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Camden Council Library Service Joins PictureAustralia

John Donnellan
Argyle Street Camden
From the right: Commercial Hotel, Bank of NSW, CBC Bank c.1890
Camden Historical Society CHS0\CHS0064

Looking east from near John Street 1998
Camden Historical Society CHS0\CHS0584

Aeroplane Camden
First plane to land at Camden, near Cawdor Road and Barsden Street
c.1920
Camden Historical Society CHS0\CHS0562

Belgenny Farm, Camden Park
Sheep descended from original Macarthur sheep flock 1980s
Camden Historical Society CHS0\CHS064

PictureAustralia would like to welcome the forty-second participating agency, Camden Council Library Service, who joined in October 2005.

Camden Library’s online pictorial database, HistoryPix, is a collaborative catalogue of images from the collections of Camden Library and the Camden Historical Society. This union brings together over 1800 images of the Camden district. More than 1400 of these are now available through PictureAustralia, with more expected to be loaded soon.

Camden is home to the birth of Australia’s wool industry, where the Macarthur family settled during the 1800s. HistoryPix contains images that show the development of the Camden district from a quiet, but prosperous rural area to a community now facing the challenge of urbanisation, as it lies on the edge of the ever thriving Sydney metropolis. The database focuses on people and places and documents change in the physical and built environment.

By browsing the Camden images on PictureAustralia you can witness the changing face of the community through the many images of public buildings and private homes. This development is illustrated by the two photographs of Argyle Street, the first taken in 1890 and the second taken in 1998.

The collection brilliantly portrays the growth of the community and the characters who have contributed to life in the Camden area. It is a wonderful resource for those researching their family history, because the photos include family snapshots, professional studio portraits, sporting groups, charity organisations, school children, labourers, and farmers.

For aviation enthusiasts there are many photos of Camden’s aerodrome, and aeroplanes, new and old, in action. For example you can find a photograph of the first aeroplane to land in Camden near Cawdor Road and Barsden Street, circa 1920. You can also find photographs of sheep that are descendants from the original flock owned by the Macarthur’s!

For all these images and more, why not try a search on PictureAustralia for the Camden Council Library Service, and see where it takes you.

Lucy Carson

PictureAustralia Administration
National Library of Australia