History

A History of Little Mackeral Beach - ‘Currawong'

Marilyn Dodkin* looks at the facts behind the myths surrounding Currawong.

On 2 March 1788 Governor Phillip and Lieutenant Bradley, with sailors and marines, left Manly in two small boats for Broken Bay discovered by Captain Cook in 1770. Phillip needed arable land for crops to ensure the survival of the colony.

Entering Broken Bay they met six Aboriginal people (one man and six women) in three bark canoes. Phillip's party sailed as far as Brisbane Water, then turned back to Cowan and Coal and Candle Creeks. During the exploration they were greeted by friendly Guringai people

Returning to Broken Bay they sailed into the southern inlet which Phillip named Pitt Water (after prime minister William Pitt) and on 6 March 1788, assisted by an old man and a young boy, they found a safe landing place.

The next day they sailed to the end of Pittwater - Bayview and Newport- seeing many Guringai people fishing along the shore.

On 7th March, with poor visibility, they went back to Broken Bay and sailed to the present bridgesite. Phillip returned to Port Jackson and it was not until June that he explored the Bay again and found the river - which he named Hawkesbury after the Minister of Trade.

Phillip made another trip to Pittwater in August 1788 finding small pockets of arable land.

At that time it is estimated that approximately 1500 Aboriginal people lived between Botany Bay and Broken Bay. By 1789 an epidemic of small pox decimated about half the Aboriginal population in the region.

When we talk about the land which we now call 'Currawong' we should remember the original owners, the Guringai people, who lived and fished there before British colonisation.

The first record of European settlement is 1823 when land at Little Mackeral Beach was promised to John Clarke who sold it to his friend Martin Burke.

By 1832 William Booth also claimed he had been promised the land, which he was farming, but possibly because Booth had made no improvements the first Crown grant was given to Martin Burke in 1835.

During the decade many disputes occurred over ownership. Finally the Supreme Court found in favour of the Wilson family who held it from approximately 1872.

In the early 1900's (possibly 1910) the Wilson family sold Currawong to Dr Bernard Stiles. He built Midholme when the original homestead burned down.

Stiles sold Currawong to the Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Co. Ltd. in 1942 (reported in Chairman's 1943 report). They planned to build a headquarters for their ferry operations. The company also owned other assets on the northern beaches and eventually rationalised their holdings by selling Currawong to the Labor Council in December 1949.

Jim Kenny, Assistant Secretary since August 1946, had begun to explore the possibility of providing low-cost holiday accommodation for union members on their two-week paid annual leave introduced in 1944.

Kenny approached the Labor government to grant a suitable site. On 29 January 1949 Kenny informed the delegates that the NSW Minister for Land, W Sheahan, had agreed to dedicate land at Wamberal Lagoon north of Terrigal.

He added that Premier J. J. McGirr had given the Council information on holiday camps obtained when he was overseas. The government later offered a site at Lake Munmorah.

For reasons unknown the Council did not proceed with either site and Kenny negotiated the purchase of the Currawong estate from the Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Co Ltd for ten thousand pounds.

The purchase was financed by the Council selling land owned at French's Forest, where the 2KY radio transmitter had been located before being moved to Homebush.

The Currawong purchase was completed on 2 December 1949 (see letter from Abram Landa, Barton & Co., solicitors). The land then comprised 48 acres with four cottages.

As a bonus the Company donated a sixteen-foot launch, used by the caretaker, to the Labor Council.

The Sunday Herald (27 November 1949) reported that Currawong would be a Butlin style holiday camp with accommodation for 500. There would be a pool, tennis courts, dining hall and a dance hall. Kenny said `We don't intend to provide the rather regimented amusements that are popular in English camps'.

Building material and equipment was scarce and Kenny sought assistance from Prime Minister Menzies and Opposition Leader Chifley to purchase earth-moving equipment from the disposals division of the Department of Supply.

In the early years Kenny laboured on the site during the weekend and he and his wife Bess stayed in 'Kenny's cabin' now known as Blue Tongue cabin. During his lifetime it was kept for their use.

Nine cottages were built to a standard suitable at the time. Portagas was used for cooking stoves and a generator powered by a bank of 24 batteries supplied light until electricity was connected in December 1967. Chemical toilets were used.

Kenny did not live in the past he began the project to move Labor Council from Trades Hall to its own building, completed after he died in 1967, by Ralph Marsh in 1971.

Although it was a good idea at the time the plan to provide holiday camp accommodation for hundreds of workers was not fulfilled - despite continual grants by 2KY the property continued to be a drain on Labor Council's finances.

It has been an expense paid for by the majority for the benefit of a few.

* With acknowledgment to Dr. Jim Macken for the early history in his book `Coasters` Retreat` published 1991.

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  Issue 7 contents

»	Labor Council to Vote on Currawong Proposal
»	The Story So Far ...
»	Costa: What I’ll Do With The Dough
»	Friends of Currawong Plan: Borrow To Grow
»	Independent Evaluation Backs TM Plan
»	How the Voting Works

»	Guest Report
»	Sport
»	Trades Hall
»	Piers Watch

»	A Real Aussie Preamble
»	The Get Stuffed Tax
»	Laboring for Education
»	Tipping: No One Got Close

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