© 2018 Greg & Sylvia RAY

Newcastle 360 degree panorama, circa 1910-1920

Our friend Bruce had been to a garage sale one Saturday morning where he found, sitting on a nogging in the frame of a neglected shed, a little cardboard box of glass plate negatives. They didn't cost him much and that same night he passed them into our hands as a gift, asking only that we give him copies of whatever images we scanned from them. When I first scanned them I could see that at least a few were from the Newcastle area, but the others seemed mysterious to me. One was clearly taken on…

Continue ReadingNewcastle 360 degree panorama, circa 1910-1920

James Fletcher, “the miner’s advocate”

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…

Continue ReadingJames Fletcher, “the miner’s advocate”
Read more about the article Robert Sneesby’s eyewitness account of old Newcastle
Newcastle, NSW, in 1886

Robert Sneesby’s eyewitness account of old Newcastle

Some years ago Mrs Margaret Thompson was visiting an elderly aunt to gather information for some family history research. A request for old photographs brought to light an old black exercise book in which the elderly lady's father, the late Robert Sneesby, had recorded many of his recollections of Newcastle in the late 1800s. Recognising the treasure, Mrs Thompson and her husband Stuart transcribed the document, added numerous photos from various sources and made a handful of copies. Some months ago she kindly loaned me a copy to scan. A copy of her transcribed document was…

Continue ReadingRobert Sneesby’s eyewitness account of old Newcastle
×
×

Cart