University of Wollongong Research Online Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers Faculty of Arts, Social Sciences & Humanities 1-1-2016 Camden History v4 n2 Ian C. Willis University of Wollongong, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/lhapapers Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons, and the Law Commons Recommended Citation Willis, Ian C., "Camden History v4 n2" (2016). Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers. 2637. https://ro.uow.edu.au/lhapapers/2637 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] Camden History v4 n2 Abstract 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 at the 100 University of New England Tara Eagleton Ghosts and Shadows at Macaria 107 Pauline Downing Keywords history, v4, camden, n2 Disciplines Arts and Humanities | Law Publication Details Willis, I. C.(Ed.). (2016). Camden History v4 n2. 4, http://www.camdenhistory.org.au/chsjournal.html This journal article is available at Research Online: https://ro.uow.edu.au/lhapapers/2637 CAMDEN HISTORY Journal of the Camden Historical Society September 2016 Volume 4 Number 2 CAMDEN HISTORY Journal of the Camden Historical Society Inc. ISSN 1445-1549 Editor: Dr Ian Willis Management Committee President: Dr Ian Willis Vice Presidents: John Wrigley OAM, Cathey Shepherd Secretary: Lee Stratton Treasurer: Dawn Williams Immediate Past President: Bob Lester General Committee: Sharon Greene Rene Rem Roslyn Tildsley Julie Wrigley Robert Wheeler Stephanie Trenfield Honorary Solicitors: Vince Barrett Society contact: P.O. Box 566, Camden, NSW 2570. Online <http://www.camdenhistory.org.au> Meetings Meetings are held at 7.30 p.m. on the second Wednesday of the month except in Jan- uary. They are held in the Museum. Visitors are always welcome. Museum The Museum is located at 40 John Street, Camden, phone 4655 3400 or 46559210. It is open Thursday to Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., except at Christmas. Visits by schools and groups are encouraged. Please contact the Museum to make arrangements. Entry is free. Camden History, Journal of the Camden Historical Society Inc The Journal is published in March and September each year. The Editor would be pleased to receive articles broadly covering the history of the Camden district . Cor- respondence can be sent to the Society’s postal address. The Society takes no respon- sibility for the contents of articles published in the Journal. Donations Donations made to the Society are tax deductible. The accredited value of objects donated to the Society are eligible for tax deduction. Front Cover Image: Camden Arcade 25th Anniversary (I Willis) Inside Back Cover: Stables Camden Park Open Day 2016 (A McIntosh) Back Cover Image: Camden Park East Lawn Open Day 2016 (A McIntosh) 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 at the 100 University of New England Tara Eagleton Ghosts and Shadows at Macaria 107 Pauline Downing Brian Stratton - the story of a local artist Linda and David van Nunen Brian Stratton writes: I have been a Camden ratepayer since 1972 when I purchased a 30 acre block of land in the then sleepy hollow of Bringelly. The land was part of a grant of 1500 acres made in 1815 by Governor Macquarie to the magistrate Robert Lowe. Bringelly has been my home, my studio and my refuge for nearly 43 years but this is coming to an end. With the Southwest Sydney Growth Centre all will change. My block will be in Lowes Creek. The rural aspects will disappear as the land has been designated for industrial and res- idential uses.' Born in Sydney on 23 May 1936 to Allan Thomas Stratton and Edna Mavis Lynch, Brian Stratton was the only member of the Australian Watercolour Institute to twice preside as president. Stratton’s father, like many of his gen- eration, was profoundly affected by the Great Depression of the 1930s and consequently devoted his life's energies to the union movement. A bookbind- er by trade, Allan Stratton was to hold numerous positions in the Amalgamat- ed Printing Trades Union, being a vigorous campaigner in the industrial fight for the 40-hour week, which was formally approved by the Commonwealth Arbitration Court on 8 September 1947 to take effect from 1 January 1948. He became Head Teacher of Bookbinding with the New South Wales Depart- ment of Technical Education, relinquishing his union position but remaining for many years their Returning Officer. However, his unremitting union ac- tivism took a heavy toll on the family, culminating in a marriage breakdown with the result that, for most of his life, Brian Stratton has had a close associ- ation with his mother and her relations. At the outbreak of World War II, Stratton was a child of three but he distinct- ly recalls that his first intimation of its gravity was two years later, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, when his teacher, Mr Farrell, announced to the class at Punchbowl Primary School, 'Boys, we are saved. I got down on my knees last night and thanked God that America is in the War.' He would witness the radical changes war wreaked on the home front. There were blackouts in cities and coastal areas and, due to petrol shortages, char- coal burners propelled cars while trucks and public buses were fuelled by massive bags of gas that was a by-product of iron manufacturing. With the entry of Japan into the war and the attacks on Darwin, women and children Camden History, Volume 4 Number 2 40 Brian with his entry in the 2010 in Quanhua Watercolour Gallery Zhujiajiao at Shanghai in China at which Brian won at award. ( L & B Stratton) were evacuated from northern Australia. The widespread fear that this coun- try would be invaded was somewhat attenuated by the influx of thousands of American soldiers. Holes were dug in backyards with galvanised sheeting for roofs as improvised air raid shelters but, when it rained, they flooded with water. Shop windows were boarded up and stringent rationing was in force for essential items such as food, fuel, clothing and footwear. Stratton remem- bers walking to school barefoot during winter frosts, wearing short pants mended with a succession of patches, always carrying with him a small draw- string bag containing cotton wool and an eraser. The cotton wool was intend- ed to serve as earplugs while the eraser was to be clamped between one’s teeth in the event of bombing raids. In his last year at Punchbowl Primary School, Stratton’s teacher, Mr Rufus, suggested that their classroom would benefit from some adornment on its barren walls. Money was collected and two reproductions were hung -- Hans Heysen's virtuosic 1909 watercolour, Summer, and Robert Johnson's bucolic Burragorang Valley, the original oil painting having been a finalist in the 1939 Wynne Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. These two images Camden History, Volume 4 Number 2 41 were Stratton’s first visual experience of Australian art. After obtaining his Intermediate Certificate, he commenced work in the print- ing industry, initially as a halftone, and then colour, etcher at the leading pho- toengraving company, Hartland and Hyde. Associated with Hartland and Hyde at that time was the renowned modernist photographer, Max Dupain. As the junior member of staff, one of Stratton’s tasks was to buy the lunches so that there were times he would be in the dark room with Dupain and his assistants, among whom was Kerry Dundas, son of the artist Douglas Dundas MBE, who played an important role in his future career. Dupain would use an early oil painting by Stratton in the background of one of his commercial pro- jects. Following a five-year apprenticeship at the School of Printing (later Graphic Arts), Stratton was awarded the Bronze Medallion by the Premier of New South Wales, Joseph Cahill, at Sydney Town Hall as ‘Most Outstanding Ap- prentice of the Year' in his trade. Continuing his studies at night, he subse- quently obtained the Higher Trades Certificate. In 1952, at the age of 15, he commenced part time studies in drawing and composition at North Sydney Technical College two nights a week under the tutelage of John Godson (a member of the Australian Watercolour Institute from 1934-50). On one occasion, Godson showed the class some of his un- framed watercolours, which were the first original landscapes Stratton had seen. By far the youngest member of the group, Stratton was confident that his drawing was solid but felt his compositional skills were lacking.