The Tingle Factor Box

Rover Finds Hidden History In East Maitland - Glebe Cemetery

 

This week Rover decided he wanted to visit somewhere quiet and contemplative. He wanted to spend some time in the country enjoying time quietly taking in some history, and marvelling at the spectacular scenery. The perfect place to do this seemed to be a cemetery, and Rover was fascinated by the history of the hidden away Glebe Cemetery in Maitland. 

 

 

If you would like to visit The Glebe cemetery it is located in Maitland, not far from Newcastle in NSW. To visit the Cemetery, find the intersection of Flinders and George Streets in East Maitland. Rover recommends parking in George Street. From there, walk to the end of George Street, and then continue across the grass until you reach the cemetery. The walk is only short (about 5 minutes).

 

 

The Glebe Cemetery may be best known by this name, but the Cemetery’s ‘official’ title when it was in use was actually St Peter’s Church of England Burial Ground. It is one of the oldest cemeteries in the entire Hunter Valley area. The cemetery was marked out, with the area being cleared and a fence erected in 1829, though it is believed that there are even older graves at the site. Certainly, it appears that the Cemetery was in use not long after the Maitland area was settled. 

 

 

The first burial to have been marked by a grave stone or monument was Andrew Sparke, who died in 1830, but it is probable that there are even earlier graves, which were unmarked. Indeed, one of these unmarked graves is actually believed to belong to Colonial Architect Francis Greenway! Yet early burials, including those which took place in the 1830s, were made in unconsecrated ground. It was not until 1843, on St Peter’s Day, that the cemetery was officially consecrated by Bishop Broughton. A tent was built on the site specifically for this occasion. The cemetery continued to be used until 1900, when use discontinued, and the site began to become overgrown. The site is now recognised as having state significance, and is maintained as such.

Roaming Roy Finds Some Rough Hewn History - Hew Cottage

 

This week, Roy decided that with all the wet weather we have been having recently, he wanted to spend a little time pottering through photos of past trips. As he browsed through the photos he has taken in the past, he noticed a lovely little cottage in Maitland. He remembered seeing the cottage, Hew Cottage, and thinking it was a fascinating place which he wanted to learn more about. 

 

 

If you would like to visit Hew Cottage, it is located in East Maitland, not far from Newcastle. The cottage stands in the lovely King Edward Park in Maitland, and on the corners of the New England Highway and Grant Street. The cottage today is simply sitting in the park, not far from the Les Darcy memorial, but it is a fascinating glimpse into what houses in Maitland probably once looked like!

 

 

Hew Cottage is something of a mystery. When Roy began to look into the history of the tiny cottage, which he thinks is probably only one room, he discovered that there is very little information about the tiny wooden building. He has been able to piece together a little of the history of the historic cottage though. The timber cottage is slab built, and was originally constructed in the 19th century, though Roy could not find out the exact date. The cottage was only very small though, and over time, additions were made.

 

In the late 1970s, a weatherboard cottage in Maitland was set to be demolished, but underneath the various weatherboard additions, the original, tiny wooden cottage was discovered. The cottage was clearly an extremely historic building, and the Maitland City Council decided to donate it to the Maitland and District Tourist Association. The problem was, it would need to be moved to a new location. A new market was established, Maitland Markets, to raise funds to move the building (and 35 years later the markets are still being held, and have raised over 2 million dollars for charity), and The Lions Club also helped in the relocation. In the 1980s the building was used as a visitor information centre, but for many years it has been sitting, seemingly unused, in King Edward Park

Roaming Roy Boxes Up Some History - Les Darcy

This week, Roy decided it was time to learn more about one of the many famous Australians he has discovered monuments to on his trips out and about. There are many monuments to important figures in Australian history, but one which intrigued Roy particularly when he discovered it was the monument to Les Darcy in Maitland. Roy knew very little about the man, but the sculpture was beautiful and made him want to find out more.

If you would like to visit the memorial to Les Darcy, it is located in East Maitland, not far from Newcastle. The monument is in the lovely King Edward Park in Maitland, on the corners of the New England Highway and Grant Street. The monument, which includes a beautiful bronze sculpture of the famous boxer is located in a lovely park, perfect for a picnic or to run off a little energy, and of course there is also plenty to see and do in Maitland itself!

Les Darcy was a famous Australian sportsman, most famous as a boxer. He was born at Stradbroke, not far from Maitland, in 1895 and was the second son in a family of ten children. His grandparents came from Tipperary in Island and his parents were Irish Catholic. When he was just 12 years old he left school and when he was 15, he was apprenticed to a local blacksmith in East Maitland. Darcy played an important role in supporting his family as his father was often unemployed and his older brother was partially crippled. Yet blacksmithing was not where he was to make his money. When he was just 14 years old, he made his first money as a boxer and in 1912 and 1913 he won several more fights in Newcastle and Maitland. In November of 1913 he lost to the Australian welter-weight championship but his performance impressed Sydney promoters none-the-less and just a year later he made his first appearance at the Sydney Statium against the American boxer Fritz Holland. Supporters came to see him fight, travelling in two trains all the way from Maitland.

Darcy lost that fight, but his fans needn’t have worried – he had impressed the promoter Snowy Baker and soon became Sydney Stadiums main drawcard. In 1915 he fought the American Jeff Smith in a fight which was billed as a world welter-weight championship. He lost, because his seconds refused to allow the fight to continue after he was hurt by a foul blow which was not seen by the referee, but this loss was also to be his last and he went on to win 22 consecutive fights. In 1916, he was desperate to go to America, saying he would play five to six fights in order to make his family financially secure, and then enlist to fight in the Great War as it was then known. He left Australia under a veil of secrecy and in breach of the War Precautions Act and as a result many saw him as a shirker. His major fight in New York was banned by the governor because of the manner in which Darcy left Australia and he eventually volunteered to serve in the war. Darcy never saw war service though, collapsing and being admitted to hospital with septicaemia and endocarditis. He developed pneumonia and died on the 24^th of May 1917 and his body was returned to Australia. It is claimed that 700,000 people were part of his funeral procession.

Roaming Roy Takes Stock - Stockade Hill, Maitland

This week, with Fathers Day upon us, Roy decided it was time to share one of the many wonderful picnic places he has discovered on his travels. Roy loves nature, history and a great picnic and when they all come together in one place, he is very happy indeed. Of course, finding such places can be a little difficult, but in Maitland, we found a wonderful park, which was just perfect.

If you would like to visit Stockade Hill, it is located in Maitland, in the beautiful NSW Hunter Valley. The area of the stockade is now known as Stockade Hill Heritage Park, and it is bounded by Banks Street, Adams Street, Brisbane Street and Park Street. The Stockade Hill Heritage Park is a huge park, with a rotunda and absolutely huge grassed areas for picnics, kite flying or just to run off some energy. Roy thinks it could be a little muddy after rain, so you might want a few blankets to sit on. Of course, if you visit after rain you also might spy a relic of times gone by in the form of broken crockery!

The area where Maitland is today is the traditional lands of the Gringgai clan of the Wanaruah Aboriginal peoples. In 1801 Lieutenant-Colonel Paterson explored the Hunter area, including the area where Maitland was later built. He named the area Schanck’s Forest Plains, and soon after his exploration cedar getters moved in. A more formal settlement began in 1818 when eleven emancipated convicts were given small land grants. Free settlers soon followed and the area began to thrive and grow. By 1829 a substantial government town was planned and soon after several impressive administrative buildings were built. In 1831 a road was opened between the new town and Windsor and in 1833 the settlement was officially proclaimed as Maitland.  

Maitland as we see it today is a beautiful historic city, but the settlement is built on the flood plains of the Hunter River. As a result, there have many floods in the history of the European settlement, including one recorded in 1819, just after formal settlement began. Perhaps it is no surprise then that the camp used by British soldiers was on one of the largest hills in the area! Stockade Hill as it is known today was where the military camp and police barracks was established to supervise and control the new settlement. The hill is also where the first school house, which doubled as a Church was built in 1829. The hill had a darker side too though, with Stockade Hill being the place where convicts sentenced to death were hung. In the same year that the new town was proclaimed, 1833, the hill once again changed use, being dedicated as a public park. This makes it the oldest public park outside of Sydney itself!

Roaming Roy Has A Sinking Feeling - Oakhampton Cemetery

This week, Rover decided he wanted to head somewhere north for a day out in the sunshine. There has been a lot of rain in the Sydney region recently, and Rover was hoping that if he headed north he might find some sunshine. Of course, he found that and much more during his trip to Maitland. He visited lots of fascinating places, but in choosing just one to write up today, he wanted to share the historic and fascinating Oakhampton Cemetery.

If you would like to visit Oakhampton Cemetery, it is located in Maitland in the Hunter Valley. The street address is on Oakhampton Road, in the Oakhampton area of Maitland, and it is only a few minutes drive from Maitland’s heart. When Rover visited, he asked the GPS to find the cemetery, which is did, but be warned, it took him a rather circuitous route! The cemetery is fascinating though, and well worth a visit if you are in the area.

Oakhampton Cemetery is an historic cemetery, set in an historic landscape. Although well used during the 19^th century, with 97 recorded burials between 1849 and 1894, it has been well over a century since the last internment took place in this particular graveyard. The cemetery was created on the banks of the Hunter River, in the area which became Oakhampton. The straight stretch of river was perfect for a cemetery as it was outside the limits of the Oakhampton settlement (which was required by law), but easily accessible and in 1849 Reverend Samuel Wilkinson purchased two lots of land to establish a Wesleyan cemetery for his community. All those who are buried here are of the Wesleyan faith. Once, there were grand plantings of trees in the area, with Italian Cypress lining the road side of the cemetery, Stone Pines, Robinias and Pepper Trees marking out the cemetery.

What makes this cemetery so interesting to Roy though is the landscape. When visiting, he was surprised to notice that many of the gravestones appear to be sinking into the soil, but this is actually not the case. Originally, the landscape of the cemetery was densely covered with bush but within 20 years of settlement in the area most of the trees had gone and by the 1840s most of the areas around the cemetery were cleared. This brought about two dramatic landscape effects, the first of which was soil erosion and the second was flooding. The cemetery itself is on a low ridge beside the river, and where it appears that the graves are sinking into the soil, the graves have actually been buried by sediment from successive floods and erosion from nearby farming. As a result, there are multiple levels to this cemetery, with some of the graves all but covered with sediments and later graves constructed higher up. In fact, some of the graves are actually up to a metre below the original surface level today!

Roaming Roy Rings A Bell For History - St John's Anglican Church and Bell Raymond Terrace

This week Roy wanted to visit somewhere fascinating and unexpected. He comes across all sorts of fascinating places on his trips, some of them with a surprising story to tell. He always loves such places as they provide such a fascinating glimpse into our history. One such place he has visited is the St John’s Anglican Church in Raymond Terrace. Roy loves churches, and this one is certainly a beauty, but the surprising thing about this place is not the church itself, but the bell in the grounds which originates from a wrecked ship!

If you would like to visit St John’s Anglican Church, it is located in Raymond Terrace. The Church is on Sturgeon Street, not far from Glenelg Street. To get there, come off the Pacific Highway at Masonite Road and then turn into Adelaide Street. Follow Adelaide Street until you reach Glenelg St and from there, turn into Sturgeon Street itself. You will actually be able to see the church from Adelaide Street (or Roy could, when he visited). There is plenty to do in Raymond Terrace with history, parks, shops, cafes and restaurants abounding. It is a perfect place to break your journey and let the kids stretch their legs.

St John’s Anglican Church is more correctly called St John The Evangelist Anglican Church, and is over 150 years old. Although the first public service was held in 1839 at a local inn, the Church itself was not built until 1862. The Church is an important and unusual example of a ‘rural’ Church designed by the famous architect Edmund Blackett, who is perhaps better know for designing not only Churches in Sydney, but also several buildings at the University of Sydney. Locally quarried sandstone was used in building the gothic style church. The large bell tower, which is separate to the church itself, was built later. The Church has a number of beautiful and historic items, including an historic organ, altar, stone carvings and tablets and spectacular stained glass windows.

The bell in the separate bell tower is of particular interest though. It originates from a ship wreck, that of the Ceres. What is perhaps most fascinating to Roy though is that although many reports about the bell say it was salvaged from a 1935 shipwreck off North Head in Sydney, the only reports about a Ceres to be wrecked in Australia date from the following year, and the wreck was actually closer to Newcastle than Sydney! On a fine, Monday afternoon in August or September of 1836 (reports vary a little), the ship Ceres left Newcastle for Sydney, a trip which was the norm for the ship. By the next evening though there were grave fears for the safety of the ship, a gale having blown in on Monday evening, and a bucket and cable box from the Ceres being washed ashore the next day. Indeed, the ship had been lost, but the crew and passengers were reported to have safely escaped the ship in newspaper articles of the time. Whether this is the wreck from which the bell at St John’s Anglican Church was salvaged, much of the ship was salvaged, including timbers and even boilers (though these were apparently lost again when in transit to Sydney).

Roaming Roy Finds A Slippery Work Of Art - Rainbow Serpent Raymond Terrace

This week, Roy decided he wanted to spend some time investigating Aboriginal heritage. Australia has a wealth of Aboriginal heritage, and Roy has visited many rock art sites over the years. This week he wanted to do something a little different though. Some time ago, we were in Raymond Terrace investigating the history of the area and came across a beautiful rainbow serpent sculpture which Roy loved. He wanted to find out more, and this week seemed the perfect time to do just that!

If you would like to visit the rainbow serpent sculpture, it is located in Raymond Terrace, not far from Newcastle. The serpent is in Riverside Park and to get there turn off Adelaide Street into Glenelg Street and follow the road until you can see the water. Hunter Street runs along the edge of the park itself and you should be able to find parking. There is plenty of room in the park to enjoy a picnic or run off a little energy, and it is a beautiful spot to admire the Hunter River.

Before European settlement in the area, Raymond Terrace and Port Stephens were home to the Worimi tribe of Aboriginal people. According to one early visitor to the area, Charles Grimes, these Aborigines were taller and stouter than the Aborigines who lived in and around Sydney, and of course spoke a different language. Although Lieutenant Colonel Paterson came ashore at Raymond Terrace in 1801 and Governor Macquarie visited the future town site in 1812 and 1818, the first European settlers in the area were timber getters, rapidly followed by farmers. The village of Raymond Terrace was not actually gazetted until 1837. Before white settlement in the Port Stephens and Raymond Terrace area, there were approximately 400 Aborigines living around the Port Stephens Estuary, but by second half of the 19^th century these numbers had dramatically dropped with only 50 members of the Worimi tribe remaining by 1873. By 1900 very few Aborigines remained, but there are accounts of their nature, which suggest that they were happy people, who enjoyed life and were prone to laughter.

The Rainbow Serpent sculpture in Riverside Park was installed during NAIDOC week in 2009 and is a tribute to the Aboriginal history and culture of the area. It is a public artwork which was created in partnership with the Worimi Local Aboriginal Land Council and Port Stephens Council and features beautifully handmade tiles. The sculpture is 11 metres long, curling around a fire-pit which is used for traditional smoke ceremonies, but the circular snake also provides seating and a meeting place for locals. The giant snake, which was created over an 18 month period, was a community effort with local children and other community members decorating the giant snake with the thousands of tiles. Most of these tiles were even decorated and glazed by local children from the area.  

Roaming Roy Mines History - Kurri Kurri Mines Memorial

This week, Roy wanted to head into the Hunter Valley to visit a beautiful small town. The Hunter Valley is full of beautiful scenery, fantastic food and shops, and quaint little country towns full of history. Roy loves visiting these places and finding out the stories associated with them, and he is particularly interested in the history of mining in the area. When I suggested we visit the Mining Memorial in Kurri Kurri he thought this was a wonderful idea.

If you would like to visit Kurri Kurri it is located in the Hunter Valley (NSW), not far from Cessnock. To get there, take the M1 (F3) Freeway, and exit onto Freemans Drive. Follow the signs to Kurri Kurri. Kurri Kurri is a small town, but one with a long history of coal mining, and close by is the Richmond Vale Railway Museum which is well worth a stop.

Kurri Kurri is a town with a rich history. The town lies at the centre of the South Maitland Coalfields in the Hunter Valley and much of its history is tied up with the lucrative coal industry. In the late 1800s the Newcastle coalfields were winding down and mine owners were looking for other areas to mine coal. The South Maitland Coalfields had been proven by Sir Edgeworth David, the Government Geological Surveyor, to be the richest coal seam in the Southern Hemisphere so of course, attention shifted to these coal fields. The town of Kurri Kurri was founded in 1902 as the service centre for the local Stanford Merthyr and Pelaw Main mines and the people who worked them.

Mining for coal was not only a dirty job, but one which was notoriously insecure. Miners came and went as work waxed and waned and many of the workers were transient. Others however took the opportunity to buy free hold properties in Kurri Kurri, and miners cottages soon started to spring up. Mining was also dangerous work though and accidents did occur, leaving widows and even orphans in their wake. The most serious of these was an explosion and fire at the Standford Merthyr Mine in 1905. This accident resulted in the deaths of six miners. At the height of the mining era in Kurri Kurri there were 28 operational pits, employing 11,000 local men in addition to the people employed in the service industries in the town itself such as shops. The memorial and statue in the park in the centre of Kurri Kurri commemorate the important role of mining in the towns history.

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Roaming Roy Goes For A Ride - Richmond Vale Railway Museum Part 2

Roaming Roy Comes In For Landing - Colonel Patersons Landing Place Raymond Terrace

This week, Roy decided he wanted to head towards the Hunter Valley and investigate the amazing history around the Hunter River. Roy loves the Hunter Valley area, which is full of fantastic scenery, fascinating history and towns and intriguing shops and businesses, but hasn’t spent a lot of time in the Raymond Terrace area. He thought this would be the perfect time to change this. The question was, what to investigate? When he discovered that Raymond Terrace is actually the area where Colonel Paterson first stepped ashore when surveying the Hunter River he decided this was ideal.

If you would like to visit the place where Lieutenant-Colonel Paterson first stepped ashore, it is to be found on the waters edge at the end of Glenelg Street. There is a lovely little park area where you could enjoy a picnic or game, and of course it is ideal for a riverside walk. There is also a beautiful 'rainbow serpent' nearby to admire, as well as interpretive signs about the local fish.

Colonel William Paterson was a Scottish soldier and botanist who first came to Australia in 1791. He was a captain in the New South Wales Corp and spent time not only in New South Wales but also on Norfolk Island and in Tasmania. Today he is best known for leading early settlement in Tasmania, but he was also a political figure, serving as Lieutenant Governor under Governor Philip Gidley King. Paterson was also an important explorer, and in September 1793 he even led an unsuccessful expedition to find a route through the Blue Mountains and named the Grose River.

Paterson was also the man responsible for exploring and making a survey of the Hunter River in 1801. Newcastle had been discovered and settled only a short time earlier after Lieutenant Shortland, who in 1797 was searching for a ship and the escaped convicts who had seized it, had come ashore. It was also during this discovery that the Hunter River was discovered and named after Governor Hunter, but it was not explored. It was Governor King who decided that, with coal and timber plentiful in the area, the Hunter Valley (as it is now known) and the Hunter River needed to be explored and exploited. In 1801 he sent Lieutenant James Grant and Lieutenant-Colonel Paterson to explore the Hunter River. They travelled up the river as far as the area where Singleton now is, but the first place where the party, led by Paterson, stepped ashore was this spot on the riverbank at Raymond Terrace.

Roaming Roy Follows The Road Less Travelled - Wollombi

This week, Roy wanted to take his online friends to one of his favourite places to visit when coming home from the Hunter Valley. Roy often spends a day or two in the Hunter region, and loves to take the scenic route home, meandering through the beautiful and historic Wollombi Valley. Taking the road through the historic area always feels like taking a step back in time, meandering through farms and past beautiful old homes.

If you would like to visit Wollombi it is located in the Hunter Valley. Roy usually takes the road on his way home, leaving from Cessnock and following Wollombi Road until he reaches Wollombi itself. He then heads for Sydney, following part of the old Great North Road. There is plenty to see along this beautiful road, and Wollombi itself, although small, has shops and restaurants where you can break your journey.

Originally, Wollombi was home to Aborigines, with the Darkinjung, Awabakal and Wanaruah people all having some claim to the land. The name Wollombi is even thought to be an Aboriginal word which means meeting place of the waters or just meeting place, and it was possibly used as a ceremonial meeting place for people who were coming to visit the sacred Mount Yengo. When Europeans started to seek out a route between Sydney and the Hunter Valley region though, Europeans quickly entered the Wollombi Valley.

In 1826 construction began on the section of the Great North Road which was to run through Wollombi. Before this, only a few land grants and farmsteads existed in the area (though the grants were very large). The Great North Road was completed in 1831 though and within only two years Surveyor White laid out the village of Wollombi itself. The village developed not only as a centre for the farming community which had existed before the road, but for travellers using the road. As steamships starting to take over the commercial role of the road, transporting goods and passengers quickly between the Hunter and Sydney the road began to see less use and then when rust devastated the local crops in the 1870s the town of Wollombi entered decline. Today it is a beautiful, historic centre, popular with tourists and with motorbike riders who enjoy the twisty road.