Camden Highlights in London

© Joan Inabinet (Adapted from first printing Dec.19, 2023, as KCHS’s monthly column in the Camden, SC, Chronicle-Independent.)

Camden, South Carolina, recently garnered special attention in a cheerfully breezy London newspaper review which advised readers to check out a webpage in England announcing results of an international fact-finding project.

For that project the Camden History Society in London compiled the name-origin stories of some 50 places around the globe named Camden. The Kershaw County Historical Society was invited by CHS in 2022 to contribute our town’s account to their project, for which we submitted a specially researched contribution now included in the collection of resulting stories entitled “Camdens Worldwide” on the CHS webpage. (See links below.)

During the progress of research and communication, the KCHS’s monthly column in the Camden Chronicle-Independent at times shared information locally about the ongoing project. A significant discovery from our evidence, and officially concluded and announced by the London society in its results, is that Camden, South Carolina, is (drum roll, please…) the first town in the world to be named Camden.

In the News

The Nov. 9, 2023, issue of the Camden New Journal, an independent London newspaper with electronic and print editions, featured a page-wide color spread of journalistic text and photos with the catchy kicker “Small world.” 

Addressing an audience living in or familiar with Camden Town borough of their grand city, the CNJ article drew readers’ attention to their reporter’s review with a lead-in blurb stating: “There’s only one Camden, you might think. How wrong you are! Dan Carrier reports on Camden History Society’s project to contact Camdens worldwide.” 

In Carrier’s words, based on his reading and an interview with CHS publications editor of Camden’s World David Hayes, he readily addresses the colonial origins of Camden, South Carolina, “home to a community of Irish Quakers who had travelled across the Atlantic in search of a better life.” Carrier comments, “Unlike so many settlers, they came in peace and developed a close bond with the Catawba indigenous peoples whose land they chose to live on.” 

He refers then to the 1768 naming of our South Carolina town, dramatically visualizing, in his words, “a signpost…hammered into the Carolina earth” with the Camden name “emblazoned across it in honour [sic, British spelling] of Lord Camden—a champion of rights and democracy.” 

Carrier then points out to his London readers that, “Our own Camden Town would not be named until 1790, after the same man.”  [He was Charles Pratt, the first Lord Camden, who before the Revolutionary War spoke boldly in the English Parliament on behalf of colonial rights of representation, a politically controversial topic at the time. In later years, as Earl Camden, he was an early developer of the London suburb that became Camden Town.]

The key point of the project, Carrier summarizes, is that, “These stories and many others of Camdens dotted across the globe have been compiled this week to mark the 400^th anniversary of William Camden’s death on November 9.” An antiquarian and historian who set high standards of scholarship, widely admired patronym William Camden was the first owner of Camden Place, later home of Charles Pratt who took its name for his title “Lord Camden.”

More than a Flash

While an attention-getting, positive newspaper review is appreciated, the most important satisfaction of completing, compiling, and presenting the work is that its results will endure for a longer time, in more places, and with more details than in a one-time appearance.

The Camdens Worldwide project is to be preserved long-term as a publicly available stable resource maintained online by the Camden History Society.  KCHS is pleased to have participated in assuring that our town is represented in the scholarship going forward, along with illustrations and background of pertinent people and places, as well as sources and links to more online sites.

YouTube video

Furthermore, another resource product of Camdens Worldwide is a YouTube video of a saved portion of a Zoom meeting with the writers of global contributions who gathered at all hours to view presentations and share comments just before the online resource went public the next day. Included is a 15-minute talk on Camden, SC, that KCHS’s writer was invited to present. Project organizers hope to arrange another Zoom meeting and video in the year ahead to learn about reception of the resource. Listen out for news when that happens.

See links below to access fuller resources. Whether browsing or studying deeply, readers should find the resource sites both informative and entertaining.

Here are the Links (also clickable above)

Camden History Society: https://www.camdenhistorysociety.org
One choice is to find your own way to this fullest source from this front page, admiring in route this society’s many publications, projects, programs, and accomplishments over time as you look for “Camdens Worldwide.” Or, by clicking “Research Room” on top line at right, then scroll down to find “Camdens Worldwide” and click it. Find individual USA Camden towns alphabetically by states.

Camdens Worldwide: Or go directly to Camdens Worldwide by this address: www.camdenhistorysociety.org/camdens-around-the-world

YouTube of Zoom meeting including a 15-minute talk on Camden: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQvG735YiUM

“Camden New Journal” — The electronic version of the Nov. 9, 2023 print newspaper article pictured here can be read free: www.camdennewjournal.co.uk/article/small-world 

If you wish to update information or comment on this column, email: kershawcoountyhistoricalsociety@gmail.com