Camden's Interwar Heritage 1919-1939

What is the significance of the interwar period in Camden's history? It is one of the hidden parts of the town's past between 1919 and 1939.  It is all around the local community, yet few know much about it.

Royal Hotel demolished in 1973 (CHS/E Kernohan)

  

Interwar Prosperity

The interwar period in Camden was a time of economic development and material progress. The prosperity of the period was driven by the local dairy industry and the emerging coal industry.  

The population of the town grew by over 35 per cent between the end of the First World War and the beginning of the Second, so that in 1939 the town was the centre of a district that covered 455 square miles (1180 square kilometres) and with a population of over 5000.



Administration centre

Camden was one of the most important commercial and administrative centres between Sydney and Goulburn. The town was the centre of the police district, it had the regional hospital, it was the largest population centre, and it was a transport node of a district which spread from Campbelltown to the lower Blue Mountains.

The former Bank of New South Wales building at 121 Argyle Street Camden building in 1938 (I Willis 2009)

Hume Highway

During the interwar period, one of the most important economic arteries of the town was the Hume Highway (until 1928 the Great South Road). Most understood the value of the rail connection to Camden; most obviously because you heard it, smelt it and saw it. 

Yet few understand the significance of the Hume. The highway had run up the town’s main street from colonial times, until 1973 when it was moved to the Camden Bypass, and then moved in 1980 to the freeway.



Cook's Garage, 1936 on Hume Highway Camden, the height of modernism (Camden Images) 

Consumerism and Modernism

The highway and railway were the conduits that brought the international influences of modernism and consumerism to the town and the goods and services that supported them.  

These forces influenced the development of the local motor industry, the establishment of the local cinemas, and the local airfield development. These were all important economic, social and cultural forces for the time. 

‘Locals’ travelled to the city for higher-order retail goods, specialist services and entertainment, while the landed gentry escaped to the cosmopolitan centre of the British Empire, London. Conversely, the Sydney elite experienced the new gentlemanly pastime of flying at the Macquarie Grove Airfield.  

 

Camden Airfield 1930s Macquarie Grove Flying School (Camden Images)

Services

For a country town of its size, the town had modern facilities and was up-to-date with the latest technology. 

The town had two weekly newspapers, Camden News and the Camden Advertiser, there was the opening of the telephone exchange (1910), the installation of reticulated gas (1912), electricity (1929), replacement of gas street lighting with electric lights (1932) and a sewerage system (1939), and by 1939 the population has increased to 2394. 

The town’s prosperity allowed the Presbyterians built a new church (1938), while several ‘locals’ built solid brick cottages that reflected their confidence in the town’s future.

Macaria is one of the most important Victorian buildings in the Camden town centre in John Street. (2017, Fairfax)

 Gentry Estates and Dairying

The interwar period's prosperity did not upset the situation where the town still dominated by the colonial gentry and their estates. 

Apart from their convict labour in the early years, they established a class and social relations system that ordered daily life in the town from its foundation until after the Second World War.  

While the townsmen dominated the early period of local government, by Federation the landed gentry had usurped their power and had imposed their political mantra of conservatism on the area. 

The dominance of the Macarthur’s Camden Park over the local economy during the interwar period was characterised by the Camden Vale milk processing factory (1926) adjacent to the railway. 

The company developed TB free milk and marketed it through the Camden Vale Milk Bar, a retail outlet on the Hume Highway (1939); complete with a drive-through. 

The motor car

The interwar was a period of transition, and increasingly the motor car replaced the horse in town, and on the farm, the horse was replaced by the tractor, all of which supported the growing number of garages in the town. 

The interwar landscape was characterised by personalised service, along with home and farm deliveries by both horse and cart and motor cars.  
 

Argyle Street Camden, Hume Highway 1940 (Camden Images)

Bucolic charm

The layout and shape of interwar Camden have changed little from the 19^th century, and the town centre has a certain bucolic charm and character that is the basis of the community’s identity and sense of place. 

The strip shopping and mixed land use support the country feel that has become the basis of the modern ‘country town idyll’.   




The entrance to Camden at the northern end of town along Argyle Street (CC)

Rural-urban fringe

In recent years, Camden has been targeted by the New South Wales government as one of the Sydney metropolitan area's growth centres. It has become part of Sydney’s exurbanistion on the rural-urban fringe. 

City types move out of the city looking for places where ‘the country looks like the country’.  This only re-enforced the duality of the love/hate relationship the community had with Sydney, which was part of the rural ideology of the area based on the city and country divide.

A country town idyll

For their part, the ‘locals’ have retreated to nostalgia in the form of an arcadian view of the world through a ‘country town idyll’.  

The idyll's romance is based on the iconic imagery of Camden as a picturesque English village, with the church on the hill, surrounded by rural vistas.  

The idyll has become a defence mechanism against the onslaught from Sydney’s urbanization and the interwar heritage that is part of its iconic landscape.

Many of the stories about the interwar period are told in this book the Pictorial History of Camden and District.

Updated 16 January 2021. Originally posted 12 September 2013.

Camden War Cemetery

The Camden War Cemetery

Camden war cemetery is located on Burragorang and Cawdor Roads' corner, three kilometres south of Camden Post Office. The cemetery is slightly above the Nepean River floodplain, with a northerly aspect at an elevation of 75 metres. 

Camden War Cemetery with a view towards Camden (I Willis)

The vista to the north provides a picturesque view across the floodplain and is dominated by the town with St John's Church's spire in the background. It is not hard to imagine the scene that met these servicemen when they arrived in Camden during wartime over 60 years ago. 

Thousands of servicemen passed through the Camden area between 1939 and 1946 at the various defence facilities. Major military establishments were the Narellan Military Camp on the Northern Road at Narellan, and the Eastern Command Training School at Studley Park, Narellan. Many army units also undertook manoeuvres throughout the area, and there were temporary encampments in several other locations including Camden Showground, Smeaton Grange and Menangle Paceway. 

The principal RAAF establishment was located at Camden airfield, with secondary airfields at The Oaks and Menangle Paceway. As well, there were several emergency runways constructed throughout the local area. The RAF also had several squadrons based at Camden airfield between 1944 and 1946.   

When the visitor approaches the cemetery, they do so from the east. They advance along a paved walkway lined with low hedgerows. The walkway is dominated by a flag pole in the centre of the path. The visitor then walks through a gate into the cemetery proper, and they are immediately struck by the serenity of the site.  

The cemetery contains twenty-three servicemen stationed in the Camden area during the Second World War. These men fit within the Camden area's long military tradition when local men went off to the Boer War and later the First World War. The latter group names are listed on the memorial gates to Macarthur Park,  Menangle Rd, Camden.

View of Cemetery Entrance

The cemetery contains the graves of seventeen RAAF servicemen, four army personnel and two RAF servicemen. The headstones are lined up in an N-S configuration, with the graves facing E-W. The graves are surrounded by a border of oleanders and bottlebrush and dominated by a single majestic tea tree. The cemetery is well kept and has a pleasant outlook.

Camden War Cemetery view to the entrance gate (I Willis)

Servicemen's Details

Royal Australian Air Force

Five airmen were killed in Hudson A16-152, which was part of 32 Squadron RAAF. The aircraft crashed south-west of Camden on 26 January 1943 while on a cross-country training flight. The aircraft was based at Camden airfield.  The pilot and the four-man crew were killed.

Pilot:

 F/Sgt SK Scott  (402996), aged  25 years.

Crew:

Navigator F/Sgt HBL Johns (407122), aged  27 years.

W/T  Operator Sgt BCJ Pearson  (402978), aged  25 years.

 Sgt GD Voyzey  (402930), aged 24 years.

 Sgt GT Lawson (412545),  30 years.

  

Sgt SW Smethurst (418014), aged 20 years, crashed his Kittyhawk A29-455 at The Oaks airfield on 30 September 1943 while on a training exercise strafing the airfield. This exercise was in conjunction with the 54th Australian Anti-Aircraft Regiment which erected gun positions adjacent to the airfield. The aircraft splurged at the bottom of a shallow dive and struck the ground.

Five airmen were killed on 18 November 1943 in Beaufort A9-350, part of 32 Squadron RAAF. The aircraft crashed on a night cross country exercise training exercise, while based at Camden airfield. The pilot and crew were killed.

Pilot:

F/Sgt RC Christie (410630), aged  23 years.

Crew:

Navigator Sgt DR James (418721),  aged  20 years.

WOAG Sgt FN Fanning (419465), aged  20 years.

Sgt RA Sharples (419226), aged  23 years.

F/S HSJ Terrill (419426), a passenger from 73 Squadron, aged  20 years.

Corporal JP Kerrigan (62397) was an electrical mechanic and was killed in a car accident in Sydney on 11 December 1943, aged  29 years.

Five airmen were killed on 29 March 1944 in Beaufort A9-550, part of 15 Squadron RAAF. The aircraft was based at the Menangle Racetrack airfield. The aircraft crashed after take-off when the port engine failed.

Pilot:

F/Sgt HB Johnston (420024), aged 26 years.

Crew:

2nd Pilot F/O RW Durrant (422555), aged 24 years.

Navigator F/O HD Wheller (426409), aged 21 years.

W/T Operator F/Sgt RAC Hoscher (412535), aged 23 years.

AC1 WH Bray  (141632), aged 22 years.



Camden War Cemetery (I Willis)

  

Royal Air Force

LAC A Mullen (RAF) 1526778 was involved in a fatal accident on the Camden airfield tarmac on 12 October 1945, aged 23 years.

WOFF FS Biggs  (RAF) 365157 from the Servicing Wing, RAF Station, Camden, was killed in a car accident in Sydney on 25 November 1945, aged 36 years.

Australian Army

Private Leonard Charles Walker (V235527) enlisted in the Australian Citizen's Military Forces at Ballarat, Victorian on 8 October 1941. He was born in Ballarat on 28 June 1923. He served in the

46th Australian Infantry Battalion, 29/46th Australian Infantry Battalion.  He died at Menangle on 18 July 1945 aged 22 years.

Warrant Officer Class Two John Gow Alcorn (NX148530) enlisted in the Australian Citizen's Military Forces at Sydney on 28 May 1934. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 19 January 1900.  He transferred to the 2/AIF on 26 February 1943. He served in the Sydney University Regiment,

110th Australian Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, 41st Australian Infantry Battalion,

41/2nd Australian Infantry Battalion. He died of illness 31 March 1944, aged 44 years.

Warrant Officer Class Two Harry George Grinstead (NX126686) enlisted in the Australian Militia Forces at Sydney on 17 February 1930. He was born in London on14 August 1910. He initially transferred to the Australian Citizen Military Forces on 17 February 1940, and then to the 2/AIF on 15 August 1942. He served in the 9th Australian Field Regiment. Grinstead died on 15 August 1944 due to injuries sustained in a railway accident, aged 34 years.

Craftsmen Elwyn Sidney Hoole (NX97717) enlisted in the 2/AIF on Paddington on 11 August 1942. He was born at Walcha,  New South Wales,  on 12 October 1908. He served in the 1st Australian Ordinance Workshops Company, 308th Australian Light Aid Detachment.  He died on 6 June 1944, aged 35 years.

Location

Camden War Cemetery

Cnr Burragorang and Cawdor Roads

Camden. NSW 2570 

References

RAAF Historical Section, Department of Defence, Air Force Office, Canberra. Correspondence,
Accident Reports.
Central Army Records, Melbourne.  Correspondence.

Updated 9 January 2021. Originally posted 5 September 2013.

Cumberland Plain Woodland, Sydney's natural heritage

Cumberland Plain Woodland (cc Wikimedia)

What good is Cumberland Plain Woodland you might ask?

The early settlers in the Sydney Basin might not have understood the ecology of the Cumberland Woodland but they knew good farming country when they saw it. John Macarthur understood the potential of the good grazing country on the Nepean River floodplain.

The cows that escaped from the Sydney penal settlement found their nirvana in Cumberland Woodland managed by the Dharawal people in the Cowpastures.

Elizabeth Macarthur Onslow saw the importance of the Cumberland Woodland in 1905 when she insisted the mature specimens with the bounds of Macarthur Park be preserved when she gifted the park to Camden township.

It is clearly shown in the Appin district on Sydney's rural-urban fringe, where the Woodland comes up against the Sydney sandstone communities.

Just east of Appin the colonial settlements of the early 1800s stopped. Why? Sydney sandstone is terrible farmland. Better to use the clay soils of the Cumberland Woodland.

There are the clay soils of the Cumberland Woodland between Appin and Campbelltown and a host of land grants handed out to would-be yeoman farmers from about 1813.

These colonial land grants created a pseudo-European cultural landscape of smallholder farms on the colonial frontier. There was a conflict between the Dharawal and the Europeans that resulted in the Appin Massacre of 1816.

There are surviving remnant patches of Woodland at Beulah, a Hume family property, now owned by the Sydney Living Museum and at Noorumba Reserve at Rosemeadow.

One important stand that has had recovery work is at The Australian Botanic Garden at Mount Annan.

Cumberland Woodland (ABG)

Cumberland Plain Woodland in Serious Trouble



Cumberland Woodland Mt Annan (cc Blogger/A Koskela)

Extent

The Cumberland Woodland is found on clay soils derived from Wianamatta Group geology of Sydney's Cumberland Plain. Where once it covered over 100,000 hectares it is a mere skerrick of its former glory.

Today Cumberland Woodland barely covers 6,000 hectares of Sydney's Cumberland Plain. That is less than 6 per cent of the original area.

The Woodland is indigenous to the Camden, Campbelltown and Wollondilly Local Government Areas and the catchments within them including the Nepean River and South Creek.

Critically Endangered

In New South Wales under the Threatened Species Conservation Act the Woodland proposed to be listed as critically endangered. The Woodland is highly fragmented across the Cumberland Plain.

Threats

The Woodland is under threat from clearing, fire and grazing associated with urban development, industry and farming. Invasive weed infestation is a major problem in remnant Woodland.

One common weed is African Olive which escaped from the gentry estates of the Camden district in the 1820s where it was introduced as a hedging plant and rootstock for olives.

 

Common Species

Grey Box, Forest Red Gum, Narrow-leafed Ironbark, Grey Ironbark, Narrow-leaved Stringybark, Spotted Gum and Black Wattle.

 Best Viewing

The best viewing in the local area is at The Australian Botanic Garden at Mount Annan.

More reading

NPWS, Cumberland Plain Woodland Fact Sheet, Endangered Ecological Community Information,  2004.

Originally posted 1 September 2013. Updated 8 August 2020.

Picton hits the right note

Picton Brass Band (cc Turbosquid)

Picton District Brass Band in Camden

In 1933 the Picton District Brass Band performed at the opening of the new Paramount Theatre in Camden Wednesday 22 February. DJ Kennedy, the proprietor of the picture show, expressed his thanks and screened the musical 'Love Me Tonight' with Jeanette MacDonald and Maurice Chevalier.

Formation

The Picton District Brass Band was originally formed up in 1886 and provided a lively performance at the Picton Show under the musical direction of J Douglas.

Band struggling

By the 1890s the band was struggling to survive and eventually went into recess in the late 1890s.

Band re-forms

The band re-formed in June 1915 and Mr Chapman from Campbelltown was appointed as musical director. A plain and fancy dress masked ball was held at the Protestant Hall in aid of the band. The attendance 'was exceptionally huge' and a great success with the hall packed with dancers from 'all over the district'. (Picton Post 14 July 1915) Band practice was held on Thursday nights.

1916

The bandmaster during 1916 was Mr Greenway. By July the band was looking for a new bandmaster. On applicant in September was Mr Leabeater from the Australian Light Horse Infantry Camp at Menangle Race Course. On a warm afternoon in December the band played a recital in Victoria Park Picton and took a collection of four pounds.

Band making progress

By the late 1920s the band was making solid progress in a variety of directions under the bandmaster, JF Fromholtz. The band patron was BH Antill, and others positions were president, AH Edwards, vice-presidents, Dr Iceton, Mrs James, AR Davison, EA Eagles, JT Ashcroft, FH Woods, secretary Ernest Sell, treasurer, Frank White, and committee members were J James, AV Lindsay, Leo Ashcroft, C Edwards, AV Baldwin, F Stott, JM Ashcroft, and librarian J Cox. The band had a credit balance of 24 pounds. (Picton Post, 18 January 1928).

Picton District Band Ball 1928

 In April 1928 the band opened the ball season with the  annual band ball in Picton at the town hall. Although there was a second ball on in Picton on the same night 70 couples attended. Bandsmen had 'tastefully' decorated the hall. Mrs Ashcroft was in charge of the supper tables and had decorated them with different types of flowers which had been donated by Mrs Rutter and Mrs West. Music was supplied by the Ashcroft Jazz Band and Mrs Ingleton's Orchestra. The MC was Mr Eb Davis of Thirlmere, the door-keepers were Mr Woods and Blatch and ticket-sellers Mr Stott and Moraghan. Band members wives Mrs Stott, Loader, A Graham, Cullen, James, Edwards, Ashcroft and Fromholtz provided waiting service on the tables. The Monte Carlo Waltz was won by Miss New and Mr Cavanagh. The band opened the proceedings with 20 members under the baton of Bandmaster Fromholtz. They played a lively programme of music in the 'garden delectable' of the Town Hall. The evening made a handsome profit which was to be spent on new instruments. The band thanked the community for their support and financial help. (PP 11 April 1928)

Further Reading

Picton Post

Lost Camden ranch-style houses

Lost Camden

Mid-century modernism

Ranch-style houses in Elderslie

The Hennings House, 64 Macarthur Road, Elderslie 2010 (IWillis)

In 2011 a ranch-style house in Macarthur Road Elderslie was unfortunately demolished to make way for a preschool.


Camden's ranch-style houses are part of the town's post-Second World War development and growth. They are part of Camden's mid-century modernism.



The Hennings House, 64 Macarthur Road, Elderslie 2011 (IWillis)

Demolished Ranch-style houses in Elderslie

The Hennings House in Macarthur Road was one of a number in the Elderslie area, and two have been demolished. One of the demolished ranch-style houses, Kalinda, was located off Lodges Road Elderslie and owned by the Whiteman family. 

The Whitemans owned a general store in Camden that operated for nearly a century. The house was a weatherboard cottage demolished in the late 1990s to make way for Sydney's urban development in the Elderslie area. 

The Whiteman house was high on the ridge with a pleasant outlook facing west over the Narellan Creek floodplain. Visitors approached the house from Lodges Road by driving up to the ridge's top along a narrow driveway. 

Ranch style housing

Ranch-style housing is a significant post-Second World War housing style. The housing style has been noted by architect Robert Irving as an Australian domestic architecture style. Parramatta City Council has recognised the housing style of heritage significance. 

The ranch-style house is an example of mid-century modernism.

American History of Ranch-Style Homes

The original house style came from California and the South-west of the USA, where architects in these areas designed the first suburban ranch-style houses in the 1920s and 1930s. They were simple one-storey houses built by ranchers who lived on the prairies and in the Rocky Mountains. 

The American architects liked the simple form that reflected the casual lifestyle of these farming families. After the Second World War, several home builders in California offered a streamlined, slimmed-down version. They were built on a concrete slab without a basement with pre-cut sections. 

The design allowed multi-function spaces, for example, living-dining room and eat-in-kitchen which reduced the number of walls inside the house. The design was one of the first to orient the kitchen/family area towards the backyard rather than facing the street. 

The design also placed the bedrooms at the front of the house. The marketing of the ranch-style house tapped popular American fascination with the Old West. (Washington Post, 30 December 2006)

Elderslie Ranch-style Residence

The Hennings House

64 Macarthur Road, Elderslie



The Hennings House, 64 Macarthur Road, Elderslie 2010 (IWillis)

The residence at 64 Macarthur Road was built in 1960 by Peter and Barbara Hennings in their early 20s. Mr Hennings recalls that the builder had a catalogue, and the house design was chosen among those. 

Mr Hennings has always been interested in design and was careful in selecting the plans for the house.

Builder

Ron McMillan and Sons of Camden

House

The house was a 3 bedroom double brick ranch-style residence with a separate bathroom and toilet. It has 10-foot ceilings, a stone fireplace and timber sash windows. There was a detached garage. 

The design was considered quite ‘modern’ for its time, according to Mr Hennings. There are two pairs of ¼ inch-bevel glass doors in the lounge room and two single glass bevel doors.   

Site

The Hennings House is located on two building allotments. When the Hennings bought the two blocks, the site was covered in bracken ferns. They filled the site and had a stone batter on the garage end of the house, which was completed after the house was built.

The residence was prominent on Macarthur Road and one of the first houses constructed on the Bruchhauser farm subdivision in 1960. The wide frontage ranch-style house was set back on the double block in a high position, which is uncommon in Elderslie, although typical of this style elsewhere in Sydney (Parramatta Development Control Plan 2005).

Owners

The residence was built by a successful local business family, the Hennings. Their prosperity and that of the whole area was due to Burragorang Valley coalfields.  

The Hennings sold the house in 1980 to Dr Charles McCalden, who had a medical practice in Hill Street, Camden. He moved away from Camden in the mid-1980s.  

In recent years (1999-2009), the house was owned by school principals Joan and Frank Krzysik.

Significance

The ranch-style house has been identified elsewhere in the Sydney area as a building style of special character (Parramatta Development Control Plan 2005).  
 

The Hennings House, 64 Macarthur Road, Elderslie 2010 (IWillis)

Integrity

The house's integrity was intact until its demolition in 2011 and the removal of the 1960 front fence of ‘Chromatex’ bricks built by the Hennings. Several mature trees on the site added to the aesthetic quality of the site.

References 

Katherine Salant, 'The Ranch, An Architectural Archetype Forged on the Frontier', Washington Post, 30 December 2006

P & B Hennings, Camden, Interview, February 2010.

Mid-century modernism  (Wikipedia)

Katherine Salant, 'Looking Backward for the Next American Dream House'. The Big Picture. (2003-2015)

Patricia Poore, 'The California Ranch'. Oldhouse Online. (2018)

List of house types (Wikipedia)

Updated 5 January 2021. Originally posted 5 August 2013.

Hitting the right note - banding in Camden



 Camden Town Brass Band




Camden Town Brass Band 1877 with this picture taken on a visit to Newcastle (Camden Images)



Camden band heritage

Camden has a long heritage of bands and musical groups in the local community. Playing music has been one of the longest surviving voluntary sector activities in the town. Banding in the Camden area has a rich history of involvement by amateur musicians who held a variety of paid-day jobs. These folk contributed a large number of hours at community concerts, military parades, remembrance ceremonies, fetes, garden parties, and a host of other community events.




Camden District Band c1911-1915 (Camden Images)

Banding in Camden followed the British tradition of brass bands from the 19th century that was based around a village, town, industry, profession or business. Community brass bands traditionally competed in competitions. 

 Brass bands, especially military bands, have a long tradition going back to the middle ages in the Ottoman Empire. From the late 19th century English military traditions dictated that bandsmen served as battlefield stretcher-bearers with their regiment when not playing morale enhancing music. The Salvation Army in the United Kingdom has used brass bands as part of their ministry since 1878.

The Camden Town Brass Band was one of the first bands in the Camden area. It was formed in 1876 and the first bandmaster was HP Reeves who was in charge of the Camden school which was located in Hill Street. The first band practice was held at the school. There were 8 members of the band: Henry Stuckey; John Sanderson; Herbert Ferguson; Harry Simpson; HP Reeves; Albert Stuckey; Jacob Young; and William Derriman.


The band was quite a versatile group and performed as a marching band for a town parade, community concerts, dances, garden parties and the opening of the Camden Show in 1886.(Picton Post, 7 Sept 1932). The band went into recess during the late 1890s.

 

Camden District Band leads Frances Day procession 1917 (Camden Images)

The band re-formed in 1911 as the Camden District Band. During the First World War, the band was called on to perform at patriotic events of all sorts. One event was Frances Day in 1917 when the band led a procession down Argyle Street. The participants in the parade were in fancy dress, started at the Royal Hotel and ended at the showground on 17 July 1917, and was supported by a sports day.


The sports day raised 374 pounds. Frances Day was organised to raise funds for the widows and children after the defence of Verdun (21 Feb 1916-18 Dec 1916) and ended with a French victory with over 370,000 French casualties. It was the longest and most devastating battle of the First World War. The city of Verdun has played a part in the strategic defence of Paris since the 5th century.




Camden District Band 1930 (Camden Images)

The bandmaster in the 1930s was Stan Kelloway, who also served a term as Camden mayor. Other band members included: Eric Kelloway; W Pattison; Lesley Kelloway; B Price (Deputy Bandmaster); W Coates; A Meylan; L Dowell; Irwin Dowell; AE Doust; I Huthnance; J Hickey; J Hunt; C Coleman; AS Huthnance (Band Sergeant); Len Burnell; F Thorn; W Lipscombe; T Lipscombe; F Smythe; G Burnell; F Ravillion; T Thornton; and R Murdoch. (Picton Post 6 June 1935). The Second World War saw the demise of the band.

The Campbelltown Camden District Band

Campbelltown Camden District Brass Band 1960 (Camden Images)

The Campbelltown Camden District Brass Band started after the Second World War and filled the gap left by the closure of the Camden District Band and other bands in the area at Picton and Campbelltown.


The new district brass band formed up in 1946 and lasted until 1976 when it re-formed as a concert band with the addition of woodwind instruments. Many instruments for the new district brass band came from the old Camden Brass Band.


The instruments had been held by Horace Kelloway who had been a member of the band. Other instruments were also located by Frank Curnow under the old Campbelltown Hall. Initial rehearsals were held alternately between Camden and Campbelltown. The first bandmaster was Frank Curnow, followed by Harold Pollard in 1954.

 

The Camden Community Band

Camden Community Band 2013 (CCB)

The Camden Community Band is another local concert band. The band was originally formed up in 1989 as the Camden Rugby Band, community members were invited to join in 1994 and Jeanette Saunders became bandmaster in 1995. 

The band was re-formed as the Camden Community Band Inc in 2005. The musical director is Murray Bishop who joined the band in 2004. The band can be heard at a variety of community events in and around the Camden district throughout the year.

Further reading

D Brunero, Celebrating 50 Years, The Campbelltown-Camden District Band 1946-1996 (Campbelltown: Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society, 1996)

Updated 3 January 2021. Originally posted 1 August 2013.