Ambarvale, New South Wales, is located 55 kilometres southwest of the Sydney central business district, in the City of Campbelltown.
The name of the suburb comes from the land granted to former convict, Samuel Larkin, in 1816, which he called Ambarvale. Though, Ambarvale farm actually stood on the other side of Appin Road where the suburb of St Helens Park is now.
The origin of the name of Ambarvale was not recorded at the time, but it may derive from Ambarvalia, a Roman agricultural fertility rite held on 29 May, relating to the purification of crops (1).
When Aboriginal people first arrived in this region, Australia was in the middle of an Ice Age, with a colder climate and having a land bridge between the Australian continent and Tasmania, as the sea level was about 100 metres below its present level. At this time, giant megafauna existed in Australia, but as the Ice Age came to an end around 15,000 years ago, the last of the megafauna became extinct (2).
The surrounding land still contains remnants of the former way of life of the Aboriginal people in rock engravings, cave paintings, axe-grinding grooves and shell middens.
From 1815-1818, Larkin had acquired a number of properties in Parramatta and he had received the 90-acre land grant at Ambarvale (later part of St Helens Park estate). So losing his job may not have worried him much. Larkin's father-in-law, John Wild, owned the adjoining land, with one property named Egypt Farm. Parts of this land also became the St Helens Park property.
One of the first farmers in the Campbelltown district was George Marriott Woodhouse and his wife, Elizabeth, who established Glen Lora dairy farm prior to 1832, where Woodhouse Drive is now located. He received a land grant of 400 acres in 1923 (3). Woodhouse came to Australia as a free settler in 1809, as chief clerk to Ellis Bent, Judge Advocate.
Thomas Acers Public School (established 1986) is built on the original land grant of Thomas Akers, who was who born in 1758, in Devon, England.
Farmland No More
During the 1970s, the area of Ambarvale transitioned from farmland that had been established during the colonial period, into suburbia and areas for schools, shops and other amenities were laid out.
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| Dharawal rock art |
Convict History
Samuel Larkin, an artist working in London's Covent Garden, arrived on the Minorca in 1801 to serve a life sentence in the colonies.
Larkin was indicted for feloniously stealing, on the 30th of January, a metal watch, value 20s. A stone ring, set in gold, value 2s. A gauze cloak, value 10s. 6d. A pair of stone shoe-buckles, for in silver, value 8s. A muslin petticoat, value 4s. A dimity petticoat, value 4s. Two silver table-spoons, value 21s. And a pair of silver tea-tongs, value 10s. The property of Jane Hinton, in her dwelling-house, in the parish of St. Pancras, London.
In 1803, Larkin received a conditional pardon. It appears that he then acted as a Principal Clerk for Governor King’s office for five or six years, and after this, as Principal Clerk for Bligh when he was governor.
Larkin, it seems, was fairly well-educated and he expressed an interest in Shakespeare.
Larkin was listed as Storekeeper of the Victualling Store at Parramatta in March 1817. But in 1819, he was dismissed from his job when the Deputy Commissary General, Frederick Drennan accused him of making the Store "under his charge a Shop, for receiving and vending Spirits, Tobacco, Salt and other Articles under his Private Account". Larkin had also been taking bribes from poor settlers to accept their grain.
From 1815-1818, Larkin had acquired a number of properties in Parramatta and he had received the 90-acre land grant at Ambarvale (later part of St Helens Park estate). So losing his job may not have worried him much. Larkin's father-in-law, John Wild, owned the adjoining land, with one property named Egypt Farm. Parts of this land also became the St Helens Park property.
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| Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), Saturday 27 September 1817 |
A Prime Minister's Ancestor
It is also worthy of mention that Samuel Larkin was the ancestor of our one-time prime minister, Kevin Rudd.
Another convict ancestor of Kevin Rudd's, Thomas Rudd, became a founding father of Campbelltown and he had two streets in Campbelltown named after him: Thomas Street and Rudd Road. Thomas Rudd was a London dustman who was transported to Australia twice.
One of the first farmers in the Campbelltown district was George Marriott Woodhouse and his wife, Elizabeth, who established Glen Lora dairy farm prior to 1832, where Woodhouse Drive is now located. He received a land grant of 400 acres in 1923 (3). Woodhouse came to Australia as a free settler in 1809, as chief clerk to Ellis Bent, Judge Advocate.
After Bent died in 1813, Woodhouse became secretary to Governor Lachlan Macquarie. The house that was known as Glen Lorne, built from weatherboard by Woodhouse, sometime before 1832, was extended in the 1840s and again, in 1865. Then, in 1875, the property was sold to the Sydney architect George Allen Mansfield and after that, many owners bought the property.
By the 1970s, Glen Lorne was dilapidated and sadly, it was destroyed by a fire in 1981. In 2009, only a shed, a pile of stones and the faint outline of the building remained (4). Frederick William Munroe (born 1869) and his wife Mary(1874) later owned this farm.
Thomas Akers was a Shoemaker, however, at the age of 27, he was arrested and charged, along with John Smith, with assault and robbery of Mr John Squance on the King’s Highway. Their combined haul was 10 shillings and when tried at Exeter Castle, Devon, on 14th March 1785, Thomas was found guilty and sentenced to hang.
Thomas spent more than 2 years on the prison hulk Dunkirk on the Thames River awaiting his execution, when his sentence was commuted to 7 years and transportation to the colonies.
Thomas spent more than 2 years on the prison hulk Dunkirk on the Thames River awaiting his execution, when his sentence was commuted to 7 years and transportation to the colonies.
The first Principal of Thomas Akers school, Mr Ralph Brown, was a descendant of Thomas Akers.
There is also a reserve named after Thomas Akers at Ambervale. It is believed that Thomas Akers died after being Speared by Aboriginal people.
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| St. Peter's Cemetery, Campbelltown NSW |
Farmland No More
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| Broadcaster (Fairfield, NSW : 1935 - 1978), Tuesday 17 January 1978 |
Campbelltown Council established a policy in the 1960s, of naming streets based on particular "themes" (5). While Leumeah's streets were based on British poets, Ambarvale streets were related to the works of Charles Dickens. For example, Nickelby Way comes from the novel, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby and Copperfield Drive, from the book, David Copperfield.
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| Typical Ambarvale house, NSW |
Shopping Galore!
Macarthur Square shopping centre opened in 1979. In 2005, the centre had a $160 million expansion and underwent further development in 2017. The centre features an outdoor entertainment and restaurant precinct known as Kellicar Lane.
History of Ambarvale
The History Buff: Controversial Castle
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| Macarthur Square shopping centre, NSW |
Historic House
Englorie Park, which is situated between the suburbs of Ambarvale, Campbelltown and Glen Alpine, is named after the historic Englorie Park House, that was built in 1880, by a greyhound breeder, Alfred Park.
Originally called Parkholme, the property was renamed Euglorie Park by Charles Burcher of Euglo Station, Condobolin. The name later became corrupted to Englorie Park.
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| Englorie Park House, NSW |
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| Gargery Reserve, Ambarvale, NSW |
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| Ambarvale scene, NSW |
Rixon's Folly was built on Rixon's Hill at Ambarvale, NSW, near the corner of Woodland and Appin Roads back in the 1980s as part of a Commonwealth Employment Program. It was meant to be a community project and novel tourist attraction, but vandals used stones from the castle to damage nearby homes and it was bulldozed in 1988 (see here)
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| Ambarvale Sports Complex has multiple soccer fields, as well as a cricket pitch, NSW |
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| Ambarvale Public School - Copperfield Dr. Ambarvale, NSW |
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| Demonstration in Ambarvale to save the areas koala population, NSW |
History of Ambarvale
The History Buff: Controversial Castle
