By late 1825, the first school in the Camden area run by Charles Gordon was operating from Kirkham, and through February 1826 the first regular Protestant church services were also being held there. During the Oxley family's ownership, Kirkham was a well-regarded horse stud. The English stallion "Bachelor" stood at the stud in 1830. In 1827, the Reverend Thomas Hassell held a Christmas service in the stable loft attended by the family and up to fifty convicts. Oxley cultivated wheat and sheep on Kirkham. By 1824 he had 4000 sheep and was winning awards for his merinos. Kirkham was one of five large estates in the area employing convict labour. Oxley had married Emma Norton in 1821. Oxley died in 1828 and the property was passed on to his eldest son, John Norton Oxley. During John Norton's minority, Kirkham was managed by Captain Coghill, who had previously worked part of the farm. Coghill grew wheat and maize, which was processed on site in a mill erected in 1828. Farmers from the surrounding area, including the Macarthurs of Camden Park, used this mill. It was used until the 1860s, after which time wheat rust (a fungus) destroyed the wheat crops and production ceased. The mill was demolished in the 1880s. The farm stayed with the Oxley family and operated as a farm and horse stud farm. When he reached his superiority, John Norton Oxley returned to run Kirkham. He married Harriet, daughter of the Reverend James Hassell and had seven children. The Oxleys prospered until the 1870s, when they were involved in a failed cattle raising enterprise in Queensland. The ensuing financial disaster led to the sale of Kirkham. Despite his many business interests, Oxley was "much embarrassed in his pecuniary circumstances" at the time of his death, so much so that the Executive Council felt compelled to come to the assistance of his widow and two sons. While refusing to grant a pension, the British Government gave his sons a grant in recognition of their father's services. An advertisement in The Sydney Morning Herald edition of 6 December 1870 noted its improvements (all 'first class and in good repair') included about of fine rich arable land, spacious brick-built family residence (with ten apartments, kitchen, servants' rooms, dairy, wine house and numerous outbuildings), several well-arranged dwelling houses ('labourers' dwellings'), a superior steam flour mill (with horizontal 10-horse power engine, boiler, French