Kirkham is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

of the

Macarthur Region Macarthur is a region in the south-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The region includes the local government areas of the City of Campbelltown, Camden Council, and Wollondilly Shire. It covers an area of 3,067 s ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in the state of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in Camden Council. The suburb is largely undeveloped at present and possibly will remain so since much of it is on low-lying flood-prone land.

History

The area now known as Kirkham was originally home to the

Muringong The Dharug or Darug people, formerly known as the Broken Bay tribe, are an Aboriginal Australian people, who share strong ties of kinship and, in pre-colonial times, lived as skilled hunters in family groups or clans, scattered throughout much ...

, southernmost of the

Darug people The Dharug or Darug people, formerly known as the Broken Bay tribe, are an Aboriginal Australian people, who share strong ties of kinship and, in pre-colonial times, lived as skilled hunters in family groups or clans, scattered throughout much ...

. In 1805 John Macarthur established his property at Camden where he raised

merino The Merino is a breed or group of breeds of domestic sheep, characterised by very fine soft wool. It was established in Spain near the end of the Middle Ages, and was for several centuries kept as a strict Spanish monopoly; exports of the bree ...

sheep. In 1810, explorer

John Oxley John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley (1784 – 25 May 1828) was an explorer and surveyor of Australia in the early period of British colonisation. He served as Surveyor General of New South Wales and is perhaps best known for his two exp ...

was granted nearby, which he named ''Kirkham''. Kirkham has figured prominently in the 2013 - 2018 TV series A Place to Call Home. The fictional house known as ''Ash Park'' is actually a property called

Camelot Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as the ...

, which is situated on Oxley's old property at Kirkham. Oxley's original home was called ''Kirkham'', after his birthplace in Yorkshire. The stables are all that remain. ''Camelot'' was designed by the Canadian-born architect

John Horbury Hunt John Horbury Hunt (1838 – December 30, 1904) was a Canadians, Canadian-born Australian architect who worked in Sydney and rural New South Wales from 1863. Life and career Born in Saint John, New Brunswick, the son of a builder, Hunt was tra ...

for James White, New South Wales politician and great-uncle of

Patrick White Patrick Victor Martindale White (28 May 1912 – 30 September 1990) was a British-born Australian writer who published 12 novels, three short-story collections, and eight plays, from 1935 to 1987. White's fiction employs humour, florid prose, ...

. It was built circa 1888, on the site of Oxley's old Kirkham Mill, and partly on its foundations. It was originally called ''Kirkham''. The name was changed to ''Camelot'' by a new owner, Frances Faithful-Anderson, in 1900. When she saw the house, she was reminded of lines in Tennyson's poem The Lady of Shallot, which make a reference to Camelot. The house is heritage-listed at the state and federal level.The Heritage of Australia, Macmillan Company (1981) p.2/17

People

Demographics

In the 2006

Australian Bureau of Statistics The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is the independent statutory agency of the Australian Government responsible for statistical collection and analysis and for giving evidence-based advice to federal, state and territory governments ...

Census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

, the suburb of Kirkham had a population of 655 people. Like other suburbs in the Camden area, the people are very homogeneous with 84% Australian born and the only other countries of birth greater than 1% being England (5%) and Scotland (2%). The average weekly income of $646 is substantially higher than the national average ($466) but the average monthly mortgage repayments ($2694) are more than double the national average ($1300).

Governance

Kirkham is part of the south ward of Camden Council represented by Eva Campbell, Paul Farrow and Peter Sidgreaves. Theresa Fedeli is currently the local mayor. The suburb is contained within the federal electorate of Macarthur, represented by former ultra-marathon runner

Pat Farmer Patrick Francis Daniel Farmer (born 14 March 1962) is an ultra-marathon athlete, motivational speaker, and former Australian politician who served as a Member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the seat of Macarthur in ...

(

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

), and the state electorate of Camden, currently held by former mayor

Geoff Corrigan Geoffrey Corrigan (born 23 July 1953) is a former Australian politician with the Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in the seat of Camden. Corrigan was elected the member for the Camden in 2003, in a close-run ele ...

(

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

References

External links

CC-By-SA A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright license A public license or public copyright licenses is a license by which a copyright holder as licensor can grant additional copyright permissions to any and all pers ...

] {{Sydney Camden suburbs Suburbs of Sydney Camden Council (New South Wales)