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Read more about the article James Fletcher, “the miner’s advocate”

James Fletcher, “the miner’s advocate”

JAMES Fletcher’s name has become synonymous with the foundation of The Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate. The Scottish-born former miner, mining union leader, mine manager, mine owner and Member for Newcastle may not literally have founded the newspaper, but he was its proprietor during some of its crucial early years and he used the paper to powerfully influence the progress of the coal industry. Fletcher migrated from Scotland in 1852 at the age of 18 and, after an unsuccessful attempt to make his fortune in the gold rush, came to Newcastle to work coal, finding…

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Read more about the article Rail smashes: Murrurundi 1908 and Murulla 1926
Train smash at Murulla, NSW, September 13, 1926

Rail smashes: Murrurundi 1908 and Murulla 1926

Murrurundi: Good Friday 1908 It was Good Friday, April 17, 1908. At about 3.35am the Glen Innes train was just about to leave Murrurundi station, in the Upper Hunter Valley, when it was hit head-on by the Brisbane Mail train, travelling south. Ultimately, signalling staff at the small country station were held responsible for accidentally misleading the drivers of the trains into believing the tracks were clear. At the scene of the accident at Murrurundi, April 17, 1908. The impact of the smash was tremendous, and it was incredible that nobody was killed. Injuries amounted to…

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Read more about the article Audley Reay’s memories of Newcastle and the Hunter in the 1880s

Audley Reay’s memories of Newcastle and the Hunter in the 1880s

Among some papers given to me by Barry Magor - son of transport collector Ken Magor - was a photocopied pamphlet titled: Memories of the Hunter and Newcastle in the Eighties, by Audley Reay. That name was unfamiliar to me, until I spent a morning interviewing centenarian Neville Chant, who unexpectedly brought up the same unusual name in the course of discussion, describing Audley Reay as Maitland Council's health inspector who once lived - according to Neville - "next-door to the pigyards". A newspaper photo of Mr Reay at the time of his retirement in 1939.…

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