Newcastle Herald Archives - Photo Time Tunnel

James Fletcher, by Dulcie Hartley. Chapter 2

Post author:Greg Ray
Post published:February 9, 2024
Post category:History
Post comments:2 Comments

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. The following second chapter, concerning Fletcher's involvement with The Newcastle Morning…

Milton Merrilees, Newcastle press photographic legend

Post author:Greg Ray
Post published:February 12, 2021
Post category:History Newcastle, NSW, Australia Vintage Photographs and Photography
Post comments:0 Comments

Among numerous fine photographers to be employed over many decades by the Herald and Sun daily newspapers in Newcastle, NSW, the name of Milton Merrilees stands out among the best. An extremely dedicated newsman and a passionate photographer, Merrilees was popular with workmates and the public alike, establishing a reputation as a gentlemanly but tenacious photo-journalist. He began working as a cadet photographer in 1937 and was pictorial editor for the Herald and the Sun when he retired in 1979. With a career that spanned the years of World War 2 he saw tremendous changes in…

James Fletcher, “the miner’s advocate”

Post author:Greg Ray
Post published:April 29, 2020
Post category:History Newcastle, NSW, Australia Vintage Photographs and Photography
Post comments:2 Comments

JAMES Fletcher’s name has become synonymous with the foundation of The Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate. The Scottish-born former miner, mining union leader, mine manager, mine owner and Member for Newcastle may not literally have founded the newspaper, but he was its proprietor during some of its crucial early years and he used the paper to powerfully influence the progress of the coal industry. Fletcher migrated from Scotland in 1852 at the age of 18 and, after an unsuccessful attempt to make his fortune in the gold rush, came to Newcastle to work coal, finding…

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James Fletcher, by Dulcie Hartley. Chapter 3 March 4, 2024
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