Law Commons^™

Utopia Or Dystopia: A Contested Space On Sydney's Urban Frontier, Ian Willis

Ian Willis

Australia is a settler society where the rural-urban fringe of the major cities and regional centres is a contestable stage. There are a range of actors who compete in place making processes re-shaping the cultural landscape when there is collision over the ownership of space and the dominant narrative. This paper examines the proposition that Sydney's urban growth has created a zone of conflict on the city's metropolitan frontier between cultural heritage and the interests of development. In recent years Sydney's rural-urban fringe has encroached on the village boundaries of Menangle where there has been a collision between the expectation …

A New Horizon On Sydney's Urban Frontier: The St Elmo Land Releases, Ian C. Willis

Ian Willis

The paper examines a series of land releases by land developer Neil McLean on his farm St Elmo at Campbelltown between 1949 and 1961, which eventually formed a concentric ring around the old town centre. McLean was prescient in his understanding of the needs of Sydney's growth well before the Cumberland County Council designated Campbelltown as a satellite city in 1960. His vision and foresight put into action what the founders of the county plan envisaged as part of Sydney's metropolitan rural-urban fringe well before it happened on the city's urban frontier.

Sydney Modernism, A Recent Awakening, Ian C. Willis

Ian Willis

It is pleasing to see that there has been recent interest in Sydney modernism from a number of prominent Sydney cultural institutions. The origins of modernism can be traced back to the 1880s, while Sydney modernism has be identified from the early years of the 20th century to the 1960s.

Greens Motorcade Museum Park Leppington, Ian C. Willis

Ian Willis

One of the icons of the local area that has long disappeared was the car museum and picnic ground know as Greens Motorcade Museum Park at Leppington on the Old Hume Highway.

Convicts In The Cowpastures, An Untold Story, Ian C. Willis

Ian Willis

The story of European settlement in the Cowpastures is intimately connected to the story of the convicts and their masters. This story has not been told and there is little understanding of the role of the convicts in the Cowpastures district before 1840. Who were they? What did they do? Did they stay in the district? The convicts that ended up the in Cowpastures district were part of the 160,000 who were transported to the Australian colonies from England, Wales, Ireland and the British colonies. The convicts were a form of forced labour, with a global history that goes back …

Banishment, Transportation And A Penal Settlement, Ian C. Willis

Ian Willis

On January 26, 1788 a group of sailing ships unloaded their human flotsam and jetsam in Sydney Cove. Amongst those who were landed were souls who were part of the dark story of banishment and exile that dates back to Roman times. The foundation of the Australian nation was just one part of a global story of forced human suffering that is still going on today.

Flood Free Crossing Via Macarthur Bridge, Ian C. Willis

Ian Willis

One of the most important pieces of economic and social infrastructure in the Macarthur area is the Macarthur Bridge. The bridge is also one of the most significant pieces of engineering heritage in the Camden local government area. It provides a highlevel flood free crossing of the Nepean River which can isolate the township of Camden when the numerous low-level bridges in the area are flooded - the Cowpasture Bridge (Camden), the Cobbitty Bridge and the Menangle Bridge.

A Breath Of Fresh Air, Ian C. Willis

Ian Willis

Fresh air was the order of the day for patients at the newly opened Carrington Centennial Hospital for Convalescents and Incurables at Camden in 1890. The hospital followed the latest methods in medical practice and building architecture from Victorian England based on the writings and approach advocated by Florence Nightingale.

Voluntary Aids At The Nerve Hospital, Ian C. Willis

Ian Willis

In the days immediately following the First World War a group of women from The Oaks and Camden volunteered at Waley Nerve Hospital at Mowbray Park as part of the activities of the Camden and The Oaks Voluntary Aid Detachments.

Camden History V4 N2, Ian Willis

Ian Willis

CAMDEN HISTORY Journal of the Camden Historical Society Inc. Contents Brian Stratton - the story of a local artist 40 Linda and David van Nunen Memories of Barbering 50 Col Smith Horse History in Western Sydney: Kirkham Stud 60 Mark Latham Dairy Farmer to Young Local Historian 67 Sophie Mulley Echoes of the Appin Massacre 1816 76 Ian Willis Growing up in Camden 81 Joy Riley President's Report 2015 - 2016 86 Bob Lester Pansy, The Camden - Campbelltown Train 91 Photographs by Wayne Bearup Camden Arcade 25th Anniversary Address 97 Christos Scoufis A Personal Reflection on Local History Studies …

Ben Linden Narellan An Edwardian Gem, Ian C. Willis

Ian Willis

Ben Linden is an outstanding example of the Edwardian cottages across the local area. Camden has quite a number of Edwardian cottages in the town area, on surrounding farms and in local district villages. They are typical of the early twentieth century landscape in the local district. The housing style was evidence of the new found confidence of the birth of a new nation that borrowed overseas trends and adopted them to suit local conditions. These style of houses were a statement of the individualism and the national character.

The Early Days Of Elderslie, Ian C. Willis

Ian Willis

In 1929 Madeline Buck the granddaughter of Elderslie pioneer James Hawdon published a series of letters written in 1828 to friends in England. Hawdon had lived in Elderslie for five years from 1828. Hawdon's letters surfaced in England in 1929 amongst old family papers and have many interesting insights into life in the early days of the colony.

Snapshots Of The Past, Ian C. Willis

Ian Willis

When photography was still in its infancy it was used as a tool to capture moments that would become a chronology of the past for future gen- erations. Here is a snapshot of special moments from the Perkins family album of Cawdor. Harold E. Perkins was a smallholder dairy farmer at Cawdor living on the family farm of Verdundale. One of his pastimes was photography.

Menangle 'Little England' Says Duchess Of York, Ian C. Willis

Ian Willis

'This is like home, like England', proclaimed the Duchess of York in 1927 on her visit to Menangle. She and her husband the Duke of York visited Camden Park as part of their royal visit of Australia, which involved the opening of the provisional Parliament House in Canberra in May.[1] The Duke and Duchess of York had left England of their royal tour of dominions in January 1927 on board the Royal Navy battleship HMS Renown, travelled through New Zealand in February and arrived in Australia in March. The Royals departed from Australia in late May after visiting all states. …

Pit Covers And Other Things Under Foot, Ian C. Willis

Ian Willis

Utilities like electricity, water, gas, sewerage, communications and others are essential in any community. Camden has acquired the utilities as time has progressed over the past 150 years to the present. Argyle Street has a number of utilities buried beneath the street and footpaths. Their histories provide a valuable insight into the town's development and progress, particularly in the 20th century. The arrival of electricity, gas and water were part of Camden modernism and its influence on the town. Each of these utilities has transnational origins well beyond the township and illustrate the linkages between the town and wider world. …

Histories Of The Red Cross, Ian C. Willis

Ian Willis

The Australian Red Cross Society is part of one of the world's most important humanitarian organisations. It has provided relief in times of crisis for 100 years. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent movement has seven guiding principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality. The origins of the movement are located in mid-nineteenth century Europe; now it comprises around 190 national societies, including Australia's, which was founded in 1914. This year marked a global first for Australia ‒ it held an inaugural conference, Histories of the Red Cross Movement: Continuity and Change, for historians, archivists, curators …

Do You Know What Is Under Your Feet?, Ian C. Willis

Ian Willis

What is under your feet and totally ignored? What do you walk over every day? What is essential in an emergency? What provides access to essential utilities? The answer lies under our feet. What is it? Give up yet? The answer is the humble utility inspection cover. Utilities like electricity, water, gas, sewerage, communications and others are essential in any community. Camden has acquired the utilities as time has progressed over the past 150 years to the present. Argyle Street has a number of utilities buried beneath the street and footpaths. Their histories provide a valuable insight into the town's …

Cobbitty Sports Day Benefited The War Effort, Ian C. Willis

Ian Willis

major event on the social calendar of a number of picturesque villages in the Camden district was the annual New Year's Day Sports Carnivals. They were part of the English traditions brought to the area by colonial immigrants, and in 1915 they were held in the villages of Cobbitty and The Oaks. Sports carnivals were wonderful community events that included all classes of villagers regardless of their station in life and during the First World War they held special appeal for patriotic fundraising. These social and cultural traditions were not isolated to the Camden district and have been held in …

Ministering Angels, The Camden District Red Cross, 1914-1945, Ian Willis

Ian Willis

Ministering Angels is the story of conservative country women doing their patriotic duty in an outpost of the British Empire. From 1914 Camden district women joined local Red Cross branches and their affiliates in the towns and villages around the colonial estate of the Macarthur family at Camden Park. They sewed, knitted and cooked for God, King and Country throughout the First and Second World Wars, and the years in-between. They ran stalls and raffles, and received considerable community support through cash donations from individuals and community organisations.

Using the themes of soldier and civilian welfare, patriotism, duty, sacrifice, motherhood, …

Imaginings On The Edge: Myth, Mourning And Memory In Sydney's Fringe Communities, Ian C. Willis

Ian Willis

Sydney’s urban sprawl has moved across the Cumberland Plain and swallowed up former rural communities and created new suburbs on the rural-urban fringe. Urban growth has precipitated new cultural landscapes and destroyed others as the metropolitan edge makes its way across the countryside. The outer metropolitan area is a theatre for the re-making of place in fringe communities that illustrate the dynamic nature of the rural-urban frontier and the contested forces that are unleashed by urban growth.