Real Estate Riot

Navigating the real estate market today can be a battle, but it’s unlikely to be as dangerous as the New Lambton land sale of 1886.  The colliery in this area was established in 1868, with land leased to miners rather than sold outright. After the mine closed, the owners planned a 474-lot subdivision, to be auctioned on-site on 27 February 1886. To entice bidders, a free special train from Newcastle was laid on, and lunch was to be provided. Things did not go well. The Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate reported:

One of the most disorderly scenes ever witnessed in the county occurred at New Lambton on Saturday, when Mr. J. C. Bonarius, the well-known and popular auctioneer, endeavoured to sell the property known as the New Lambton Estate. This land has been occupied for the past 16 or 17 years by tenants who have erected houses, and having lived so long on the land, resent any attempt to dispossess them. Accordingly, as soon as the train arrived, it was met by a hooting, roaring crowd, composed of the old leaseholders shouting, “They’re going to sell the roof over our heads!” On the sale being commenced, by their howling and groaning and making ridiculously small bids, they endeavoured to block the proceedings. The crowd then broke into the luncheon tent, seized the provisions and liquors, and threw the furniture outside. Five different messengers were despatched for the police, but none could be found, they all being away at the Wallsend races. The meeting had become a complete riotous display, and a number of intending buyers were intimidated and threatened. Mr. Bonarius had nothing left but to withdraw the sale.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 1 March 1886.

In the aftermath of the riot another on-site auction was not attempted. Instead, a month later Mr Bonarius held an auction in the Victoria Theatre in Newcastle – this time without food, without alcohol, and without incident.

A poster advertising the New Lambton Estate subdivision sale in 1886, which curiously has a completely different set of street names to those we know today. State Library of NSW.
What might have been – Pitt St and Horsfield St in New Lambton, now Portland St and Regent St. (Image digitally altered.)

The article above was first published in the March 2023 edition of The Local.


Additional Information

The original land sale was heavily promoted by J C Bonarius in the lead up to the on-site auction, with multiple large advertisements in the newspaper. The proprietor of the newspaper also got on board, with more than one editorial ‘puff piece’ praising the impending land sale in glowing terms such as “fine subdivision”, “best land”, “beautiful building sites”, “a more lovely spot is not to be found”, “the beauties of New Lambton Heights are far beyond description”, and “this little paradise”.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 23 January 1886.

On the Monday after the attempted land sale, the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate had a lengthy report on the disturbance. Because of its sensational nature, the story was reproduced in dozens of other newspapers across the country.

For reasons of space, the newspaper report I quoted in the article published in The Local was a much condensed version of the original, which appears in full below.

RIOT AT LAMBTON.
The Mob Block a Land Sale.
Disgraceful Proceedings.

ONE of the most disorderly scenes ever witnessed in the county of Northumberland occurred at New Lambton on Saturday last, when, pursuant to advertisement, Mr. J. C. Bonarius, the well-known and popular auctioneer, endeavoured to sell the property known as the New Lambton Estate. The special train, which left here at noon, conveyed a large number of intending purchasers from Newcastle, and there were numerous visitors from Sydney, Maitland, and elsewhere.

It appears that this property has been occupied for the past 16 or 17 years by a number of tenants who have erected houses thereon, and who originally held leases of 14 years, which have expired, two or three years since, through effluxion of time. Hence, having lived so long on the land, the occupiers came to regard it as their own, and were prepared to resent any attempt to dispossess them of what they, from force of habit, had led themselves to believe to be their birth-right, forgetting that since the expiration of their leases they had been permitted to remain on the land on sufferance rent free.

Accordingly, as soon as the train arrived, it was met by a hooting, roaring crowd, composed of the old leaseholders and their patizans, and a number of those who are always in their glory when there is a prospect of a row, shouting “They’re going to sell the roof over our heads !” Taking no notice, the party proceeded to partake of luncheon in a tent prepared for the occasion. During this time the larrikin element began to manifest itself in various way, and Mr. Bonarius, the auctioneer, addressed the crowd, which number in all about 700 persons, asking them in the most persuasive terms to keep quiet; but without avail. On the sale being commenced, it was evident that a concerted plan had been adopted by the old leaseholders to block it. Drafts of them were distributed here and there among the mob, and by their howling and groaning and making ridiculously small bids, they endeavoured to achieve this object. The crowd then broke into the [lunch] tent and took whatever they could lay their hands on, seized the provisions and liquors and threw the articles of furniture outside. The Hon. G. R. Dibbs, Colonial Secretary, who was present, remonstrated with them, asking them to conduct themselves like men, but they took no heed, and Mr. Dibbs and a number of gentlemen had to withdraw to save themselves from violence. Mr. Bonarius and his son were also threatened, and the attendants in charge of the luncheon paraphernalia beaten and ill-used. Five different messengers were despatched for the police, but none could be found, they all being away at the Wallsend races – which fact the mobs well knew. The meeting had now become a complete riotous display; the auctioneer’s voice was inaudible amidst the babel of tongues, and a number of intending buyers who were present were intimidated from bidding, as the rioters threatened them with ill-treatment if they did so. Mr. Bonarius had nothing left but to withdraw the sale, on which announcement being made, the mob set up cheer after cheer that could be heard a mile off. Lots 1 and 2, section B, on the crown of the hill, were sold at £2 per foot, while a few blocks lower down realised from 15s to £1 per foot.

It may be mentioned that last week Mr. Bonarius valued the allotments, informing their occupants that he would not sell the lots on which houses were built if the tenants were willing to pay the same for them as the adjoining allotment fetched. All except three were satisfied with his valuation, from which the proprietors were willing to knock off 50 per cent., and also to give two large allotments to each of the churches for the erection of their respective places of worship, and two allotments for a Mechanics’ Institute.

We understand that Police Court action is to be taken against the ringleaders.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 1 March 1886.

A fortnight later, one of the leaseholders on the New Lambton estate wrote a letter to the editor, giving quite a different explanation of the disturbance.

Sir, – Seeing an account in your paper of Monday, March 1st, wherein one of the most disorderly scenes ever witnessed in the county of Northumberland occurred at New Lambton, there being so many misstatement I deem it my duty to correct. First, the train arrived at New Lambton with 25 passengers, including vendors, auctioneers, and others. True, Sir, we have lived on the estate for 16 or 17 years, and have held leases for 14 years, but after that term expired we went on the same as before, paying our 30s a year for each allotment. As our original leases stated we had the right of renewal, and the proprietors have held out promises to renew it, so you will see, Sir, we have not, been living there rent free.
Next, the train arrived and was “met by a hooting, roaring crowd, composed ofleaseholders, &c.” We give our most emphatic denial to this. The people got out of the train and were never molested. After arriving on the top of the hill and partaking of luncheon provided by the auctioneer, some of the liquid portion was not long before it commenced to operate on the larrikin element, which had come from all parts of the district; and I have no doubt that they did misbehave themselves, and for this we blame other people, and not the tenants of the New Lambton Estate. As for 700 people being there, I think if the writer had said 70 it would have been nearer the mark.
Now, Sir, I say we had no concerted plan adopted to block the sale, but it was the auctioneer who ran the land up to such an exorbitant price that the leaseholders knew they had no chance to buy the small piece of land their houses stood on, which was believed not to be a bona fide bid after all.
The Hon. G. R. Dibbs was also present, and remonstrated with children and larrikins for their bad behaviour.
Now, Sir, if I were the father of one of those children who got intoxicated I would most undoubtedly have seen further into it. As for Mr. Dibbs and other gentlemen having to withdraw to save themselves from violence, they did not leave until after the sale was closed. Also as to Mr. Bonarius and his son being threatened and the attendants in charge of the luncheon paraphernalia beaten and ill used, we know of no one being ill used; but this we know, a young man stood on the counter, with a bottle of porter in his hand, threatening to knock down the first man that touched anything, but he was besieged by the larrikins and the bottle taken from him. And as for the police, I think it was the man’s fault who brought so much liquor. He should have seen that it was properly protected.
Next comes: “Mr. Bonarius’s voice being inaudible with the babel of tongues.” This noise proceeded from the larrikin element, who were by this time intoxicated and quarrelling among themselves. The “intending buyers being intimidated by the leaseholders” we deny in toto. As for cheering taking place after the sale was closed, we heard none, and if there had been we would have heard it.
True, Sir, lots Nos. 1 and 2 on the top of the hill were knocked down at £2 per foot, that being the only legitimate sale that took place that day, the others being a farce. It is true Mr. Bonarius was up last week and valued the houses on the allotments, not the allotments, Sir, and for which we had agreed to pay 50 per cent. of the said valuation, provided we became purchasers of the land, for which we had to pay the same as the next allotment to us brought.
Hoping you will pardon me for trespassing,-I am, &c., ONE OF THE NEW LAMBTON TENANTS.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 13 March 1886

Some of this letter stretches credulity to breaking point, as the writer successively blames the riot on …

  • “the larrikin element, which had come from all parts of the district”
  • “other people”
  • “the auctioneer who ran the land up to such an exorbitant price”
  • “children and larrikins”
  • “children who got intoxicated”
  • “the man’s fault who brought so much liquor”

… while all the time denying that the leaseholders, who clearly had the most to gain from blocking the sale, bore any responsibility at all.

The truth probably lies somewhere between the Herald’s sensationalistic report of 1 March 1886 and the leaseholder’s exculpatory letter of 13 March 1886. However it is clear that whatever occurred on Saturday 27 February 1886, it was sufficiently disruptive to cause the abandonment of the sale after only 2 lots had been auctioned.

The 1886 subdivision map

One of the important aspects of the 1886 subdivision map is that it shows which lots were leased and to whom they were leased. For example, in Sections D and G we see leases to Lunn (James Lunn of the Hand of Friendship Hotel), Sneddan, Horsfield, and Butterworth (Abraham Butterworth of the Duke of Wellington Hotel.)

The whole map shows leases to: Allanby, Banks, Bart, Beveridge, Boberly, Buckley, Bunn, Butterworth, Chinchin, Cummin, Davis, Dover, Gould, Hincks, Hitchcock, Horsfield, Hyde, Jeffries, Johnston formerly Strange, Jones, Kelly, Lewis, Limn, Lucas, Lunn, M. John, Marchant, Mogg, Morgan, Musgrove, Pellew, Peterson, Police, Price, Pritchard, Ray, Reece, S. Williams, Sager, Saunders, Sneddan, Solway, Thomas, Wesleyan Church, Williams, Wilson, Winspear.

Lots 1 to 4 of Section G are shown as leased by “Sneddan”, a rather mercurial name with various other documents and newspaper articles spelling the name “Snedden”, “Sneddon”, and even “Snedding”. Mr Thomas Sneddon was a long-time resident and well known gardener and florist in New Lambton. A number of editorial puff pieces leading up to the February 1886 land sale made reference to his garden.

  • 20 January 1886 – “A correspondent writes that having had occasion to transact business at Wallsend the other day, he started from Newcastle in a bus, and when near New Lambton a gentleman induced him to get out and visit Snedding Garden at New Lambton. To his utter astonishment he saw one of the prettiest gardens outside of Sydney. The whole place was a living mass of flowers of all kinds and colours, and the fernery was beautiful, some of the choicest kinds being New South Wales ferns.”
  • 30 January 1886 – “The paragraph which appeared in your paper last week, referring to Snedding Garden, or this estate, and to the site equalling for scenery anything in this part of New South Wales, led me to take a journey to this northern paradise, and to my astonishment I was well paid for my labour. The ‘bus dropped me at the railway bridge, and I made my way to the gardens, which are really beautiful. Flowers and ferns are herein abundance, and to give you the names of them would take me too long, but the wonder to me was how they grow here in the open air in such splendour. I was informed the soil was very rich, and with a little trouble anything thing will grow at New Lambton Heights.”
  • 20 February 1886 – “I visited some of the houses, and fortunately happened to drop into Mr. Sneddon’s garden. I was very glad of this, as I had read an account of this garden, and really was paid for my trouble. I was here surrounded by all the colours of the rainbow, and was not long in procuring a lovely bunch of flowers that really would have done credit to Covent Garden in the old country. The camelia bushes are just breaking out with their lovely new leaves, and when the season arrives New Lambton Heights will be able to show camelias with any part of New South Wales.”

Thomas Sneddon resided in New Lambton until his death in 1927, aged 83. His obituary described the fame of his garden.

Mr Thomas Sneddon who died last week at his home, cnr Cromwell and Victoria streets, was one of the oldest residents of New Lambton. He was known throughout the Newcastle and Maitland districts as a keen horticulturist, and his gardens proved a strong attraction. In past years, during the days of the old wind jammers, they were the rendezvous of ship captains and other visitors. Mr. Sneddon was born at Cockpen, county of Edinburgh in 1844. He came to New Lambton in 1879, when the township was but a scrub, and lived there till his death at the age of 83. As a flower exhibitor he won many prizes at various shows, and in certain classes he invariably swept the board. He had also acted as judge on many occasions. In his early years at New Lambton he conducted a grocery business on the corner of Regent and Victoria streets, eventually selling out, and taking up the florist business, which he conducted (with the aid of his family) to the present.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 13 April 1927.

1886 street names

1886 Street NameProbably named afterPresent Street Name
Bonarius StJohn Charles Bonarius, auctioneerCarrington Pde
Brown StAlexander Brown, proprietor of New Lambton Coal CompanyCromwell St
Brummy StRussell Rd
Coal StFleet St
Dibbs StG.R. Dibbs, colonial secretary and part owner of the New Lambton Estate land.Evescourt Rd
Griffin StVictoria St
Hill StQueens Rd
Mitchell StJames Mitchell, former owner of a 128 acre parcel of land whose northern border is on the line of Mitchell St.Henley St
Pitt StPortland Pl
Horsfield StThomas Horsfield, former manager of the New Lambton colliery.Regent St
Short StBaker St/Curzon Rd
Soudan StAddison Rd
Thomas StJames Thomas, manager of New Lambton colliery.Oxford St
William StHigh St
Young StSt James Rd

There are scant references to the original street names in the newspaper …

  • Griffin St is mentioned in 1875 and in an 1879 reference to the Duckenfield Hotel.
  • Horsfield St is mentioned in reference to the Duke of Wellington Hotel – Abraham Butterworth licensee in 1878, and Thomas Pringle licensee in 1879.

I have found no information as to why the original street names was abandoned, and a new set of names adopted. The modern street names first started appearing in newspaper reports in 1889, the year that New Lambton municipal council was formed.

Curiously, the part of New Lambton north of Russell Rd also originally had a set of street names different from the current names, although in this case we know this was due to an administrative bungle.

The ‘missing’ lot

The map promotes the subdivision as “containing 474 blocks of land”.

The subdivision contains 25 sections, labelled ‘A’ to ‘Z’ (omitting section ‘I’), with each block of land labelled with a number. On tabulating the numbered lots in each section, I initially came up with a total of only 473 lots. I eventually found what I think is the answer to this discrepancy, where in Section S lot 22 is divided in half and leased to two different persons.

Later land titles show the southern half of this block labelled as Lot 22A.

The 1901 Sale

Fifteen years after the aborted on-site auction of 1886, the proprietors felt brave enough to attempt another on-site auction of the remaining lots, on Saturday 20 April 1901. I have no explanation of why the advertisement says there are 325 allotments available while the poster map shows only 312 lots for sale.

Advertisement for 20 April 1901 auction sale of New Lambton Estate. Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 20 April 1901.
Subdivision map for 20 April 1901 auction sale of New Lambton Estate. National Library of Australia.

1913 Subdivision Map

The University of Newcastle Living Histories site has another subdivision map of New Lambton, which has no date information on the map.

New Lambton Subdivision map, 1913. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.

The map only has 213 lots that are not marked as sold, so is clearly after 1901 when there were more than 300 lots for sale. Inspecting the land sales on Vol-Fol 1865-121, pages 6 and 7 shows that Lot 9 Section F sold on 15 April 1913 and is marked as sold on the above map. The next entry on Vol-Fol 1865-121, Lot 15 Section J sold on 19 June 1913 and is NOT marked as sold on the map. All subsequent entries on Vol-Fol 1865-121 are likewise not shown as sold on the map, thus dating it to mid 1913.

There does not appear to have been a big advertised sale of land in New Lambton in 1913 associated with this map, however a 9 September 1913 article refers to progress in constructing the “Eves Court” bridge and notes that …

The bridge will have the effect of opening up a considerable portion of land on what is generally termed “The Second Hill,” to the right of Orchardtown, and this land will probably be the second subdivision of the New Lambton Coal Company.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 9 September 1913.

The bridge was of sufficient importance to the New Lambton Company in their real estate ambitions, that they contributed £115 of the eventual £234 construction cost. It is probable that the 1913 subdivision map was produced to facilitate and promote land sales expected to arise from the construction of the Evescourt Rd bridge. A social function to celebrate the opening of the bridge was held at Butterworth’s hotel on 13 December 1913.

Newspaper articles

Article Date Event DateNotes
20 Jan 1886Editorial 'puff piece' promoting the upcoming New Lambton Estate land sale.
23 Jan 1886Lengthy advertisement for New Lambton Estate land sale.
30 Jan 1886Editorial 'puff piece' promoting the upcoming New Lambton Estate land sale.
13 Feb 1886"Mr. W. H. Bonney has just completed a plan for Messrs. Hodgkinson and Wilkinson, of Newcastle and Maitland, which does him great credit. The plan is 11 feet, long, by 5 feet wide and shows all the blocks of land - 474 building sites, at New Lambton - which are to be sold on the 27th instant by Mr. J. C. Bonarius, auctioneer. The colouring is very good, and the plan altogether is one of the neatest we have seen. It is to be on view at the Borough Markets."
20 Feb 1886Editorial 'puff piece' promoting the upcoming New Lambton Estate land sale.
1 Mar 1886
27 Feb 1886
Report on the riot at the New Lambton Estate land sale.
2 Mar 1886Letter to the editor countering the misapprehension that it was the striking miners at Lambton colliery who had rioted.
13 Mar 1886Letter from one of the leaseholders, refuting a number of claims made in the newspaper report of 1 March 1886.
20 Mar 1886
27 Mar 1886
Advertisement for sale of land to be held in Victoria Theatre.
26 Mar 1886
27 Mar 1886
"Attention is drawn to the great land sale of "The heights of New 'Lambton," which is to be held in the Victoria Theatre to-morrow at 12 o'clock. Mr. J. C. Bonarius is the auctioneer. The property consists of over 158 acres of freehold land, subdivided into lots to suit all classes. As it is within a quarter of an hour's drive of the city, and adjoins the proposed tramway, it is most conveniently situated. Healthy and elevated, this most valuable subdivision should meet with keen competition."
25 Aug 1886"Purchasers of allotments of land on the New Lambton Estate are reminded that promissory notes for the second payment, due on 1st September next, are payable at the Commercial Bank, Newcastle."
20 Apr 1901Advertisement for sale of 325 lots of the New Lambton subdivision, to "take place on the ground adjoining Doritty's Sportsmen's Arms Hotel."

Croudace Road, Elermore Vale

A friend recently asked me about the naming of Croudace Road in Elermore Vale.

Croudace Road, Elermore Vale. Open Street Map

There is a Croudace Street in Lambton, named after Thomas Croudace, the first manager of the Lambton colliery. Thomas was also the reason for the naming of Croudace Bay, as he bought land and built a house in that locality. Presumably Croudace Road in Tingira Heights has a similar connection, being a road leading towards Croudace Bay. But what was the connection that led to the naming of Croudace Road in the Wallsend area? The answer turns out to be not Thomas, but his son Sydney.

Sydney Croudace was born in Lambton about 1874, the third son of Thomas and Christina Croudace. He was educated at The King’s School, Parramatta, and then followed his father into a coal mining career. At a comparatively early age he became manager of the Scottish Australian Mining Company’s B pit (also known as the Durham or Lambton B pit) at Redhead. In February 1913 he was appointed manager of the Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Company’s pit at Wallsend.

In August 1915, while he was manager, the Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Company registered a subdivision of a large area of their land with Deposited Plan 8479.

Lodgement entry for Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Company’s subdivision Deposited Plan 8479, in 1915. HLRV.

The subdivision, of approximately 1500 acres, covered the area between Wallsend, New Lambton and Cardiff. An area of about 50 acres was excluded from the middle of the subdivision, as this was the location of the Jubilee Shaft of the coal company. (More on this shaft later in this article.) The first land sale in DP8479 was to Henry Hancock for Lot 60 on 24 July 1916.

From land title Vol-Fol 5215-110, a map showing the lots in DP8479. The area shaded white was not included in the subdivision, as this is where the Jubilee Shaft of the Wallsend mine was located.
Area of DP8479 shown in Google Earth.
DP8479 extends over the area of six modern suburbs: Elermore Vale, Rankin Park, New Lambton Heights, Cardiff Heights, Cardiff, Glendale.

Just a few months after registering the subdivision, Sydney Croudace resigned as manager of the Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Company in December 1915 due to ill-health. The employees of the mine held a farewell dinner for Sydney Croudace, with both the office staff and the miners bestowing effusive praise upon him. By 1921 Croudace’s health had recovered sufficiently that he was able to resume the position of manager in February 1921.

By this time about 40 of the 94 lots in the subdivision had been sold. In July 1921 the residents in the northern part of the subdivision, known as Chinaman’s Flat, lobbied Wallsend Council to change the the name of their suburb, and to also set names for their as yet unlabelled streets.

Chinaman’s Flat is by no means a high-sounding title for a progressive suburb. The residents of No. 2 subdivision, which is situated on the Lake road, near Wallsend, think it should be changed to something more Australian. They have asked Wallsend Council, through the Lake-road and Cardiff Progress Association, to erase the name of Chinaman’s Flat from all official records, and that the streets be named according to a list they supplied. South Wallsend was suggested as more appropriate. Alderman England said that the name certainly acted to the detriment of the place, and visitors were not favorably impressed who might otherwise have entertained the idea of purchasing land there. The names suggested are: Jubilee-street, Cardiff-road, Scott-street, Lake-road, Croudace-road, Smith-street and Watkin-street. The council agreed to all of the requests on condition that they be called roads.

The Newcastle Sun, 29 July 1921.
  • Jubilee Road would have been named after the Jubilee shaft of the Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Company. The shaft was sunk in 1887, the year of Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee. The section of the road north of Croudace Road was originally called Lundy (Lundie) Street. In December 1953, at the request of the Lake Road Progress Association, Newcastle Council renamed that section to be an extension of Jubilee Road.
  • Cardiff Road is obviously named as for being the road from Wallsend to Cardiff. Although the residents requested this name, interestingly it was not formally granted at this time. As late as 1946 the road appears unnamed in land titles (e.g. Vol-Fol 5579-214.) Newspaper reports as late as December 1935 refer to the road as “Chinaman’s Flat Road”. By 1957 a Shell street map shows “Cardiff Road”, and land titles in 1959 (Vol-Fol 7753-30) now show “Cardiff Road”.
  • Scott Road – the inspiration for this name is unknown. It was later renamed to Grandview Road.
  • Lake Road was a name that was already used for that road further south in the Lake Macquarie Shire. The request by the residents here appears to be just an extension of that name further north into the Wallsend Council area.
  • Croudace Road was almost certainly named in honour of Sydney Croudace, who was manager of the Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Company when the subdivision was created in 1915 and the streets named in 1921.
  • Watkins Road is probably named after John Thomas Watkins, who purchased Lot 35 on that road in 1917.

Ministerial approval for the naming of Croudace, Smith, Watkin, Jubilee, and Scott Roads was received in December 1921.

Prior to 1921, land titles in DP8479 just showed unnamed roads. Vol-Fol 2782-170.
Land Title Vol-Fol 3327-139 in June 1922 is the first to show the name “Croudace Rd”.
A 1957 Shell Street map shows that Cardiff Road has now been officially named, however it still shows Lundy Street, although it had been renamed to Jubilee Road in 1953.

Sydney Croudace finished as manager of the Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Company in October 1928, and moved to a property in Brighton Avenue, Toronto where he lived until his death on 3 February 1935 at the age of 61. Co-incidentally, his death came just one week after shareholders of the Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Company voted to cease operations at the Wallsend Colliery that Croudace had managed for ten years.

In the ensuing years the suburb adjacent to his namesake road was variously called “South Wallsend” and “Wallsend South” in equal measure.

A 1957 map with the suburb labelled “South Wallsend”.
The 1970 Gregory’s Street Directory has the suburb labelled “Wallsend South”.
The 1973 Robinson’s Street Directory has the suburb labelled “South Wallsend”.

On 14 November 1975, the suburb name was officially changed to “Elermore Vale”, probably in reference to the Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Company’s “A pit” that opened in Wallsend in 1859, which was also known as the “Elermore Vale Colliery”.

1920s Craigies map showing the A pit of the Wallsend colliery labelled as “Elermore Vale Colliery”. Newcastle University, Living Histories.
Somewhat confusingly, the area of the modern day Elermore Vale suburb (shaded red) does not include the location of the original Elermore Vale Colliery.
The 1984 UBD street directory shows the new suburb name “Elermore Vale”, and the former “Jubilee Rd Public School” is now labelled “Elermore Vale Public School”.

Jubilee Shaft

In 1887 in the year of Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee, the Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Company sunk a new shaft to assist with ventilation of their mine, and named it the Jubilee Shaft. It was located inside the area that was later subdivided in 1915 as DP8479, and thus was excluded from that subdivision.

The area shaded orange was excluded from DP8479 in 1915, as it was the location of the Jubilee Shaft.

In the early 1930s the Wallsend Colliery struggled to be profitable, and in November 1934 the owners advertised the colliery for sale or lease. When no acceptable offers eventuated, the shareholders voted in January 1935 to close the mine and sell off the colliery plant, machinery, waggons and railway. Surplus equipment from the Jubilee shaft was sold at auction in May 1935. The land in the vicinity of the shaft then began to be subdivided and sold off, however a smaller parcel of land around the shaft was retained by the coal company.

After the closure in 1935, the coal seams were worked by various tribute collieries until 1968, when the Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Company resumed operations at Wallsend under the new name of “Gretley Colliery”. The name was a combination of two coal seams the company was mining – the Greta Seam in their Pelton and Ellalong mines, and the Dudley seam they were working at Wallsend. In November 1996 tragedy struck at Gretley mine when four miners were drowned by a sudden inrush of water when they inadvertently broke through to flooded abandoned workings adjacent to the Gretley workings. The error was due to the mine having been supplied with incorrect plans of the old workings by the Department of Mineral Resources. Work at Gretley was immediately suspended. In 1999 Gretley was bought by New Wallsend Coal Pty Ltd, who operated the workings as “New Wallsend No. 2 Colliery.”

A partial history of the Jubilee Shaft site can be seen in the photo below, the sign on the enclosing fence shows “Gretley Colliery” overstamped with “New Wallsend Coal Pty Ltd, New Wallsend No. 2 Colliery.” At the bottom of the sign, the words “Mine Ventilation Shaft” are just visible.

Sign on fence enclosing the former Jubilee Shaft. Page 20 of Appendix G of Development Application for Lot 1 DP1197128. EJE Heritage.
Plaque at the former Jubilee Shaft indicating that is was filled and capped in March 2003. Page 22 of Appendix G of Development Application for Lot 1 DP1197128. EJE Heritage.

In 2021 Newcastle Council approved a development application for the construction of a 50 lot Community Title subdivision on the former Jubilee Shaft site. The development will retain some of the remnant Jubilee Shaft sandstone building walls in a community area

In 2022, the area around the Jubilee Shaft was still mostly vacant, and some remains of the mine buildings were still present.
In October 2024, the concrete capped shaft (red) and remnants of a sandstone wall from an old mine building can be seen in the midst of the development of 50 new housing units.

Croudace Road in Edgeworth

In the original iteration of this blog post I posed the question of why there is a Croudace Street in Edgeworth? Thanks to a note on page 138 of Ed Tonks’ 1990 book “Wallsend and Pelton Collieries. A Chronology of The Newcastle Wallsend Coal Company”, I have the answer.

That area of Edgeworth has five north-south streets, all named after prominent colliery managers of the Newcastle district when that subdivision was created in 1885.

Street names in Edgeworth named after colliery managers. OpenStreetMap.

Edgeworth was originally called “Young Wallsend”, and the subdivision created by John Charles Bonarius was described by the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate on 16 May 1885

The subdivision has been laid out by Mr. Percy Hodgkinson, of this city, whose abilities in laying a township are well known to everyone in the district, and is under the supervision of Mr. John C. Bonarius, our oldest and well-esteemed auctioneer, who will wield the hammer at the sale. The streets are plainly seen. Large posts, with the names Neilson, Fletcher, Croudace, Turnbull, Thomas, and other notables connected with the coal trade of Northumberland are seen.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 16 May 1885.

A real estate poster advertising the sale of the subdivision was produced, but with Neilson and Johnson spelled incorrectly.

Young Wallsend subdivision, 1885. State Library of NSW.

The naming of Johnson St is uncertain. It possibly refers to R Johnson who was the manager of the Glebe colliery.

Unanswered questions

  • When exactly did Cardiff Road get its official name?

Newspaper articles

Article Date Event DateNotes
7 Feb 1913Sydney Croudace appointed manager of the Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Company's Wallsend Colliery.
6 Dec 1915
4 Dec 1915
Retirement due to ill-health of Sydney Croudace as manager of Wallsend colliery. "There was a large attendance at the Masonic Hall, Wallsend, on Saturday evening, when Mr. S. Croudace, who for the last three years has occupied the position of manager of the Wallsend Colliery, was entertained by the employees of the colliery, and presented with marks of their esteem and appreciation."
2 Feb 1921"Mr. S. Croudace will succeed Mr. N. J. Clark as colliery manager of the Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Company." (Croudace returns to the position he previously resigned from due to ill-health.)
29 Jul 1921Residents of "Chinaman's Flat" request that their suburb be renamed to "South Wallsend", and suggest names for a number of their roads.
17 Dec 1921"Ministerial approval having now been received, it is notified for public information that the un-named roads in the South Wallsend subdivision, otherwise known as Chinaman Flat Subdivision, will be designated as follows: Croudace-road, Smith-road, Watkin-road, Jubilee-road, Scott-road."
13 Oct 1928
10 Oct 1928
"Mr. Sydney Croudace on Wednesday terminated his second period of service with Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Company as manager of Wallsend colliery."
23 Nov 1934Advertisement for sale or lease of Wallsend Colliery.
25 Jan 1935
24 Jan 1935
"At the annual general meeting of shareholders of the Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Company held yesterday it was decided to cease operations at the company's Wallsend colliery owing to heavy losses incurred during the past six years and the uncertainty of the future."
4 Feb 1935
3 Feb 1935
Death of Sydney Croudace, in Toronto, aged 61.
16 Feb 1935"Hopes of a reopening of Wallsend Colliery, commonly known as Wallsend C Pit, have been shattered … dismantling and removal to the surface of the underground appliances and plant of the colliery. … The mine is to be abandoned."
18 Feb 1935"Wallsend citizens who have been hoping for an 11th-hour sale of the colliery property, or for a lease which would allow a resumption of operations, are beginning to despair as they realise the latest definite steps Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Company has adopted to seal the doom of Wallsend C pit. For three-quarters of a century the coal company has been operating at one or another of the branches of its Wallsend mine. Wallsend without a Wallsend colliery is to many people almost unthinkable."
2 May 1935Sale of equipment from the closed Jubilee Shaft in Wallsend.
16 Dec 1953"Newcastle Council Works Committee recommended last night that the council alter the name of Lundy-street, Wallsend, between Lake-road and Croudace-street, to Jubilee-road. The City Engineer (Mr. Baddeley) said a month had passed since the council proposed to alter the name. It had been publicised and no objection had been received."
14 Nov 1975The suburb name "Elermore Vale" is officially gazetted.

The other Hill street

In my article on Doctor John James Hill in March 2017, I wrote that while Hill St in North Lambton was possibly named after Doctor Hill, given the timing of the road naming (first mentioned in 1872) I was sceptical that was the case. However I have since found there was another Hill Street in North Lambton, that almost certainly was named after John James Hill, because it was in a subdivision of land owned by Doctor Hill. This Hill St had its name changed to Percy St in 1920.

Alderman Lightfoot … moved that the necessary procedure be taken to have the name of Hill-street, North Lambton, changed to Percy-street. It was most confusing to have two streets in the municipality bearing the same name.

Lambton Council Meeting, 18 May 1920.
Official change of name of Hill St to Percy St in Government Gazette, 24 September 1920.

Background

As I was searching through various land titles in the Historical Lands Records Viewer, I found Vol-Fol 1122-48 from 1894, that showed blocks of land between Hill St and William St in North Lambton. This was curious because today, Hill St in North Lambton is nowhere near William St in Jesmond?

The mysterious Hill and William streets on Vol-Fol 1122-48 from 1894.

The solution to the mystery is that the Hill St in this map is actually Percy St today, and the William St in the map is the east end of Michael St today.

In 1867, Daniel Jones purchased 50 acres of land between Jesmond and Lambton which he named “North Lambton” (not to be confused with the modern suburb of North Lambton).

Historical Land Records Viewer

In July 1871 Jones sold a large portion (about 16 acres) of the North Lambton subdivision to Doctor John James Hill, who then began reselling individual blocks of land.

Vol-Fol 123-202.

Notice that in this map that “Frederick St” is below section E, and “William St” is below section C. Today this is Michael Street, and whereas the map from Vol-Fol 123-202 shows William St joining on to George St, this part of the street does not exist today and probably never did. This is a good reminder of the care needed to interpret old maps, particularly in land titles and deposited plans. A street marked in an old map can either be an indication of a street that has been built, or a street that is planned to be built. You have to use other evidence to decide which.

Map from Vol-Fol 123-202 overlaid into Google Earth.
Historical parish map showing the one street with three differently named sections – Michael St, Frederick St, and William St. Historical Land Records Viewer

In 1873 Doctor Hill lodged Deposited Plan 96, which was a re-subdivision of the land he had bought in Sections C and E of North Lambton.

96 | Hill, J.J. | County of Northumberland | North Lambton, Lambton, Newcastle, re-subdivision of part of Sections C & E on Deposited Plan 40.

Deposited Plan 96 in the Plan Lodgement Book. Historical Land Records Viewer

There is no map I can find of the DP96 subdivision, but presumably the purpose was to subdivide into a greater number of smaller blocks in order to maximise profit. In the new subdivision, Doctor Hill added an extra street running east-west through the middle of Section C and named it Hill St.

Hill, William, and Arthur Streets on Vol-Fol 512-82 from 1880.

This “Hill St” was then renamed to Percy St in September 1920 to avoid confusion with the original Hill St above High St in Lambton. As if to graphically and ironically underline the need to reduce the confusion caused by having two Hill Streets, in one of the historical parish maps someone has added an annotation renaming the wrong Hill St! Oops.

But wait – there’s more …

The extra other Hill Street

In Hill’s subdivision of Section E in North Lambton, a narrow east-west lane was also added above Hill St. It seems that when Hill St became Percy St in 1920, that this laneway running behind the houses on the north side of Percy St came to be known as Hill St, and is marked as such on some maps.

Another “Hill St” – between Percy St and Fifth St. Sheet 5, Northumberland County District Map. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.

This lane was a private road in the subdivision until Newcastle Council passed a resolution in 1991 to dedicate it as a public road, and noting that it was “also previously known as Hill Street.”

Dedication of Wall Lane (also known as Hill St) as a public road. NSW Government Gazette, 22 May 1992.

The name “Wall Lane” was in honour of the Wall family who ran the shop on the south-east corner of Arthur and Percy Streets for many years.

Vol-Fol 690-71. Purchase of land in August 1941 by George and Julia Wall of land on the corner of Hill (now Percy) and Arthur Streets.

But wait – there’s even more …

The additional extra other Hill Street

Some 500 metres away from Percy Street, opposite Jesmond Park, there is a short stretch of road today that is also named Hill Street, and also named after Doctor Hill.

Hill Street, Jesmond

This Hill Street appears in records as early as 1878, where at the Lambton Council meeting on 26 November 1878 a letter was received …

“… from the Trustees Lambton Building Society dedicating Hill & Abel Streets Jesmond to the Council.”

Dedication of Hill and Abel Streets. Lambton Council minutes of meeting on 26 November 1878.
Hill and Abel Streets in Jesmond. National Library of Australia.

These two streets were located on Lot 5 Section B of DP92 (Vol-Fol 163-244). This land was mortgaged to the Lambton and Building Investment Society in 1876. In November 1878 when the two streets were dedicated to Lambton Council, Doctor John James Hill was Chairman and Trustee of the Society, and Thomas Abel was Secretary.

Lot 5 of DP92 on Robert St Jesmond, mortgaged to Lambton Building and Investment Society in September 1876. Vol-Fol 163-244.

While Hill Street in Jesmond is still there in 2021, Abel Street officially ceased to exist in July 1962 when “in accordance with the provisions of the Public Roads Act, relating to Unnecessary Roads in Our State of New South Wales”, the road was closed. The eastern part of Abel Street was sold to Clarence and Annie Powell, the owners of an adjoining property, and became number 4 Hill St. (See Vol-Fol 8389-31). On the west side, the Anglican church erected a building sometime after 1974. However the transfer of ownership of that little western patch of Abel St was never officially made. This caused some confusion and a costly delay when the Anglican Church sold the property to the non-profit organisation Zara’s House in 2018.

Hill Street, Jesmond. The location of the no-longer existing Abel St is marked in green. SIX Maps.
The non-profit organisation Zara’s House now owns the block of land on the western side of Hill St, where Abel St used to be. Google Maps.
A Robinson’s Street Directory (c. 1960) has three Hill Streets marked in Jesmond and North Lambton.

The many monikers of Michael

Earlier in this article I mentioned that what is Michael St today, originally was three differently named sections – Michael, Frederick, William. But that was just in the stretch of road that lay in Lambton municipality – the section of road in the Wallsend municipality had yet another name – Robroy St.

Robroy St (now Michael St) shown on Vol-Fol 4928-170 in 1938,

A newspaper article from 1945 titled “Postman’s Headache at Jesmond”, notes that

The street in question, before the advent of Greater Newcastle was Frederick-street from the North Lambton area to Steel-street, Jesmond, Michael-street outwards to the old Lambton-Wallsend boundary, and Rob Roy-street thence to Blue Gum road in the Jesmond area. It is stated that, although it is now all Michael-street, officially, the three names still persist with the uninitiated, and piecemeal house numbering adds to the confusion.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 5 December 1945.

Adamstown Tram, 1900-1950

Tram services in Newcastle began in July 1887 with the opening of the Newcastle to Wallsend line. Other areas wanted a piece of the action and immediately began agitating for extensions to the tram line. In October 1887, Adamstown Council sent a deputation to Sydney asking for a line to their municipality, but it took another decade of lobbying before the Government finally approved the Adamstown line.

Construction began on 22 January 1900 of a one-mile single track that branched from the Wallsend line at the Nine Ways in Broadmeadow and ran along Brunker Rd. A steam tram service commenced on 13 August 1900, and the line was subsequently electrified in 1925.

Originally the tram terminated at the Public School, and this was a source of much contention. The tram whistle disrupted meetings of the Methodist (now Uniting) Church, and the shunting of engines back and forth across the Glebe Rd intersection to couple up with carriages for the return journey to Newcastle caused much traffic congestion.

In 1927 as part of the tram line duplication, the terminus was moved to just south of Glebe Rd, but this caused as many problems as it solved. With the terminus now in the centre of the narrow main shopping street, in an era when car and bus traffic was increasing, congestion was even worse. In 1929 a widening of the street by 18 feet failed to fix the problem, so in 1938 the tram line was extended south a further 100 yards to place the terminus past Victoria St.

As competition from bus services increased, some advocated that the tram system should be closed, while others argued that it should be extended. Eventually, with falling patronage and rising costs, the service proved unsustainable, and at 11:41pm on Sunday 16 April 1950 the last tram from Adamstown returned to the city.

Seventy years on, with passenger numbers on Newcastle’s light rail exceeding forecasts in its first year of operation, who knows, maybe we will one day see a return of trams to our suburbs?

The Victoria St terminus on the last day of the Adamstown tram service, 16 April 1950. Photo courtesy of Greg and Sylvia Ray from their book “Destination Newcastle”.
The same location in Brunker Rd Adamstown in 2020.

The article above was first published in the April 2020 edition of The Local.


Additional Information

Union Street

One piece of information that I deliberately excluded from the published article, to keep it simple, was that the main shopping street of Adamstown that we now know as Brunker Road, was originally called Union Street. A real estate poster from 1921 shows the tram line running along Brunker Rd to the terminus at the Public School. South of Glebe Rd, the roadway narrows and becomes Union St.

Portion of real estate poster from 1921 showing Union St Adamstown. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.

In 1925-1926, Adamstown Council negotiated with the Main Roads Board, and reached an agreement to widen Union St. The work progressed during 1927-1929 and an official opening of the newly widened street was held in November 1929, where it was noted that …

“Prior to its being widened, Union street, with a roadway of only 30ft, was long regarded as dangerous for traffic … The roadway [now] is 42ft wide and the footpaths 12ft, the total width being 66ft. To widen the street, it was necessary to resume a strip of land 18ft deep on the western side, and the buildings were either demolished, and new ones erected, or they were moved back to the new alignment.”

Union Street was officially renamed to Brunker Road in the proclamation on page 2621 of the Government Gazette of 14 November 1947, although references to Union Street persist in the following years.

The end of trams

The view that it was competition from the motor buses that killed off the tram system is starkly presented in a commemorative postcard from 1950 which stated …

Born 5 July 1887. Died 10 June 1950. 63 years old. R.I.P.
In rememberance of Newcastle’s trams, which were finally suffocated by the deisel ‘buses.

(Note that the dates in the postcard are slightly off – the Wallsend line opened for public traffic on 19 July 1887, and the last tram ran on the Waratah line on 11 June 1950.)

A commemorative postcard from 1950 lamenting the ‘death’ of Newcastle’s trams. From the Arthur Perry collection, University of Newcastle, Living Histories.

Newspaper articles

Article Date Event DateNotes
7 Oct 1887"The agitation for an extension of the tram line, which has been going the rounds of the district, has at length reached Adamstown."
18 Sep 1893"On Thursday an officer from the Department of Public Works met the Mayor and aldermen on the matter of the extension of the tramway from Broadmeadow to Adamstown."
24 Oct 1898Municipal conference calls for tramway service to Adamstown.
1 Nov 1899
31 Oct 1899
"The Cabinet decided to-day to construct the tramway extensions from Broadmeadow to Adamstown and from Tighe's Hill to Mayfield."
2 Nov 1899"The announcement in yesterday's 'Herald' that the Government had agreed to construct the tramway from Broadmeadow to Adamstown has given great satisfaction to residents and the public generally. The survey for the tramline was made five years ago."
6 Jan 1900"The plans and book of reference are now open for inspection at the office of the Minister for Public Works for the line of tramway authorised to be constructed from Newcastle to Adamstown. All persons who may be interested in the lands through which the line will run are required to lodge any objections on or before the 26th inst."
20 Jan 1900"The amount of work that the tramway extension from Broadmeadow to Adamstown will provide has caused considerable disappointment to be felt by the local unemployed, many of whom were more than hoping that the work would be sufficient to enable them to relieve families dependent on them. But there should not have been disappointment, as it was not at any time officially represented that the extension, the length of which is only a mile, covering an easy route, and requiring only simple work, would provide employment for a large number of men."
19 Jan 1900
22 Jan 1900
Construction of Adamstown tramway to be "begun on Monday by the selected men, who will apply pick and shoved to several small hills. At noon to-day Mr. Creer will meet the men at the Broadmeadow waiting shed. About 10 capable men will meet present requirements,."
22 Jan 1900"General satisfaction is expressed at a start being made with the tram extension, but there is a deal of dissatisfaction at the way the men for the work were selected."
30 Apr 1900"The tram extension is proceeding slowly, and now the rails are laid to the municipal boundary of Hamilton and Adamstown. Now that the tramway is nearing completion there are people who argue that the tram terminus will not be in the proper place at the Public School, and that the terminus should be at the Carrington Hall, or down the Glebe-road, near the reserve."
14 Aug 1900
13 Aug 1900
Opening of the Adamstown Tramway.
16 Dec 1901"Many of the local aldermen say that the tram terminus is in the wrong place. The principal objections are that the tram stands in the centre of the road and starting as it does from a point directly opposite the Primitive Methodist Church door, the whistling annoys the congregation."
31 Jan 1925
2 Feb 1925
"Slowly but surely the antiquated steam tram is disappearing from the streets of Newcastle. The latest section of tramline to have electric overhead wires strung above it is that between Broadmeadow and Adamstown."
8 Jan 1927"The duplication of the tram line from Melville-road to Adamstown tram terminus has been completed and put into use. Delays which were unavoidable are now overcome, and a faster service established. While the public will appreciate the duplication of the line, the making of the terminal in front of two main business premises, at the intersection of Union-street and Glebe-road, is regretted; in fact, some of the trams make the stop right across the intersection of Union-street and Glebe-road, which at times is dangerous, carrying traffic four ways, and being the main road to Sydney, with an every day increase of traffic. "
19 Mar 1931"Newcastle Transport Trust, by allowing the trams to terminate in the middle of Union-street, has defeated the council's aims, and has created one of the most dangerous spots in the district. Before the street was widened, and before the trams were electrified the terminus was at the public school stop. The steam trams stopped here while the engine shunted across the Glebe-road intersection and back again to couple up with the front portion of the trams for the return to Newcastle. In August, 1925, Alderman Wiggins commenced an agitation to have the bottle-neck eliminated. The work was started in 1928 and the new widened street opened for traffic at the end of 1929. In the meantime the trams were electrified and the Tramway Department made the terminus right at the intersection. Council agitation caused it to move the terminus further along to the middle of Union-street, which was very unsatisfactory to the council. At present the tram loiters here, in the middle of the council's' parking area. If vehicles park at shops on either side of the tram and stay there for any length of time, traffic is completely held up."
7 Apr 1932 Council debates having "the tram terminus fixed at its original position in front of the school, pending the extension of the tramline."
19 May 1938"The suggested abolition of Adamstown tram service was not received very favourably in that suburb yesterday, though in some quarters it was thought that an adequate omnibus service might meet demands, particularly during the slack hours. While the people of Adamstown, particularly those in the western portion, seek improved transport facilities, any suggestion to abolish the tramway service was criticised."
6 Sep 1938"Adamstown tram terminus has been extended, not to Rifle-street, but to a point opposite the Mechanics' Institute, just beyond Victoria-street. For many years the terminus was near the intersection of Glebe road and Union-street, but the growing traffic problem and public agitation caused its removal recently to the locality mentioned."
10 Oct 1946"The State's tram, bus and railway services are, generally, in a grave position, the Auditor General (Mr. Swift) warns the State Government in his annual report … The disconcerting feature is the disproportionate increase of working expenses relative to earnings through the years … the number of passengers carried on buses increased, but there was a decrease in tramway travellers.”
17 Apr 1950
16 Apr 1950
"After 50 years and 8 months' service, the Adamstown tramway closed last night when tram No. 252 left the terminus at 11.41 o'clock bound for Gordon avenue depot."
17 Apr 1950
16 Apr 1950
"MR. T. H. GRICE, of Brunker - road, Broadmeadow, 70-year-old former ganger for the Tramways Department, last night fulfilled an ambition when he travelled on the last tram to run from Adamstown to Newcastle before buses took over the route. Mr. Grice retired from the department almost 10 years ago. He was on the first electric tram to operate on this route, on January 2, 1925."

History in our streets

Chilcott St, Lambton

There’s often a story lurking behind street names. While many of our streets owe their existence to the rise of mines, some have their origin in the demise of mines. The Scottish Australian Mining Company opened Lambton colliery in 1863. Adjacent to the pit they established a small township bounded by Young, Morehead, Croudace and Howe Streets, these being named after managers and directors of the company.

For the next 50 years the company made their fortune underground, but when the coal seam was depleted, they looked instead to make money above ground, in real estate. They began in August 1914 with a modest subdivision of 24 blocks on the south side of Howe St. On 17 January 1920, one hundred years ago this month, the company auctioned a bigger subdivision with 61 building sites. As was the custom at the time the sale was publicised using large coloured poster prints.

The subdivision included two newly constructed streets. Turner St was named after Frederick William Turner, the London based secretary of the Scottish Australian Mining Company. Chilcott St was named after Henry Frederick Chilcott, the Sydney based General Manager.

Chilcott was born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1844 and was brought by his family to Australia when he was three. At age 14 he joined the Scottish Australian Mining Company in a junior capacity, and was progressively promoted, eventually becoming General Manager in 1892. Chilcott was also a long-time member of the Colonial Volunteer Forces, a forerunner of today’s Army Reserve, enlisting in 1860 and rising to the rank of Captain by the time of his retirement in 1894.

In a strange coincidence, Henry Chilcott died on 21 January 1920, just four days after the auction of land in the street named in his honour. He was aged 76, still holding the position of General Manager in the company that he had served for an impressive 62 years.

Poster advertising the Scottish Australian Mining Company’s subdivision of land in January 1920. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.
Captain Chilcott on his retirement from the Colonial Volunteer Force in 1894. The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, 21 April 1894.

The article above was first published in the January 2020 edition of The Local.


Acknowledgements

My thanks this month go to Greg Manning, whose research into Chilcott St alerted me to Henry Chilcott’s birthplace being in Ceylon, and led me to the photograph of Chilcott in his military uniform.

Additional Information

EmPloyment Start

There is some slight ambiguity as to the exact year that Chilcott joined the Scottish Australian Company. An article from 1894 states that Chilcott “was born on January 5, 1844” and that “he has been connected [to the company] since he was 15 years of age. This implies that Chilcott joined the company in 1859. However the article reporting his death in 1920 states that he joined the company in 1858, implying that he was aged 14 at the time.

Lambton Streets

The streets in the the early Lambton township were mainly named after managers and directors of the Scottish Australian Mining and Investment Companies, owners of the Lambton colliery.

Street Notes
Young St Named after Matthew Young or Adolphus William Young MP, or possibly both. Matthew Young along with Robert Morehead was an early manager of the Scottish Australian Mining Company in Sydney. The mineral leases of the Lambton colliery were original held by “Morehead and Young”, and then subsequently taken over by the S.A.M. Co soon after the company’s registration. Adolphus William Young was a director of the Scottish Australian Investment Company in England.
Croudace St Named after Thomas Croudace (b. 1838, d. 15 Jun 1906), manager of Lambton Colliery and subsequently General Manager of the Scottish Australian Mining Company in Australia.
Grainger St Named after Charles Garston Grainger, director and secretary in London of the Scottish Australian Investment and Scottish Australian Mining Companies. Resigned 1885.
Morehead St Named after Robert Archibald Alison Morehead (b. 1812? d. 9 Jan 1885), General Manager of the Scottish Australian Mining Company in Australia.
Dickson St Probably named after William Henry Dickson, one of the proprietors of the Scottish Australian Investment Company.
De Vitre St Named after James Denis De Vitre, director of the Scottish Australian Mining Company. Retired February 1872.
Elder St Named after Alexander Lang Elder (d. 5 Sep 1885), director of the Scottish Australian Investment and Scottish Australian Mining Companies. Although Elder died in September 1885, he continued to be listed as a director of the company in Australian newspapers until 13 Mar 1886. An updated list of directors appeared on 20 Mar 1886.
Kendall St Named after Charles Holland Kendall, a director of the Scottish Australian Investment Company.
Pearson St Named after Sir Edwin Pearson (d. 1883), director of the Scottish Australian Investment Company.
Howe St The original spelling was “How” St”. The street is almost certainly named after Robert How, an investor in the Scottish Australian Mining Company.
Chilcott St Named after Henry Frederick Chilcott (b. 5 Jan 1844, d. 21 Jan 1920), General Manager in Australia of the Scottish Australian Investment and Scottish Australian Mining Companies.
Turner St Named after Frederick William Turner (d. September 1928) director of the Scottish Australian Investment Company, and secretary of the company in London.

Howe Street

The original plan of the Lambton township from 1864 shows the road on the southern boundary road as “How Street”,

Plan of Lambton Township, from the 1864 Certificate of Title (Volume 3, Folio 156), showing “How Street” as the original name for the southern boundary road.

The street is almost certainly named after Robert How, who in 1864 was a director of the Cadiangallong copper mine near Orange. This mine was worked by the Scottish Australian Mining Company, and given the overlap of directors between the two companies it is quite likely that How was also a director or investor in the Scottish Australian Mining Company. The Government Gazette of 14 Oct 1873, shows “How-street” in the list of Lambton streets. As early as April 1872, the spelling starts appearing with a trailing “e”.

[Note that the Lambton Primary School centenary booklet in 1965 stated that Howe St was “named either in honour of the Earl of Howe (prominent Englishman of the day) or John Howe a well known explorer and pastoralist in the Hunter Valley.” Both these suggestions are almost certainly wrong, and arise because of not knowing the original spelling of the street name.]

Croudace Street

One curious anomaly in the early Lambton street names is that at one time there were two Croudace Streets. As well as the north-south road we know today, for some period of time the section of road along the south side of Lambton Park (now Howe St) was called Croudace St. See for example the map on a real estate poster from 1906. (For information on the section of LLoyd Rd running across Lambton Park, see my January 2016 article.)

Real estate poster from 1906, showing Croudace St on the south side of Lambton Park. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.

At first I thought this was an error by the map maker, but I found many other maps of the era also had the street labelled as Croudace St. I then found a proclamation in the Government Gazette of 22 Nov 1878 that names the road between Church St and Lambton Coal Company’s railway as being Croudace St – so the map makers were correct in their labels.

In the period 1916 to 1935 the road south of Lambton Park gets referred to as “Howe Street East” and afterwards simply as “Howe Street”.

So why was there two Croudace Streets? It seems that in the 1860s and 1870s street names were still in a bit of flux. When you look at the Government Gazette proclamation of roads there are many names that don’t match what we have today.

  • 14 Oct 1873 – mentions a “Reservoir-street”, which the 1864 Lambton Township map shows to be the section of Grainger St north of Dickson St.
  • 22 Nov 1878 – mentions a West Street and a Crozier St that do not exist today.
  • 27 Aug 1880 – mentions “Swamp-street”

The naming of the road to the south side of Lambton Park as Croudace St was possibly done by some bureaucrat based in Sydney, unaware of the Lambton locality, and unaware that there was already another street known by the locals as Croudace St.

Map showing both Croudace Streets, with Howe St in between. Historical Land Records Viewer

Vol-Fol 486-117 form 1880 shows that Crozier Street was the section of the main road between Lambton and New Lambton that lay to the south of the Lambton Colliery railway.

Crozier Street Lambton, 1880. Vol-Fol 486-117

Today this is Lambton Road.

Newspaper articles

Article Date Event DateNotes
25 Nov 1846
21 Nov 1846
Captain Frederick Biggar Chilcott, his wife, daughter, and infant son Henry Frederick Chilcott arrive in Sydney from Calcutta on the brig Phantom.
15 Jan 1885
1 Jan 1885
On the retirement of R A A Morehead as General Manager of the Scottish Australian Investment Company, Mr. Archibald Shannon the sub-manager becomes General Manager, and "Mr. Henry F. Chilcott, the accountant, who has been twenty-six years in the service of the company, will succeed to the post to be vacated by Mr. Shannon."
17 Jan 1885
9 Jan 1885
Death of R A A Morehead, manager of the Scottish Australian Investment Company.
30 Jul 1892Archibald Shannon, General Manager of Scottish Australian Investment Company and Scottish Australian Mining Company, returns to England. Thomas Croudace becomes General Manager of the Scottish Australian Mining Company, and although not stated in this article, Henry Chilcott becomes General Manger of the Scottish Australian Investment Company. (See article reporting his death in 1920, that states that Chilcott became General Manager in 1892.)
21 Apr 1894Captain Chilcott retires from the Colonial Volunteer Forces.
4 Aug 1894Details of The Scottish Australian Investment Company, listing Henry Frederick Chilcott as "Manager in Australia" and Frederick William Turner as "Secretary to the Company in London."
28 Dec 1895
16 Dec 1895
The "long and meritorious" decoration bestowed on H F Chilcott of the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the Colonial Volunteer Forces, recognising 26 years of service.
14 Jul 1919Last mention in Trove of H F Chilcott, General Manager of Scottish Australian Mining, prior to his death.
16 Jan 1920
17 Jan 1920
"Messrs. Creer and Berkeley will offer at auction to-morrow afternoon 61 elevated building sites at Lambton. These sites form a portion of the Scottish-Australian Mining Company's estate, and are within two minutes of the tram. With bold frontages they face Chilcott, Turner, Croudace and Grainger streets."
23 Jan 1920
21 Jan 1920
"Mr. Henry Frederick Chilcott, general manager of the Scottish-Australian Investment Company, Ltd., and the Scottish-Australian Mining Company, Ltd. died at his residence, Forest Road, Arnclilffe, on Wednesday. He joined the Investment Company in 1858 in a junior capacity, and in 1892 succeeded to the management upon the death* of the late Mr. Archibald Shannon. In 1904 he succceeded the late Mr. Thomas Croudace in the management of the mining company."
* It was actually on Shannon's return to England, not his death, that Chilcott became general manager. Shannnon died in Torquay in 1898.
22 Jan 1920Funeral of H F Chilcott.
6 Sep 1928"The death is announced of Mr. Frederick William Turner, a director of the Scottish Australian Investment Company, at the age of 96 years."

Doctor John James Hill

In my last two articles, I have mentioned the short-lived Australasia Coal Company (1874-1879), and how their colliery railway was repurposed to build the storm water drain in Broadmeadow, and Bridges Rd in New Lambton. Lambton had an even greater connection with this company, through Doctor John James Hill.

Dr Hill was Lambton’s first resident doctor. He came to the district in 1868 and soon after constructed a residence and surgery in Elder St. At various times he was the appointed medical officer for Lambton, New Lambton and Waratah collieries, and he was an honorary surgeon at the Newcastle Hospital.

But it was not just medical matters that occupied the doctor’s time, he was also a real estate developer, and coal mining investor. In 1874 he was one of the instigators of the Australasian Coal Company, whose mining lease was in the Winding Creek area near Cardiff. He was a major shareholder and served as a founding director of the company.  He also privately purchased 40 acres of land adjacent to the mine, to develop as a township with 340 residential allotments.

This side investment brought Dr Hill into conflict with the other company directors, and as the colliery spiralled into bankruptcy, a bitter war of words was ranged against Dr Hill, culminating in a policy in October 1877 “that the Australasia Company will not employ any man who is residing at Hillsborough (Dr. Hill’s township.)”

Dr Hill was actively involved in many aspects of the local community. He served as an alderman on Lambton council for six years, and was three times elected Mayor. While still serving as Mayor in late 1882, after an illness that had confined him to his house for three weeks, Dr. Hill died on 19 December 1882 aged just 39.  His name is perpetuated in the suburb of Hillsborough.

An advertisement in the Miners’ Advocate and Northumberland Recorder, 2nd October 1875, spruiking the benefits of Doctor Hill’s township.
An advertisement in The Newcastle Chronicle, 15th September 1874, showing that Doctor Hill’s surgery was used for mining matters as well as medical.

The article above was first published in the March 2017 edition of the Lambton & New Lambton Local.

Portrait of Doctor John James Hill, from Scott McEwan family tree on ancestry.com.au. Used with permission.

Burial place

Both the report and funeral notice relating to the death of Dr Hill published on 20 December 1882, indicate that he was buried in the North Waratah Anglican cemetery. This cemetery was adjacent to the St Andrews Anglican Church in Mayfield, however the cemetery was removed in 1957 and the headstones transported to Blackbutt Reserve. (See the Mosquito Pit article for further details.)

The Find a Grave website however has a photo of a plaque for Dr John James Hill, located at Saint Paul’s church at Royton in the UK. This is the church where Dr Hill’s father Richard served as rector for 39 years. Note that while the top plaque for his parents explicitly states that “they rest in the vault below”, there is no similar wording on the bottom plaque for Dr Hill. While it is possible that Dr Hill’s remains were repatriated back to England some time after his death, I have no evidence of this. My suspicion is that it is just a memorial plaque to Dr Hill rather than an indication of his burial place.

Memorial plaques for Doctor Hill and his parents. Find a Grave

Hillsborough

The map below from the Historical Land Records Viewer shows the suburb of Hillsborough in portion 44, labeled with the name of “J. J. Hill” and with an area of “40 ac. ex rd.” (40 acres excluding roads.)

The suburb of Hillsborough marked on old map.
Hillsborough. Google Maps.

Catherine Bradley, a great grand daughter of J.J. Hill provided me with information about various street names in Hillsborough:

  • Royton St is named after the town where Doctor Hill grew up in Lancashire UK. His father was Rev Richard Percy Hill, the Vicar of St Paul’s Anglican Church.
  • Percy Street is named after his father (see middle name above).
  • King St is named after Doctor Hill’s wife’s maiden name, Jane King.
  • Higham Road is after Doctor Hill’s mother’s maiden name – she was Martha Higham.

The naming of Hill Street

In the originally published article I stated that Dr Hill’s name was possibly perpetuated in the name of Hill Street in North Lambton. With subsequent research I now believe that the present day Hill St wasn’t named after Dr Hill – but there was another Hill St in North Lambton that was named after him in 1873, for it was in a subdivision of land owned by Dr Hill. I have written a separate blog article on this other Hill St.

Regarding the present day Hill St, the earliest written source I have found for its naming is page 17 of the Lambton Public School centenary booklet in 1965. This is 92 years after the first mention of Hill Street (in 1872) that I have found in Trove. Dr Hill only arrived in Lambton in 1868, so it would be highly unusual that he would have a street named in his honour after just four years in the community.

An explanation (probably wrong) of the naming of Hill St, from page 17 of the Lambton Public School centenary booklet in 1965.

Newspaper articles

Article Date Event DateNotes
23 Jan 1867
5 Dec 1866
Marriage of John James Hill M.D. to Jane King, at the residence of the Rev. Kerr Johnston, Sandridge Victoria.
6 May 1869Dr J.J. Hill gives evidence at an inquest at Lambton. This is the first mention in the newspaper of Dr Hill being in Lambton.
29 Aug 1872First mention of Hill Street in the newspaper.
12 Jul 1873Dr Hill offering land allotments for sale in North Lambton.
16 Aug 1873Dr. Hill and Mr. Stoker purchase three acres of land at Dark Creek (Jesmond) for the purpose of mining for coal.
23 Jul 1874Advertisement for tender to sink a shaft at the Australasian Coal Company. Apply to Dr. Hill, Lambton.
14 Sep 1874Prospectus of the Australasia Coal Company, in which Dr Hill is named as a provisional director.
15 Sep 1874Tender for sinking a shaft for the Australasia Coal Company. Specifications on display at Dr. Hill's surgery.
28 Oct 1874
27 Oct 1874
Operations have been commenced at the Australasia Coal Company works at Winding Creek.
"The first sod of the shaft was turned by Mrs. Dr. Hill, at 8 a.m., on last Tuesday."
3 Apr 1875The plan of a township at Winding Creek, known as Dr. Hill's Township is on display. The town is on 40 acres of land and is divided into quarter acre allotments.
21 Jul 1875First mention of the township of "Hillsborough" in the Winding Creek area.
2 Oct 1875Advertisement for allotments in the township of Hillsborough.
16 Feb 1876Dr Hill travelling to Melbourne for the shareholders' meeting of the Australasia Coal Company. He has been nominated as director.
6 Jun 1876Letter from Doctor Hill to the Melbourne shareholders of the Australasia Coal Company.
8 Jul 1876
7 Jul 1876
The adjourned meeting of the New South Wales shareholders of the Australasia Coal Company was held at Dr. Hill's residence, Lambton.
14 Jul 1876
12 Jul 1876
The adjourned meeting of the shareholders of the AUSTRALASIAN COAL COMPANY was held at Dr. Hill's residence, on Wednesday evening last.
17 Jul 1876 Mr W. A. Zeal in a letter to the newspaper attacks Dr Hill's statements at the recent shareholders' meeting, which he asserts were "a tissue of malicious falsehoods."
21 Jul 1876Dr Hill responds to Mr Zeal's attacking letter in the newspaper.
27 Oct 1877"I hear a rumour that the Australasia Company will not employ any man who is residing at Hillsborough (Dr. Hill's township.) The company have land in their township for sale, but whether that is the cause, or vindictiveness against Dr. Hill, I cannot tell."
20 Dec 1882
19 Dec 1882
Death of Doctor John James Hill, after an illness of three weeks. The funeral will take place in the North Waratah cemetery.
20 Dec 1882
19 Dec 1882
DEATH.
HILL. — At his residence, Lambton, on the 19th inst., Dr. John James Hill, aged 38 years.
20 Dec 1882Funeral notice for Doctor John James Hill.
11 Feb 1886
3 Feb 1886
Dr Hills widow Jane, marries Frederic Mansfield Mills, at Burwood.

Maps – Bridges Road

A glance at any map of Lambton and New Lambton shows the area was never traced out in a grand design by a town planner. It grew haphazardly, and the strangely shaped streets abutting at odd angles forms not only a mosaic on the map but a mosaic in history. Each oddity has a story to tell.

One of the more curious stories is of Bridges Road, for in an 1893 map of the region produced by Major T. S. Parrott of the Engineer Corps Sydney, we see not a road, but a line marked “Unused Railway”. This was the rail line of the ill-fated Australasia Coal Company. Having obtained a coal lease in the Hillsborough area in 1873 they spent a vast sum of money building a railway to connect their mine to the port of Newcastle. In October 1877 the first trainload of coal was taken to the port, but within 18 months, as a result of spectacularly bad management, the company went bust and the rail line fell idle.

By 1894 it was clear that line would not be used again and the rails were removed. The rail corridor was released to New Lambton council in 1915, and by 1918 a short section of road was constructed south of Russell Road. Initially called South Greta Road, in 1919 it was renamed Bridges Road in honour of Major General William Throsby Bridges of the Australian Army, who was killed by sniper fire at Gallipoli in 1915.

Bridges Road was extended several times towards the south in the following years and revealed a surprise in 1962. When the Bridges Road-Northcott Drive underpass was excavated, workers found buried in the earthworks, still intact, the original 1887 wooden viaduct that carried the Great Northern Railway over the Australasian Coal Company’s line. An unexpected and long hidden reminder of the genesis of Bridges Road.

A portion of T.S. Parrott’s 1893 map of Newcastle, showing what is now Bridges Road as an unused colliery railway. National Library of Australia.


The article above was first published in the January 2017 edition of the Lambton & New Lambton Local.

Additional information

This 1915 real estate advertisement shows Bridges Road marked as “South Greta Road”. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.
Map showing the northern most section of Bridges Rd, with an annotation regarding the gazetting of the road. R13119 – 1603. Public Road. Road Dedicated Gaz 8 Mch’18. Historical Land Records Viewer

This map is from the NSW Historical Land Records Viewer.

  • Parish = Newcastle
  • Edition Year = 1912
  • Sheet reference =1
  • Edition number = 2
This 1919 real estate advertisement, shows “Greta Road”, at the time its was being renamed to “Bridges Road”. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.
This locality plan from a 1925 real estate advertisement shows that Bridges Rd extended only as far as St James Rd, and that it was also known as Bridges Street. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.
This locality plan from a 1927 real estate advertisement shows that Bridges Rd was extended down to Henley Street. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.

In 1962, when excavating under the Great Northern Railway embankment in order to extend Bridges Road into Northcott Drive Kotara, the original viaduct bridge over the old Australasian Coal Company railway was rediscovered. J.F. Weber reported on this on page 161 of the September 1964 issue of “The Australian Railway Historical Society”.

Excavations for the Eastern abutment revealed heavy bridge timbers embedded in the embankment and puzzled engineers, on searching old plans, discovered that, at this exact spot, a viaduct of seven 26-feet timber openings had previous existed, being part of the original main-line construction. It had served as a flood opening, the second span being left clear for the possible revival of the Australasia Coal Company’s railway. It had existed until 1902, when the gap was closed by burying the viaduct in an embankment, as only a small opening was required for storm water. The old timbers, when excavated, were found to be still sound and in good condition, 61 years after burial and some 76 years after original erection.

Links

Newspaper articles

Article Date Event DateNotes
31 Oct 1874Australasia Coal Company, initial share offering closes.
2 May 1876The earthwork for the first three miles of the Australasian Coal Company's line completed.
24 Mar 1877Laying the Australasian Coal Company rail line proceeding … "about three miles of plates have been laid, locomotives being enabled to run within a short distance from the eastern mouth of the tunnels" at Stoney Pinch.
5 Aug 1878
20 Oct 1877
First trainload of coal from the Australasia Coal Company.
14 Mar 1879
12 Mar 1879
At a meeting of the shareholders of the Australasian Coal Company, it was resolved to wind up the company.
16 Aug 1887
15 Aug 1887
Opening of the Gosford to Newcastle section of the Great Northern Railway. The railway passes over the defunct Australasian Coal Company rail line at Kotara.
31 May 1892"Major Parrott of the Engineer Corps, Sydney, has been engaged preparing a military reconnaissance map of the country along the coast between Broken Bay and Newcastle."
12 Jan 1894Australasia Coal Company railway - rails being removed, discussion about the Government resuming the line.
26 Jan 1917Before being renamed "Bridges Road", it was known as "Greta-road Extended".
8 Mar 1918Bridges Road gazetted as a public road – Ref. R13119-1603
6 Feb 1919New Lambton Council honours three Australian Army generals (Birdwood, Monash, Bridges) in the naming of three streets in the municipality.
27 Sep 1924In nominating for a vacant council position, F.W. Shayler's address is stated as "Greta-road or Bridges-street", indicating there is still ambiguity over the name of the street five years after the official name change.