General News
23 January, 2026
Fenton legacy endures
THE last living family member from the second marriage of David Fenton is reflecting on his grandfather’s legacy as the one who built Camperdown’s first house over 170 years ago.
John Fenton is a direct descendent of David, who came to Australia in 1848 from Scotland at age 14.
John said David was among those who left Scotland’s wool mill families when the industry grew weaker.
“He came out here on a sailing ship,” John said.
“They landed at Geelong – there was no port, so they had to row to shore from the ship.
“He became a shepherd, and they used to have a little yard and hut for the shepherd.
“They looked after the sheep during the day and locked them up at night while living in the hut.
“I believe he was working for the Manifolds.
“They didn’t have fences, so they had little pens and a proper shepherd who looked after the sheep – the dogs probably kept the foxes away.”
David also worked as a contractor, travelling between Camperdown and Geelong and providing supplies to those on the goldfields.
John said David was a young man when gold was first discovered in Ballarat and Bendigo and invested it wisely when he found his own gold.
“David discovered gold, and that made him quite wealthy – he was able to go to the first land sales of Camperdown in Geelong,” he said.
“In Cobden, he financed the first dairy co-op in Australia – the Cobden Butter Factory.
“He became a farmer and had something to do with Cobden’s first Presbyterian Church building.”
The house David built is marked by a plaque erected in 1982 out the front of The Commercial, where the original building stood.
David also owned land on Robinson Street, with stones on the grounds of the Camperdown Hospital marking where he used to have horses.
John said he feels good about his connection to David’s legacy, despite never being able to meet his grandfather.
“He (David) died at 86, which was in 1920,” he said.
“He actually died 18 years before I was born, so I had no contact with him.
“My father came along in 1903 and he had a family of seven – I’m the sole survivor of that seven.
“My father had two sisters, who are now gone, and then there was my family.
“All my father said about his stepbrothers from the first marriage was ‘they’re all old’ – they were probably in their 60s when he was young.”
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