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Henry CamfieldPrint Page Print this page

30-April-2019 (Glenn Day)
30-April-2019 (Glenn Day)

Photographs supplied by Bryan Hardy / Glenn Day

The sculpture commemorates pioneer, Henry Camfield who settled in the area in 1829 naming it "Burrswood" after his family home in Kent, England. He experienced deprivation and constant crop failures leading to near starvation in the harsh West Australian environment.

Location

Address:Great Eastern Highway & Bolton Avenue, Burswood Park, Burswood, 6100
State:WA
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -31.963346
Long: 115.894571
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Sculpture
Monument Theme:People
Sub-Theme:Settlement
Artist:Joan Walsh-Smith & Charles Smith (Gidgegannup, WA)

Dedication

Front Inscription

Henry Camfield 1799 - 1872

First pioneer settler

Henry Camfield was the first settler in this area, in 1829.  He symbolises the struggle of the typical English gentleman to survive the totally different environment experienced in the early days of the Swan River colony.  He named the area "Burrswood"after his family home in Kent, which he was never to see again.

He endured great difficulties and when his first three years` crops failed, faced starvation.

The pose of the sculpture in which Henry leans on his spade, wiping the sweat from his brow, was inspired by an excerpt from a letter home : "We are told we shall get our subsistence by the sweat of our brow, but I never read we shall sweat, strive to get on honestly and starve... How many have suffered out here ; many more may, perhaps, myself amongst the number." 

From 1848 until his death in 1872, he lived in Albany, where he held the position of Resident Magistrate.  He was remembered with respect for his "peculiarly retiring and unassuming manner." 

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au