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Coalmining

Read more about the article James Fletcher, behind the legend, by Dulcie Hartley
The statue of James Fletcher at the Lower Reserve, Newcastle, in 1976

James Fletcher, behind the legend, by Dulcie Hartley

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. What follows are the preface and first chapter of Dulcie's six-chapter…

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Read more about the article Old King Coal was a merry old liar and cheat

Old King Coal was a merry old liar and cheat

A friend of mine had a job once at a grain silo in western NSW, testing wheat for its gluten content. Farmers were paid according to the gluten content of the grain, so the results he got from grinding and analysing his test portion were very important to them. Some farmers, my friend said, offered him bribes of alcohol and other presents to falsify his test results. Needless to say, he refused. Not unlike a story that resurfaced this week, when independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the multinational corporations that run Australia’s export coal industry of…

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Read more about the article Ed Tonks: lessons from local history

Ed Tonks: lessons from local history

I like to flatter myself that I'm a little bit like my friend Ed Tonks. We're both very interested in good beer and in local history and geography. Both of us sometimes also get highly focused on narrow topics which we then follow in whatever odd directions chance dictates. Ed and I are both comfortable with the idea that many people would say we are "on the spectrum". That's fine. As Ed smilingly says: "The world should be thankful for enthusiasts". Enthusiasm is one of Ed's defining characteristics, and it's what has made him such a…

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