Zaara Street Power Station

Researching the Zaara Street power station in Newcastle is complicated by the fact that there are three different spellings of the name.

Although the official name of the street now is “Zaara Street”, there are plenty of old maps and newspaper articles that refer to it as “Zara Street”.

To make matters worse, it seems that when the plans for the power station were being drawn up in Sydney, a spelling mistake was made and the official name for the power station became “Zarra Street” power station.

Curiously enough, the official spelling of Zara-street station is “Zarra-street” It is believed that in the days of extreme centralisation, when Newcastle was regarded in the metropolis as an unpleasant blot on an otherwise fair State some Sydney draughtsman drew up a plan for “Zarra-street” power station. The Railway Department has never changed the spelling.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 22 July 1939.

The first mention of the power house in the newspapers is on 5 November 1914 with the notification by the Railways Department of the appointment of Matthew Maher as an ash trimmer, and George Wheatley and Thomas Martin as firemen. On 24 March 1915 the Department advertised a tender for “the Supply of one 250 KVA Turbo Generator set”, to which they received six responses.

Whether one of these tenders was accepted is unclear, however a few months later on 20 November 1915 the department was advertising for the “SUPPLY AND ERECTION OF ONE 2500 KILOWATT TURBO ALTERNATOR”, for which 14 tenders were received.

The building that housed the original 1915 power generator, photographed in 1923. The Newcastle Sun, 17 December 1923.

In January 1917 it was announced that …

A new power-house is to be erected at Newcastle, and a commencement has been made with the preliminary work on a site adjoining the temporary power-house, near the pilot station. The object is to provide power for the new electric cranes, which have been erected on the basin wharfs, and the wheat elevator, which will be built shortly, as well as supplying additional power to the works now served by the present power-house. The new power-house will also provide current when the old steam tram service is converted into a modern electric system.
The Sydney Morning Herald, 25 January 1917.

In 1923 in preparation for the electrification of Newcastle’s tram network, the capacity of the power house was expanded with another two turbo-generators – one of 2500kW and another of 7500kW capacity.

In June 1936 another planned expansion of the power station was announced.

It is regarded as likely in Newcastle railway circles that the Zara-street power station will be extended to provide for extension of the electricity system from Dungog to Gloucester, and eventually to Taree. Recently a turbine weighing about 10 tons, was brought from England and installed at the Zara-street station to augment the supply of power. Notwithstanding this addition to the plant. It is believed that further installation will be required to serve the new area.
The Newcastle Sun, 12 June 1936.

In March 1937 a new steel chimney stack was being erected in October 1937 the newspaper reported that …

Extensions to Zara-street power-house, Newcastle, are proceeding rapidly. The duplication of the boiler-house equipment, which provides the steam power to drive the generators, is well in hand. Arrangements have been made for the installation of a further generating unit as soon as the new boiler-house is completed. The new generating unit will have approximately twice the capacity of the largest of the existing generators.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 6 October 1937.

Work in progress on the foundations for the extensions to the railway power-house in Zara-street. Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 16 October 1937.

Workmen laying 11kV cables along Zara-street, to connect Zara-street and Sydney-street power stations. Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 9 July 1938.

In October 1938 the newspaper gave a detailed report on the progress of the extensions including a page of photos.

Big extensions of plant and building at the Railway Commissioners’ power station at Zara street, the most vital place in Newcastle, will cost nearly £350,000. It is expected that the new plant and buildings, made imperative by a tremendous increase in output in recent years, will be in operation by March next year.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 13 October 1938.

The extensions were completed by July 1939.

New boiler-house at Zara-street power station, to be completed for operation in March, 1939. Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 13 October 1938.

Zaara St Power Station in 1944. NSW Historical Aerial Imagery

A view of Zaara Street Power Station from Nobby’s, 1946. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection 104 012853

Zara-street powerhouse has again broken its power-output record. In the past week the power house has several times reached 70,000 kilowatts its highest achievement yet. A leading electrical engineer said last night: “A combination of favourable conditions enabled the record 70,000 kilowatts; the powerhouse plant was running well, and the quality of the coal was good.”
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 15 June 1949.

In May 1952 the Government announced that the Electricity Commission will take over railway power stations in New South Wales including Zara Street station at Newcastle. Although the transfer was initially scheduled for 30 June 1952, the transfer eventually took place on 1 January 1953, ending 53 years of power generation by the Department of Railways in NSW.

The station continued to produce electricity until 1969, when it was left to stand idle. In 1973 the state suffered from a shortage of electrical generating capacity, and the Newcastle Morning Herald headline on 23 February 1973 stated “Zara power to be on stand-by.” A headline on 15 June 1973 stated “Zaara St. puts power into State System.” Another power crisis came in 1975 , and a headline on 8 January 1975 stated “Zaara Street power may flow again.” Mike Scanlon’s 2015 article on the power station indicates that the station did indeed fire up again in 1975, and this is the last year that the station appears to have produced electricity for the state grid.

Zaara St Power Station, sitting idle in 1976. NSW Historical Aerial Imagery

A headline on 9 April 1976 stated “Power house demolition – end In sight for Zaara St”, and demolition of the power station commenced in September 1977. The main building was brought down with explosives in February 1978, and the 200 ton coal hopper was finally brought down in August 1978. (For details, see Louise Parker’s 1989 report on the Zarra Street Power Station.)

Demolition of Zaara Street Power Station, 8 February 1078. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection 104 009733

The area subsequently becoming part of the foreshore lawns, and some used for housing.

The 1944 aerial view of Zaara St power station superimposed on the modern landscape.

Street names on maps

Looking at maps throughout the ages, most have the street spelled “Zaara”, a few spelled “Zara”, and just one with the spelling “Zarra”.

An 1844 map with Zaara St marked. National Library of Australia.

The street name first appears on a map from 1844. Although there is no contemporary explanation for the origin of the name, it seems fairly certain that as “Zaara” is an alternate spelling of “Sahara”, that the street was named after the desert-like sand hills that occupied that location originally.

c.1850 map showing the “Sand Hills” in Newcastle East. (Note this map was drawn with south at the top.)

Overlaying the c.1850 map into Google Earth shows that Zaara Street runs directly through the area marked as “Sand Hills”.

Portion of a 1905 Department of Public Works map of Newcastle Harbour, showing “Zarra St”. (Note that this map was drawn with East at the top.)

A perfect illustration of the confusion of the street’s name is a 1957 Shell Petroleum roadmap that has two different spellings on the same page.

A 1957 Shell Petroleum road map of Newcastle where the main map (left) has “Zara St”, while on the same page the inset enlargement of the city area (right) has “Zaara St”.

Newspaper articles

Article Date Event Date	Notes
5 Nov 1914	First mention of “Zarra Street Power House” in Trove.
25 Jan 1917	Announcement that "a new power-house is to be erected at Newcastle ... on a site adjoining the temporary power-house, near the pilot station."
6 Jul 1918	"An arrangement exists between the Newcastle City Council and the Railway Commissioners, whereby the latter will supply the council with current in bulk, to meet the requirements of the whole district, from the Zarra Street power-house, which has been designed for an output of 50,000 horsepower. "
3 Dec 1920	"One turbine which had been ordered four years ago to extend the Zara-street power station plant had not yet arrived. Some additional machinery was being installed and would be in operation by March next."
29 Nov 1922	Description of the Zara Street Power House, one year prior to the electric tram service beginning.
16 May 1923	"The largest of 64 packages of a turbo-generator, the dynamo, landed recently from the steamer Bendigo, for erection at the Zara-street Power House, is considered the heaviest load successfully lifted in the Newcastle Harbour. The dynamo weighed only ½cwt short of 33 tons. It was made by the British Thomson Houston Company, Limited, of Rugby, England. The dynamo is to be used in connection with the production of electric current to supply power for the Newcastle electric tramway system."
29 Aug 1923	"At the Zara-street power-house the installation of one 2,500 kilowatt turbo-alternator was completed during the year. One 7,500 kilowatt, 11,000 volt, 50 cycle turbo alternator has been delivered on the site, and will be installed during the next few months. Two Babcock and Wilcox water tube boilers, each with a heating surface of 8,237 square feet, have been installed."
17 Dec 1923	"The key of the whole system of electric traction on the Newcastle tramways is the Zara-street power-house, owned and operated by the Railway Commissioners … A permanent staff of 63 men is employed at the power-house."
5 Jan 1927	Tender for supply and erection of 7500kw turbo alternator.
14 Feb 1934	"The Zarra-street (Newcastle) Power House of the Railway Commissioners at present supplied electrical energy in bulk as far as Singleton. It was an efficient plant with adequate capacity for present and prospective requirements, and utilised cheap coal."
12 Jun 1936	Exapnsion of Zara Street power station required to provide for extension of supply area to Gloucester and Taree.
25 Jul 1936	"Bulk Electricity Supply for the Manning... for a considerable time past negotiations had been going on to see if it could be arranged to supply electricity in bulk from the Zarra Street Power Station, Newcastle. A transmission main has already been laid from that power station, through Maitland as far as Dungog and the later proposals have turned on the possibility of linking up Gloucester, Wingham and Taree."
16 Mar 1937	Erection of new steel chimney stack.
6 Oct 1937	"Extensions to Zara-street power-house, Newcastle, are proceeding rapidly. The duplication of the boiler-house equipment, which provides the steam power to drive the generators, is well in hand. Arrangements have been made for the installation of a further generating unit as soon as the new boiler-house is completed. The new generating unit will have approximately twice the capacity of the largest of the existing generators."
9 Mar 1938	"The Department of Railways invites tenders for coal crushing and screening plant for Zarra Street Power Station."
24 Jun 1938	"It is recommended that additional supplies for Newcastle and surrounding districts be provided by increasing the capacity of the Zarra-street power station at Newcastle."
9 Jul 1938	Laying of 11,000 volt cables between the Railway Department's Zara Street power station and Newcastle Council's Sydney Street power station.
13 Oct 1938	Photos of the Zara Street power station extensions.
13 Oct 1938	Detailed description of extensions at Zara Street power station currently underway.
19 Oct 1938	"Extensions and additions estimated at £350,000 are to be made to both the building and plant at the Zarra Street Power Station, Newcastle. The additions will include a boiler-house, pump-house and new offices for the administrative staff. New boilers, pumps and heaters are also to be installed."
7 Mar 1939	"Newcastle has one large power station supplying the whole of its requirements domestic and industrial and that is the Zarra Street plant owned by the Railway Department. This Zarra Street plant is vulnerable because it is situated immediately behind Fort Scratchley and during an attack upon these forts the power station supplying heavy war industries is certain to be demolished."
22 Jul 1939	Report on the Zara Street power station at the conclusion of major extensions. Includes a note about the variant spelling of the station as "Zarra Street" station.
8 Jan 1941	"Permission for the linking of the power stations between St. Leonards (Sydney) and Zarra St. (Newcastle) on a 66,000 voltage has been granted by the Federal Government. The scheme is estimated to cost approximately £126,000, and will complete, the inter-linking of the electricity generating station in the metropolitan, Newcastle, Port Kembla, and Lithgow areas."
24 Jul 1943	"Department of Railways, Electrical Superintendent, Newcastle, wrote concerning rationing of electricity within the Northern area. Owing to increasing demand for electrical energy from Zarra street and associated power stations over recent months, Newcastle council's load has been 'opened off' without warning due to plant failures at Zarra street."
27 Jul 1945	"Skill was displayed by the drivers of a huge lorry float to transport a 21-ton condenser of a 15,000K.W. turbo-alternator unit from Sydney to Zara-street powerhouse."
23 Mar 1946	Erection of new chimney at Zaara Street power station.
15 Jun 1949	Record output of 70,000 kilowatts at Zara Street powerhouse.
12 May 1952	"The Electricity Commission will take over railway power stations in New South Wales from June 30. The stations affected are at Zara-street, Newcastle, White Bay, Ultimo, and Lithgow." [Note: transfer did not take place until 1 January 1953.]
31 Dec 1952 1 Jan 1953	"To-morrow the electricity generating stations and transmission system operated by the Department of Railways [including Zara Street power station] pass to the control of the Electricity Commission of New South Wales. About 1600 railway employees are involved in the transfer."

Electric Trams

Newcastle’s first tram service commenced in July 1887 with a line running from the city to Wallsend and Plattsburg, with trams powered by steam. In the following two decades additional lines were constructed to Merewether, Mayfield, and Adamstown.

In 1907 representatives of the local councils met with the Chief Commissioner for Railways to urge the conversion of the Newcastle tram system from steam to electric. The Commissioner’s reply “that it would be very carefully considered” proved hollow, with funding in the following decade directed to expansion of the Sydney tram network instead.

In 1917 the electrification project re-emerged with the government announcing plans to expand the capacity of the small powerhouse in Zaara Street to provide for the expected needs of electric trams. Although the power station was enlarged it was not until January 1923 that the government finally approved funding for tram electrification in Newcastle.

The upgrade required not only new rolling stock, substations and overhead power lines, but also extra workshops and tram sheds. In some locations new and heavier tracks needed to be installed. The Mayfield line was the first to be upgraded, and the first electric tram ran on 15 December 1923. Upgrades of other lines followed in the next two years. The Wallsend electric tram service commenced on 26 December 1925, one hundred years ago this month. With the efficiency of the new electric traction, trams ran on the line every 15 minutes, even on weekends! Low passenger numbers on the Speers Point and West Wallsend lines meant it was uneconomical to upgrade these long tracks. They remained steam powered until November 1930 when they were closed and replaced with a bus service. By the late 1940s the condition of tram infrastructure in Newcastle had deteriorated to the point where a major investment in repairs was needed. The government decided instead to transition to a bus service, and the last electric tram in Newcastle ran on the Waratah line on 11 June 1950.

A Newcastle to Wallsend electric tram in Howe Street, Lambton, 23 April 1949. Photo by Arthur Perry. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.

Buses provided public transport after the closure of the Newcastle tram network in 1950.

[I was somewhat dissatisfied with the quality of my modern photo above, the way the bus is deep in shadow. If the bus came through more regularly than once an hour I might be tempted to try and get a better shot. However I will leave the inadequate photo there as a fitting reminder of the inadequacy of our bus services.]

The article above was first published in the December 2025 edition of The Local.

Additional Information

See my Newcastle Trams page for further information, in particular the section on electric trams.

Newcastle Trams

I have written a number of different articles on specific aspects of trams in Newcastle.

March 2015 – The Newcastle to Plattsburg tramway and cutting at Lambton
January 2019 – The proposed, but never built, Lambton to Mayfield tramway
April 2020 – Adamstown tramway
December 2025 – Electric trams
February 2026 – Walsh Island tram extension (coming soon)

Rather than having the additional material scattered across multiple pages, I have consolidated the background information in this page.

Timeline of tram operations in Newcastle, 1887-2019

Date	Tram line	Event
19 Jul 1887	Wallsend/Plattsburg	Opened
19 Apr 1894	Tighes Hill (via Wickham)	Opened
19 Apr 1894	Glebe (originally called Merewether line)	Opened
13 Aug 1900	Adamstown	Opened
11 Jan 1901	Mayfield (extension of Tighes Hill line to Hanbury St)	Extended
21 Sep 1903	Merewether (beach)	Opened
27 Apr 1907	Racecourse	Opened
19 Sep 1910	West Wallsend	Opened
11 Jul 1911	Wallsend (Newcastle to Lambton portion)	Duplicated
15 Jan 1912	Speers Point	Opened
23 Sep 1912	Carrington	Opened
July 1914	Maryville (branch line from Wickham)	Opened
20 Jan 1915	Waratah	Opened
16 Dec 1916	Port Waratah (extension of Maryville line)	Extended
15 Dec 1923	Mayfield	Electrified
27 Jul 1924	Merewether	Electrified
2 Nov 1924	Glebe	Electrified
2 Feb 1925	Adamstown	Electrified
6 Apr 1925	Waratah	Electrified
Nov 1925	Racecourse (possibly 11/11/1925?)	Electrified
27 Dec 1925	Wallsend	Electrified
15 Aug 1926	Carrington	Electrified
11 Oct 1926	Port Waratah	Electrified
1 Nov 1930	Speers Point	Closed
1 Nov 1930	West Wallsend	Closed
19 Nov 1938	Carrington	Closed
19 Nov 1938	Port Waratah	Closed
26 Sep 1948	Mayfield	Closed
6 Nov 1949	Wallsend	Closed
25 Feb 1950	Glebe	Closed
25 Feb 1950	Merewether	Closed
16 Apr 1950	Adamstown	Closed
Apr 1950	Racecourse	Closed
11 Jun 1950	Waratah	Closed
17 Feb 2019	Newcastle Beach to Newcastle Interchange (Wickham)	Opened

Craigies Road, Rail and Tramway Map of Newcastle. c. 1918. National Library of Australia MAP G8974.N4P1

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 [sic] of Newcastle’s trams, which were finally suffocated by the deisel [sic] ‘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.

Newcastle Light Rail

Newspaper articles – Electric trams

Article Date Event Date	Notes
27 Apr 1907 26 Apr 1907	A municipal delegation pressed the Railway Commisioners for "the conversion of the tram system from steam to electric traction."
15 Aug 1908	"While it is satisfactory to learn from the reply given by the State Treasurer to Mr. Edden in Parliament that the Government does not propose to send any defective or partially worn-out engines to Newcastle in connection with the tramway, service, it would be still more so if the authorities were to decide to replace the present system of steam traction by that of electricity. Under present circumstances the cars are invariably dirty and uncomfortable. Steam, smoke, and dust are their inevitable accompaniments [and] the smoke nuisance along the streets is at all times unpleasant."
10 Mar 1911 9 Mar 1911	Municipal conference re electrification. The Mayor of Hamilton: “The present system was a very dirty one. He was sorry they had to go to Sydney with such a request, but Newcastle was very badly treated. If they wanted anything in Sydney, it was immediately granted, while Newcastle was ignored on every occasion.”
25 Jan 1917	Announcement that "a new power-house is to be erected at Newcastle ... on a site adjoining the temporary power-house, near the pilot station."
14 Apr 1917	“The electrification of the Newcastle tramway system, which has been talked of for years, but appeared latterly to have been forgotten, has been once more brought into notice. In a letter to the Newcastle Council, the Secretary for Rail ways explains the proposal of the department.”
25 Apr 1917 24 Apr 1917	Special meeting of the Newcastle Council to discuss the proposed electrification of the Newcastle tramways.
7 May 1920	"The Railway Commissioners are anxious to get the Newcastle trams electrified with as little delay as possible. They have been anxious during 10 years past, but money, when it has been available has been more urgently needed elsewhere."
16 Feb 1923	"Various works are in progress in connection with the electrification of the Newcastle tramways. A start has been made with the construction of the additions to the car sheds and workshops at the depot in Gordon-avenue, Hamilton. The wooden and galvanised iron shed alongside the railway line near Brown street, city, is being demolished, to make room for the erection of a brick electric sub-station. The tram lines on the northern side of Scott-street, between Watt street and Parnell-place, are being relaid with new and heavier type of rails."
16 May 1923	"The largest of 64 packages of a turbo-generator, the dynamo, landed recently from the steamer Bendigo, for erection at the Zara-street Power House, is considered the heaviest load successfully lifted in the Newcastle Harbour. The dynamo weighed only ½cwt short of 33 tons. It was made by the British Thomson Houston Company, Limited, of Rugby, England. The dynamo is to be used in connection with the production of electric current to supply power for the Newcastle electric tramway system."
17 Dec 1923 15 Dec 1923	First electric tram service in Newcastle. "The official ceremonies connected with the running of the first electric tram from Newcastle to Mayfield on Saturday afternoon will rank among the most important events in the history of the city and suburbs."
17 Dec 1923	"The key of the whole system of electric traction on the Newcastle tramways is the Zara-street power-house, owned and operated by the Railway Commissioners … A permanent staff of 63 men is employed at the power-house."
28 Dec 1925 26 Dec 1925	"An important step in the advancement of the town was made on Saturday, when the regular running of electric tramcars was inaugurated. The time-table has been so improved, the electric cars leave Wallsend for the city at 13 minutes and 43 minutes past the hour or about midway between the departing times for steam trams, thus making practically a fifteen minutes' service."

Commonage Street Alignment Stones

Often the artefacts of local history are plainly seen in old buildings or monuments around us, but sometimes history lies unnoticed at our feet. A few months ago, in the back streets of New Lambton, I spotted some old stones in the kerb. What at first appeared to be foundations for a corner shop veranda, turned out to be much more significant – rare examples of the 1888 Commonage street alignment stones.

The Commonage was reserved by the government in 1850 for the purpose of pasturing stock before shipping from the port of Newcastle. It consisted of 1600 acres stretching from Waratah to Adamstown, from Lambton to Hamilton. With the development of nearby collieries many miners erected homes on the Commonage even though it was Crown land. After decades of debate and confusion the government decided to pass legislation to allow people to purchase the land they were occupying.

Before land could be sold however, an accurate survey was needed to mark the alignment of streets and property boundaries. A municipal conference in February 1888 agreed “to use stone blocks for alignment marks instead of wooden posts, on account of the damage done to posts by white ants.” The survey work budgeted for 1400 stones to be placed at street corners, with the colonial government and local councils sharing the cost. Each stone protruded a foot above the ground, was 9 inches square, and had a small hole in the centre to position a surveyor’s pole. Over time most of the stones have been removed due to kerb upgrades or replaced with modern survey marks, and only 49 stones remain today. These are significant relics of an important turning point in Newcastle’s history, when a large tract of land close to the city was opened for private ownership and development. The Broadmeadow Place Strategy endorsed by Newcastle Council in 2025 aims to establish 20,000 new homes, mostly within the area marked out with alignment stones in 1888.

The 1600 acres of the Commonage (Newcastle Pasturage Reserve) where the streets were surveyed and aligned in 1888.

A few of the remaining Commonage alignment stones.

The article above was first published in the November 2025 edition of The Local.

Additional Information

I first encountered the alignment stones when walking down in New Lambton in July 2025, and noticed two stones on the corner of Wickham Road and Gwydir Road.

Stones on the corner of Wickham Road and Gwydir Road, New Lambton. July 2025.

My first impression was that they were the foundation stones for a street veranda of a corner store, as they looked similar to the veranda stones of the Lambton Cooperative Store. However my research drew a blank on there ever being a store at that location. The nature of these stones remained a mystery until some weeks later, when perusing reports of Lambton Council meetings I stumbled upon the following …

From the Department of Lands, respecting the payment of half cost of the alignment of the commonage. Alderman DENT moved, “That the letter be received and department informed that Council prefer stone alignment marks to wood, and are willing to pay half cost of same when the survey of the commonage could be utilised.”
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 26 January 1888.

Researching street alignment stones led me to an interesting paper by Fred de Belin presented to the Association of Public Authority Surveyors Conference in 2014 on “The Big Stone Alignment Posts of Ryde”. The paper contained an excerpt of an old map of Ryde that showed the position of some stones, which raised the question of whether old maps of Newcastle also had maps that showed alignment stones?

The University of Newcastle Living Histories site has a collection of old Water Board maps, and checking the map for New Lambton showed that the stones I had found in Wickham Road, were indeed marked with a dot annotated “A.S.”

The Wickham Road alignment stones marked on 1917 Water Board map, Sheet 256. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.

In a custom Google Map I added a place-mark at each location where the water board maps had indicated an alignment stone in the Commonage area. Over the course of six weeks I walked the streets and verified where alignment stones still remained. Of the 958 alignment stones marked on the water board maps, I found only 49 remain – a survival rate of 5%.

In the map below, the stone locations are split into three separate layers …

Extant (green) – The stone still exists in place.
Remnant (yellow) – There is some evidence of where the stone once was, or there is a modern survey mark in its place.
Missing (red) – The stone has been removed or is not visible.

The numbering of the stone place-marks is in the form “SheetNumber-StoneNumber”. For example “211-14” is the 14th stone marked on sheet 211 of the water board maps.

It is not clear exactly how many alignment stones were placed in the Commonage originally. At a municipal conference in February 1888, a letter tabled from the Lands Department stated that …

… alignment posts should be put in their proper position at an estimated cost of 15s per post, equal to £1050 for the whole subdivision.

This costing implies that up to 1400 alignment points were planned. The fact that the water board maps have only 958 stones marked is probably due to some of the original 1888 stones having been removed by the time the maps were last updated in the 1910s.

The surveying and placement of the stones in the commonage in 1888 was not without incident. Ralph Snowball, who lived in Clarence Road New Lambton, wrote to the newspaper complaining of the surveyors’ work.

I wish, through the columns of your valuable journal, to draw attention to the manner in which a party of surveyors are executing their work on the New Lambton Commonage. The parties who previously surveyed went though the whole of the work in this particular district and unduly interfered with no fence, trees, etc. But it seems in the majority of instances that I have heard, and my own in particular, that surveyors must go straight through gardens and not have to enter by the usual mode, namely, by the gate, but take their feet or an axe and knock down palings, and leave them off when they go away for goats and pigs to have a parade, as they have done on three occasions at my place. On the 21st, when I arrived home at 7 p.m., I found a valuable Californian pepper tree lopped and mutilated on one side in a disgraceful manner, and, as I keep the branches clear on this of the roof of the verandah owing to wind blowing them, and so making a noise on the iron roof, and the height of the surveyor’s tripod, with theodolite, being not more than 5 feet 6 inches, or 6 feet when set, and also being set within 15 or 20 feet from said tree-I cannot see any reason why it had to be cut nearly to the top of the tree, which is 20 feet or more in height. It was not previously in the road of other surveyors. There is also the annoyance caused by their being two or three hours around close to the house talking, &c., and my wife lying very ill with typhoid fever. Had I been at home I should certainly have tried to get them to act in a more manly way, and leave the fences, &c., as they found them, especially when no one belonging to the house was there to replace the palings, &c.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 23 February 1888.

Lambton Council in a meeting in March 1888 also complained about the placement of stones.

The report of March 20 drew attention to the placing of stone alignment posts on the Commonage, some of them far into the macadamised roadway, and as they were placed a foot above the surface they ran the risk of being smashed. One of them was smashed on Saturday by a three-horse dray colliding with it. He suggested that a yard of broken metal be placed around the stones wherever so exposed.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 22 March 1888.

Alignment stones outside the Commonage

In addition to the commonage area, the municipality of Adamstown (incorporated 31 December 1885) was also surveyed at the same time, with alignment stones one foot high. This work was completed by December 1888, but not to everyone’s satisfaction.

The Mayor [of Adamstown] stated that the alignment posts had been placed in position by the surveyor. He expressed his displeasure at the way a number of the street ends had been left.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 24 December 1888.

Quite a few alignment stones still exist in Adamstown, south of Brunker Road.

A street alignment stone in Victoria Street, Adamstown.

New Lambton Council was incorporated on 9 January 1889, and subsequently set about getting their streets surveyed and aligned. There is a mention in September 1890 of “alignment posts” (presumably wooden) and then a mention of “alignment stones” in December 1892. There are still a few alignment stones in the streets of New Lambton, south of Russell Road.

A street alignment stone in Evescourt Road, New Lambton.

Waratah Council was incorporated on 23 February 1871 and had street alignment posts in place well before the Commonage was surveyed in 1888. Water board map Sheet 208 shows that survey marks in Waratah streets were labelled with “A.P.”, presumably meaning “Alignment Post”.

Alignment posts marked at the corner of High and Bridge Streets, Waratah.

Alignment posts at the corner of High and Bridge Streets, Waratah, c. 1885-1888. Photo by Ralph Snowball. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.

Newspaper articles

Article Date Event Date	Notes
26 Jan 1888 24 Jan 1888	Letter to Lambton Council from the Department of Lands, respecting the payment of half cost of the alignment of the commonage. Alderman DENT moved, "That the letter be received and department informed that Council prefer stone alignment marks to wood, and are willing to pay half cost of same when the survey of the commonage could be utilised."
25 Jan 1888	"Surveyors are now busy at work on the commonages cutting it up into suitable allotments, with a probable view to early disposal. If the terms of sale are fixed at reasonable rates and present holders have preferential rights accorded them, then the satisfactory settlement of a long-standing trouble will be hailed with delight."
3 Feb 1888 2 Feb 1888	Municipal conference: "It is proposed that as the subdivision progresses, alignment posts should be put in their proper position at an estimated cost of 15s per post, equal to £1050 for the whole subdivision." (This costing implies that there were 1400 alignment posts. ) "The Councils interested recommend to the Minister for Lands the advisability, while aligning the streets of the Commonage to use stone blocks for alignment marks instead of wooden posts, on account of the damage done to the posts by the white ants."
10 Feb 1888 9 Feb 1888	Thomas Frith, candidate for Adamstown council elections "referred to the alignment of the streets on the Commonage, and said that if the Government had the power to sell the Common, they should pay for the alignment, and let the rates derived from the property go towards improving the streets of the Commonage."
10 Feb 1888	"The work of surveying the Commonage previous to its disposal to the present occupants is proceeding. The surveyors have, in many instances, laid the streets out so that they take the lines as at present occupied by the houses, and which, if carried out, will necessitate the removal of the structures."
11 Feb 1888 10 Feb 1888	"A deputation, representing a conference of delegates from Adamstown, Hamilton, Lambton, and Waratah Municipal Councils, waited on the Minister for Lands in connection with the alignment of streets." The minister "would agree to the erection of stone pillars instead of wooden posts.”
22 Feb 1888 20 Feb 1888	Waratah Council: Letter "from the Lands Department, stating that the district surveyor has been authorised to obtain about 350 alignment posts (stating dimensions), price not to exceed 3s each, for the alignment of streets in the sub-division of the Newcastle Pasturage Reserve. Stone could be used instead of posts, if Council desired."
23 Feb 1888	Letter of complaint from Ralph Snowball about damage to fences and trees caused by the surveyors.
2 Mar 1888 1 Mar 1888	Adamstown Council meeting: "The clerk stated that he had been informed by one of the surveyors that he had been instructed to survey Adamstown along with the commonage."
22 Mar 1888 20 Mar 1888	Lambton council complaint about the positioning of the Commonage stone alignment posts.
12 May 1888 11 May 1888	Adamstown Council: “The Mayor reported having waited upon Mr. Surveyor Halworth re alignment marks, and submitted two designs for the consideration of the aldermen. After a deal of talk it was resolved, on the motion of Alderman Weir, that the alignment marks be stone, one foot high.”
24 Dec 1888 20 Dec 1888	Adamstown council: "The MAYOR stated that the alignment posts had been placed in position by the surveyor. He expressed his displeasure at the way a number of the street ends had been left."
15 Oct 1940	East Lambton Progress Association: "It was also decided to write to Newcastle Council asking that the alignment stones at the corner of Karoola and Durham Roads be removed and not placed back on the footpath as suggested by the council."

Wesleyan Cemetery, Newcastle West

The Wesleyan Cemetery in Newcastle West was originally a one acre square of land dedicated in June 1846. The size of the cemetery was halved in 1854 when the Newcastle to Maitland railway was planned. Burials in the cemetery took place up until 1881 when Sandgate Cemetery was opened. The dedication of the Wesleyan cemetery was revoked in 1910. The land was sold to the Roman Catholic Church in 1955, and then subsequently sold for commercial and business purposes.

The one acre area of the original 1846 Wesleyan Cemetery shown in yellow.

A map for the sale of land (bordered in red) in 1908, shows the adjacent Wesleyan Cemetery. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.

The colonial government dedicated one acre of land for a Wesleyan cemetery on 30 June 1846.

New South Wales Government Gazette, 30 June 1846.

Suburban allotment No. 18 was a 22 acre portion of land in the Newcastle West/Wickham area, which was reduced to 21 acres after the dedication of the one acre cemetery. The Title Deed for the cemetery was issued on 22 September 1846.

Title Deed for the Wesleyan Burial Ground in Newcastle, dated 22 September 1846. HLRV Serial-PageNo 345-2.

In July 1854 the Hunter River Railway Company was formed, for the purpose of constructing a rail line from Newcastle to East Maitland. The route of the railway cut through the north-eastern section of the Wesleyan cemetery, and consequently the cemetery was reduced to a triangular portion of 2 roods 2 perches (approx 0.5 acre).

An 1854 map showing the location of the cemetery within suburban allotment No. 18, at the time the size of the cemetery was reduced by the Newcastle to Maitland railway. Map reproduced from the Newcastle Family History Society publication, Newcastle West Burial Grounds.

Because records for the civil registration of births, deaths and marriages in NSW are only available from 1 March 1856, it is not possible to identify when the first interment in the cemetery occurred, or how many interments occurred in the ten year period from July 1846 to 1 March 1856. The first positively identified burial in the cemetery was of 15 year old Thomas John Fernyhough in September 1858.

A report in 1872 referred to the four city burial grounds, including the Wesleyan cemetery.

The cemeteries that are now used are of a sectarian character – one of them belonging to the Church of England, one to the Roman Catholic, and another to the Presbyterian persuasion. The Wesleyan Methodists have also a very small one, which is situated in a marshy piece of ground a little way out of the city.
Australian Town and Country Journal, 16 March 1872.

The location of the cemetery was alluded to in an advertisement for the sale in June 1872 of “SIX BEAUTIFUL BUILDING ALLOTMENTS situated in front of the Wesleyan Burial Ground, near the White Gates, Maitland-road.” The White Gates was the location where Maitland Road crossed the railway line in Newcastle West.

By 1879, when plans for a new general cemetery at Sandgate were progressing, it appears that the Wesleyan cemetery was little used due to the swampy nature of the ground there.

Rev. Mr. WATERHOUSE, on behalf of the Wesleyan body, stated they had a cemetery of their own, but it was in a swamp; and since he had been in Newcastle he had only buried two in it.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 31 July 1879.

The last burial in the cemetery reported by the newspaper was that of Henry Gilpin on 5 January 1881. The last burial recorded in the government register of deaths was of 17 month old James Elliott in February 1881. When the general cemetery at Sandgate opened in September 1881, interments at all the city burial grounds (Christ Church Cathedral, Honeysuckle Point, Wesleyan) were prohibited by a Borough of Newcastle by-law.

With no new interments, the cemetery was neglected and fell into disrepair. A newspaper article in 1902 reported …

The Wesleyan Cemetery is a considerable distance away, the plot lying between the railway line and the road which crosses the high-level bridge. What its appearance was like years ago it is hard to imagine, but old residents tell gruesome stories of interments there at which, the coffin floated in water and had to be forced down with poles while the graves were filled in. A part of the land was contiguous to a swamp, but it is hard to define the boundaries now. A very small piece remains enclosed with a ricketty fence, and in the enclosure there are all that remains of five graves. On one of these is an inscription dating back to 1860, but the others are nameless. It is a debatable point whether some portion has not already been built upon, and, as a matter of fact, its existence as one of Newcastle’s earliest cemeteries is almost forgotten.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 4 March 1902.

The author of the article suggests that given “the desolate and neglected appearance” of the cemeteries in Newcastle West, that “the time has come for their removal.”

On 27 January 1910 the NSW Government Gazette published a “Revocation of Dedication” of the Wesleyan Burial Ground. There appear to be no records of removal of headstones or remains from the site to other cemeteries. A report leading up to a Land Board inquiry in 1947 on the future use of the land, noted that “nearly all traces of burials had been obliterated”, and that the site had been used for various purposes including tennis courts.

An old burial ground at Wickham will be the subject of a Land Board inquiry at Newcastle Courthouse on November 12. The board will recommend whether the land should be disposed of or converted to other use. The District Surveyor of the Land Board, East Maitland (Mr. R. Massie) stated that the land, known as portion 2519, of about one acre, was originally dedicated as a Wesleyan Methodist burial ground on September 22, 1846. Dedication was revoked in 1910 at the instance of the Methodist Church authorities. Mr. Massie said a 1910 report showed that the old cemetery had then been closed about 30 years, and nearly all traces of burials had been obliterated. Since then the land had been used for various purposes, such as a site for tennis courts. The location and satisfactory disposal of human remains would be impracticable, he added. Together with an adjoining lane, the land, which was now Crown land, was the subject of a special purchase application by the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church of the Diocese of Maitland, said Mr. Massie. Other business firms and individuals were also interested in acquiring the land, he said.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 8 November 1947.

The Land Board decided in favour of the Roman Catholic Church acquiring the site.

The Land Board at Newcastle Courthouse yesterday, recommended that the Roman Catholic Church be given the opportunity to acquire the site of a former Wesleyan Methodist cemetery at Wickham, for a hostel for the Young Christian Workers’ Extension Association. The board made its recommendation subject to … undertaking be given to reinter in any Wesleyan Methodist cemetery, without expense to the Crown, the remains of any person found during building operations.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 14 November 1947.

There is no record of any re-interments taking place during any subsequent developments on the site.

Part of a 1959 county map showing Portion 2519, formerly the Wesleyan Cemetery, owned by the Roman Catholic Church. HLRV

Vol-Fol 7010-6 records the “Grant of Land upon special purchase” by the Catholic Church in July 1955. In September 1968 the church sold the land to “NSW Motors (Newcastle) Pty Ltd” and the site has been used for commercial and business purposes since that time.

The location of the former Wesleyan Cemetery shown in Google Earth.

For more information about the Wesleyan Cemetery in Newcastle West, see the Newcastle West Burial Grounds publication from the Newcastle Family History Society.

Wallsend Cemetery

There are two cemeteries connected with Wallsend.

Old Wallsend Cemetery: A 3 acre lot of land on Newcastle Rd, used for burials from 1863 to 1896. The “Old Wallsend Cemetery Act of 1953” legislated for the removal of headstones from the surface, and the conversion of the land into a park.
Current Wallsend Cemetery: A 16 acre lot of land on Sandgate Rd, opened for burials in 1896 and still in use today.

For a detailed history of Old Wallsend Cemetery, see the introductory chapter of the Newcastle Family History Society publication “Old Wallsend Cemetery 1863-1896”. The society also produced a podcast episode on Old Wallsend Cemetery in 2025.

Old Wallsend Cemetery

The Newcastle Wallsend Coal Company was formed in November 1858, and the township of Wallsend rapidly grew as miners and their families moved to the area. By 1861 the residents were advocating for a cemetery to be formed near the town.

It is necessary that a cemetery should be formed near Wallsend. The rapidity with which the place is rising into importance demands immediate attention to this pressing want.
The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, 7 September 1861.

A later article on Old Wallsend Cemetery stated that …

… it was in the year 1862 that the first steps were taken to secure a cemetery. It was not until 1864 that the Wallsend Company granted a piece of ground for burial purposes, but so urgent was the necessity that a number were buried in the land dedicated long before it was fenced or even cleared.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 5 June 1902.

The Newcastle Chronicle reported on a burial in the Wallsend cemetery in August 1863.

One death has occurred here this week — the wife of a miner at the pits; she was buried in our cemetery. The fencing in of this place has not yet commenced, nor have we heard any further intelligence concerning the work. A few weeks since there was some talk of a clearing and stumping the ground, but like most other plans formed here for the good of the community, the subject has been dropped.
The Newcastle Chronicle and Hunter River District News, 26 August 1863.

By October 1866 one acre of ground had been cleared and fenced at the cemetery, but this was was soon used up.

In the absence of a general cemetery for the district, this one here is rapidly filling up. It will soon become necessary to enlarge it, and happily there, is plenty of land on each side that can be taken in.
The Newcastle Chronicle, 10 February 1872.

The cemetery was enlarged in 1873, probably to the full 3 acres granted by the Wallsend Company. Despite this tripling in size, space for burials was soon running short again and by 1886 there was a clear need for a new larger cemetery.

Various Friendly Societies have lately met in conference and decided that in view of the present Wallsend cemetery being shortly closed for want of space, an effort be made to obtain, either by gift or purchase, a suitable piece of land from the directors of the Wallsend Coal Company, about one mile outside the town limits, and near the road leading to Sandgate. There can be no two opinions as to the necessity of closing the present Wallsend cemetery, not only on account of its close proximity to the dwellings of the people, but from the fact that something like 4000 interments have already taken place in this land and it is almost impossible, I might safely say impossible, to visit the grave of any relative without walking on top of other graves.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 27 October 1886.

A lack of space was not the only problem, as it appears that the old cemetery was not well maintained. A letter writer in September 1891 said “the condition of the
cemetery reflects discredit on the inhabitants of the town”, and another letter in October 1894 referred to it rather forcefully as “a disgrace to our civilisation.”

After much lobbying and agitation, in September 1894 the government decided to allocate 16 acres of land on the Wallsend to Sandgate Road for a new general cemetery. By June 1896 the new cemetery was ready for use and Wallsend Council passed by-laws prohibiting any further burials in the old cemetery.

Old Wallsend Cemetery in the background of a 1906 Ralph Snowball photograph. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.

Old Wallsend Cemetery in the background of a 1914 photograph. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.

Old Wallsend Cemetery in the background of a photograph (undated) from the Josiah Cocking Collection. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.

In 1920 the land of the Old Wallsend Cemetery was transferred from the Newcastle Wallsend Coal Company to Wallsend Municipal Council.

The land comprising Old Wallsend Cemetery was transferred from the Newcastle Wallsend Coal Company to Wallsend Municipal Council in 1920. Vol-Fol 3106-99

Old Wallsend Cemetery, 1938. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.

After council took ownership of the old cemetery, the lack of maintenance was a cause for many recurring complaints.

It is a great pity that the old Wallsend Cemetery, on the Newcastle road, has been so neglected as to be an eyesore, and to those who have dear ones interred there it is a most deplorable state of affairs. To see the tombstones near the graves where they have fallen (most of them have been knocked down by straying cattle), and the railings of most of the wooden enclosures scattered about, makes it one of the worst forms of desecration.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 29 June 1923.

With canting and tumbled-down head stones, and remnants of picket fencing at graves, the cemetery is an eyesore in a locality where many cottages of modern type have been erected in recent years, and with a view to obscuring the scene of desolation to visitors to the town a row of young camphor laurel trees has been planted on the Newcastle-road side of the area.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 12 February 1930.

Charred and otherwise damaged post and-rail fencing, soiled and crumbling headstones–some still standing and others canting or lying flat – and a few scraggy old trees, behind camphor laurels, which have struggled for existence for years and have been more or less scorched by the fires, go to make a scene of desolation among many home properties with cottages.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 27 January 1940.

In September 1943, Newcastle Alderman H Scott-Daisley suggested that the problem of the cemetery be solved by converting it into a children’s playing area. His suggestion was met with mixed responses. In September 1947 Newcastle Council made application to the State Government to convert the cemetery into a recreation reserve, but the matter stalled until 1950 when council again pursued the idea.

A new move to have the disused cemetery in Newcastle-road, Wallsend, converted into a rest park, garden area and children’s play ground has been made by Newcastle City Council. The Town Clerk (Mr. Burges) has advised the Under Secretary for Lands (Mr. A. R. Jones) that the council is anxious to have the matter completed, and asked for the submission of draft legislation to Cabinet soon.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 31 March 1950.

After a few more years the government finally passed the Old Wallsend Cemetery Act of 1953 for the conversion of the cemetery to a public park. The legislation mandated that …

At least three months before any headstones, grave enclosures, or other surface structures are removed by the Council an advertisement of the intention to remove the same shall be inserted four times at intervals of not less than two weeks in newspapers circulating in the locality. Representatives of any person buried in the said land may, at their own expense, remove the headstone, grave enclosure or other surface structure erected over the grave of such person or may, at their own expense, and with the permission of the Director-General of Public Health, remove to such cemetery as they desire, the remains of such person.

Despite this mandate there is no evidence that these advertisements were ever placed, and no evidence that any headstones or remains were moved from Old Wallsend cemetery to another cemetery.

It is not clear exactly when the conversion of the cemetery to a park was completed. Headlines from the Newcastle Morning Herald on 24 October 1956 (“Rest park plan for cemetery”), and 3 November 1956 (“Cemetery to be rest park”), suggest that the conversion still had not occurred by then. By 1958 the naming of the park was in the news, with a headline on 9 July 1957 of “Deadlock on name for rest park – Wallsend”. The deadlock appears to have been resolved by the following year, with a 13 June 1959 headline, “Agreement on old cemetery rest park.”

According to Newcastle Council’s Land Register Statutory Report of February 2020, the official name of the area is “Old Cemetery Park”.

“Old Cemetery Park” marked on the NSW Government spatial explorer map.

The memorial plaque at the centre of “Rest Park”, site of the Old Wallsend Cemetery. October 2025.

Current Wallsend Cemetery

In September 1894 the government decided to allocate 16 acres of land on the Wallsend to Sandgate Road for a new general cemetery, although the land was only officially gazetted on 17 October 1896. The new cemetery opened on 28 June 1896.

Wallsend Cemetery on Sandgate Road, 1938. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.

Sandgate cemetery train

When not many people lived in Newcastle, the needs of the dead were met by a few small burial grounds – the Church of England cemetery below the cathedral, the Catholic and Presbyterian cemeteries adjacent to Cottage Creek, and the Wesleyan Methodist cemetery in Newcastle West. With a rising population came the need for a larger general cemetery outside the city, and in 1863 the government reserved 20 acres of land at Waratah.

However, the commencement of mining and a growing township at Waratah soon made that location unsuitable. After many delays, in 1878 the government purchased 50 acres of land at Sandgate for a cemetery. This site had the advantages of being in an unpopulated area, and close to both Maitland Road and the northern railway.

Opened in September 1881, the cemetery included a short branch rail line to provide transport for mourners, as well as the deceased in a special hearse carriage. In 1883 the rail authorities opened a mortuary station and platform in Honeysuckle as the starting point for funeral trains. In 1896 the Tramway Department acquired a hearse carriage that allowed funeral processions from the suburbs to proceed via tram to Honeysuckle, thence by train to Sandgate.

Sandgate became the principal burial ground in the district, and the cemetery train was much used. On a single day in 1932 there were fourteen funerals, ten of which travelled by train. In 1933 the Honeysuckle mortuary station closed, but the cemetery rail continued to carry passengers, with extra trains provided on special occasions. In 1938 the newspaper reported that 3000 mourners had travelled by train to Sandgate on Mother’s Day. With rising car ownership, the need for a cemetery train gradually declined, and the last passenger service ran on Sunday 13 October 1985. Forty years later a low brick platform, half-buried rails and a rusting points lever are the scant reminders of a railway that served both the living and the dead for over a century.

Passenger train at Sandgate Cemetery, 6 October 1985. Photo by Brian R Andrews. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.

The article above was first published in the October 2025 edition of The Local.

Additional Information

Church of England Cemetery

The cemetery was originally proclaimed in 1817and closed in 1884. For further details, see Greg Ray’s article on the Cathedral Cemetery.

Portion of Armstrong’s 1830 map of Newcastle showing the “Burying Ground” to the north of the Church of England. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.

Newcastle West Cemeteries

There were three denominational cemeteries in Newcastle West. The Honeysuckle Point cemeteries for the Presbyterians and the Roman Catholics, were adjacent to Cottage Creek and opened in 1845. A Wesleyan Methodist cemetery a little further west along the Maitland Road opened in 1846.

Interments in all these grounds ceased in 1881 when Sandgate Cemetery opened. The dedication of the Wesleyan cemetery was revoked in 1910. The Honeysuckle Point cemeteries were removed in 1916 to make way for a tram and road bridge over the railway, however due to lack of funds the bridge was never constructed. Refer to my Honeysuckle Point Cemetery and Wesleyan Cemetery pages for further details.

An 1896 tramways map showing the Honeysuckle Point Cemetery (Presbyterian and Roman Catholic). From Flickr user Peter Deane

Wallsend Cemetery

Refer to my Wallsend Cemetery page for further details.

Proposed Waratah Cemetery

In the published article above, I stated that the Sandgate cemetery site was selected in preference to a Waratah site “after many delays”. This polite phrase, required for brevity, masks the true omni-shambles of the Government’s and Newcastle Borough Council’s handling of cemetery matters. See my Waratah Cemetery page for further details.

Sandgate Cemetery

After a delay of several decades, the government finally secured a site for a general cemetery at Sandgate.

It is satisfactory to learn that the vote of £3000 for a cemetery for this city has been appropriated. The Government have just purchased 50 acres of land at Waratah from the A. A. Co. at the rate of £50 per acre, the remaining £500 has been placed in the hands of the Municipal Council to defray the expense of inclosing the same with a substantial fence.
Freeman’s Journal, 7 December 1878.

(Note the mention of the land being “at Waratah” meant in the Waratah region, not Waratah township/suburb we know today. The locality name of “Sandgate” was not used until 1882.)

On 9 December 1878 Newcastle Council passed a motion …

That the Town Clerk be instructed to write to the Government, urging the necessity of dedicating the land lately purchased for a general cemetery, and appointing the Municipal Council as trustees; also for taking immediate steps for closing the burial grounds within the municipality, and providing the necessary railway accommodation for the general use of the cemetery.

At the same meeting the council accepted the tender of Mr W W Johnston of Wallsend for fencing the cemetery. The following month Johnston reported to the council …

… that the unusual size of the rails for the cemetery fence had caused him considerable difficulty in procuring same, but he would be in a position to commence the fence within a fortnight.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 14 January 1879.

In June 1879 a major controversy erupted over the proposed distribution of land within the cemetery to the various church denominations.

Our attention has been very forcibly drawn to the extraordinary manner in which the land set apart by the Government for burying purposes has been apportioned to the different denominations.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 3 June 1879.

Half the area of the cemetery had been allocated to two denominations (Church of England, Catholic), some denominations had “manifestly inequitable” allocations, and some no allocation at all.

As for the Baptists, they must all be presumed by the Government Distributors to be translated to heaven as Enoch and Elijah were, without dying, as no place appears to have been provided for their burial!
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 3 June 1879.

At a public meeting held on 26 July 1879, the various denominations discussed how the cemetery should be divided. The Church of England and Roman Catholics wanted it apportioned based on the general census of 1871 (which gave them a greater area), whereas others wanted it apportioned based on the ratio of the denominations in the local district. The meeting resolved to send a deputation to the Minister for Lands on the following Tuesday to argue their respective cases. In August 1879 the Minister issued a new subdivision of the cemetery that reduced the allocation to the Church of England and Roman Catholics, and increased the allocation to the other denominations, including some that had previously been overlooked.

A few months later, Newcastle Council were again asking the Government for a rail link to the cemetery, and reminding them of the need to pass legislation to close the existing cemeteries within the city boundary.

Alderman BROOKS moved – “That the Government be communicated with, urging the necessity of making railway accommodation to the new cemetery; and also passing a bill to restrict the burials in the city, and close all cemeteries within the city boundary.” He had been given to understand that before burials in the municipality could be stopped, a special Bill must be passed, and no steps had been taken by Government to do that. It was the Council’s duty to remind the Government that such a bill was urgently required. If they did not continually peg away at them it would be a couple of years before they had the new cemetery available. The MAYOR remarked that the fencing of the ground was completed. Doubtless each denomination would take steps to see that their section of the enclosure was properly cleared.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 30 October 1879.

The following year, the Government finally got around to appointing trustees for the cemetery, the denominational trustees on 30 July 1880, and trustees for the General section on 1 October 1880. In January 1881 word was received that the Government had agreed to construct a branch rail line into the cemetery.

We are glad to notice that the City Council has at last been successful, aided by the exertions of the members for the city, in inducing the Minister for Works to connect the new general cemetery to the Great Northern Railway by a siding. Mr. Bewick, the Superintendent of Permanent Ways and Works, has been instructed to proceed with this necessary work at once, and in the course of four or five weeks at the furthest we may expect to see this work completed.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 28 January 1881.

In April 1881 several of the trustees of the cemetery visited the site to inspect the railway works, rapidly nearing completion.

To form a connection [from the cemetery] to the main track, a siding has been run in, proceeding by a gentle incline and gradual curve towards the middle of the cemetery, at the exact centre of which a terminus is formed, a platform erected, and a hand- some mortuary receiving house or waiting room provided. The benefit of this arrangement will be readily appreciated; since by the plan thus adopted funeral parties can be conveyed to the nearest approach to either one of the various denominational sections into which the whole is subdivided. The structure itself measures internally 26ft x 16, with a verandah 20 x 17, the platform being 100 foot long, exclusive of two fifteen feet ramps at either end. The upper portion in galvanized iron with neat barge-board fringing the eaves, and ornamental verandah posts, &c., attached. The formal work of constructing it is being carried out by Mr. P. Morrison, who expects to have every- thing complete within a day or two.

Those present made a careful inspection of the ground, which is thus virtually ready for interments. With the infusion of a little energy there can be no reason whatever to prevent every detail being satisfactorily settled within the next fortnight at the utmost.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 14 April 1881.

The mortuary receiving house and rail platform can be seen in the background of this 1910 Ralph Snowball photo. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection 001 003847

Despite the optimism of the trustees of an imminent opening, four months later the cemetery was still not ready. A meeting on 12 August 1881 outlined four main issues to be resolved.

The need for clearing the ground.
The need for a caretaker to be appointed and a caretaker’s house to be erected.
The need for “an official sketch plan of the ground, shewing the various denominational sub-divisions, together with a plan of the paths, sizes of graves, distinguishing sections.”
The need for “a committee of trustees to draw up a code of by-laws, to be submitted to Government for approval.”

In addition to the above there were issues with white-ants attacking the mortuary building, fences removed by residents who claimed a right of way, and other fences erected in the wrong position.

On 8 September 1881 the trustees met again at the cemetery site, and …

reported that the Government had promised £200 towards clearing and fencing;
moved that tenders for the clearing work be invited;
moved that a a surveyor be employed to prepare a plan of the whole cemetery;
moved that the draft by-laws prepared by the sub-committee be submitted to the next general meeting for approval.

Twenty two years after it was first called for, the general cemetery was finally ready. The first interment took place two days later on 10 September 1881, when Mary Wilson, the wife of John Miller was buried in the Presbyterian section of the cemetery. The Government Railways advertised that funeral trains to the General Cemetery would run daily from Newcastle Station, if required.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 10 September 1881.

Locomotive, passenger carriages, and hearse trailer at the Sandgate Cemetery station and platform. circa 1881 to 1890. University of Newcastle, Living Histories. This photo appeared in the Newcastle Sun in 1950 with the caption “One of the early funeral trains to Sandgate Cemetery. The picture was taken 60 years ago.”

At the next meeting of the cemetery trustees, plans for the improvement of the cemetery progressed.

[Funds] will be devoted to clearing the main avenue of the cemetery to a width of 66 feet, and trees of an appropriate character will be planted on each side. Application is also to be made to the Minister for Works for the erection of a residence for a caretaker, the site of which has been approved of by the trustees.

Efforts have also been made to secure telephonic communication between the cemetery and Newcastle, so that no time need be lost in any case of emergency . The Trustees are applying to the Government for a platform to be constructed so that the various kinds of material likely to be required for interments, such as timber, monumental masonry, iron railings, etc, may be easily unloaded, and also that parties wishing to visit the burial ground may disembark there from any ordinary train without being compelled to travel by the special mortuary one.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 30 September 1881.

In April 1882 we see the first reference to the name “Sandgate” as the locality of the cemetery, and on 19 July 1882 the first reference to the name “Sandgate Cemetery” appears. There is no clear information on the origin of the name. (In 1928 there was a short-lived agitation to change the name of the suburb. One resident gives a confusing explanation for the naming of Sandgate, but coming nearly 50 years later it should be received with some skepticism.)

Locomotive engine and hearse trailer at Sandgate Cemetery, 10 May 1900. Photo by Ralph Snowball. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection 001 001107

Mothers Day in 1939, when about 5000 people visited Sandgate Cemetery. Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 15 May 1939.

Two-car diesel set NTC738/NPF638 sits at the platform at Sandgate Cemetery station 9, June 1985. Photo courtesy of Australian Rail Maps.

Mortuary Station, Newcastle West

When Sandgate Cemetery opened in September 1881, cemetery trains departed from Newcastle Station. In 1883 the Government erected a mortuary station and platform at Honeysuckle, and from 9 April 1883 funeral trains departed from this station.

Advertisement for opening of new mortuary station at Honeysuckle. Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 5 April 1883.

Portion of an 1894 map showing the location of the old cemeteries, Honeysuckle Point railway station, and the Mortuary Station that opened in 1883. State Library of NSW.

Mortuary Station, Honeysuckle Point, November 1896. Photo by Ralph Snowball. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.

Mortuary Station and Bullock Island Bridge, NSW, 14 August 1900. Photo by Ralph Snowball. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.

The mortuary station was used for 50 years, and closed at the end of March 1933, because of declining patronage and a deteriorating building.

The old mortuary platform at Honey suckle railway station is to be closed from April 1. After that date funerals at Honeysuckle will entrain from the main platform for Sandgate Cemetery. The question of closing down the mortuary, platform has been under consideration by the Railway Department for a long time. At present the platform buildings are in a state of disrepair, and need painting, and it has been decided that the change should be made at the end of this month. The department claims that no public inconvenience will be caused; its records show that of the 228 funerals that went by rail from the Newcastle district stations between August and December of last year, only 35 left from the Honey suckle mortuary platform.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 11 March 1933.

Although the mortuary station closed, the train service to the cemetery continued, particularly passenger traffic for mourners and visitors. Transport of the deceased to the cemetery via train appears to have waned quickly, with the last mention in the paper of this practice being the funeral of Mrs Eleanor J Varley on 24 June 1935.

It is often remarked that Newcastle gets a poor allocation of funds for projects compared with spending in Sydney, and the mortuary stations in the respective cities is a fine example. While Sydney got a magnificent architect designed Victorian Free Gothic style sandstone building in 1868, fifteen years later the Government could only manage a weatherboard shed for Newcastle.

Sydney Mortuary Station vs Newcastle Mortuary Station.

Wallsend Mortuary Train and TramWay hearses

In 1886 the rail authorities commenced mortuary train service from Wallsend to Sandgate Cemetery, that used the Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Company railway.

The funeral [of John Kilpatrick] took place on Monday, and was the first mortuary train from Wallsend to the District Cemetery. I understood that 83 tickets were issued, proving conclusively that in cases when the remains of any member of our friendly society is conveyed by rail to Sandgate the authorities will be called upon to provide plenty of carriage accommodation.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 1 September 1886.

After trams in Newcastle commenced operation in 1887 the opportunity arose for a funeral tram service. In May 1896 the Railway Commissioners announced that a hearse trailer for the tram network in Newcastle would soon be provided.

It is expected that a hearse will be available for use on the tramways about the 1st June. This will supply a want which has been long experienced by residents in the suburbs.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 23 May 1896.

A hearse car has just been added to the tramway rolling stock. It is intended to attach this car to funeral trams, which are henceforth to be run as required from the suburbs to the railway station in competition against the undertakers.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 8 June 1896.

With the introduction of a tram hearse, the Railway Commissioners decided to discontinue the funeral train service that had been running from Wallsend for the previous ten years.

The Commissioners promised to arrange for the arrival and departure of the tram from Newcastle so as to prevent any unnecessary delay and insure a return to Wallsend by 6pm, so that it will now be understood that in lieu of a funeral train, a hearse will be attached to the tram leaving Wallsend at 2pm and returning at 5pm, the return fare being 1s.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 7 AUgust 1896.

Funeral procession of Dr A W Nash in Morehead Street, Lambton, heading for Howe Street to board the funeral tram service. The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, 29 March 1905.

The introduction of the funeral tram service allowed quite large funeral processions to travel to Sandgate Cemetery from the suburbs.

The funeral of the late Mr. John Avery took place yesterday, and was one of the largest attended that ever left Lambton, upwards of 700 persons joined in the procession from the house to the tram, and about 500 proceeded by tram and train to Sandgate Cemetery.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 30 September 1907.

Converted tramway hearses at Hamilton Depot, 24 April 1949. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.

Ralph Snowball’s Cemetery Photos

Ralph Snowball took a large number of photographs of headstones and monuments at Sandgate Cemetery, many of which are in Newcastle Libraries Online Collection. Some of these photographs show trains, or rail infrastructure in the background.

Gravestone of Margaret (Reta) Walker Swan at Sandgate Cemetery, with the cemetery train in the background. Photo by Ralph Snowball, 6 September 1898. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection 001 003530

The same location in 2025. Note that the original headstone for the infant Reta was later replaced with a more elaborate monument that also memorialised her parents Andrew and Mary Ann.

Gravestone of William Lashmore and his wife at Sandgate Cemetery, with the wooden cemetery train platform in the background. Photo by Ralph Snowball, 24 May 1905. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection 001 002110

Gravestone of Grace Ann Kay at Sandgate Cemetery, with mortuary station building in the background, 16 November 1901. Photo by Ralph Snowball. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection 001 002102

Gravestone of Joseph Lloyd at Sandgate Cemetery, with rail tracks and platform in the background, 13 October 1912. Photo by Ralph Snowball. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection 001 004132

Newspaper articles

Article Date Event Date	Notes
5 Oct 1859 4 Oct 1859	Meeting of Newcastle Town Council: "Alderman Bolton then brought on his motion that application be made to the General Superintendent of the Australian Agricultural Company for a grant of land for the purpose of a general cemetery. In introducing it, he said that he had little to say, as all were aware of its necessity. The Church of England cemetery was in the centre of the town, and was nearly full and the others were small, and not suited for the purpose."
22 Aug 1878	"The COLONIAL SECRETARY has informed the deputation that the Minister for Lands had directed that the manager of the A. A. Co. should be communicated with, and that the purchase of the site should be completed before the end of the present month. The fact is, that if the land is not purchased by that time, the offer of the company to sell the land for the purpose required will lapse, and the citizens will have to look round again, but perhaps in vain."
24 Aug 1878	"Negotiations had been entered into with the Australian Agricultural Company for the purchase of fifty acres of land for a cemetery at £2500, and that, in fact, £3000 had been voted by Parliament for buying a piece of land for this purpose, and for fencing it in."
7 Dec 1878	"It is satisfactory to learn that the vote of £3000 for a cemetery for this city has been appropriated. The Government have just purchased 50 acres of land at Waratah from the A. A. Co. at the rate of £50 per acre, the remaining £500 has been placed in the hands of the Municipal Council to defray the expense of inclosing the same with a substantial fence."
10 Dec 1878 9 Dec 1878	Newcastle Council meeting: acceptance of tender for cemetery fencing; letter to Government regarding trustees and rail line to cemetery.
14 Jan 1879 13 Jan 1879	Delay to cemetery fencing due to difficulty procuring timber.
3 Jun 1879	Disgruntlement with the apportionment areas of the new general cemetery to the various denominations.
28 Jul 1879 26 Jul 1879	Public meeting to consider the question of apportioning areas of the new cemetery to the various denominations.
31 Jul 1879 29 Jul 1879	Deputation meets with Minister for Lands regarding the apportioning to the denomimations.
19 Aug 1879 18 Aug 1879	Minister for Lands issues a revised allocation of land in the cemetery.
30 Oct 1879 27 Oct 1879	Newcastle council meeting, calling on Government to provide a rail line to the cemetery.
30 Jul 1880	Appointment of denominational trustees for the new cemetery.
1 Oct 1880 1 Oct 1880	Appointment of trustees for General section of the new cemetery at Sandgate.
28 Jan 1881	Government agrees to construct a branch rail line into the cemetery.
14 Apr 1881	Branch rail line into cemetery nearing completion.
13 Aug 1881 12 Aug 1881	Meeting of the trustees to progress matters delaying the cemetery opening.
19 Aug 1881	Deputation to Minister for Lands regarding issues preventing the opening of the new cemetery.
9 Sep 1881 8 Sep 1881	Final meeting of the trustees, at the cemetery site, before the first burial two days later.
10 Sep 1881 10 Sep 1881	The first interment in the new Newcastle General Cemetery at Sandgate.
10 Sep 1881	Advertisement with funeral train information.
10 Sep 1881	Advertisement for funeral of Mary Wilson, first person to be interred at the new general cemetery at Sandgate.
30 Sep 1881 28 Sep 1881	Meeting of the cemetery trustees, plans for an avenue of ornamental trees, and another railway platform for the easy unloading of timber, monumental masonry etc.
6 Apr 1882	First mention of "Sandgate" as a locality name.
19 Jul 1882	First reference to the name "Sandgate Cemetery".
5 Apr 1883 9 May 1883	Opening of mortuary station at Honeysuckle Point.
1 Sep 1886 30 Oct 1886	Funeral of John Kilpatrick - first mortuary train from Wallsend to Sandgate Cemetery.
10 Jul 1887 10 Jul 1887	Formal gazetting of 50 acres of land in Newcastle for the General Cemetery.
23 May 1896	"It is expected that a hearse will be available for use on the tramways about the 1st June."
8 Jun 1896	"A hearse car has just been added to the tramway rolling stock."
7 Aug 1896	With the introduction of the tram hearse, the funeral train service from Wallsend is discontinued.
30 Sep 1907 29 Sep 1907	Funeral of John Avery where 500 mourners proceeded from Lambton by tram and train to Sandgate Cemetery.
2 Jul 1932 1 Jul 1932	"Fourteen funerals, described by an undertaker as the highest number for one day since the influenza epidemic, took place in the Newcastle district yesterday. Three special trains, two from Newcastle and one from Kahibah, had to be run by the Railway Department to cope with the situation. Ten of the funerals entrained for the cemetery, the others went by road."
11 Mar 1933 30 Mar 1933	Closure of mortuary station at Honeysuckle Point.
26 Jun 1935 24 Jun 1935	Funeral of Mrs. Eleanor J. Varley, the last reference found in the newspaper of the body being taken by train to the cemetery.
9 May 1938 8 May 1938	"Four special trains from Newcastle and suburbs, in addition to the ordinary Sunday trains, carried about 3000 people to Sandgate cemetery yesterday afternoon. Hundreds went in cars and on motor cycles and bicycles. "
8 May 1950	Photo of funeral train at Sandgate Cemetery "taken 60 years ago."

Waratah Cemetery

Usually I write historical articles about something that happened in the past, but this is a story about something that didn’t happen. It’s a tale of government bunglings, buck-passing and bureaucracy, of poor planning and public protests, explaining why the cemetery marked on this 1873 map of Waratah never came to be.

Portion of 1873 Waratah Coal Company map overlaid into Google Earth showing that the land reserved for a cemetery, where Waratah Park is located today. National Library of Australia.

In 1845 when the Honeysuckle Point Cemetery opened, Newcastle had just two principal places for burial – the Church of England cemetery below the cathedral, and the Honeysuckle Point Cemetery in Newcastle West for Presbyterians and Roman Catholics. Both cemeteries were small and quickly ran out of space. By 1859 Newcastle Borough Council were well aware of the need for a larger general cemetery in a location outside the city, and made enquiries to the A A Company for a grant of land, as well as approaching the colonial government for a grant of land at Waratah. Neither of these approaches yielded any result.

In December 1862, the Mayor of Newcastle, James Hannell wrote to the Minister for Lands concerning the cemetery site at Waratah, complaining of three years of inaction.

As far back as August, 1859, I endeavoured to get a satisfactory settlement of this question [land set apart for a public cemetery at Waratah] , but regret to say, without effect.

After a further delay of six months, in July 1863 the government gazetted 18 acres of land for a general cemetery at Waratah, “on the Great Northern Railway, adjoining J Moate’s 35 acres.”

Map from the land grand for Waratah Park in 1881 (Vol-Fol 527-228) showing the proposed cemetery site om the south side of Station St, and near Joseph Moates’ 35 acres of land.

However just months after the cemetery site was reserved, “The Waratah Coal Company” incorporation act passed in October 1863. As the colliery developed, miners and merchants moved to the rapidly growing township of Hanbury adjacent to the newly proposed cemetery.

Very soon the residents of Hanbury were protesting the proposed cemetery site.

A meeting was held at Mr. Arnold’s, Cremorne Hotel, last Tuesday, for the purpose of taking steps to induce the Government to select another piece of land for a general cemetery for the district of Newcastle instead of the one already fixed upon near the railway station, Waratah.
The Newcastle Chronicle and Hunter River District News, 2 July 1864.

In July 1865 the Newcastle Borough Council agreed that the Waratah site was unsuitable, and suggested an alternative site further out of town, on a piece of A. A. Company land “adjacent to the Great Northern Railway, beyond the Wallsend junction.” After John Bowie Wilson became Minister for Lands on 22 January 1866, the people of Waratah were hopeful of a change of plan.

The inhabitants of our little township (some of them at least) feel some little pleasure in the recent change of Ministry, as they have some hope that the new Minister of Lands will give now what he promised when he held the same office before, viz., all his influence to prevent the new cemetery being in the place where the Government had given the land for it to be, as he was decidedly of opinion that the dead of Newcastle ought not to be brought to the door of our township for interment.
The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, 30 January 1866.

In August 1866, Alderman Thomas Adam gave notice of a motion to be placed before the next meeting of Newcastle Council :

That in the opinion of the Council a public cemetery for the city and district of Newcastle is urgently required.

That the land at Waratah dedicated by the Government for that purpose is, from its proximity to the village of Hanbury, the nature of the soil, making proper drainage impracticable, unsuited for the purpose.

The land situated on the Great Northern Railway, about six miles from Newcastle is the most suitable for the purpose.
The Newcastle Chronicle, 25 August 1866.

Despite the note of “urgently required”, when the council next met …

The Mayor said he had not yet drawn out a report of the Cemetery Committee, but he would have it ready by the next meeting of the Council. In consequence of no report having been drawn up, Alderman Adam obtained leave to postpone the motion standing in his name.
The Newcastle Chronicle, 29 August 1866.

The council then did nothing until the following May when Alderman Adam raised the subject again. However the matter was adjourned and referred to a committee despite the objections of Alderman Christie, who …

… thought the subject was too important to adjourn. It had been put off from year to year, and it was high time something was done in the matter.
The Newcastle Chronicle, 15 May 1867.

The Cemetery committee met the following week, but was the scene of bitter recriminations, insults, and personal animosity between the aldermen. Despite these shenanigans, the committee managed to resolve that a letter be sent to the A. A. Company to enquire about the purchase of land for a cemetery in lieu of the proposed site at Waratah.

For the next year no progress was made. In February 1868, when Henry Parkes visited Waratah to lay the foundation stone of the public school, the Rev Pritchard (Primitive Methodist) met with Mr Parkes to discuss the proposed cemetery at Waratah. Rev Pritchard pointed out “the unsuitableness of the ground”, and Mr Parkes agreed the the land …

… was not at all adapted for the purpose intended, and the sooner therefore another piece was obtained the better.
The Newcastle Chronicle, 15 February 1868.

Just two months later, in April 1868 the Newcastle Council Cemetery Committee, despite having previously panned the Waratah site as unsuitable, performed a spectacular about-face and now recommended the Waratah site.

After visiting and inspecting the proposed site, your committee have now to report the site chosen is most eligibly situated at the Waratah station of the Great Northern Railway, giving easy access by rail to the chief centres of population.
The Newcastle Chronicle, 29 April 1868.

The reason given for the change of mind? Weariness and pessimism!

Having also taken into their consideration the suggestion of the sale of the land at Waratah, which they know was at one time made with the view of obtaining with the proceeds, a more suitable one, have come to the conclusion that any such attempt now would only lead to endless delay even if a sale were possible, and a more suitable site could be found; which to your Committee appears extremely doubtful.
The Newcastle Chronicle, 29 April 1868.

Having cast their lot with the Waratah site, the council then engaged with the Lands Department in a long running dance of bureaucratic bungling and buck-passing, as the following quotes reveal …

[The council made] immediate application to the Government for the necessary appointment of trustees, as well as for funds sufficient to fence in the ground.

After the usual official delay, answers were received by the Council, to the effect, that a sum of £120 would be allowed for fencing in the land, and that the names of trustees would be gazetted after having been first appointed by each of the denominations.

The Mayor wrote to the heads of six out of eight denominations, inviting them to appoint their own trustees. It was soon observed that the list of ministers written to, did not include the names of the representatives of the Primitive Methodist and Baptist denominations.

On being queried about the omission, the Mayor’s reply was that he had merely acted in accordance with directions from the Minister for Lands, requesting him to write to the heads of the different denominations marked in the Government plan of the land. Not finding the Primitive Methodists marked in the plan, he had not written to their minister.

Thinking it must have been the result of some oversight on the part of the Government, the Mr. Pritchard (Primitive Methodist minister) requested the Mayor to send down the name of Mr. Richard Hull, as trustee for the Primitive Methodist denomination. The Mayor acceded to Mr. Pritchard’s request and to that letter a reply was received, stating that the subdivision of the land, as marked in the Government plan, which ignored the Primitive Methodist and Baptist bodies, would have to be adhered to; but assigning no reason for such an extraordinary and sectarian decision.
The Newcastle Chronicle, 8 August 1868.

Nineteen months later the Newcastle Chronicle lamented the continued inaction and government delays.

Why any delay should have occurred in either dedicating or resubdividing the cemetery we are at a loss to conceive, seeing that a public cemetery is urgently needed. We are, of course, aware that the Government proceeds generally upon absurdly circumlocutionary principles, as they have done in this very matter ; but it is perfectly unreasonable to suppose that it should require three or four years to complete so simple a piece of business as the granting and dedication of a few acres of land for a cemetery.
The Newcastle Chronicle, 22 March 1870.

The inaction however, did allow the opportunity for the unsuitability of Waratah as a cemetery site to be be expressed again.

The cemetery ground, as already marked out by the Government, seems, however, to be ineligible for the purpose, from its being occasionally covered with water, and, perhaps, too near the township of Waratah. It would, therefore, be better to select a new site for the cemetery, and that speedily, seeing that it is imperatively required.
The Newcastle Chronicle, 22 March 1870.

For the next eight years there were repeated appeals for the cemetery to be constructed somewhere other than Waratah. Sandgate was most commonly recommended location, but a site between Lambton and Waratah on the Commonage was also considered, as was a site in Tighes Hill adjacent to Throsby Creek.

6 January 1872 – “Ironbark Hill, or the Sandhill, as it is better known, near Ironbark Creek, some two miles beyond Waratah, appears to me to be the most eligible place in the district, as no population is likely to settle down near it for generations to come.”
21 December 1875 – “Alderman Brooks moved that the Mayor renew the application to the A. A. Company for a suitable piece of ground for a public cemetery, either at Ironbark Hill, or all that piece of land bounded by Throsby’s Creek, Waratah Line, and Great Northern Line,”
4 March 1876 – Municipal conference – local councils are tired of Government inaction and are taking steps to obtain a cemetery within the Commonage.
21 February 1877 – Alderman ABEL moved – “That the Mayor communicate with the Mayor of Waratah with a view to jointly apply for the dedication of the land recommended by Mr. District Surveyor Evans, for cemetery purposes.”
12 April 1877 – “A deputation will interview the Minister for Lands, with reference to the granting of a portion of the Commonage Reserve for the purposes of a general cemetery for the district.”
17 May 1877 – “After a careful examination of the ground it was resolved to recommend to the Government the advisability of granting that portion running parallel with the Waratah Company’s railway, commencing at the white gates, and running twenty chains down the line with a width of six chains.

In August 1878 the “weary pile of correspondence” had still not arrived at a solution, and a deadline for the acquisition of land from the A. A. Company was drawing near.

The sum of £3000 has long been voted by Parliament for the purpose of purchasing land for burial purposes and 50 acres belonging to the A A. Co. have been negotiated for in many a weary pile of correspondence! Yet the ‘indifference,’ if not the ‘insolence of office and the law’s delay,’ have combined to perpetuate the postponement of the transfer of the land, and we are still without a suitable place to bury our dead.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 22 August 1878.

It was explained that negotiations had been entered into with the Australian Agricultural Company for the purchase of fifty acres of land for a cemetery at £2500, and that, in fact, £3000 had been voted by Parliament for buying a piece of land for this purpose, and for fencing it in. It was also stated that the negotiations in question must be concluded before the end of the present month, or they would fall through.
The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, 24 August 1878.

In December 1878 the purchase of land for a general cemetery at Sandgate was concluded, and the plan for a cemetery at Waratah was finally dead and buried.

Newspaper articles

Article Date Event Date	Notes
5 Oct 1859 4 Oct 1859	Meeting of Newcastle Town Council: "Alderman Bolton then brought on his motion that application be made to the General Superintendent of the Australian Agricultural Company for a grant of land for the purpose of a general cemetery. In introducing it, he said that he had little to say, as all were aware of its necessity. The Church of England cemetery was in the centre of the town, and was nearly full and the others were small, and not suited for the purpose."
6 Dec 1862 1 Dec 1862	Newcastle Council following up with the Minister for Lands in Sydney on an earlier unactioned request regarding "land set apart for a public cemetery at Waratah."
23 May 1863	Letter from Department of Lands to James Hannell, M.L.A. - "In reference to your letter of the 6th August last, representing the necessity for the appropriation of a portion of land near Newcastle as a general cemetery, I am directed to appraise you, that twenty acres have now been formally dedicated for that purpose, at Waratah, near the Newcastle and Maitland railway line, which appears to the Secretary for Lands to be quite sufficient area for the city of Newcastle."
16 Jul 1863	Dedication of 18 acres at Waratah for a general cemetery, on the Great Northern Railway, adjoining J Moate’s 35 acres.
2 Jul 1864 28 Jun 1864	"A meeting was held at Mr. Arnold's, Cremorne Hotel, last Tuesday, for the purpose of taking steps to induce the Government to select another piece of land for a general cemetery for the district of Newcastle instead of the one already fixed upon near the railway station, Waratah."
30 Nov 1864	After hearing that the Government intended to nothing about the objections of the residents of Hanbury to the proposeed cemetery adjacent to the Waratah railway station, another public meeting is called to organise continued opposition to the plan.
8 Jul 1865	Newcastle council Cemetery Committee considering a couple of sites for a cemetery - 1. A piece of A. A. Company land adjacent to the Great Northern Railway, beyond the Wallsend junction, and near the Government ballasting ground. 2. The north side of the White Gates, bounded by Throsby's Creek, and containing about twenty acres more or less.
30 Jan 1866	"WARATAH. The inhabitants of our little township (some of them at least) feel some little pleasure in the recent change of Ministry, as they have some hope that the new Minister of Lands will give now what he promised when he held the same office before, viz., all his influence to prevent the new cemetery being in the place where the Government had given the land for it to be, as he was decidedly of opinion that the dead of Newcastle ought not to be brought to the door of our township for interment."
25 Aug 1866	Newcastle council notice of motion on unsuitability of Waratah site, and recommending an alternate site "on the Great Northern Railway, about six miles from Newcastle."
22 May 1867	Newcastle council send a letter to A. A. Company enquiring about the possibility of purchasing some of their land for a cemetery.
15 Feb 1868	Rev. E. C. Pritchard, Primitive Methodist minister, meets with Henry Parkes to press the unsuitabilty of the Waratah cemetery site.
29 Apr 1868	Newcastle Council change their mind and now recommend the Waratah cemetery site, doubtful of securing another more suitable site.
22 Mar 1870	Complaint about the slow pace of progress on the new cemetery … "We are, of course, aware that the Government proceeds generally upon absurdly circumlocutionary principles, as they have done in this very matter ; but it is perfectly unreasonable to suppose that it should require three or four years to complete so simple a piece of business as the granting and dedication of a few acres of land for a cemetery. "
22 Aug 1878	"The COLONIAL SECRETARY has informed the deputation that the Minister for Lands had directed that the manager of the A. A. Co. should be communicated with, and that the purchase of the site should be completed before the end of the present month. The fact is, that if the land is not purchased by that time, the offer of the company to sell the land for the purpose required will lapse, and the citizens will have to look round again, but perhaps in vain."
24 Aug 1878	"Negotiations had been entered into with the Australian Agricultural Company for the purchase of fifty acres of land for a cemetery at £2500, and that, in fact, £3000 had been voted by Parliament for buying a piece of land for this purpose, and for fencing it in."
7 Dec 1878	"It is satisfactory to learn that the vote of £3000 for a cemetery for this city has been appropriated. The Government have just purchased 50 acres of land at Waratah from the A. A. Co. at the rate of £50 per acre, the remaining £500 has been placed in the hands of the Municipal Council to defray the expense of inclosing the same with a substantial fence."

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Local history, life, technology, and other random stuff, handcrafted using the finest naturally occurring binary digits

Category Archives: Suburbs and Towns

Zaara Street Power Station

Street names on maps

Newspaper articles

Electric Trams

Additional Information

Newcastle Trams

Timeline of tram operations in Newcastle, 1887-2019

The end of trams

Newcastle Light Rail

Newspaper articles – Electric trams

Commonage Street Alignment Stones

Additional Information

Alignment stones outside the Commonage

Newspaper articles

Wesleyan Cemetery, Newcastle West

Wallsend Cemetery

Old Wallsend Cemetery

Current Wallsend Cemetery

Sandgate cemetery train

Additional Information

Church of England Cemetery

Newcastle West Cemeteries

Wallsend Cemetery

Proposed Waratah Cemetery

Sandgate Cemetery

Mortuary Station, Newcastle West

Wallsend Mortuary Train and TramWay hearses

Ralph Snowball’s Cemetery Photos

Newspaper articles

Waratah Cemetery

Newspaper articles