Mike Scanlon in a Newcastle Herald article on 12 May 2017 has an interesting story on Bull’s Garden, an exotic pleasure garden established by Edmund Bull in Whitebridge around 1860. The gardens lasted about 70 years and were closed in the 1930s.
A 1911 map held by the National Library of Australia shows the location of Bull’s Garden, to the east of Bulls Garden Road. I have overlaid the map into Google Earth to identify the location in the current landscape. (KMZ file for Google Earth)
Update, August 2023
While browsing the Newcastle Library Hunter Photobank site, I came across a Ralph Snowball photograph titled simply “Bush scene”. After studying it for a while and noticing quite a number of landscaped elements such as rock walls, paths, bridges and steps, I realised that it was a photo of Bull’s Garden in Whitebridge.
Comparing the central rocky creek bed and precipice from Snowball’s photo, with an aerial photo of 76 Bulls Garden Rd Whitebridge from the SIX maps site, confirms the location of the Snowball photo.
Thanks so much for all of your research! Edmund Bull was my family’s ancestor and my Dad used to talk about Bullsgarden. Even though I grew up in Newcastle I wasn’t sure exactly where Bullsgarden had been, only that Bullsgarden Rd, Whitebridge was obviously named after it. Thank you for pinpointing the exact location. It’s much appreciated.
Happy to have stumbled onto this! Thank you for the accurate map work 🙂
I am a descendant of the Bull family and was very excited to read your article and see the photos. I am currently updating our family history which my mother did in the 80’s and 90’s. Your insights will be most helpful to me as I do this. Thank you
Allison Bull
What a great find Lachlan! The update from August 2023. I am fascinated by Bull’s Garden and how many people it attracted as a tourist destination.
Thank you for your great work.