My late friend and amateur historian* Dulcie Hartley published several books during her lifetime, but one book she was very proud of never made it into print. This was her book about James Fletcher, Newcastle’s famous “miners’ advocate” – the only man in the city to be commemorated with a statue. Miner, politician and newspaper proprietor, Fletcher was immensely popular and influential, and Dulcie was fascinated by him. After Dulcie’s death, her daughter Venessa entrusted me with the manuscript, and I have slowly transcribed it.
*This was Dulcie’s own chosen and preferred title.
“Our Jimmy”
In the early weeks of 1891 James Fletcher’s doctor ordered him to take a holiday with complete rest from business and professional pressures. James and Isabella spent several weeks holidaying in Tasmania and Victoria, but on March 19, while staying at Parer’s Crystal Palace Hotel in Bourke Street, Melbourne, Fletcher suffered a cerebral haemorrhage and died in the presence of his wife. He was just 56 years of age.
A pall fell over Plattsburg and Wallsend when news of Fletcher’s death was received. The Wallsend & Plattsburg Sun reported that his loss was regarded by the community as “a national calamity – national because he was the friend of the poor and needy, the friend of the labouring classes, the exponent of Truth and Justice and the opponent of tyranny, monopoly and chicanery …… Success in life did not turn his head and he was the same Jimmy when a Minister of the Crown as when hewing coal at the Borehole”.
There were 50 vehicles in the funeral cortege as it left Icasia, heading towards George Street, Sydney, and Central Railway Station, followed by a lengthy procession on foot which extended for more than one mile. Parliamentarians present included Sir Patrick Jennings, Messrs. Dibbs, Garland, Lyne, Creer, Neville, O’Sullivan, Slattery, Garrad, Burns, Ewing and Ellis – together with many other prominent citizens.
The coffin was taken by rail to Wallsend and then to Maryland Cottage. The funeral was not only the largest ever seen in the Newcastle district where an estimated estimated 30,000 attended, but “one of the largest that ever took place in the Colony, almost equalling those of W.C. Wentworth, Dr. Lang and Archbishop Polding”. Special trains ran from Sydney and Maitland to Wallsend and great was the traffic congestion on the Wallsend roads. Flags flew at half mast on vessels in Newcastle Harbour and many shops were closed.
The funeral procession left Maryland Cottage on Sunday afternoon, with 6,000 people in attendance, bound for Wallsend Cemetery on Newcastle Road. The coffin was on a fully plumed hearse, drawn by four horses, and relations occupied three mourning carriages. Old family friend Ninian Melville MLA then organised the procession and, as the band played the Dead March with muffled drums, the cortege proceeded to the cemetery where about 12,000 people gathered. As Past Master of St. James Lodge, Plattsburg, and a member of Lodge Harmony, Newcastle, Fletcher’s remains were interred with full Masonic honours, near the four children who had predeceased him, with the Reverends Penman and Davies officiating.
Huge funeral
Shortly after the death of James Fletcher his former constituents decided to raise money by a one shilling collection towards a memorial. The Mayors of Wallsend and Plattsburg convened a meeting to publicise the concept which was to be a “tribute from the working classes”. The Fletcher Memorial Committee was formed, with Thomas Abel, the Town Clerk of Plattsburg Council, chosen as honorary secretary and R.P. House, a Wallsend businessman, the treasurer. It was decided to organise a collection in the mining townships of Wallsend, Plattsburg, Young Wallsend (Edgeworth), West Wallsend, Teralba, South Burwood, Charlestown, Minmi, Brookstown and Hetton. Motivation for the memorial stemmed from various causes, as with many there was a genuine regret and sense of loss, whilst with others a feeling of guilt prevailed due to the disenchantment of the latter years.
Less than three months after the death of James Fletcher a memorial tablet was unveiled during a ceremony at the Primitive Methodist Church in Devon Street, Plattsburg. The Fletcher family had been parishioners there during the early days and had extended great financial assistance. Fletcher however, like many of the miners, did not follow an orthodox religion and was known in the community as a free thinker. He adhered to the Protestant work ethic and sought to develop the best traits to pursue happiness and to improve the human condition. It was said of him that he “sought to serve his God through his fellow men”.
Veteran James Richardson J.P. was called on to unveil the memorial tablet which was covered with red and blue silk drapes – Fletcher’s old campaign colours. Richardson spoke glowingly of the help extended to many people by Fletcher in their efforts to improve their condition in life. The polished marble tablet, mounted in the centre of the church, just above the pew which the Fletcher family had occupied, was inscribed:-
In Memory of James Fletcher M.L.A. an ex-Minister of the Crown, died March 19th 1891, aged 56 years. For many years a resident of this town, he always took a deep interest in its general welfare. Benevolent, kind and just – a true friend of the people – he exemplified in his life Matt.XXV. 35 36: “Not of this perishing stone, but unto the hearts of thy afflicted friends, is thy worth recorded”.
During demolition of the Plattsburg Primitive Methodist Church nearly thirty years ago, this tablet was destroyed, when a wall of the church unexpectedly collapsed.
Life-sized statue
In September of 1891 the Fletcher Memorial Committee, having collected £290, decided to obtain designs and quotations for a life sized marble statue, mounted on a granite pedestal. Thus the stage was set for the events which occurred over the next few years, in an effort to raise sufficient money for the grandiose plans of the committee. March of 1892 saw the design of George P. Lock, a Newcastle monumental mason, accepted by the committee. The statue was to be completed within eighteen months at the contract price of £495. Mr Lock sent a plaster cast to Italy where a facsimile was to be chiseled from Carrera marble. The cast, six feet and nine inches in height, was to be placed on an Aberdeen granite pedestal seven feet and six inches high, three feet and inches in diameter, with a sub base three feet and two inches in diameter and two feet high. It was decided to erect the memorial in the Lower Reserve (of King Edward Park), now known as Fletcher Park.
Meanwhile another memorial had been underway. This was a handsome miniature pedestal monument, similar to that erected on Fletcher’s grave, which was on display in the office of the Colonial Treasurer John See. It was a coloured marble and granite memorial, with the inscription “In Memory of an honest Legislator”, the text being suggested by Fletcher’s late parliamentary colleagues and associates. The statue, made by monumental mason Mr. Tremlett of Sydney, was to be presented to Mrs Fletcher as a token of their admiration and esteem for her late husband.
George Lock had taken delivery of the statue of Fletcher made in Italy within eighteen months of Fletcher’s death. However, the shortfall in funding dragged on for many years, with the Fletcher Memorial Fund owing Mr Lock a considerable amount of money. Many fundraising events were held, but the concept of such a memorial funded by public subscription was probably poorly timed due to the continuing financial depression. The years dragged on, with the committee continually frustrated in its attempt to redeem the statue from Mr Lock.
It was not until 10 April 1897 that the Mayor of Newcastle, Ald David Miller, was able to conduct the unveiling ceremony with the Fletcher family in attendance, together with old friends, members of parliament and aldermen. A procession led by brass bands marched to the Lower Reserve and many people wore rosettes of red and blue. Thousands gathered to witness the Lady Mayoress unveil the statue and people cheered as they saw the wonderful work of the Italian sculptor. The statue differed slightly from the original design, being 7 ft. high, with a total height including the pedestal, of 14 ft. 6 ins. and stood upon an octagonal plinth 20 ft. in diameter and 2 ft. high. Ornamental posts and chains fastened to the plinth surrounded the memorial. (In the intervening years some changes have occurred.)
The total cost was £652 and £23 was still owing on the unveiling day so collection boxes were passed around the gathering and, aided by donations from the official party, this amount was soon raised. Speakers at the function eulogised the late James Fletcher. An old friend, Alexander Brown MLC, said of Fletche: “Wise in counsel, eloquent in debate, ready in devising expedients, skillful in managing the minds of men”. Adam Cook, the president of the Miners Federation, said that the motto on the banner of the Miners Association, “Come, Let Us Reason Together”, had been most appropriate in their relationship with Fletcher.
A memorial was later erected over James Fletcher’s grave by the Miners Federation in appreciation of services rendered. At the time of the unveiling in 1897 there was no need for a plaque, so well known was the man and his achievements. Nevertheless, memories do fade, and some 75 years later it was acknowledged that the public should be provided with a brief biographical account.
In 1937 a bust statuette of James Fletcher was mounted in Rotunda Park, Wallsend. This statuette was presented to Wallsend Council by Mrs Eileen Surman, a grand-daughter of James Fletcher, and a daughter of Henry P. Fletcher. The statuette had recently been unearthed, covered in dust and cobwebs, in the Newcastle stables of noted racing identity Mr R. McAuliffe. It was reported at the time that Mr McAuliffe had bought the bust 10 years earlier at a sale at George Lock’s monumental works in Union Street. The mounting was remodelled by Wallsend Municipal Council and the accompanying plaque reads:
1874 – First Mayor of Wallsend
Erected by the Municipality of Wallsend 1937
E.C. Thomas – Mayor
1st November 1937
This gesture from the last Mayor of Wallsend, Mr Edwin C. Thomas, was indeed a fitting and timely tribute to the first Mayor for in 1937, the Wallsend Council merged with the Council of the City of Greater Newcastle. (The division of the Wallsend and Plattsburg councils had been resolved when they reunited on 20 October 1915, to become known as Wallsend Municipal Council.)
James Fletcher has been immortalised in the Newcastle district, not only by the statue in Fletcher Park, Watt Street, and the bust in Rotunda Park, Wallsend, but also by Fletcher Park, Marylands, Fletcher Street, Adamstown and Fletcher Street, Wallsend (formerly Plattsburg). It is likely that Fletcher Street, Edgeworth and Fletcher Street, Georgetown are also commemorative. More recently, the name of the former Watt Street psychiatric hospital was changed to James Fletcher Hospital and a new residential suburb, Fletcher, was created on land along Minmi Road between Marylands and Minmi.
Reviewing the life of James Fletcher, it is evident that he was an ambitious man of great vitality enacting an energising role in the emergence of an Australian identity and nationhood. In his pursuit of this vision he was vulnerable to the criticism that he had embraced capitalism at the expense of his working class origins. He seemingly faced a moral dilemma in his dual role of miners’ advocate and mine proprietor; yet his strength lay in his skill as an arbitrator during industrial disputes, together with his ability to control and manipulate an audience by his personal charisma and oratory.
Newcastle and the coalfield districts prospered during Fletcher’s custodianship of the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners Advocate. By skilful use of the newspaper he exercised control over the mining industry during a period of industrial growth. He harboured a republican vision for a united Australia, free from ties with Great Britain with loyalty, not subservience, to the Crown. In summation, as a political representative, Fletcher provided value for votes. The city of Newcastle and the mining community derived considerable benefit from his representation. Enemies he made, but loyal friends were many, as was evident at his funeral.
