The photographic essay captures the vibrant atmosphere of the 2025 Camden Show, showcasing various activities, displays, and exhibitions. Highlights include the Woolworths produce pavilion, enthusiastic attendance from parents at performances, and contributions from local services like the Rural Fire Service, NSW Fire Brigade, and police, enriching the community experience.
Category: Agricultural heritage
Canberra’s Macarthur Garden: a tribute to Australia’s wool pioneers and their contribution to the foundation of the nation
The Macarthur Rose Garden in Canberra commemorates John and Elizabeth Macarthur's pivotal role in Australia's fine wool industry. Donated by their great-granddaughter, Sibella Macarthur Onslow, the garden features roses symbolizing hope and gratitude. Established from 1937-1938, it reflects the connection between the Macarthurs and Australia’s early nationalism.
Share this:
Share this:
Explore Belgenny Farm: A Journey Through Time 2024
The 2024 Back to Belgenny festival showcased living history at Belgenny Farm, featuring reenactments, traditional trades, and various activities such as sheepdog trials and guided tours. The event included a demonstration by Governor Macquarie’s regiment and highlighted the farm's historical significance, providing visitors with an immersive glimpse into colonial agricultural life.
Share this:
Share this:
Denbigh Open Days: Exploring Historic Colonial Farm
Denbigh, a significant colonial farming complex in Australia, recently opened its gardens to the public for a rare charity viewing. The property, with a dark history of conflict and anxiety, reveals layers of history from dispossession of Aboriginal lands to dairying and urban invasion. Denbigh's fortified structures reflect the fear and violence of the Cowpastures frontier.
Share this:
Share this:
Back to Belgenny 2024, a festival of living history
The 2024 Back to Belgenny festival at Belgenny Farm in South Camden showcased living history with reenactments, traditional trades, and stalls selling arts and crafts of the past. Activities included sheepdog trials, live music, vintage cars, and guided history tours of the site. The farm represents the settler society through the generations of the Macarthur family and their workers.
Share this:
Share this:
History of Camden Chinese Market Gardeners: Resilience, Innovation, and Struggles
The presentation at Camden Rotary Club details the significant contributions and challenges faced by Chinese market gardeners in Camden. It sheds light on their resilience, innovation, discrimination, and impact on the local economy. The book "A History of Camden Chinese Market Gardeners 1899-1993" emphasizes their agency, making an important contribution to local history and the literature of the Chinese diaspora in Australia.
Share this:
Share this:
Exploring Historical Themes: Pictorial History Camden & District Presentation Summary
This presentation examined the role of the historian and researcher and presented the importance of history and the role of a historian. Dr Ian Willis discussed the significance of historical consciousness and collective memory, emphasising the role of a historian as a researcher, analyst, interpreter, and storyteller. The presentation also highlighted "Pictorial History Camden & District," a book by Kingsclear Books, and covered aspects such as structure, select bibliography, index of names, and district maps. Additionally, various related sources and themes, such as the Whiteman and Macarthur families, were explored. The presentation concluded with suggestions for experiencing the past through community festivals, local studies, and living libraries.
Share this:
Share this:
Camden Show 2023
The Camden Show is on again after floods and Covid stopped it in recent years. The show is back with all the bells and whistles of the past with some new innovations. A must see is the 2023 Camden Show.
Share this:
Share this:
Young Woman trumps the Showgirl
In late 2022 the Camden Show Society announced that Rubey Williams had been named the Camden Show 2023 Young Woman of the Year. The competition had been rebranded by the Royal Agricultural Society in 2019.
Share this:
Share this:
Ferguson’s Nursery, the post-war years
During the post-war years, Ferguson's Nurseries continued to be located on Sydney’s urban fringe as the metropolitan area expanded into the rural surrounds.
