© 2018 Greg & Sylvia RAY

NSW

Read more about the article Maitland, a city built on steam

Maitland, a city built on steam

Maitland is a city whose foundations were built on steam. And thanks to steam, the district was able to become one of the main drivers of economic growth in the young colony of New South Wales. The Hunter River was always the key to Maitland’s future. Not only did the river produce the great wealth in the trees and soil of the floodplain, it also provided the highway to move produce from farm to market. Boats and canoes of various kinds regularly plied the river in the early days of European settlement and it is clear…

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Read more about the article Dulcie Hartley’s history of Pulbah

Dulcie Hartley’s history of Pulbah

This is an edited text of my late friend Dulcie Hartley's short history of "Pulbah Island" in Lake Macquarie. Dulcie's daughter Venessa has provided the document, the full version is available for download in PDF form. Pulbah Island, a potential jewel in the crown of Lake Macquarie, has had a most chequered history since European occupation of Australia, ranging from a monastery to a fur farm. Easily accessible by water, it is situated between the headlands of Wangi Wangi and Point Wolstonecroft and comprises 69ha of sandstone and conglomerate, supporting a thick and, in places, nearly…

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Read more about the article Museum excursion to Port Stephens, 1880

Museum excursion to Port Stephens, 1880

Leafing through old newspapers often yields interesting material, some of it relevant to the Hunter Region of NSW where I live. The following two-part article is a good example. It provides an interesting account of a sea journey from Sydney to Port Stephens in 1880, purportedly to gather specimens for the Australian Museum. The author - who also did some sketches which are reproduced as engravings - describes a new fish-processing enterprise, the inner lighthouse and telegraph station and the down-at-heel city of Newcastle. It's also a rather bloodthirsty account, since the members of the expedition…

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