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by Jeff McGill, Verlie Fowler and Keith Richardson This book is based on a weekly column that appeared in the Macarthur Advertiser from mid-1994 to mid-1995. This series created widespread interest among readers, generating a flood of letters and phone calls. We were offered extra information, we had our inaccuracies or queries clarified, and we heard more than one personal remembrance told.
But in most of our conversations, most readers asked us the one question: "When is it coming out as a book?"
Well... here it is!
From the outset we were determined not to compile just a dry encyclopaedia of names and translations. Instead, we have attempted to create an interesting, newspaper-style narrative that gives a potted history of each of Campbelltown's 31 suburbs.
We have attempted to not only give details of who or what streets were named after, but also why they were gven that particular name and how long they have been there. Major parks, schools and public facilities are also investigated. In the text, street names are featured in bold type for easy identification.
Officially, Campbelltown Council has split our city area into segments known as suburbs, neighbourhoods and localities. For example - Minto is a suburb, St Andrews is a neighbourhood and Minto Heights is a locality. But seeing as how most people colloquially refer to these areas as simply "suburbs", we have decided for the sake of simplicity, to only use that term.
We have tried to be as accurate as possible, referring to Council reports, backcopies of the Macarthur Advertiser (and its predecessors, the Campbeltlown-Ingleburn News, Campbelltown News and Campbelltown Herald) as well as old maps, library records and personal memories.
Some streets, often created more than a century ago, are now impossible to clarify for sure, and in those cases we have sometimes offered readers an educated guess.
It was only in the 1960's that Campbelltown Council took firm control of the policy of naming of local streets, which allowed whole suburbs to be named under the one "theme", such as Great Australian Women, Airplanes or Artists.
The history of each chapter in this book usually only goes back as far as white settlement. This in no way intends to ignore the heritage of Campbelltown's Aboriginal people, the Tharawals. It merely recognises the fact that streets and suburbs are a European concept.
A simplified suburb map has been included on pages 6 and 7 of this book, but we suggest using a street directory to determine the exact location and formation of the roads and locations mentioned.
It would be a near-impossible task to compile a full list of every person who has helped us in the publication of this book, or the newspaper column that spawned it. Scores of people came forward with documents, tip-offs, suggestions, photos or simply a nice dose of moral support.
But we are particularly grateful to Annette Gleave, Sue Hanson, Alex Goodsell, Greg Percival, the late Genevieve Tregear, Ruth Banfield, Lorraine Voss, Keith Fraser, Allan McClelland, Barbara Blair, Mavis Darling and Marie Taber.
And, of course, our own families, particularly Trish McGill, Rod Fowler and Jeanette Richardson.
Special mention must go to our "silent partner", Campbelltown's Citizen of the Year of 1993, Mr Ron Moore. Without his active interest and support, this book would not exist.
Hopefully, this project will make the street or suburb you live in just that little bit more interesting.
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