NSWFarming
Camden
A private town carved from the Macarthur estate.
1841First town lots go on sale
WHAT STARTED IT
Cattle that had strayed from the first settlement were found grazing here in 1795, giving the Cowpastures its name, and John Macarthur received a grant of 5,000 acres here in 1805. After his death, his sons James and William laid out a private township on a bend of the Nepean River.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
St John’s Church was built on a ridge above the floodplain, and the Macarthur family dominated local life until the 1950s. Dairying and the 1882 tramway to Campbelltown supported the town for decades.
TURNING POINTS
1841The first lots in the new town of Camden go on sale.
1849St John’s Church is consecrated on 7 June.
1882The Camden tramway to Campbelltown opens on 10 March.
1921The Macarthur Onslows’ Camden Vale milk depot opens in the town.
1974Campbelltown, Camden and Appin are named a government growth centre.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A historic country town now on the edge of Sydney’s south-western growth area. The Nepean still wraps around the old town on three sides, with floodplain between it and the new suburbs.
KEEP READING · SOURCESDictionary of Sydney · CamdenHeritage NSW · Kirkham Stables and PrecinctTrove · The Sydney Herald, 31 July 1840, Advertising (‘Camden Estate and Township’)Trove · Free Press and Commercial Journal, 16 June 1841, Advertising (‘Building Allotments in the Township of Camden’)Trove · The Sydney Morning Herald, 11 June 1849, ‘News from the Interior. Camden.’Trove · The Sydney Morning Herald, 11 March 1882, ‘Opening of the Tramway to Camden.’Trove · The Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 4 May 1921, ‘Camden Milk Suppliers.’Trove · The Canberra Times, 27 February 1974, ‘New growth centres named near Sydney’