Camden is a historic town of the Macarthur Region of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia in Camden Council.Camden is located 65 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, and is the administrative centre for the local government area of Camden Council. It lies on the fringe of the Sydney Metropolitan area and is close to the Sydney suburb of Campbelltown.
History
[edit] Indigenous people

The area now known as Camden was originally at the northern edge of land belonging to the Gandangara people of the Southern Highlands who called it Benkennie meaning ‘dry land’. North of the Nepean River were the Muringong, southernmost of the Darug people while to the east were the Tharawal people. They lived in extended family groups of 20-40 members, hunting kangaroos, possums and eels and gathering yams and other seasonal fruit and vegetables from the local area. They were described as ‘short, stocky, strong and superbly built’ and generally considered peaceful. However, as British settlers encroached on their land and reduced their food sources, they turned to armed resistance which ended in 1816 after many of their number were massacred .[2]
[edit] European settlement

Explorers first visited the area in 1795 and named it ‘Cowpastures’ after a herd of cattle that had disappeared was discovered there. In February 1805, Governor King instructed (apparently reluctantly) a surveyor to measure 5,000 acres (20 km²) for John Macarthur at Cowpastures, where Macarthur had been promised land by the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, Lord Camden. Macarthur named his property Camden Park in honour of his sponsor.[3]

As Macarthur’s wool industry thrived, local citizens began pushing for the establishment of a town in the area to support the industry. Surveyor-General Major Thomas Mitchell suggested Macarthur surrender 320 acres (1.3 km2) of his land for the purpose to which he refused. Following his death in 1834, his children decided to subdivide the land and the first lots in the new town of Camden went on sale in 1840. By 1883, the population had grown to over 300 and a movement began to establish a local council which held its first meeting in 1889.
[edit] Transport

Between 1882 and 1962 Camden was connected to Campbelltown and Sydney by the Camden railway line. Camden is served by Camden Airport, which is mostly used by trainee pilots for flying schools, the Australian Air League, and other forms of general aviation.