From Camden News 4-12-1941 page 7 HISTORIC HOMES AND THEIR OCCUPANTS. By Mr. J. F. Morris, Lindsay Street, Campbelltown. No. 6. - CAMPBELLFIELDS. Upon a small, pine-clad hill almost due east of Minto Railway Station, is a low, long brick cottage with large wine cellars which was once the home of Dr. Redfern, and the centre of one of the largest holdings in this district. It was originally a grant of 800 acres made on May 22nd, 1811, to Dr. William Redfern who, by purchase and by further grants, extended the property to 2620 acres. This property, which he called Campbellfields, in honour of Lady Macquarie, lay to the east of Pembroke Road and extended from Leumeah Station on the south to a short distance north of Minto Station. Redfern was probably introduced to this district on November 6th, 1810, when he accompanied Macquarie to Minto on the Governors first visit to the interior of the Colony. Though Redferns grant is dated 1811, he was probably in occupation by the end of 1810. Redfern was an outstanding figure in the early history of Australia, and in this article it is impossible to give more than a very brief and incomplete outline of his varied career. In 1797 Redfern, then 19 years of age, was Surgeons Mate on H.M.S. Standard, which participated in the muting of the Nore, and for some injudicious remarks made at that time he was condemned to be shot, but the sentence was later changed to transportation. Arriving in Sydney in 1801, he was immediately sent to Norfolk Island as Assistant Surgeon and Superintendent of the hospital, and here he attracted the favourable attention of Colonel Foveaux. On June 19th, 1803, Governor King granted him an unconditional pardon and he then became surgeon to the Vice-Regal family. He was appointed Assistant Surgeon of the Colony by Lieutenant Governor Colonel Foveaux in 1808 and this appointment was later approved by Governor Macquarie and confirmed by Earl Liverpool, Secretary of State, on July 26th, 1811. Before joining the navy, Redfern had passed an examination set by the Company of Surgeons, the fore runner of the Royal College of Surgeons, but he did not receive any diploma from them. Thus in 1808, in Sydney, he submitted to an examination in medicine and surgery, and received a diploma signed by Thomas Jamison, Principal Surgeon; J. Harris Surgeon of N.S.W. Corps, this being the first Australian Diploma of Medicine. DArcy Wentworth retired from position of Colonial Surgeon in 1818, and Redfern, as Assistant Surgeon, naturally expected promotion, but James Bowman, an outsider, received the appointment, whereupon Redfern resigned on October 14th, 1819. Macquarie, annoyed at this slight to his favourite, appointed Redfern to the magistracy in November of that year, but Commissioner Bigge, who could not tolerate emancipists, reported adversely on the appointment and Redfern was dismissed in 1820. In 1821 Redfern returned to England as a delegate from the emancipists who were seeking for fairer treatment. He made a second voyage in 1825, and then in 1828 he took his son William Lachlan Macquarie Redfern to Scotland to complete his education, and the Doctor died at Edinburgh in 1833. Redfern was one of the founders of the Bank of New South Wales in 1816, and was one of its first Directors. In November 1827, Mr. Robert Howe printed in his paper, The Sydney Gazette, a paragraph which was defamatory to Redfern in his capacity as Director of the Bank of N.S.W. and Redfern, in retaliation, horse-whipped Howe. For this offence he appeared before the Bench on January 21st, 1828, but as he had the able W. C. Wentworth to defend him, he was fined only 30/-. As an agriculturalist Redfern concentrated on wool and viticulture, a fact to which the large cellars at Campbellfields bears witness. It is of interest to note that on December 1st, 1820, the day that Macquarie named Campbelltown, the Governor and his entourage had luncheon at Dr. Redferns farm of Campbellfields. Redfern owned 100 acres of land in the suburb which now bears his name, and of these, 30 acres were the marriage lot of Miss Sarah Wills who married the Doctor in 1811. He also owned large grants at Bathurst and Cowra, but it was at Minto that Redfern actually resided, and after his resignation from the Civil Lists in 1819, this property was his main interest.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Apr 2014 01:41:06 +0000
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