Mysteries of the Patriots
One of the loveliest and best-loved historic buildings in Newcastle, NSW, is the "Longworth Institute" in Scott Street, opposite the former city railway station. Designed by celebrated German-born architect Frederick Menkens, the building was commissioned in 1891 by merchant and brewer Joseph Wood and began its functional life as "Wood's Chambers and Auction Hall". Wood died in 1908, and the building was acquired by William Longworth - a tycoon of the times who had grown rich from mining-related enterprises and who kept the opulent Glenroy estate at Karuah, north of Newcastle. In 1928 Longworth donated the…