Vintage

Note: Mrs Joan Murphy, daughter of John Westbury who was Mayor of Campbelltown Municipal Council in 1937 and 1938, provided the following account of life in Minto during the period 1920 to 1938. Mrs Murphy was a member of Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society at the time of writing.

During the period from 1920 when my family came to "Oakleigh" (now called "Merryvale") in Redfern Road, Minto until 1938 when we left the district, the village of Minto was very small. It might have been 300 miles from Sydney, instead of 30. There were two shops, a post office, railway station, School of Arts, St James Church of England, a small estate agent's office managed by Mr Cox and, in later times, a butchery run by Mr Barnsley.

The district was mostly used for dairying and poultry farming. A few households lived at Minto and worked in Sydney including that of John C. Rider, the glass engraver.

Most commuters used the Southern Highlands Express, which had few stops and covered the journey in less than one hour. Of course there were other trains during the day and at night, but these were much slower because of the number of stops.

Shopping

The main shop, near the railway gates in Redfern Road and south-west of the crossing, was run by William J. Harris. It was a two-storey brick building with a cantilever verandah facing Redfern Road.

Bill Harris was a tall bald man with a very cheerful approach and ran an excellent general store. You could buy all groceries including excellent Kameruka block cheese (in rounds covered with cheese cloth) and he could cut with a knife almost exactly the amount required. He used to get some of the best Granny Smith apples ever seen from an orchard at Tallong. When Bill Harris obtained a manual bacon-slicer, it was quite an event!

Mr Harris had a wide selection of what were then known as "halfpenny lollies": rainbow balls, lamp-posts, Squill candy, honeycomb, liquorice, jubes, musk sticks and "penny Nestles" as well. They were displayed on the right hand end of the counter in glass jars and threepence could buy quite a reasonably sized bag.

At the rear of the building was the produce shed with grain, bran, pollard, cement, etc. Kerosene was sold in 4-gallon tins which could be turned into farm utensils such as buckets, feed and water tins, etc.

Lanterns, buckets, brooms, glass globes for kerosene lamps, rope and twine were displayed in the shop window.

Mr Harris assisted his customers by delivering heavy items in his horse and cart and would collect grocery orders at the same time. He was the mainstay of local farmers in the days of the depression and always handed out a bag of boiled lollies when the monthly account was paid.

In Somerset Street, facing the freight shed and loading bay of the railway station, was a wooden house with a garden. There Mrs Janey McInnes had a small shop, opening off the front verandah.

It was possible to buy different things there, such as darning wool, sewing materials, home-made cakes and so on. (If anyone wanted something Mrs Mac didn't have, she would go out the back door and over to Harris's to get it!)

Mrs McInnes baked hams at Christmas time, covering them with a thick skin of pollard and water while cooking them, and the result was excellent. She also made Christmas cakes.

Janey McInnes was a tiny woman a very tall husband - Donald, who died in 1927. He did not play a large part in running the shop.

Postal Services

The local post office was an attachment on the Redfern Road side of Mrs McInnes's timber house, about 9 feet wide and 20 feet long.

The postmaster was Jim Williams (who was appointed postmaster in 1916), who lived at East Minto and was a most efficient operator.

Mails always went out on time and were sorted promptly. (When I was at boarding school at Ashfield, my mother always posted a letter before 3.30 pm on Wednesdays and it was on the desk in the front hall at the school before 9.00 am the very next day!) Mr Williams also distributed and sold newspapers.

After sorting the morning mail, Jim Williams did his deliveries on foot. About 9.30 am he would bring mail and papers to our house. He was a short stocky man and walked briskly; clocks could be set by him! His wife looked after the post office while he was on his delivery rounds.

Minto Public School

At this time Minto Public School was on the corner of Redfern and Campbelltown Roads. It was an inconvenient site for most people, as the majority of pupils came from the eastern side of the line.

However, it was very convenient for my sister and me, as we lived next door to the school! My father removed four palings from the dividing fence for easy access. I always went home for lunch and could even go home for 11 o'clock recess.

The school was a large timber one-room building, housing all classes from 1st to 6th. There was a large verandah on the eastern side where pupils hung up their hats, coats and lunch-bags.

There were about 44 pupils during my four and a half years there. I did not go to school until I was six and a half, having been taught reading, writing and numbers by my parents. I still have a school prize which states "Class III, Dec. 1925".

The teacher I had nearly all my time at Minto Primary was Hugh Campbell, who was rather an unusual incumbent of a small country school. He was a keen rose-gardener, the clay soil being ideal for the purpose. We were allowed to walk through his garden when the roses were in bloom. The timber residence adjoined the school-house and was large and comfortable.

Certain subjects appealed more to Hugh Campbell than others. He used to write on the blackboard quite beautiful script which we were required to copy. In fact, I had to quickly learn "running writing" just a fortnight before the High School Entrance Examination!

Mr Campbell's other passions were mathematics, in which we were advanced beyond the required standard, and geography. I can still remember a day in 5th class when he said that the class could draw a map of North America, putting in all the rivers, mountain ranges and principal cities. Sixth class was given another country to do. He then put his feet up on the desk and read the Sydney Morning Herald, while we got on with it!

There was a tennis court at the school and well-known players came there at weekends. We used to watch Jack Crawford and Marjorie Cox, whom he subsequently married, playing on the court. (We peered through gaps in the palings, so we could not be seen!)

After Hugh Campbell retired in 1927 the next school principal was Mr Oke, who had marvellous specimens in bottles - things like snakes. He also had rock samples and took us on "nature study" excursions. Mrs Oke was an excellent sewing teacher. I remember making by hand (at the age of 10) a yellow voile dress with lace inserts and it was quite wearable.

Rail Travel

Back in the 1920s there were few trains daily to and from Sydney. We lived on a hill, half a mile from the station. We could see anyone who got off the train and began proceeding in our direction. This was useful, because we could be well prepared before they arrived. Not having a telephone at "Oakleigh" meant that provision always had to be made for unexpected visitors.

When we went to school (I was a day-girl at "Normanhurst", Ashfield for about 18 months between being a boarder for the rest of my seven years at the school), we travelled as groups in compartments, as did many other people on the regular commuter trains.

Some groups had regular card games on the journey, and people tended to travel always in the same part of the train.

Some school pupils came from as far away as Picton, Tahmoor and Bargo to attend schools in Sydney. It was interesting to observe that people always kept the same habits - there were those who were regularly early at the station and those who always puffed up at the last minute.

On frosty mornings, when occasionally there would be ice on the creek, brown paper parcels containing hot water bottles could be observed and the chemical foot-warmers on the train were in great demand.

Church

The only church at Minto was St James Church of England. The Hayes family played a large part in the running of the church, taking up collections and playing the organ. I remember when Mr Rofe was Minister at St Peter's Church at Campbelltown and occasionally came to visit the Minto Church and Public School, after Mr Armitage retired.

Old Father Dunne from St John's Catholic Church, Campbelltown had snow-white hair and drove around Minto in a sulky, visiting families.

Vendors

Vendors known as "the Assyrians" called at our house with suitcases of haberdashery, hairpins and cheap cotton clothing.

Chinese market-gardeners who worked on the river flats near Camden also came around once a week with produce carried by horse and dray. One known as "John" often gave us children small bags of sweets, which unfortunately we were never allowed to eat!

There was also a fish-man in later years, who came by motor transport once a fortnight. As well as fresh fish (packed in ice for keeping) he used to sell the most delicious "real smoked" fish.

Swagmen

We had "regular" swagmen who turned up every few months (or years) and, in return for meals and sleeping accommodation on an army stretcher in the harness shed, would chop wood etc.

In the depression (the 1930s) the numbers increased greatly and they were always given food - sandwiches, hard-boiled eggs and a billy of tea, not forgetting the salt and pepper for the eggs, done up in a twist of kitchen paper.

Sleeping rights, however, were only given to those we knew.

Bagmen

There were also bagmen, with regular rounds, who called with horse and dray to collect feed and grain bags from local farmers. One used to come about once a month from Parramatta and there was also a local, Mr Levine, who also collected skins.

Entertainment

Minto School of Arts was officially opened on 21st December 1901 by Samuel Skerritt. Most social functions took place at the School of Arts, located near Redfern Road between Kent and Surrey Streets. There were dances organised by the School P & C and by other organisations. Everyone went along, from children to grandparents. Bazaars and meetings of various kinds were also held in the School of Arts. Nearby were two tennis courts.

During the 1920s I remember our school picnics and Sunday School picnics. We visited friends, mostly by horse transport in the twenties, and enjoyed picnics at the Georges River. Minto residents usually went to Frere's Crossing, which had the remains of a wooden bridge connecting the old convict-built road to Helensburg. The pool nearest the bridge was very good for children, being reasonably shallow, and had a deeper part which was good for diving off a rock. There was a much larger reach immediately upstream that was quite wide and about 400 yards (365 metres) long - very deep and with long weeds like streamers near the edges. Only good swimmers were allowed to swim in that part of the river.

We frequently went there with friends in the summer and sometimes took our tea so that we could come home in the moonlight. Traces of the stonework of the old convict road could easily be seen. [The road was built in the 1890s. - Editor]

In the Spring, my sister and I often walked the three miles from home to gather freesias in the neglected garden of a ruined house, and I can remember the bush flowers in the Spring, with waratahs growing on the steep sandstone decline leading to Frere's Crossing.

In the late twenties we had a wireless that required two very large batteries. One was used while the other was being charged. My father was addicted to cricket and many times people used to call in to listen to the simulated broadcasts from England, while on their way home from dances in the early hours of the morning.

In about 1932 the Sydney University Gliding Club used the top of the hill near Mr Staniforth's new house (at "St Andrews") as a launching pad for their gliders. These usually went only to the bottom of the hill! After the glider had landed, a sturdy draught horse pulled the machine up to the top of the hill again. It was not exactly fast-moving entertainment!

Farming

My father's property "Oakleigh" was used mainly for dairy-farming. Crops such as corn, oats and lucerne were cultivated as feed for the cattle. When the property was purchased by my father, it was being operated as a poultry farm. Eggs were sent to Sydney by train. Father later concentrated on the dairying side and was possibly one of the first local dairymen to install milking machines and to build a silo. The silo still remains today. Father also grew some experimental crops such as cotton.

During the early twenties there were a number of small dairymen at Minto and milk was sent by train to the depot at Campbelltown. Later some large city milk distributors bought properties, such as Smith Brothers of Concord who bought "Varroville". As well as running their own cattle, they bought and transported milk from other dairy farmers, including my father.

Another city milk distributor, Warner's Dairy of Willoughby, had a property on the south corner of Raby and Campbelltown Roads, which was run by Arthur Hannaford, Mrs Warner's brother.

This method of selling milk production came to an end during the depression, when all milk and cream had to be sent to the Milk Board depot at Campbelltown. Many of the smaller farmers gave up the industry then. Owing to the general financial situation, prices for milk were very low and "stop-days" were frequent. (Farmers were forced to dispose of their milk when supply exceeded demand.)

Home Life

Many friends and relatives used to stay with us at "Oakleigh". We often took an afternoon tea and had it spread out on rugs under very large casuarinas growing on the "flats" through which the Bow Bowing Creek ran.

City people enjoyed the different lifestyle and my mother's cooking! "Oakleigh" was a large enough house to accommodate an extra family.

There being no electricity or town water supply until the late 1930s, we had a fuel stove in the kitchen, with a fountain to supply extra hot water. Until fuel bath heaters were invented, bath water had to be heated on the stove as well.

Kerosene lights of the hanging or wall variety were used, and there were open log fires in two rooms as well as grates taking smaller billets of wood in the two front rooms of the house.

Household water came from iron tanks which often ran short in times of drought. I can remember at least one occasion when drinking water had to be brought in milk cans from Campbelltown. There was a well at the back of the house which never ran dry, but it had a healthy population of frogs and was not considered drinkable. It was used for baths and garden watering only.

We had an ice-chest, which took large blocks of ice that were covered with hessian to make the ice last longer. I can remember seeing an entry in my mother's account book which gave the weekly ice bill as four shillings (forty cents), which seems rather expensive for those times. We also had the usual country safe which stood in tins of water to defeat the ants!

After rain there were always quantities of mushrooms to gather in the right season. I can remember that in the worst depression days the first train of the morning - the 6.30 am - used to bring people from Sydney with very large baskets. These people spread all over the grazing land, gathering what I considered to be OUR mushrooms, until my mother pointed out that their need was probably greater than ours.

My sister and I discovered a "secret" fig tree along the Bow Bowing Creek which obviously no-one else knew about. Every year we used to go there to gather the figs, climbing up the very large branches and undoubtedly eating more fruit than we took home.

We grew all our own vegetables. With all the farmwork to be done, not much attention was paid to growing flowers, although we had many flowering shrubs and roses and the house was surrounded by trees. There was a wisteria on the south verandah.

We grew mulberries, peaches, lemons and limes - which made excellent summer drinks and marmalades.

My mother was an excellent cook, having been a country girl all her life, and her specialty were sponge cakes with cream fillings. When she was asked to make such cakes for functions or for sale at bazaars, I have known here to make more than one batch if she did not consider the first to be up to standard. She did not want to lower her reputation as a good cook!

The China Doll

One of my earliest recollections (probably about the age of 5), was of having a bazaar at "Oakleigh" with raffles and stalls on the front lawn. I remember Mr Armitage making ice-cream in a churn in the laundry. One raffle was for a handsome china doll for which one had to guess the name. I remember guessing the name "Geraldine" and winning the prize. (No doubt this was slightly organised!) That doll was treasured for many years.

Climate

Droughts were the bane of farmers. Occasionally the Bow Bowing Creek would stop flowing and the water holes would dry up. On such occasions farmers through whose properties the creek ran would each put in a sum of money, ten pounds, ($20) and the Water Board would release water from the water-race at Kenny Hill. It took several days to reach Minto and we used to follow the creek upstream daily to see where it had reached.

I can remember droughts when the earth cracked and heatwaves when animals and birds needed to have water poured over them to save them from dying. About 1925 we lost dogs and cats, our pet galah and many fowls.

Conversely there were floods when the Bow Bowing Creek would spread across the flat land on the western side of the railway. (I wonder how the present industrial area at Minto fares.) Occasionally the railway bridge over Bow Bowing Creek north of Minto Station would be unusable and some houses on the flats would be flooded. I can also remember seeing the flames from bushfires towards the Georges River rising above the top of the hill from East Minto.

Incidentally, on a clear day Sydney could be seen from the top of a hill between Pembroke and Guernsey Roads.

The winters were very cold, with many hard frosts. We used to put saucers of milk mixed with vanilla and sugar out on the top of the well to make "ice cream".

My mother used to think it was "healthy" for children to be used to extremes of temperature. I can remember sleeping on the verandah in frosty weather covered completely with bed clothes to prevent my nose from freezing (but mostly there was a nice warm cat inside the bed which kept feet warm!)

People of Minto

Our property was in Redfern Road near Campbelltown Road (on the Sydney side). In Lincoln Street, on the other side of our boundary with the Bow Bowing Creek, there were four houses at the time about which I write (the 1920s and '30s) .

Jim Lawrence lived in the house nearest the bridge on Redfern Road. There was then a gap of grazing land, and about Sussex Street a brick house with a marble statue in the front garden. This was lived in by the Buggies for a few years. Then came the property "Caragatel", a long low white house, some of which was constructed of stone. "Caragatel" had a tennis court. Our very good friends the Coses family lived in that house for some years, until they sold it and went to their other property "Eagle Vale", off Raby Road. "Eagle Vale" was sold to the Christian Brothers in about 1937 and subsequently became a drug rehabilitation centre in recent times.

Mr and Miss Loney lived quite close to the house on "Eagle Vale". Mr Loney had at least two chemist shops in Sydney, one in the centre of the City near Market Street.

Mr Jones (who played the piano at all the local dances) lived mid-way along Lincoln Street on the eastern side, with his wife and daughters Betty and Veda.

The Hayes family and Mrs Hayes' brother Douglas Hall lived at the end of the street past "Caragatel", not far from the creek. I remember they were flooded out on at least one occasion.

On the eastern side of the railway in Minto Road were Mr Cox's Estate Agency, Mr Levine's storage shed, the Hawes family and Mr Barnsley's butcher shop. At the end of Minto Road where it turns towards Ingleburn, the Hearns lived. Further up were Mr Cox and his daughter Lorna, and the Sheracks. Fred Sherack used to cart milk to Campbelltown for the local farmers and he also grew grapes for wine.

Other people at East Minto were the Murrays at "Campbellfield", Helmans, Masseys, O'Connells, Biehlers, Selbys, Porters, McFarlanes, McDonalds, the Collins family, Barlings and subsequently the Wilkinsons, Tickners, Wiggins, Etchells, Piggotts, Colvers and Bob Burrell. I went to school with many of the children from these families.

On Raby Road were the Hannafords, Moffitts and then Sullivans at Eschol Park", Tom Kelly and his wife Molly, the Clarkes of "Epping Forest" and Jim Blain and his family.

On St Andrews Road on the northern side lived the Thomsons (Peter and Dave, and Peter's family: Stan, Nell, May, Kit and Jack), and further on was "Varroville". On the water-race the Careys lived - the elder son Jack was drowned in the water-race while still at Minto School in about 1925. On the southern side of St Andrews Road Mr W. Staniforth built a large brick house after selling "Varroville".

Just north of the junction of St Andrews Road with the Campbelltown Road lived, first, the Cousins family, then Nora and George Carr, and then Mrs Jenkins whose garden was well-known for its beauty.

On the Campbelltown Road, south of St Andrews junction, were D. C. Allen (west of Redfern Road),- formerly the Pottie family. Mr Pottie was a veterinary surgeon.

On the eastern side of Campbelltown Road, the XXX (30) mile milestone, was Crammond's house, now demolished.

(Note: I hope that I have spelt the above names correctly. If not, I apologise for any small inaccuracies.)