Was it unbridled civic pride or simple commercial interest that inspired local dentist Wally Harkins to write and compile this ‘With Compliments’ booklet about West Maitland in 1922? What was in it for him? Providing an historical overview and singing the praises of Maitland and its surrounding district, the booklet includes photographs, descriptions, and brief […]
Colourful streamers stretched across the water and spectators lined the riverbanks, while the Federal Band played upbeat tunes and ladies served tea from a patriotically decorated tent. The impressive turnout was for the 1915 Carnival at the Horseshoe Bend of the Hunter River at Maitland, hosted by the West Maitland Water Brigade. The afternoon’s events […]
Several ladies were in attendance at the Maitland Technical College on the evening of 4 March 1913. It was one of the first meetings of the newly formed Maitland District Scientific and Historical Research Society, and the members might have been surprised to see so many women active in a domain from which they had […]
Seven-year-old Norm Ryan probably never felt so ill when he was admitted to Maitland District Hospital on 18 April 1940.* His symptoms, which might have included a sore throat, swollen neck, rapid breathing and fever were recognised as diphtheria and the hospital immediately notified East Maitland’s health inspector Basil Volckman. The following day, he attended […]
In mid-1876 a committee of men from the West Maitland Borough Council assembled to plan the location of the town’s first 25 gas streetlamps. The Council had passed the decision to install lights as early as 1860 and ten years later, the Maitland Gas Light Company was formed to supply the gas. But someone would […]
In 1878, when her mother Margaret passed away, Phoebe Day (1855-1930) was just 23 years old. Unlike her nine older siblings, Phoebe was probably still living with her mother and caring for her since the death of her father, Edward, two years earlier. As the eldest sibling at home, Phoebe may have taken responsibility for […]
When raging flood waters and swirling mud swept through Maitland in 1955, eleven people lost their lives and countless others lost their homes and businesses. Three years later, the community was back on its feet and eager to celebrate its recovery. In 1958, with the intention of thanking Australia for its support and demonstrating Maitland’s […]
From a prominent place on a public drinking fountain in central West Maitland, this plaque saw many a carthorse approach to lap at the cool water in the trough below and townspeople stop to drink from its bubbling spout. The fountain was installed in 1889 in memory of Dr Robert James Pierce, and the plaque […]
When twice-transported English convict Mary ‘Molly’ Morgan (1760-1835) stepped off the ship to serve a colonial sentence at Newcastle in 1814, little did she know that about 170 years later she would become the central character of a musical stage play. What would she have thought of the band’s electric guitars, saxophone and drumkit (not […]
In an office at the Male Orphan School in Liverpool (now Bonnyrigg), on 24 March 1831, a clerk laid a freshly printed form on his desk and, with his pen and ink, filled in the blanks. Somewhere in the rooms of the school that day was an eight year old boy named William Smith. He […]
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