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Read more about the article Rundles: A Novocastrian tailoring institution
Newcastle's old borough markets, with Rundles Workrooms.

Rundles: A Novocastrian tailoring institution

The Novocastrian tailoring institution of Rundles began in 1908 when founder Richard Thomas Rundle set up business in Thorn Street, later moving to 108 Hunter Street. Rundle saw the potential of sewing machines to speed up suit manufacture before many other tailors and found a profitable niche. Richard Thomas Rundle Rundles staff picnic, photo by Ralph Snowball In December 1939 Mrs C.E.A. Rundle bought the Hunter Street building formerly occupied by the Lane and Trewartha store. She moved her tailoring business into half the new premises on Christmas Eve of that year. The old Lane and…

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Read more about the article A Paterson River incident: when the Guthrey ran aground.

A Paterson River incident: when the Guthrey ran aground.

For a number of years early last century, riverboat excursions from Newcastle Harbour to destinations such as Hinton, Seaham and Paterson were popular. Steamboats of various shapes and sizes (including at least one retired Sydney Harbour ferry) took hundreds of passengers at a time on picnics, hikes and cruises. One of the boats was the Guthrey, (referred to as a "funny" vessel in this post: https://www.phototimetunnel.com/the-german-sailor-the-tailors-daughter-and-the-tragic-white-wife-of-otterswick The Guthrey on Newcastle Harbour, circa 1910. Courtesy Bill Ruddick. The Guthrey on Newcastle Harbour, circa 1910. The Guthrey (left) and the Shamrock at Newcastle, circa 1910. The day after…

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Read more about the article The German sailor, the tailor’s daughter and the tragic White Wife of Otterswick
The Bertha in full sail. Postcard by Hood, Sydney.

The German sailor, the tailor’s daughter and the tragic White Wife of Otterswick

MAYBE young German sailor Adolf Nordman dreamed of being more than friends with Nellie Shephard, the tailor's pretty young daughter whom he met in the port of Newcastle, NSW, in 1909. His postcards, written in the years before the outbreak of World War I, hint that way. If so, his hopes were unrequited. Nellie became the wife of an Australian artillery officer who fought against Adolf's countrymen in the war, and Adolf's lovely ship, the Bertha, met a terrible end in the Shetland Islands in 1924, where her figurehead now stands on the shore, looking out to sea, and where the local islanders call her the Wooden Wife,…

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