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Camden West
Steve Robinson
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Robinson, Steve, Camden West, Dictionary of Sydney, 2008, http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/camden_west, viewed 20 Jan 2020
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cite web | url= http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/camden_west | title = Camden West | author = Robinson, Steve | date = 2008 | work = Dictionary of Sydney | publisher = Dictionary of Sydney Trust | accessdate = 20 Jan 2020
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cite web | url = http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/camden_west | title = Camden West | accessdate = 2008 | author = Robinson, Steve | date = 2008 | work = Dictionary of Sydney | publisher = Dictionary of Sydney Trust
Camden West is in Camden municipality. The area's natural boundaries are Sickles Creek to the west, a large loop in the Nepean River to the north and a creek running north from Cawdor into Matahil Creek and eventually the Nepean River. While Westbrook Road, Fosters Lane and The Old Oaks Road separate this rural area from the rest of Camden and the Wollondilly Shire.
The area is home to the Tharawal and Gundungurra people.
Early European history
The area is associated with the early history of the colony of New South Wales. Governor Hunter named it The Cowpastures after cattle which had strayed from the Farm Cove settlement were discovered there in 1795. Due to the early European settlers, namely the Macarthurs, who established flourishing wool, wine and wheat industries here, the area is said to be 'the birthplace of the nation's wealth'.
Camden West was first named in 1823. After the Government Prohibition Order against the entry to lands west of the Nepean River (to protect the cattle of The Cowpastures) ceased, Governor Brisbane granted John Macarthur a further 5,000 acres (2,023 hectares) adjoining his Camden Park Estate, previously granted in 1805.
Agriculture and industry
In the early 1840s, Camden farmers turned their attention to wheat growing. Many sowed large areas to cash in on the high prices paid for the local flour which had a good reputation in the Sydney market. Unfortunately rust appeared in the crops in 1861 and 1863 and the industry was ruined along with many farmers.
In 1885 3,600 acres (1,457 hectares) of Camden Park Estate north of Cawdor were subdivided into small farms of up to 130 acres (53 hectares) each. Among the buyers were WH Paling, W Stimpson, GA Porter, W Carter, JW Cliff, A McCullock, Alfred Burnett and F Ferguson.
In the 1880s dairy farming became the main industry in the area. GA Porter was the first farmer to send milk to Sydney, from his property Corstorphine, on 6 March 1883. Farms have started to disappear however, due to the pressures of high production costs, milk quotas and competition with dairy companies, and also attractive offers from land developers.
In October 1991 Camden West was divided into three new suburbs – Ellis Lane, Grasmere and Bickley Vale.
The most visible and important industry in Camden West today is Sydney Water's treatment works – a magnificent industrial feature in the rural landscape and a sign of the growth expected in the Camden area.
Camden West retains its rural air in spite of new development, which is restricted to large allotments mainly in the Grasmere and Ellis Lane areas. Bickley Vale remains virtually untouched by residential development. Much natural forest remains, and the ridge line along most of the length of the area running north to south offers magnificent views across the landscape towards Camden.
GV Sidman, The Town of Camden: a facsimile, Camden Public Library, 1995
Camden Council, Camden, www.camden.nsw.gov.au
Ian Willis 2008, 'Camden Bibliography: Biography of a Country Town', Camden Historical Society, Camden, www.camdenhistory.org.au
RE Nixon, Carrington: The Centre of Total Care 1890–1990, Carrington Centennial Hospital, Camden, 1990
Suburbanisation
Robinson, Steve
Steve Robinson is a local historian
Camden local government area
Area on Sydney's southwest edge, part of the traditional lands of the Gundungurra, Tharawal and Dharug peoples, governed by Camden Council. It is named after John Macarthur's 'Camden Park' farm.
Sickles Creek
Creek to the west of Camden and Grasmere which flows north into the Nepean River.
River that rises in the southern highlands of New South Wales and curls round greater Sydney, becoming the Hawkesbury River near Yarramundi. Several dams on the river and its tributaries help supply water for Sydney.
Semi-rural township in Sydney's far south-west.
Matahil Creek
Watercourse which flows north from Mount Prudhoe into the Nepean River near Camden.
Suburb situated on the floodplain of the Nepean River, on the traditional land of the Dharawal people. It was shaped by its landed gentry from the time of John Macarthur's original land grant in 1805, until the Macarthur family influence faded in the 1950s.
Hunter, John
Naval officer who accompanied Arthur Phillip in the First Fleet, and returned as Governor of the colony from 1795 to 1800.
Farm Cove
Shallow bay on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour, east of Sydney Cove. The flat land nearby was used by Aboriginal people as an initiation ground, and later became the first farm for the European colony.
Brisbane, Thomas Makdougall
Governor of New South Wales between 1821 and 1825 who focused on consolidation rather than expansion of settlement and attempted to carry out Bigge's recommendations with regard to civil administration and the management of convicts.
Soldier, entrepreneur and pastoralist who established the Australian wool industry.
Camden Park Estate
Estate established by John Macarthur on land granted from 1790, and still in the hands of his descendants.
Paling, William Henry
Musician and teacher who became a businessman, selling instruments, publishing music and promoting concerts.
Stimpson, W
Early landowner in the Camden district.
Porter, GA
Early farm owner at the Camden Park Estate.
Carter, W
Landowner in Camden area from 1885.
Cliff, JW
Landowner at Camden in 1885.
McCullock, A
Land purchaser in the subdivision of part of Camden Park Estate in 1885.
Burnett, Alfred
Farmer in the Camden district.
Ferguson, F
Dairy farm on the banks of the Nepean River west of Cobbitty originally owned by G A Porter and named by him for a Scottish village, Acquired by the University of Sydney in 1954 as a teaching facility for the Faculty of Veterinary Science.
Ellis Lane
South-western semi-rural suburb west of Camden. It became a separate suburb in 1991.
South-western semi-rural residential suburb. It is named after the property of musician and businessman William Henry Paling.
Rural locality west of Camden. Named after the property owned by the Sidman family, it has remained virtually untouched by residential development.
Organisation responsible for the maintenance and extension of Sydney's water supply, formed in 1880 when these functions were taken from the Sydney City Council. Reformed a number of times by legislation, the organisation was corporatised in 1995 but remains state-owned.
West Camden Sewage Treatment Plant
Wastewater treatment plant operated by Sydney Water at Camden West.
Locality on the Nepean River in south-western Sydney.