Oyez! Oyez! Campaspe town crier heads to Wales for international competition

Today, this cherished tradition faces extinction in the tech-driven world, with only 30 of the original “newsmen” representing towns across the sunburnt country.

The town crier, a revered role dating back to medieval times, was the community's living news channel.

They delivered important announcements long before the era of smartphone notifications and social media updates.

But in her black coat embroidered with a deep purple and an undercoat matching the golden bell she waves over her head, Mrs Campbell exudes the ancient character of the town crier to her very bones.

It was not a career she ever even considered when she was younger — but she claims she was always just as theatrical.

She, and her husband and children moved to Tongala in 1988, becoming dairy farmers, and swiftly joining the Tongala Little Theatre (now Tongala Community Theatre) where she learnt to project her voice to its current booming volume.

“We didn’t use any mics or anything, and Marg Kennedy would always be at the back of the hall (saying) ‘Speak up! I’ve left the venue’,” Mrs Campbell said.

Mrs Campbell's vocal training mirrors that of an opera singer, incorporating rigorous exercises like breath control and vocal projection, techniques she still employs today to maintain her commanding voice.

Before she was appointed, she was a part of a re-enactment theatre group in the port of Echuca as a Temperance League lady, and someone pointed out that they could hear her voice from one end of the port to the other.

It was Roma Haley who was instrumental in having a town crier appointed in both Campaspe and Murray River shires, and Mrs Campbell said she has been encouraged by Mrs Haley every step of the way in her career.

And the beginning of that career began on the balcony of the Bridge Hotel in Echuca in 1994 where Ms Campbell was proclaimed as the new Town Crier for area covering both shires.

In the same moment she also became the first female Town Crier in Australia and the only official Town Crier for the full length of the Murray river.

Mrs Campbell makes the cries look easy; from the frantic bell ringing to her thunderous voice; but it’s not a skill that comes easy.

She is in the middle of training for her upcoming appearance at the Ancient and Honourable Guild of Town Criers’ Championship where she will compete against 30 town criers from across the United Kingdom and Canada as the sole Australian representative.

Balancing her official duties, Ms Campbell dedicates months to intense preparation before competitions, fine-tuning her voice, perfecting her delivery, and crafting compelling cries to represent her shires on the international stage.

At competitions, criers are judged on clarity, diction, volume, sustained performance in the presentation, and the content of their cries.

“We’ve gotta be loud, we’ve gotta be clear and we’ve gotta have our cries under 125 words,” she said.

Mrs Campbell has only seen success since beginning her duties more than 30 years ago, from becoming the Australian champion of town crying to being awarded the runner-up world champion in 1997 – only three years following her appointment.

Her cries have been heard all over the world and she’s not limited to the English language.

She has learnt how to proclaim in Maori and French, which has opened up possibilities to compete in international competitions and meet people from all walks of life.

One of her most precious memories she recalled was when she was invited to compete in Ghent, Belgium.

“There were 40 to 50 criers competing, it was huge, and I didn’t rank in the top three in that one but I noticed they were saying that I had to have the dessert,” Ms Campbell said.

“I didn’t feel like having dessert, but (they kept saying) ‘No you have to have the dessert’.

“One of the organisers (came) up and somehow manoeuvred themselves to be sitting at the table, and they had the mayor sitting at the head of the table.

“So (I said) I’ll have a couple of mouthfuls, and they were watching me and watching me until I felt this sharp thing in my mouth, and I grabbed the napkin, and they start clapping and cheering.

“And I look down and see this beautiful solid silver emblem of Ghent that they’ve snuck into my dessert to award me as best ambassador.”

But when she’s not jet-setting the world and competing in international events, she’s attending events as the Town Crier of Campaspe and Murray River shires.

She is known to officiate weddings, funeral proceedings and even baby naming ceremonies, for those who want the unique experience of having their loved ones declared.

“We must, at all times, uphold a standard because we are reflecting not only our council, but also the people within out shires, so we’re ambassadors for the area,” she said.

“It’s amazing opportunity to be given a gift, and to be able to use it is incredible.”

In the modern world coming across a town crier in cities or towns across Australia are far and few between, but it’s become a tradition between a small and exclusive community.

“There are about 30 town criers at the moment in Australia … it’s quite a community, we’re what you would call brothers and sisters of the bell,” she said.

With only a handful of town criers across Australia, Mrs Campbell said while it is an old format of information telling, it’s one becoming more essential.

“It’s an old tradition but it’s one that I think is becoming more and more required because people are so sick of being on screens or hearing automated answers.

“There’s so many people who, for whatever reason, can’t do that and can’t cope with it — but to be able to talk to a human to find out where the nearest chemist is, where I can get a newspaper, where’s this and that — you become a walking, talking information centre.”

Ms Campbell will be putting her skills to the test when she takes to the international town criers stage in Montgomery, Wales, from September 13 to 15 before heading straight back to Australia to compete in the Australian championships on September 21.

If you would like to support Mrs Campbell’s journey to Wales, you can donate to her GoFundMe page at https://gofund.me/630bba3c