and a magistrate in the 1820 and later became Superintendent of Campbelltown Police. Howe was a member of the 1824 Hume and Hovell expedition to Port Phillip.
In the 1960s-1980s the Gayline Drive In Movie Theatre was a popular place of entertainment for people of the surrounding district.
The first land release in the Narellan Vale area was in 1990 with Narellan Gardens Estate in the Morshead Road area.

(Information provided by Camden Historical Society, Camden Council Library Service and Camden Council Community Profile)

Narellan

2009-03-09T18:38:00.000-07:00

Narellan is on the traditional land of the Dharawal and Gundungurra people. Narellan lies in the central part of the Camden Local Government Area, although it was originally part of Nepean Shire Council until it was abolished in 1948.

The name Narellan is used for the village, the district and the parish and was probably derived from William Hovell’s 1816 grant of ‘Narralling’ of 700 acres. Most of the parish of Narellan was granted to settlers by Governer Macquarie between 1810 and 1818.
Farming in the local area consisted of vineyards, orchards and dairying. Narellan Railway Station was the hub of activity in the village on the branch-line between Camden and Campbelltown. The tramway operated from 1882 until 1963. Coal loading operations were centred here from 1940s until 1980s. St Thomas’s Church, Narellan Public School, Ben Linden and Narellan Hotel are examples of historic buildings remaining in Narellan.

Narellan grew as a residential suburb from the 1960s and by the 1990s commercial development in Narellan had usurped the dominance of Camden and become the commercial centre of the local district.

(Information provided by Camden Historical Society, Camden Council Library Service and Camden Council Community Profile)

Cobbitty

2009-03-08T17:49:00.001-07:00

On land originally inhabited by the Tharawal and Gundungurra people, Cobbitty lies in an area bounded by Bringelly Creek, Nepean River, Macquarie Grove Road and the Northern Road. Remnants of the Cumberland Plain Woodland are found in and around Cobbitty.

Land was granted in 1812 to Gregory Blaxland, who called his holding ‘Cubbady Farm’. Other land grants were made to the Reverends Cowper (Wivenhoe) & Hassall (Macquarie Grove) and to Charles Hook (Denbigh).
Heber Chapel was constructed by Reverend Thomas Hassall and was dedicated by Reverend Samuel Marsden in 1828. St Paul’s Anglican Church was completed in 1842 with the rectory being erected opposite in 1870. The present Cobbitty School was constructed in 1882.

Dairying was the main industry in Cobbitty in the 1880s. A winery, along the Nepean River, was established by the Cogno brothers in the 1960s and continues trading today. The University of Sydney acquired land in Cobbitty and operates the Plant Breeding Institute, and Veterinary Science facilities, together with a number of farms.Turf farming along the Nepean River on the alluvial soils continues.

Cobbitty remains predominantly rural although the northern reaches of the area will become increasingly developed for housing as the NSW State Government implements the Metropolitan Growth Strategy.

(Information provided by Camden Historical Society, Camden Council Library Service and Camden Council Community Profile)

Catherine Field

2009-03-08T17:34:00.001-07:00

Catherine Field is located on what was once the Cowpasture Road, leading to Camden, on the lands of the Dharug people. The land was colonised from about 1807 onwards when land grants were awarded. George Molle was given 500 acres in 1817, along South Creek, which he named ‘Catherine Field’. James Chisholm built the property ‘Gledswood’ around 1817 and it remained in the family until 1940.

The Catherine Field area is located on the Cumberland Plain, however, only remnants of the original woodland remain. The area contains mixed agriculture and rural residential holdings. As the NSW State Government has designated the Catherine Field area as part of the South West Metropolitan Development Strategy, increased urbanisation will occur.

(Information provided by Camden Historical Society, Camden Council Library Service and Camden Council Community Profile)

Bringelly

2009-03-08T17:28:00.000-07:00

The township of Bringelly was established on land granted in 1818 to William Hutchinson, originally a convict, who later became one of the directors of the Bank of NSW. The area had been earlier settled by Robert Lowe, who built a house called Birling in 1812 on his land grant of 1000 acres. Many other settlers were given land grants in this area throughout the early 19th century, among them D’arcy Wentworth, John Piper and Ellis Bent. A notorious visitor to the Bringelly locale was the bushranger Jack Donohoe, who is believed to have established a number of hide-outs in the surrounds.

The township was first formally named in 1863. The establishment of a school occurred in 1870’s and was rebuilt before the present school building was erected in 1897.

(Information provided by Camden Historical Society, Camden Council Library Service and Camden Council Community Profile)

Bringelly is situated in an area of open grasslands set within areas of larger bushland, which is a remnant of the once flourishing Cumberland Plain Woodland. It at present contains a mix of agricultural and rural residential land use. Market gardens, dairy farms and other agricultural industries which have acted as a greenbelt and provided Sydney with produce, will soon give way to large housing estates, as part of the NSW State Government’s Metropolitan Strategy.

Elderslie

2009-03-08T17:16:00.000-07:00

Elderslie lies on the land of the Dharawal people. Governor Macquarie made land grants along the Nepean River including one to the surveyor John Oxley, and was named ‘Elerslie’ in grant records of 1816. The name had changed to its present form by 1828.

It is believed that the first building in the Camden area was constructed in Elderslie, at the river crossing, sometime in 1803. A number of properties, including ‘Elderslie’ were eventually owned by Charles Campbell, who subdivided his land in 1841 to create a village.

Agriculture was the main industry, in particular grape growing and market gardening. Grapes for wine were grown by Martin Thurn, a vinedresser from Germany who was brought out by the Macarthur family to Camden Park in 1852. More recent industries include sand mining of the flood plain.

The expansion of the coal industry in the 1950s- 1970s lead to a population increase, with more housing being built in Elderslie, and the construction of a primary school (Mawarra) and a high school. This growth is continuing with new residential subdivisions being created on surrounding remnant agricultural land.

(Information provided by Camden Historical Society, Camden Council Library Service and Camden Council Community Profile)

Currans Hill

2009-03-08T17:10:00.000-07:00

Currans Hill is a residential area developed in the 1990s, on land previously devoted to agriculture. It is named after Michael Curran, a resident of the area in the 1880s.
Prior to development, the area was also once used by noted Australian film director Charles Chauvel as the location for the movie ‘Rats of Tobruk’ in the mid 1940s.
The population stands at just below 5,000 (2006 census figures), with further expansion of the residential area planned.
(Information provided by Camden Historical Society, Camden Council Library Service and Camden Council Community Profile)

Cawdor

2009-03-08T16:45:00.000-07:00

Originally inhabited by the Dharawal, Gundungurra and Cubbitch-barta people, the land became part of the vast holdings acquired by John Macarthur in the early years of the 1800s. Cawdor was the first village to develop in the Cowpastures district. It predated Camden by more than 20 years. The name was given to the area by Governor Macquarie to honour his wife’s family’s connection to Scotland. The area still supports dairy farms.In the 1960s and 1970s, both the eastern & western sides of Cawdor Road were subdivided and sold, but in the early 1990s local residents were successful in opposing proposed higher density developments. In 2001, Camden High School was moved from the centre of Camden township to Cawdor Road. A development application for a proposed Muslim school in Cawdor was rejected on appeal to the Land and Environment Court in 2009.
(Information provided by Camden Historical Society, Camden Council Library Service and Camden Council Community Profile)

Grasmere & Bickley Vale

2009-03-08T16:43:00.000-07:00

Grasmere was the name of William Henry Palings property of about 450 acres which he gave in 1888 to form the Carrington Hospital. Grasmere is being developed as an exclusive rural residential estate. The area retains its rural air in spite of the development which is restricted to larger acreage allotments and residential areas with large blocks of land and prestige homes.
Bickley Vale was the name of the property owned by the Sidman family.
The population density of this area (2006 census) is 1.28 people per hectare.
(Information provided by Camden Historical Society, Camden Council Library Service and Camden Council Community Profile)

Ellis Lane

2009-03-08T16:36:00.000-07:00

Cobbitty Paddocks was the original name for Ellis Lane, which lies within a loop of the Nepean River. The later name recognises a teamster, Solomon Ellis, whose son farmed the property “Fernleigh’. Dairy farming became the prime industry however, farms gradually disappeared following recent difficulties in the dairy industry and land becoming more valuable for housing development. Some turf growing and market gardening still conducted. The creation of additional new housing subdivisions continues to increase the population density and gradually transform the rural nature of Ellis Lane.
(Information provided by Camden Historical Society, Camden Council Library Service and Camden Council Community Profile)