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 is the final chapter.
*This was Dulcie’s own chosen and preferred title.
A family perspective: the Fletcher children
The Fletcher family had experienced upward social mobility since the days of life under calico on the goldfields. James Fletcher had successfuly embraced the work ethic and his personal philosophy, stated on many occasions, had been to improve his situation in life. This he had accomplished, progressing from the life of a coal miner when they were regarded as “underground savages”, to mine manager, mine proprietor and parliamentarian. The control of the Newcastle Morning Herald & Miners’ Advocate, for some time the only local paper, over such an extended period had provided Fletcher with the opportunity of exercising great industrial, political and social influence over the community. Unfortunately, the powerful make enemies, and there is no doubt that this had occurred, although often the motivation was envy and jealousy.
William Laidley was a long term benefactor and his gift of the stately home Styles Grove was an attempt to provide financial security for Isabella, as was his effort to direct any profits from the Herald to her personally. James Birrell had earlier provided Maryland Cottage for the comfort of the Fletcher family and he later gave Isabella seven acres at Maryland, free from the debts and control of her husband. There were continuing efforts made to provide future financial security for the family by early land speculation in Plattsburg and later in the Sydney district. After the family moved to Sydney, city property in Elizabeth Street was purchased in Isabella’s name, as well as land at Rockdale and Petersham, free from the debts of her husband. It became apparent, as the years passed, that James Fletcher lacked expertise in financial management.
Much is made of his generosity, and most certainly when donations were collected for worthy causes such as widows or wives of injured miners, he gave generously. Published subscription lists of various charities revealed that his donation often exceeded those of the wealthiest of Newcastle’s citizens. However, this may have been to promote his image as a great benefactor, or in later years, to gain votes.
Despite James Fletcher’s energy, vitality and capacity for hard work, the early promise of prosperity did not materialise, although his prospects for the future seemed promising when the family moved to Icasia. Situated on the northern corner of Adelaide Street and Old South Head Road, (now Oxford Street, Bondi Junction) , this is now the site of a shopping centre. By coincidence, two of the largest landholders in this district were John Birrell, a wealthy Wine and Spirit Merchant, and David Fletcher, a city Dentist who resided at Fletcher’s Glen. These men had both arrived in the Colony in the early 1850s and had played a strong community role, with Birrell and Fletcher Streets named in their honour. Whether there was a family connection with the Plattsburg Birrell and Fletcher families is unknown.
Life at Icasia was pleasant as the Fletcher family pursued a socially prominent role. The lovely mansion, handsomely furnished, saw many important guests who dined from exquisite plate and crystal. Isabella had purchased Italian Renaissance dining furniture (especially built in Italy for Mr Anthony Hordern) at the auction of Mrs Hordern’s effects. The house was full of magnificent furniture, with Satsuma oriental urns, ornate clocks, bronzes and two pianos. Isabella was justly proud of her famous conservatory. James owned a valuable collection of books, some housed in an item of Newcastle memorabilia, an oak bookcase made from spars of the steamer Cawarra, wrecked off Newcastle in 1866. He had a 20 feet by 12 feet workroom in the grounds, built mainly for assaying mineral specimens.
William Laidley lived nearby at Edgecliff Road, Woollahra, John Sweet in Ocean Street, Woollahra (present Waverley) and James Birrell in Ben Eden Street, Waverley (now Bondi Junction). The Fletchers regularly visited their friends and relations in style, driving the family Sociable, drawn by mares Brandy and Soda looking resplendent in silver-plated harness. Younger members of the family were able to utilise the educational facilities available in Sydney and trained in various professions.
As was the usual custom of the era, Isabella Fletcher produced a new baby nearly every two years. Infant mortality was high, and four children died, Helen in 1859, Thomas Birrell in 1868, Robert Crawford in 1870 and Jeannett Russell in 1876. By 1896 the bank had sold Icasia, the former residence of the Fletcher family, to Mrs. T.W. Riby who converted the home into a private school. It was not until 1921, after the death of Isabella, Styles Grove on Minmi Road was sold by the mortgagee to a dairy farmer, Charles Henry Thomas.
After the death of James Fletcher Snr in 1891, with his estate only valued at £858, life for Isabella was a struggle against financial adversity for many years. James Jnr assumed much of the family responsibilities, but as his father had been named guarantor in the ill-fated Dover Heights Estate syndicate, there ensued a constant selling off of assets to avoid bankruptcy. Land and property in Elizabeth Street, Sydney, purchased in trust for Isabella, free from the debts of her husband, was sold, as were many other parcels of real estate. In later years Isabella lived at Paddington, and it was there, on February 5, 1920, that she passed away.
Nine Fletcher children survived to reach maturity, three girls and six boys, and their progress through life proved interesting.
Mary Ann
As previously mentioned, the first born, Mary Ann, in 1874 when nineteen years of age married John Miller Sweet, at that time proprietor of the Miners’ Advocate. After Sweet’s return from the Kimberley goldfields the family moved to Sydney where he worked first for the Harbour Trust, and later for the Department of Railways. John M. Sweet died at Cintra, Ocean Street, Woollahra in 1913, aged 63 years, leaving his wife Mary Ann, two sons, James Fletcher Sweet and William Henry Sweet and a daughter, Violet May Maria Whelan. The first born of the marriage, Isabella Ann Crawford Lilian Mount had died in 1899.
James Junior
The eldest son, James Fletcher was born on the goldfields in 1857 and became a mining engineer. He was a “chip off the old block” for at 17 years of age, when little more than a boy, he supervised the sinking of B Shaft at Greta Colliery, and for a time was manager of this mine. In 1878, when James Jnr. was 21, a group of prominent Plattsburg citizens arranged a testimonial dinner and presented him with a theodolite and an illuminated address with their best wishes for his future career. In 1879 he married Olivia, daughter of James Davies, at the Primitive Methodist Church, Wallsend. Olivia came from a similar background as James for she too had been born on the goldfields, at Ballarat in Victoria.
After his father entered politics James Jnr. managed the Cooperative Colliery and in later years worked it on tribute. He was highly regarded in the community and entered local government, serving three terms as Mayor of Plattsburg Council. He expended considerable time and energy on community involvement, becoming president of the Plattsburg Mechanics Institute, treasurer of the School of Arts, president of the District Athletic Sports, Wallsend and Plattsburg Jockey Club, Wallsend United Cricket Club, Wallsend & Summerhill Football Club and Wallsend & Plattsburg Athletic Club. He was Vice-President of the Committee agitating for a Cottage Hospital (later to be established as the Wallsend Mining District Hospital, opened on 21 April 1893.) He was a Committee Member of the Hunter River Agricultural Association, a director of the Wallsend & Plattsburg Gas Company , as well as provisional director of the Ferndale Brewery, Wine and Spirit Co. The Brewery Company was formed to absorb and develop the Park Brewery at Islington and John Powell, manager of the Ferndale Colliery, was also a provisional director, together with many prominent Newcastle businessmen.
Like his father, he was an enthusiastic follower of the “sport of kings”, and had an interest in the horse stud and the cattle property at Styles Grove, although he continued to reside at Maryland Cottage, adjacent to the Cooperative Colliery. Again like his father, he was interested in prospecting, and in 1886 was a member of a syndicate which took up 40 acres at Vegetable Creek in the northern New South Wales district where there had been a new silver find. Others in the syndicate included the then Attorney General, John Want and Thomas Birrell, JP, of Plattsburg.
Properties in Newcastle, Plattsburg and Sydney were owned by young James and many were in Olivia’s name, free from the debts of her husband. At one time he also owned 100 acres of valuable timber country at Gap Creek, Martinsville. Together with his father, James Jnr. was associated with several collieries including Wickham & Bullock Island, Stockton Colliery and several on the Maitland and Illawarra fields. The Wickham and Bullock Island Colliery was of great interest in mining circles as it was the first in Australia to be sunk under tidal waters. The Metropolitan Coal Co. on the Illawarra field was another venture in which father and son were interested. The shaft in this mine, sunk under their supervision, was at that time the deepest in the district. Both father and son were the principal members of the syndicate which opened up the property.
A community worker with great energy and vitality, it was not surprising that pressure was exerted on James Jnr after the death of his father to stand for the seat of Newcastle. He declined nomination, no doubt influenced by the deleterious effect of public life on the health of his father. It was reported that had he accepted nomination he would have “got in with flying colours”.
Another factor which probably had a bearing on his decision was the offer of a partnership in David Proudfoot’s Railway Contracting firm at Newtown in Sydney. Proudfoot, a friend and admirer of James Fletcher Snr, had died on the same day as Fletcher and young James afterwards received a very attractive offer which he decided to accept. The Wallsend and Plattsburg community, sad to see the couple leave, arranged a farewell presentation at which an illuminated address 4 ft. by 3 ft. was presented in recognition of their services to the district. The address made by John Sands of George Street, Sydney, was decorated with paintings of Maryland Cottage, Nobbys headland and Wallsend and Plattsburg, together with miniature portraits on porcelain of James and Olivia. Another social evening was held before their departure at the Plattsburg Mechanics Institute, where Olivia was presented with a handsome tea and coffee service.
After winding up his affairs and recommending James Barr as his successor at the Cooperative Colliery, James and Olivia left Plattsburg in September 1891 to reside in Campbell Street, Newtown The Wallsend and Plattsburg community viewed the move with great regret as they were the last of the Fletcher family residing in the district at that time. In 1895 historic Maryland Cottage finally passed from the Fletcher family when it was sold to William Laidley. The household furniture and effects were auctioned off, after which the Barr family took up residence.
The financial depression during the last decade of the nineteenth century no doubt affected railway contractors Proudfoot and Fletcher, and after several years James Fletcher left the business and returned to the Newcastle district. For a time he managed the Stockton Colliery and then Wickham and Bullock Island. He played an important role in the settlement of disputes in the mining industry and succeeded Judge Beeby as Chairman of Arbitration Boards.
During the early years of the twentieth century James Fletcher Jnr became managing proprietor of the Belmont Colliery near Green Point, Lake Macquarie. Old friends and business associates J. and W. Robertson were partners in this venture and Fletcher continued to manage this mine until his health deteriorated in 1934. During the latter years he and Olivia lived at 42 Blackall Street, Hamilton, on land later occupied by the Murrays funeral business. The couple was childless and Olivia predeceased James when she died aged 69 years in 1930.
James Jnr spent his last years in Waverton where he resided with his niece, Eileen, daughter of his brother Henry, who lived in America. Eileen in her youth had lived for a time with her aunt and uncle, and it was whilst living in Hamilton that she met her future husband, Leslie Surman, a local bank manager. James and Olivia were both buried in the Wallsend Cemetery, Shortland.
Maggie
When Margaret (Maggie) Fletcher attained her majority in 1882, her parents entertained friends and relations at Newcastle City Hall to celebrate the event. There were 200 guests in the gaily decorated hall, and they danced to Colin Christie’s band until 5am. Margaret’s brother-in-law, John Sweet, was in charge of the festivities and W. Lashmore provided a sumptuous banquet. The speakers included C. H. Hannell and Angus Cameron M.L.A., and many toasts were drunk. Two years later Maggie, second eldest daughter of James Fletcher, was engaged to John Mclean Blanchard of Sydney, fourth son of William Earl Blanchard.
The year 1884 may have posed financial problems for James Fletcher Snr, but he was determined to see Maggie married in style. The wedding, on April 2, 1884, turned out to be a great social occasion for Wallsend, with 15 carriages leaving Styles Grove, the Fletcher mansion on Minmi Road, for the Primitive Methodist Church in Devon St, Plattsburg, where the Rev. J. Ashmead officiated. Fletcher had hired a Sydney ferry for the conveyance of guests, and after the wedding more than 250 people sat down to a delicious wedding breakfast at Styles Grove,’to the tune of popping champagne corks. At 8.30 pm, under the light of hundreds of Chinese lanterns, the ball commenced in the specially built pavilion. The band played until sunrise and those who didn’t dance played cards, or roamed the beautifully landscaped grounds, seeking garden seats in secluded places. The newlyweds left Newcastle by steamer on their honeymoon.
William
Just like Maggie, William Birrell Fletcher was born during the troubled days when the Co-operative Colliery was in its infancy. The financial position of the family had marginally improved, however, when William arrived in 1863 as his father was then managing the Minmi Colliery. His rapidly increasing family and the distress incurred during the years 1859 to 1863 most likely psychologically scarred James Fletcher for the remainder of his life. On many occasions in later years he mentioned his abhorrence of strikes which he believed caused great hardship and deprivation. Indeed, it must have been particularly distressing for the breadwinner to see his wife and children going hungry.
William B. Fletcher was employed as a clerk after the move to Sydney. During 1886 whilst studying law, he became a member of a syndicate of eight men who purchased the Dover Heights Estate in the Bondi-Waverley district, with the intention of developing a new subdivision. Members of the syndicate included MLAs Angus Cameron, William G. Judd and Frederick J. Dibbs, (brother of George R. Dibbs.) The purchase price of the land was £30,000 and most of this was borrowed from banks. The syndicate failed, largely through the chicanery of their legal adviser, and the other partners had their estates sequestrated, leaving young William to shoulder a bankruptcy action, and a debt of over £30,000. The property, valued at between £40,000 and £50,000, was eventually sold by the bank. For a time it seemed as though James Fletcher Snr would become involved, as he was guarantor for William, and the case dragged on for years.
Early in 1890 William, who had married Florence May Clarke on 31 August, 1886, was residing at Ebley St, Waverley, (Bondi Junction) but a few months later he was back in Wallsend, articled to solicitor Thomas Cronin. William, whose office and residence was in John Street, Plattsburg, was well regarded by the community. Like his father and other family members, he was an enthusiastic follower of horse racing, with the family still owning valuable blood horses, and was a committee member of the Wallsend Jockey Club.
After the death of his father, young William was nominated by old family friends for a position on Plattsburg Council and in April 1891 he was elected, having “obtained the largest majority of votes ever allocated in a municipal election in Plattsburg and Wallsend.” This result motivated community leaders to request him to stand as a candidate for the seat of Newcastle in the forthcoming election. However, he too, like his brother James, declined nomination and continued working for Thomas Cronin. William Fletcher, with his wife and family, left Plattsburg for Sydney in 1895 so as to complete his law studies. He was given an official send-off by the Plattsburg and Wallsend Councils, together with old family friends, as all were loath to see him go. However, he assured the gathering that his absence would only be temporary as he intended returning to practise in the district when he qualified. True to his word, William returned in 1901, to reside at Pit Town (Wallsend), and was solicitor for the Wallsend Council for many years. During the latter years of his life William lived in Mosman, and was there until the time of his death in 1926.
Isabelle
While James Fletcher and James C. Ellis were campaigning on opposite sides of the political spectrum in 1887, very bitterly and with their supporters at times engaged in fisticuffs, Isabelle, born in 1866, the youngest daughter of James Fletcher, and James Frank, eldest son of James C. Ellis, were courting. On 12 February 1887 the couple were married at St Bartholomews Church, Pyrmont by the Rev. George Middleton. Isabelle enjoyed a degree of local fame as a singer, and she often entertained at public functions, as did her younger brother Henry Petrie Fletcher who had a fine tenor voice.
Henry (Harry)
Apparently Harry Fletcher, who was born in 1872, had studied law and at one time was in the employ of Wallsend solicitor Thomas Cronin. However, he changed professions and became an analytical chemist and assayer. In February of 1895 H. P. Fletcher departed the district, lured to Western Australia by the recent gold discoveries. While residing in Coolgardie in 1896 he advised that the rush had lost much of its momentum, with speculators becoming more wary. They “won’t invest until they see a crushing. A piece of gold studded quartz can’t form a company of £50,000 as it did eighteen months ago”. His wife had contracted typhoid fever and Henry complained that it was costing him £10 a week to keep her in a private hospital room. However, he was delighted to advise that she was recovering. A typhoid epidemic was raging in Coolgardie at the time and many were dying, particularly young men. Lack of water and poor sanitation exacerbated the problem. Unfortunately his wife did not survive, and the grieving widower left Coolgardie and settled for a time in the West Wyalong district. It was there that he met catherine Sampson who became his second wife on November 14, 1901.
In 1922 Henry P. Fletcher and family left Australia for New York, USA where he continued working in his profession until his death at 62 years of age. His widow and two sons James Sampson and Henry remained in America. As mentioned Henry’s daughter Eileen, a university graduate, had married bank manager Leslie Surman, and at the time of her father’s death was residing in Sydney.
John (Jack)
John Perceval Fletcher, born in 1874, was only ten years of age when the family left the Newcastle district for Sydney. He trained as a dentist, and opened a surgery in Maitland, on the corner of Church and High Streets. On June 7, 1905 he married Jeanette Wilson Logan, youngest daughter of Mrs. Peter Logan of Maitlandville, and the couple lived at 53 Belmore Road, Lorn. John became an alderman on Maitland City Council, and at one time unsuccessfully stood for state parliament. In the early years of the century he was a great supporter of Les Darcy, the famous Maitland boxer. In 1916, prior to Darcy leaving for America, J.P. Fletcher organised a send-off party from his home. He continued to practise until about 1940. John and Jeanette had one son, Henry, who died in 1933.
Crawford
Crawford James, second youngest in the family, was born in 1876. He followed in the footsteps of his brother John, also training in Sydney as a dentist and returned to Newcastle to set up a practice. In 1899 Crawford married Olive Hestelow of Wickham, at the home of her parents with the Rev. T. Parr officiating. The family resided in Lindus Street, Wickham, and Crawford for many years, had his surgery at 18 Watt Street, Newcastle.
Laidley
Laidley Shepheard Fletcher, named in honour of William Laidley, the great benefactor of the Fletcher family, was born in 1877 and he too was a youngster when the family moved to Sydney. He attended Sydney University and eventually returned to Newcastle where he was articled to solicitors, Reid & Reid. Laidley enlisted in the Army during the Boer War and, on his return from service, became a timekeeper and costing clerk for the Department of Railways in Sydney. He suffered a severe illness in 1926 and on his recovery, took up a position as accountant and clerk at the Belmont Colliery, then managed by his older brother James. He had married Ethel Warren in 1912 and there were two sons of the union, Shepheard James (named after William Laidley’s son), and Warren. During the latter years the family lived near the Belmont Colliery at Lake Macquarie. Like his father, Laidley’s lifespan was brief as he died at 57 years of age and was buried in the Methodist Section of Wallsend Cemetery.
