Newcastle, NSW, Australia Archives - Page 46 of 64

Police at the scene of the murder at East Maitland, 1960

Maitland’s “double-headless” murders of 1960.

Post author:Greg Ray
Post published:July 8, 2019
Post category:History Miscellaneous Newcastle, NSW, Australia Vintage Photographs and Photography
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On Saturday, April 23, 1960, Maitland reeled in shock when news broke of a gruesome double murder in a small isolated hut off Turton Road, not far from the East Maitland brickworks. Sydney Shelley, 34, and his 21-year-old wife Elva had been killed and their heads cut off and removed. The couple’s baby was found alive but distressed in a cot in the house. A post-mortem revealed that Elva had been pregnant with a second child at the time of her death. Sydney and Elva Shelley were murdered and decapitated When news of the murders broke,…

Boambee, sunk in Newcastle Harbour, NSW, May 1947.

Boambee, an unlucky steamer

Post author:Greg Ray
Post published:July 2, 2019
Post category:History Maritime and shipping Newcastle, NSW, Australia Vintage Photographs and Photography
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Boambee was an unlucky vessel. The 236-tonne wooden steamer was built in 1908 on the Bellinger River by E.D. Pike and Co for the Manning River Limestone and Steam Ship Company to replace its wrecked ship Kincumber. By the time it ran aground and was dismantled 40 years later (under the name Illalong) it had sunk three times, including once at the wharf in Newcastle. Boambee at Harrington, near the wreck of the Burrawong. Photo from the book The Good Old Days, Volume 2, by Jim Revitt. Contributed to that book by H. Emerton, of Jones…

Swansea Bridge, NSW, as it was

Pet emu ate the engine nuts: a guided tour of 1920s Swansea

Post author:Greg Ray
Post published:July 1, 2019
Post category:History Miscellaneous Newcastle, NSW, Australia Vintage Photographs and Photography
Post comments:6 Comments

Nearly every weekend and holiday from the mid-1920s to 1930, Maitland boy Neville Chant spent at Swansea with his family in their weekender on Black Neds Bay. More than 100 years old when I met him in 2019, Neville retained vivid memories of his beloved childhood haunts, and could paint an evocative word-picture of the people and places he saw. I asked him to take me on a tour of the Swansea of his distant memory. Here is what he told me: Neville Chant, sharing his memories of Swansea in the 1920s You have to understand…

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