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Read more about the article A gallery of Newcastle fire photographs
Fighting bushfires, October 1, 1936.

A gallery of Newcastle fire photographs

As a fireman, Ken Magor had a strong interest in fires. As an acquaintance of various Newcastle press photographers, he also had access to fire photographs for his extensive collection. Here is a gallery of some images, scanned from negatives in our Ken Magor collection. On Wednesday April 17, 1935, gas company workers were trying to fix a leak outside the Hunter Street shop of tobacconist George A. Campbell, when the gas ignited. Two people were slightly injured. Two men seated in barber chairs ran off in the panic; only one of them returning later to…

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Read more about the article Premonition of disaster: the Meeinderry sinking
The Meeinderry. Photo from the State Library of Victoria.

Premonition of disaster: the Meeinderry sinking

ON the night of May 22, 1922, a seaman by the name of West had a bad dream. West was a fireman aboard the NSW collier Meeinderry, due to leave Sydney next day for its regular run to Newcastle. The elderly steamer - built in 1884 - was a veteran of Australian coastal shipping, originally a passenger ship but converted for the coal trade and operated since 1919 by R.W. Miller. The previous year Millers had tried to sell the old ship to a group interested in using it in a Norfolk Island trading enterprise but…

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Read more about the article The Goldsmith’s shoe store fire in Newcastle
Fighting the fire. Image by Ron Morrison.

The Goldsmith’s shoe store fire in Newcastle

Goldsmith's shoe store had been a landmark business in Newcastle, NSW, for decades before a fatal fire in September 1961 dreadfully seared the name into local consciousness. The fire cost three lives - a woman and two of her children. At the time of the fire Ron Morrison was operating his photo agency in Newcastle, and his series of images captures the drama of the firefighting effort. The store Goldsmith's traced its beginnings in Newcastle to December 13, 1897, when Bristol-born Frank Goldsmith first set up a shoe store in Hunter Street. The business thrived, and…

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