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Doug Lithgow

Read more about the article Doug Lithgow: an activ(ist) life
Doug in National Service uniform

Doug Lithgow: an activ(ist) life

There was a time when it seemed as though no contentious conservation or heritage issue could arise in Newcastle, NSW, without the opinions of Doug Lithgow being sought and quoted. Never self-interested or egotistical, Doug was (and still is) the epitome of a generation of modest, hard-working community-minded idealists. Born in Gladesville, Sydney, in 1933, Doug loved the area around Gladesville; sailing on the Parramatta and Lane Cove Rivers with the Warrego Naval Training Group. He spent some of his early years with family at Gilgandra, under the shadow of the Warrumbungle Mountains. His police officer…

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Read more about the article The mysterious case of the vanishing “natives”
Doug Lithgow in his study with framed copies of the charts he found in the Hydrographic Office of the British Navy in 2008

The mysterious case of the vanishing “natives”

Doug Lithgow, Freeman of the City of Newcastle, NSW, and noted campaigner for the environment and heritage, can cite many high points in his long life of activism and community involvement. But one of which he is especially proud is his "discovery" of the original hand-drawn map of the mouth of the Hunter River, drawn in 1797 by Lt John Shortland, RN. Actually, the chart wasn't lost. Like much of Newcastle's documentary heritage it was simply kept somewhere other than Newcastle. In this case, the somewhere else was the Hydrographic Office of the British Royal Navy…

Continue ReadingThe mysterious case of the vanishing “natives”
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