Category Archives: Broadmeadow (2292)

New Lambton Hotels

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This page aims to provide a comprehensive reference of hotels in New Lambton from 1869 to the present.

  1. New Lambton Hotel
  2. Hand of Friendship Hotel
  3. Sportsman’s Arms Hotel (1)
  4. Sportsman’s Arms Hotel (2)
  5. Nil Desperandum Hotel / Duckenfield Hotel
  6. Duke of Wellington Hotel
  7. Sunnyside Hotel
  8. General Roberts Hotel
  9. Blackbutt Hotel

This list covers hotels that were located in the area of New Lambton Municipal Council (1889-1938), shown by the white border in the image below. The current suburb of New Lambton is shaded in yellow. Note that the northernmost tip of the New Lambton municipality included a small part of present day Broadmeadow, which is why the Sunnyside Hotel is included in this page of New Lambton hotels.

Area of New Lambton Municipality (1889-1938) bordered in white, with present day suburb of New Lambton shaded with yellow.

The map below shows the location of Lambton Hotels. The four hotels that are still operating are shown in green, historical hotels are shown in red.

In documenting the history of hotels it is important to understand the roles of owners, lessees and licensees. The hotel owner is the person (or company) that owns the land and buildings upon the land. The owner may then lease the buildings to another person (or company) for the purpose of running a business such as a hotel. The hotel licensee is the person who is granted a liquor license by the government and is responsible for adhering to the liquor regulations. Sometimes the owner and licensee are the same person, but sometimes the owner, lessee and licensee are three different entities. For example, in 1878 for the New Lambton Hotel, the land was owned by the New Lambton Company, leased to Joseph Chinchen, and the hotel licensee was Enoch Davies.

The history of hotels can also be confusing in that the same hotel can have different names over time. For example, the Kotara Hotel was renamed to the Blackbutt Hotel in 1978. Sometimes a hotel name and license can be transferred to a different geographical location. For example, the Sportsman’s Arms Hotel first opened on Regent Street in 1870, but then moved to Hobart Road in 1903.

A further complication is the variant spellings of the licensee names. Where there are multiple spellings of a name and the correct spelling is uncertain, I have included variant spellings in square brackets. e.g. “Damerell [Damerill]”. Note that in the lists of licensees I have only included names up to about 1970, as online information about licensees after this date becomes sparse.

In the list below I have an entry for each hotel operating at a specific location. The hotels appear in order of the year they were first opened.

New Lambton Hotel (1869-1879)

The first hotel in New Lambton was the somewhat unimaginatively named “New Lambton Hotel”. It was erected on the south-west corner of Russell Rd and Regent St by Mr Hubbard of Hunter St Newcastle.

On our way home from the foot races, at Lambton, on Saturday last, we had an opportunity of paying a visit to the New Lambton Hotel, recently erected by Mr. Hubbard, of Hunter-Street. The building in question is certainly an excellent one, and, in every way, well adapted to the requirements of the place. The expeditious manner in which this hotel was put up is worthy, of notice. Less than four months ago, from the present time, the ground on which it stands was a wild, uncleared bush ; and the hotel has been open for nearly a month, so that, as a matter of fact, the hotel was only three months in course of erection. Of course this would be nothing out of the way if the site had been an accessible one — which it was not — the road to New Lambton being about as bad a one as there is in the whole district, and that is saying a good deal. The building is a two-story one, and appears to be well and faithfully built. It is nicely painted inside and out, and is really a very snug and comfortable place. The bar is commodious and airy, and in regard to attractiveness is not surpassed by any establishment in the city of Newcastle. On the upper floor of the hotel there is a large room, well adapted for public meetings and entertainments, and at the rear of the premises are stables to accommodate an almost unlimited number of horses. Altogether, the New Lambton Hotel is one of the very best hotels in any of the colliery townships.

The Newcastle Chronicle,17 August 1869.

Henry Lott, the first licensee of the hotel, was granted a publican’s licence in July 1869. His tenure at the hotel did not last long, only 9 months later in March 1870, the lessees (Hubbard and Chinchen) advertised for sale, the “license, stock, and furniture of the New Lambton Hotel.”

In May 1870 John Gordon announced in a large advertisement that he had taken on the New Lambton Hotel. His tenure was similarly short-lived and by March 1871 Hubbard and Chinchen were once again advertising the hotel for letting.

David Lewis was issued a publican’s licence commencing on 1 July 1871, followed by George Lowe who held the licence from 1 July 1874. In May 1875 George Lowe advertised “a sale by auction for household furniture and effects” at the New Lambton Hotel.

Thomas Hardy was issued the publican’s licence from 1 July 1875. In December 1876 the hotel had a narrow escape from being burned down, when a hanging kerosene lamp, without any apparent cause, suddenly exploded and splashed burning oil on the floor. Only the quick action of Thomas Hardy’s daughter in smothering the flames with a blanket prevented a serious conflagration.

In April 1877 the newspaper reported that the hotel was “about to change hands from Mr T Hardy to Mr Enoch Davies”. At a Police Court hearing in June 1880 “the license of the New Lambton Hotel, New Lambton, was cancelled, as the proprietor, Mr. Enoch Davis, was proved to have abandoned his licensed house.”

There is a final reference to the hotel on 15 October 1880, with an advertisement noting that “Mr T M Dalveen will address the electors … at the New Lambton Hotel”. As there is no evidence of any licensees after Enoch Davies cancellation, I can only assume that this is a reference to the hotel building, not the hotel as a licensed premises.

An article in September 1892 states that after the hotel was no longer licenced, the building was “used as a store and temperance hall.” Mentions of a Temperance Hall in New Lambton start appearing in Trove from September 1880, just a few months after the licence was removed.

In the period 1889 to 1892, the Lay Methodist Church of New Lambton met in the Temperance Hall before moving into their own church building in 1892.

There are no known photographs of the original hotel and Temperance Hall building, and the date of demolition is uncertain. The brick building that now occupies the site appears to be 1920s era.

Site of the New Lambton Hotel (1869-1880) in March 2025,

Location

An 1877 map relating to the proposed site for New Lambton public school shows the New Lambton Hotel on the south-west corner of Russell Rd and Regent St.

Map reproduced from the New Lambton Public School (1880-1980) Centenary booklet.

The following information, also supports this location.

  • 16 September 1869 article says it was “within a few yards” of Lunn’s Hand of Friendship Hotel south-east corner of Russell Rd and Regent St)
  • 16 April 1878 advertisement for lease of New Lambton Hotel, applications to J Chinchen. An 1886 New Lambton Subdivision map shows that Lots 5 and 6 were leased to “Chinchin”, and Land Title Vol-Fol 1048-80 shows Lot 5 of Sec C passed into Ellen Chinchen’s ownership in 1892.
  • 21 April 1951 article mentions “Lathlean’s Temperance Hall, a building on the corner of Russell and Regent Streets that had been a hotel.” Land Title record Vol-Fol 1048-80 shows Lot 5 of Sec C was owned by Richard Lathlean from 1892 to 1907.
1886 subdivision map showing Chinchin’s [sic] lease in Section C and Lunn’s lease in Section D.

Licensees

  1. Henry Lott (July 1869 to May 1870)
  2. John Gordon (May 1870 to June 1871)
  3. David Lewis (July 1871 to June 1874)
  4. George Lowe (July 1874 to June 1875)
  5. Thomas Hardy (July 1875 to April 1877)
  6. Enoch Davies [Davis] (April 1877 to June 1880)


Hand of Friendship Hotel (1869-1906)

See my February 2018 article for The Local on the Hand of Friendship Hotel.

The site of the former Hand of Friendship Hotel, corner of Russell Rd and Regent St in New Lambton. March 2025.

Licensees

  1. Benjamin Lunn (15 September 1869 to November 1878)
  2. Jane Lunn (November 1878 to March 1884)
  3. James Lunn (May 1884 to 1886)
  4. John Williams (1887 to 1888)
  5. John (Jack) Hall (June 1888)
  6. Thomas (Tom) Durham (June 1888 to November 1889)
  7. John (Jack) Thomas (November 1889 to 1892)
  8. George Masters (1893 to 1895)
  9. Joseph (Joe) Garratt (1896 to 1899)
  10. Edmund (Ted) Butterworth (1900 to Feb 1903)
  11. Phillip James Byrne (Feb 1903 to 1904)
  12. John (Jack) Canning (1904 to October 1906)
  13. George Bertram Bowser (October 1906 to November 1906)

Sportsman’s Arms Hotel (1) (1870-1903)

In a 16 September1869 article on the rapid progress of New Lambton, the Newcastle Chronicle noted there were two hotels already and that “a third public-house is in course of erection, and the proprietor, Mr.Jones [sic], expects a license for it shortly after it is finished.” Just a few months later, on 22 January 1870, Nicholas Johns announced by way of advertisement the opening of the Sportsmans Arms hotel.

The hotel was located on the north-west corner of Regent St and Portland Pl.

Portion of 1886 subdivision map showing Lot 6 of Section H, location of Sportsman’s Arms Hotel, leased to Nicholas Johns. State Library of NSW.

In 1895, John Thomas purchased from the New Lambton Land and Coal Company, lots 6 and 7 of Section H, where the hotel building was located. Subsequently on 6 May 1899, Marshalls Paddington Brewery Limited purchased the hotel land and building.

Purchase of Sportsmans Arms Hotel by Marshalls Paddington Brewery Limited, 6 May 1899. Vol-Fol 1172-136

Three years later in July 1902, Marshall’s Brewery commenced plans to construct a new hotel building in Hobart Rd, with the intention of transferring the license of the Sportsman’s Arms to the new premises and closing the original hotel in Regent St. The transfer of the licence to the new location occurred a year later in July 1903. William Thompson, the last licensee at the old location, continued on as licensee at the new premises.

The old Sportsman’s Arms Hotel in Regent-street, which is one of the oldest buildings in the municipality, and in the early days was considered to be among the best of its class, is now closed, the license having been transferred to the new building recently erected by the Marshall’s Brewery Company in Hobart-road.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 4 Jul 1903.

The old hotel building was occupied as a private dwelling for about two years, but after being vacant for several months a fire destroyed the building in June 1905. There are no known photographs of the original hotel building.

The land was then owned by a number of different people in the next 17 years, and then on 20 November 1922 the Methodist Church purchased the land to erect a church building

Purchase of land by Methodist Church on 20 November 1922. Vol-Fol 1172-136

The New Lambton Uniting Church occupies the site today.

New Lambton Uniting Church, March 2025. Site of the first Sportsman’s Arms Hotel.

Licensees

  1. Nicholas Johns [Jones] (January 1870 to March 1871)
  2. Abraham Butterworth (March 1871 to June 1875)
  3. George Thomas (July 1875 to June 1879)
  4. Robert Morgan (June 1879 to February 1883)
  5. James Peattie (March 1883 to October 1883)
  6. James Williams (October 1883 to c. June 1884)
  7. Phillip J [G] Thorley (c. July 1884 to July 1884)
  8. Thomas Pringle (c. September 1884 to c. October 1887)
  9. Abraham Cowell (c. October 1887 to August 1893)
  10. John Thomas (August 1893 to c. March 1899)
  11. William Dorrity [Dorritty] (c. May 1899 to c. March 1902)
  12. William Thompson (c. July 1902 to June 1903 at Regent St, then continued as licensee at new premises in Hobart Rd)

Sportsman’s Arms Hotel (2) (1903-1987)

Lot 1356 of the Newcastle Pasturage Reserve was purchased by Marshalls Paddington Brewery Limited, on 10 October 1902. Vol-Fol 1422-132
The Sportsman’s Arms Hotel on Hobart Rd. Photo by Ralph Snowball. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.
The site of the former Sportsman’s Arms Hotel, corner of Hobart Rd and Rugby in New Lambton. March 2025.

Licensees

Some details of licensees after 1919 are taken from the Sportsman’s Arms Hotel ‘yellow cards’ in the ANU Open Research Repository.

  1. William M. Bostock (July 1902 to June 1903, conditional licence while new hotel constructed)
  2. William Thompson (July 1903 to c. January 1905)
  3. James White (c. March 1905 to September 1905)
  4. Thomas McIntosh (November 1905 to October 1906)
  5. John Canning (October 1906 to 15 November 1907)
  6. David Russell (15 November 1907 to 26 November 1907)
    • this is possibly erroneous, as only two weeks later another report states that the licence was transferred from John Canning to William Smith
  7. William Smith (26 November 1907 to death of Smith on 28 January 1908)
  8. Thomas Griffiths (January 1908 to March 1909)
  9. William Dent (April 1909 to April 1914)
  10. John Joseph Healey (May 1914 to January 1915)
  11. Richard Edward Goddard (February 1915 to March 1916)
  12. John Joseph Healey (April 1916 to August 1918)
  13. Joseph Patrick Walsh (August 1918 to c. November 1919)
  14. Edgar Condie [Condy] (c. November 1919 to July 1920)
  15. Arthur Haviland (July 1920 to July 1920)
  16. Thomas Wallington (August 1920 to October 1921)
  17. Garfield Theodore Du Rieu (October 1921 to February 1922)
  18. Robert Meek Hopes (March 1922 to October 1923)
  19. Mrs Ellen Chappell (October 1923 to April 1935)
  20. William Dominic Ruggeri (April 1935 to death of Ruggeri on 18 February 1950)
  21. Mrs Catherine Anne Ruggeri (April 1950 to November 1957)
  22. William Henry Murphy (November 1957 to July 1959)
  23. William Smoker Boyling (July 1959 to April 1963)
  24. Horace William Box (April 1963 to March 1965)
  25. William Edward Compton (March 1965 to December 1978)
  26. Roy Raymond Beverly (December 1978 to ????)

Nil Desperandum Hotel / Duckenfield Hotel (1876-1880)

The Nil Desperandum was New Lambton’s shortest-lived hotel, operating for just four years from July 1876 to June 1880. There are no known photographs of the hotel.

The site of the former Nil Desperandum Hotel, corner of Victoria and Cromwell St in New Lambton. March 2025.

Licensees

  1. Edgar William Ashby (July 1876 to August 1879)
  2. Henry Doherty (August 1879 to June 1880)


Duke of Wellington Hotel (1876-present)

Joseph Garrett’s Duke of Wellington Hotel, New Lambton, 1887-1895. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.
Duke of Wellington Hotel, June 1924. ANU Open Research Repository.
Duke of Wellington Hotel, 1930s. ANU Open Research Repository.
Duke of Wellington Hotel, 1949. ANU Open Research Repository.
Duke of Wellington Hotel, 1956. ANU Open Research Repository.
Duke of Wellington Hotel, 1960s. ANU Open Research Repository.
Duke of Wellington Hotel, 1970. ANU Open Research Repository.
The Duke of Wellington Hotel, New Lambton, March 2025.

Licensees

Some details of licensees after 1919 are taken from the Duke of Wellington Hotel ‘yellow cards’ in the ANU Open Research Repository.

  1. David Jones (1876)
  2. Abraham Butterworth (1878)
  3. Thomas Pringle (1879)
  4. John Kelly (1884)
  5. George Thomas (1885)
  6. Thomas Durham(1888)
  7. Joseph Garratt (1887)
  8. George Burt (1895)
  9. Edmund Butterworth (1899)
  10. John Atkinson (1900)
  11. Thomas Thompson (1902)
  12. Edward Cambourn (February 1903 to c. Dec 1907)
  13. Hugh Buchanan (c. May 1908)
  14. Patrick Slavin (1909)
  15. Robert Frew (1914)
  16. Paul Turnbull (1916)
  17. Keely S. P. (1 February 1925 to 18 January 1926)
  18. Alex Campbell Smith (19 January 1926 to 17 May 1926)
  19. A. P. Hillier (18 May 1926 to 28 March 1927)
  20. J. Richard Dixon (29 March 1927 to 26 March 1928)
  21. Horace Dee Magner (27 March 1928 to 27 August 1928)
  22. George E. Duckworth (28 August 1928 to 22 December 1932)
  23. J. D. Evans (23 December 1932 to 8 October 1945)
  24. Thomas Rawle (9 October 1945 to 27 October 1947)
  25. Beatrice Millie Groves (28 October 1947 to 27 November 1947)
  26. Frederick Hector (28 November 1947 to 21 November 1960)
  27. Kevin Ray Matthews (22 November 1960 to 25 May 1964)
  28. Joan Audrey Muriel Smith (26 May 1964 to 13 December 1967)
  29. William George Morgan (14 December 1967 to 19 April 1972)
  30. Robert Arthur Monnox (20 April 1972 to 28 April 1976)
  31. Edward Joseph Chapman (29 April 1976 to 15 June 1977)
  32. Charles Alexander Robertshaw (16 June 1977 to 3 May 1978)
  33. Wayne Maxwell Balcomb (4 May 1978 to 17 October 1979)
  34. Noel Samuel Smith (18 October 1979 to ????)

Misnomers

For a couple of years, in 1897 and in 1898, the Government Gazette for publican licensees lists the hotel as the “Duke of Edinborough”. This is almost certainly an error due to a confusion between the two dukes – a confusion that often recurred. For example in March 1928 when referring to the transfer of licence from Richard Dixon to Horace Dee Magner, the Newcastle Morning Herald correctly reported the name as “Duke of Wellington” while the Newcastle Sun reported the name “Duke of Edinburgh”.


Sunnyside Hotel (1884-present)

Joseph Heslop’s Sunnyside Hotel, 1903-1911. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.
Sunnyside Hotel, June 1924. ANU Open Research Repository.
Sunnyside Hotel, March 1930. ANU Open Research Repository.
Sunnyside Hotel, 1949. ANU Open Research Repository.
Sunnyside Hotel, August 1959. ANU Open Research Repository.

Licensees

Some details of licensees after 1919 are taken from the Sunnyside Hotel ‘yellow cards’ in the ANU Open Research Repository.

  1. Michael Fenwick (1884)
  2. Harriet Fenwick (1896)
  3. William Henry Allen (1900)
  4. Andrew Kirkaldy (1901)
  5. Bridget Lee (????)
  6. Joseph Heslop (May 1903 to August 1911)
  7. Randolph Baldwin (August 1911)
  8. Robert Forbes (1916)
  9. James Frazer (1918)
  10. Percy G. Phillips (1919)
  11. W. W. Lake (19 July 1923)
  12. J. H. Sampson (8 August 1923)
  13. P. Quinn (28 April 1925)
  14. T. Shipley (11 October 1932)
  15. Henry G. Dunne (16 April 1934 to death of Dunne on 6 December 1963)
  16. Walter George Farnham Dunne (27 June 1962 as agent for estate, 26 May 1963 in own right)
  17. Daphne Joyce Ada Dunne (21 January 1964 as agent, 2 March 1965 in own right, to ????)
    • Name change by marriage, to Mrs D. J. A. Ling, on 15 August 1969


General Roberts Hotel (1903-present)

See my April 2023 article for The Local on the General Roberts Hotel.

Licensees

Some details of licensees are taken from the General Roberts Hotel ‘yellow cards’ in the ANU Open Research Repository.

  1. Frederick George Roberts (April 1903 to April 1904)
  2. Phillip James Byrne (April 1904 to June 1905)
  3. John Keim [Kiem, Kilm, Kien, Kiern, Kierns] (June 1905 to April 1913)
  4. Edward Butterworth (April 1913 to April 1916)
  5. John Drummond (April 1916 to May 1919)
  6. Oliver O Woods (May 1919 to September 1919)
  7. Frank Burden (September 1919 to July 1927)
  8. George James Embleton (July 1927 to April 1928)
  9. Leonard P Damerell [Damerill] (April 1928 to January 1929)
  10. Joseph Patrick Quinn (January 1929 to November 1945)
  11. William Thomas Garaty (November 1945 to June 1957)
  12. James Robert Rose & Mary Rose (June 1957 to January 1961)
  13. Albert Frederick Seales (January 1961 to April 1966)
  14. David Alfred James Blanch & Ann Blanch (April 1966 to March 1968)
  15. Joseph Moody & Ellen McReadie (March 1968 to ????)

Blackbutt Hotel (1956 to present)

TO DO

Kotara Hotel, August 1959. ANU Open Research Repository.
Kotara Hotel, 1970. ANU Open Research Repository.

Licensees

Details of licensees are taken from the Blackbutt Hotel ‘yellow cards’ in the ANU Open Research Repository.

  1. Christina Margaret Bolger (21 December 1956)
  2. Joseph William Donnelly (24 December 1956)
  3. John George Baddely (18 January 1957)
  4. Patrick Robert Buckley (16 June 1959)
  5. Cyril George Schneider (21 April 1959)
  6. Roy Bede Mahony (15 May 1975)
  7. Bernard S. Proudlock (20 March 1980 to ????)

Herbert’s Theatre De Luxe, Broadmeadow

1

William Herbert was a pioneer of the cinema scene in Newcastle. Born in the United States, he moved to Newcastle in 1907 and began showing the new ‘moving pictures’ at various locations in Newcastle. In October 1910 Herbert announced plans to screen films in the open air at the Hamilton Rugby League ground on the north side of Belford St. The first night was a disaster. “Owing to the boisterous nature of the weather the moving pictures could not be held as the screen was blown down in the afternoon.”

Despite the initial setback, Herbert persevered and regularly screened movies at the ground until 1912 when he opened a permanent theatre at the Nineways Broadmeadow. Seating 2000 people, the grandiosely named “No. 1 Picture Palace” was a basic structure with asphalt floor and canvas roof.

During 1923 and 1924, Herbert ingeniously managed the complete reconstruction of the building “without temporarily shutting down the theatre or seriously inconveniencing his patrons.” Corrugated iron walls were removed gradually and replaced with brick, steel girders installed, and the canvas roof replaced over a three-week period. “There were times when parts of the theatre had two coverings, but at every screening the audience was protected from the weather.”

A photograph of the new “Herbert’s Theatre De Luxe” can be dated by close inspection of the poster on the right-hand side. It advertises Gladys Walton in the silent film “The Girl Who Ran Wild” that screened in September 1923. Herbert sold the theatre in 1933 and in 1941 the new owners announced plans for its demolition and erection of a new building. At a cost of £40,000 and a seating capacity of 1600, the new “Century Theatre” opened in April 1942 and had its final screening in September 1973. The building lay derelict for a while and was then variously used as a truck repair workshop, gaming arcade, and finally as a church. Badly damaged in the 1989 earthquake the Century Theatre was demolished soon afterwards.

Herbert’s Theatre De Luxe, Broadmeadow, September 1923. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.
Nineways, Broadmeadow in 2023.

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

Acknowledgements

Two useful sources of information for this article were Mike Scanlon’s 2019 newspaper article on Will Herbert, and the 1993 book “Front Stalls or Back? The History and Heritage of the Newcastle Theatres” by K J Cork and L R Tod.

Additional Information

Will Herbert – Early life and Career

According to a 1918 biographical article, Will Herbert was born in the town of Manchester, New Hampshire in the USA. Confusingly, an obituary in 1947 states that he “was born in New Hampshire, England, and was taken to America at the age of three” while another obituary states that he “was born in Lancashire”.

The kind of person he was is perhaps best illustrated in that he was an actual example of the cliche of running away from home to join the circus …

Mr. Herbert seems to have had a penchant for travelling, for at 16 – without his parents’ consent – he attached himself to Forepaw’s Circus, which at the time was second only in size and importance to the great Barnum and Bailey’s Circus.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 5 April 1918.

After touring with the circus for a couple of seasons, Herbert started a bakery business in Boston, bought into a French cafe in New York, went to San Francisco and became chief steward on a steam ship trading with the eastern Pacific. He then served as a commissariat officer on the troopship Naomi in the war between the United States and Spain, and then subsequently on a trans-Atlantic liner the General Grant, sent to the Philippines to quell an uprising.

It was while in the Philippines that Mr. Herbert conceived the idea of taking up motion pictures.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 5 April 1918

In 1905, Will Herbert was part of a syndicate that secured the rights to film and screen the Lightweight Championship boxing match between Jimmy Britt and Oscar “Battling’ Nelson, held at San Francisco on 9 September 1905.

Britt-Nelson boxing match in San Francisco, 9 September 1905. Library of Congress.

Soon afterwards, Herbert headed to Australia to exhibit the film of the fight.

Mr. Herbert, of the syndicate which secured the moving pictures of the Britt-Nelson fight in America for the world’s light-weight championship, arrived from America by the Sierra for the purpose of exhibiting the pictures throughout Australasia. He will open the Queen’s-hall, Pitt-street, on Monday next for a season, and a holiday matinee will also be given. Popular prices will be charged. Over 18,000 people witnessed this contest, which was very exciting; and the film representing it is over a mile in length.

The Daily Telegraph, 11 November 1905

Over the next two years Herbert toured all parts of Australia and New Zealand, showing the film in rented halls and theatres. He made at least two visits to Newcastle, in November 1905 and again in February 1906.

Mr. Herbert said that on his first visit to Newcastle he had noticed the possibilities for the establishment of permanent pictures.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 5 April 1918

Herbert appears to have settled permanently in Newcastle sometime in late 1907 or early 1908. By February 1908 he is mentioned as the manager of “Kings American Picturescope”, screening films at the Victoria Theatre in Perkins Street. He then rented the “Central Hall” in May 1908 for a period of 18 weeks, and also screened films at the Newcastle Sports Ground.

Hamilton Rugby League Ground

Will Herbert first screened moving pictures in the Broadmeadow area in the open air at the Hamilton Rugby League Football Ground. The first scheduled show on 22 October 1910 was cancelled due to inclement weather, however within a few weeks the paper reported …

The fine picture entertainment given by Mr. Will Herbert at the Rugby League Ground, Hamilton, is apparently growing rapidly in popularity, judging from the increasingly large audiences. Last night the new programme was witnessed by a very large attendance.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 10 November 1910.
Excerpt of an 1884 map of Newcastle, showing the location of the Hamilton Rugby League Ground between Tudor and Belford Streets. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.
A Google Earth image showing the approximate location of the Hamilton Rugby League Football Ground. The location of Herbert’s Theatre De Luxe is outlined in red.

Will Herbert continued to regularly screen pictures at the ground until the final screening on Saturday 4 May 1912. The land occupied by the Rugby League Ground was later subdivided into 41 lots by the A. A. Company and sold in April 1918.

No. 1 Picture Palace

In August 1912, Will Herbert announced in a public advertisement his intention to open an “up-to-date Picture Palace” in Broadmeadow, capable of seating 2000 persons.

Herbert’s “No. 1 Picture Palace” at Broadmeadow opened on Saturday 2 November 1912, screening “Sweet Nell of Old Drury” starring Miss Nellie Stewart. A report on the opening noted that …

The attendance numbered just on 2000, and many were unable to gain admission. Extra seats were brought in, but these were not sufficient to accommodate those anxious to get in. The structure is a very commodious one, and commands an excellent position at the junction of the tram lines. The building measures 187ft by 85ft, and is admirably adapted for picture entertainment. The exterior was brilliantly illuminated for the opening performance. Three large stars and a Maltese cross formed of different coloured electric lights gave the outside a most picturesque appearance. The vestibule is attractively laid out, and the whole of the floor space of the building will shortly be asphalted. Patent spring back chairs are to be used for the higher-priced seats. The chairs already in use are very comfortable, and in every other respect patrons are well catered for.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 4 November 1912

By May 1913 further improvements to the theatre had been completed.

Herbert’s Picture Palace at Broadmeadow has now been completely roofed in with waterproof canvas, which will render it cosy and warm for the winter months.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 6 May 1913

Herbert’s Theatre De Luxe

Originally the photograph of Herbert’s Theatre De Luxe was loaded into the Living Histories site with no attributed date. Noting from the article of June 1924 that the construction/renovation of the theatre was “spread over fourteen months”, and also noting from the photo that the tramline to Adamstown up Brunker Road is not yet electrified (which was completed in January 1925), indicates that the photo was taken sometime in 1923 or 1924.

 Getting a more exact date on the photo relies on identifying the movie being exhibited at the time of the photo, by carefully examining the poster on the right hand side of the entrance.

Taking a snip of the photo and enhancing the contrast, you can just make out the name “Gladys Walton” and the name of the film as “The Girl Who Ran Wild”. Additionally, a faint outline of a seated girl can be made out that matches the profile of the movie poster below.

Searching newspaper advertisements in 1923 and 1924 reveals that the film was screening at Herbert’s Broadmeadow Theatre in the week beginning Monday 17 September 1923.

Movie poster for Gladys Walton in the 1922 silent film “The Girl Who Ran Wild”.
Advertisement for screening of “The Girl Who Ran Wild” at Herbert’s Theatre, Broadmeadow. Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 17 September 1923.

According to Cork and Tod’s book “Front Stalls or Back?”, Herbert divested control of his theatres to Newcastle Theatres Pty Ltd in 1933. Herbert retired in 1935 and visited the United States. A year later in January 1936 the directors of the Newcastle Theatres induced Herbert to take on the supervision of their theatres, including the De Luxe at Broadmeadow, Roxy at Hamilton, and Regent at Islington.

William Herbert retired again in 1941, and died on 11 November 1947 in Hamilton, at the age of 80.

Century Theatre

A start will be made on Monday on the new modern theatre at Broadmeadow. With equipment and furnishings the expenditure will exceed £30,000. The contract is the biggest announced in northern New South Wales this year. The building will occupy a splendid central site, with frontages to Chatham road and the Pacific Highway. To enable operations to proceed, it will be necessary to demolish the present theatre and other buildings erected by Mr. W. Herbert, founder of Herbert’s Theatres, 25 years ago.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 19 April 1941

The new Century Theatre opened on Friday 17 April 1942 with a screening of the Technicolor film “Aloma of the South Seas” starring Dorothy Lamour.

The Century Theatre, erected on the site of Herbert’s theatre in Broadmeadow, opened in April 1942. Photo from Cinema Treasures.
Alterations to to roads at Nineways, Broadmeadow, with the Century Theatre in the background. 27 April 1953. Photo by Len Webber. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection 515 000075
The Century Theatre, Broadmeadow, in the process of demolition after damage from the 1989 earthquake. Photo by Ron Morrison. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection 004 001134
The severely damaged Century Theatre, Broadmeadow, being demolished. Photo by Ron Morrison. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection 004 001135

Newspaper articles

Article Date Event DateNotes
11 Nov 1905"Mr. Herbert, of the syndicate which secured the moving pictures of the Britt-Nelson fight in America for the world's light-weight championship, arrived from America by the Sierra for the purpose of exhibiting the pictures throughout Australasia."
27 Nov 1905
25 Nov 1905		"At the King's Hall on Saturday evening, Mr. Will Herbert introduced to Newcastle the celebrated motion pictures of the Britt-Nelson contest for the lightweight boxing championship of the world."
23 Feb 1906"Under the direction of Mr. W. Herbert" … return showing in Newcastle of the Britt-Nelson fight.
20 Feb 1908Will Herbert, manager of King’s American Picturescope Company.
4 Jul 1908Mr Herbert mentioned as the manager of Kings Picturescope Palace, in Newcomen Street, Newcastle.
11 Jul 1908"The attendances at the Picturescope Palace, Newcomen-street, during the week, have been well up to the average, and Mr. Herbert, the manager, expresses himself well satisfied with the support that has so far been accorded his efforts to establish a permanent picture show in Newcastle."
22 Oct 1910"Mr. Will Herbert, formerly of the Picturescope Palace, Newcastle, announces that the first of a series of a continentals will be given under his direction at the Rugby League Ground, Hamilton, this evening."
24 Oct 1910
22 Oct 1910		"Owing to the boisterous nature of the weather on Saturday, the continental and moving pictures, promoted by Mr. Will Herbert, on the League Football Ground, at Hamilton, could not be held. The screen was blown down in the afternoon, and at night there was no attendance of the public."
10 Nov 1910"The fine picture entertainment given by Mr. Will Herbert at the Rugby League Ground, Hamilton, is apparently growing rapidly in popularity, judging from the increasingly large audiences."
4 May 1912Herbert's final screening at the Rugby League Ground at Hamilton.
2 Nov 1912"Mr. W. W. Herbert announces that he will open his No. 1 Picture Palace at Broadmeadow this evening."
6 May 1913Herbert's Picture Palace at Broadmeadow has now been completely roofed in with waterproof canvas, which will render it cosy and warm for the winter months.
5 Apr 1918Detailed biographical article on Will Herbert.
15 Sep 1923"The Girl Who Ran Wild, the Universal attraction starring Gladys Walton, which will be screened at the Lyric and Herbert's Theatres, Broadmeadow and Islington, on Monday next, is the latest and most appealing screen version of Bret Hart's story M'liss."
19 Sep 1923At the Lyric and Herbert's Pictures to-day there will be shown for the last time the Paramount special entitled "The Rustle of Silk," with Betty Compson in the lead. Gladys Walton is also seen in "The Girl who Ran Wild."
11 Jun 1924Long article detailing "the conversion of Herbert's Broadmeadow Theatre from an unprepossesssing building to one of the most modern picture exhibition houses in Australia."
4 Jan 1936"At the request of the Directors of Newcastle Theatres Ltd., Mr. William Herbert has resumed the supervision of the circuit embracing the De Luxe (Broadmeadow), Roxy (Hamilton), and Regent (Islington), Theatres."
19 Apr 1941"A start will be made on Monday on the new modern theatre at Broadmeadow. With equipment and furnishings the expenditure will exceed £30,000. To enable operations to proceed, it will be necessary to demolish the present theatre and other buildings erected by Mr. W. Herbert, founder of Herbert's Theatres, 25 years ago. "
16 Apr 1942
17 Apr 1942		"Another fine addition to the architectural grandeur of the Newcastle district is the new Century Theatre at Broadmeadow. Erected at a cost of over £40,000, and with a seating accommodation of over 1600, the theatre will-be opened officially on Friday night, at 7.45 o'clock"
18 Apr 1942
17 Apr 1942		Opening of the Century Theatre, Broadmeadow.
11 Nov 1947Death of Will Herbert, aged 80 years and 11 months. (Newcastle Sun)
11 Nov 1947Death of Will Herbert (Newcastle Morning Herald, but some of the details contradict the Newcastle Sun obituary.)

Premier Hotel, Broadmeadow

Reply

In March 1891, Thomas Williams purchased land near Broadmeadow station, and submitted an application for a a conditional publican’s licence “for premises proposed to be erected at the intersection of the Adamstown and Newcastle-Wallsend roads to be known by the sign of the Jersey Hotel.” Williams engaged James Henderson, the eminent architect of the ornate Victoria Theatre in Perkins Street Newcastle, to design a three storey, 15-room brick hotel.

With the building completed in early 1892 and after a change of mind on the name, Williams applied for the publican’s license he needed for his Premier Hotel to commence trading. On Thursday 17 March 1892 the Licensing Bench approved his application, but instead of downing drinks in celebration, Williams found his hotel in the drink due to inundation.  That very night the heavens opened and Newcastle was drenched with torrential rain, with flooding reported at Wallsend, Waratah, Lambton, and New Lambton.  At Broadmeadow “the flat between Adamstown and New Lambton and down to Lambton-road was one sheet of water on Friday morning.” Ralph Snowball photographed the newly licensed hotel, an island of refuge in an expanse of water.

The deluge had tragic consequences when “an elderly man named Edward Atkinson fell into a waterhole while looking for cows in a paddock near Adamstown and was drowned.” Once again, citizens called on the government to get on with its long-promised drainage scheme for the area.  The main stormwater drain through the Broadmeadow flats was completed in 1895, but the area around the Premier Hotel continued to be impacted by flooding until the completion of the Adamstown branch of the drain in 1899. In 1939 the hotel was rebuilt as an attractive two storey structure in the art deco style. Having survived a natural disaster in 1892, the hotel suffered damage in the 1989 earthquake and was repaired as a smaller, simpler building. Plans for a $34 million redevelopment of the site are now before Newcastle Council, for a nine-storey apartment building with ground floor pub.

Premier Hotel, Broadmeadow, NSW, 18 March 1892. Photo by Ralph Snowball. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.
The Premier Hotel, Broadmeadow, 2023.

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

Acknowledgements

Ed Tonk’s book “No Bar to Time, The current Hotels of the Newcastle Local Government Area” was a useful source for some of the details in this article.

Additional Information

Details from Land title Vol-Fol 1021-71, showing purchase of portion 2101 of the Newcastle Pasturage Reserve by Thomas Williams on 11 March 1891.

Pages 227-229 of “Early Architects of the Hunter Region” by Les Reedman shows three drawings by James Henderson of “New brick hotel, Newcastle Pasturage Reserve, near Broadmeadow Station, 1891”. The inscription on the top of the facade shows the originally proposed name of “Jersey Hotel”.

Premier Hotel, Broadmeadow, 18 March 1892 – looking westwards along Denison St. Photo by Ralph Snowball. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.
Denison St Hamilton, August 2023. (The present day Premier Hotel is hidden behind the building with the blue awnings at the end of the street.)
Premier Hotel, Broadmeadow, 13 September 1902. Photo by Ralph Snowball. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection 001 001055
Nineways, Broadmeadow, with Premier Hotel in the background, September 1923. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.
Premier Hotel, Broadmeadow, 1959. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection 460 000055
The Nineways, Broadmeadow, NSW, Australia [c.1960’s]. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.

2023 Development Application

In a curious coincidence, just a week after I had completed writing this article for “The Local”, news emerged that the owners of the Premier Hotel have submitted a Development Application (DA2023/00886) to Newcastle Council for a $34 million development to demolish the existing structure and erect an nine-story building with hotel on the lower floors, and 48 apartment units on the upper floors.

Proposed re-development of the Premier Hotel at the intersection of Brunker Road and Chatham Street. Image from the architectural plans for DA2023/00886.

Update 20 Feb 2024: The Hunter Central Coast Regional Planning Panel has rejected the proposed development, stating that “The proposed development does not respond to its current context and is out of scale with surrounding development.”

Newspaper articles

Article Date Event DateNotes
20 Mar 1891"I, THOMAS WILLIAMS, of Carrington, Landholder, do hereby give notice that I desire to obtain, and will, at the next Quarterly Licensing Court, to be holden at Newcastle on the ninth day of April next, apply for a Certificate, authorising the issue of a Conditional Publican's License, for pre mises proposed to be erected at the Junction of the Adamstown-road with the Newcastle- Wallsend-road, to be known by the sign of "Jersey Hotel," and to contain fifteen rooms, exclusive of those required for the use of the family."
10 Apr 1891Licensing court … "Thos. Williams applied for a conditional publican's license for premises proposed to be erected at the intersection of the Adamstown and Newcastle-Wallsend roads to be known by the sign of the Jersey Hotel." Despite objections from the police "the Bench said the plans showed that the house would be a good one; and, as there was nothing against the character of Mr. Williams, the application was granted."
6 Jun 1891James Henderson, architect, tenders invited for “the Erection and Completion of extensive BRICK HOTEL PREMISES at Adamstown, near Broadmeadow Railway Station, for Mr. Williams.” Tenders close 20 June.
29 Jan 1892"The Premier Hotel, the property of Mr. T. Williams, situated at the intersection of Adamstown. Lambton, and Waratah roads, is near completion.” [This is the first mention of “Premier Hotel” in the newspapers.]
18 Mar 1892
17 Mar 1892		"Thomas Williams was granted a license for premises situated at the junction of the Adamstown and Wallsend roads."
18 Mar 1892
17 Mar 1892		At "he Licensing Bench yesterday … an application for a license for new premises situated at the junction of the Adamstown and Wallsend roads was also granted."
19 Mar 1892
17 Mar 1892		"Waratah. The heavy rain which fell during Thursday night again caused a considerable overflow in the streets, and particularly in the vicinity of the station."
19 Mar 1892
17 Mar 1892		"New Lambton. THE HEAVY RAIN. The heavy rain, which fell during Thursday night, flooded the properties on the Lambton Road, adjoining the tramline. The large drains overflowed, and across both the road and the tramline was one sheet of water. Some of the residents had to leave their houses to take care of themselves, and seek shelter in the tramwaiting shed at the Raspberry Gully line crossing."
19 Mar 1892
17 Mar 1892		"Plattsburg. STORM WATERS. The exceptional downpour of rain early on Friday morning very soon flooded all the low-lying land, and the result was that the residents of Nelson-street, from John-street to the bridge, were again flooded. On this occasion the water rose some 9in higher than the former floods."
19 Mar 1892
17 Mar 1892		"Lambton. During Thursday night the heavy rains caused a good deal of damage to the streets of the municipality by washing gravel and other road material away. Pearson and Howe streets were flooded, but fortunately not high enough to enter the houses. A thorough system of drainage at the lower end of the district from New Lambton downwards, through Hamilton, is necessary to prevent these periodical floods, as the water then would have an opportunity of free access to the main channels to the sea. But at present it is a source of trouble and expense to the whole of these municipalities, and the sooner the proposed scheme of the Hamilton, New Lambton, and other councils is carried out the better for everybody concerned."
19 Mar 1892
18 Mar 1892		"It was reported yesterday morning that an elderly resident named Edward Atkinson was missing, and supposed to be drowned in Yates' paddock, between Adamstown and New Lambton … which proved to be correct, for after some time the body was brought to the surface, at about 10.30 am. The deceased was 72 years of age."
19 Mar 1892
18 Mar 1892		"An elderly man named Edward Atkinson fell into a waterhole while looking for cows in a paddock near Adamstown yesterday morning and was drowned."
21 Mar 1892"In common with other parts of the district the rain has done a deal of damage to the roads in the municipality. The low lands have suffered considerably. The flat between Adamstown and New Lambton and down to Lambton-road was one sheet of water on Friday morning. Numerous dwellings were flooded. People who have lived on the Lambton-road for 17 years say that they never knew the water to be so high as it was on Friday. The proposed high drain will be a blessing to the district, and till it is completed the low lands between Adamstown, New Lambton, and Broadmeadow will continue to be under water in wet weather."
10 Aug 1895"One of the finest pieces of work done in this district is the much-spoken-of Commonage drain. The other day we visited the work and were greatly surprised at the proportions of the huge drain. In fact it is— or will be in rainy seasons — a regular canal. It begins half way between New Lambton and Hamilton, and runs in a fairly straight line towards a creek flowing into the Hunter. The drain will easily carry off the storm waters from the large area of country comprising the Commonage."
25 Jan 1898
24 Jan 1898		"BROADMEADOW. Last night at 9 o'clock the flood waters were over Brunker-road, and people from Adamstown who wished to got to the tram were forced to wade through a foot deep of water on the road. A large number of dwellings in the locality, including the Premier Hotel, were surrounded by water."
30 Nov 1898"The construction of the Adamstown branch of the Commonage drainage work has been delayed while the culvert under the Government railway was in course of construction. With the exception of a small portion near the railway culvert, the drain is completed to near the Adamstown-New Lambton road."
29 Apr 1899"The Adamstown branch of the Commonage drain has stopped within a few chains of the Adamstown-New Lambton road near the railway station. The cause of the drain stopping at that point is in consequence of it being found necessary to carry it through private property, and as the authorities have not come to terms with the Waratah Company and other property holders work is suspended and the municipality suffers."
26 Aug 1899Report on how the flooding in the Broadmead area was not as bad as former times “which is directly due to the Adamstown branch of the Commonage drainage works being opened cross the Lambton-road, and the Adamstown water thus being given straight course to the main drain.”
28 Sep 1900
27 Sep 1900		"Mr. M. S. Love, Acting S.M., yesterday granted Thomas Williams permission to transfer his license of the Premier Hotel, Broadmeadow, to Henry Joseph Denney."
5 Nov 1938"The Premier Hotel at Broadmeadow, is to be demolished. On the site will be erected a modern hotel, in two storeys, the cost of which will be £20,000. The architect is Mr. C. Ruwald, of Sydney."
5 Oct 1939"To-morrow an official opening ceremony will be held at noon at the Premier Hotel at Broadmeadow to mark the completion of a most attractive and modernly designed addition to the hotels of the district. The new building has a frontage to two main roads and a striking architectural treatment coupled with most up-to-date interior facilities and furnishings provide an outstanding example of a modern trend in hotel design"

Broadmeadow planes and plans

1

Broadmeadow has been in the news recently, with the Department of Planning and Environment releasing their “Hunter Regional Plan 2041”.  The document flags Broadmeadow as a “regionally significant growth area” and promises to make it “a destination of choice for entertainment, housing, recreation and discovery.”

This is not the first time the area has been subject to great change, as the photos this month demonstrate. A 2016 aerial photo shows the area bounded by Griffith Rd, Turton Rd, Broadmeadow Rd and the stormwater drain, filled with sporting grounds, trotting track, entertainment facilities, commercial and residential buildings. In contrast, seven decades years earlier it was an empty paddock, the site of District Park Aerodrome.

Originally a swampy lowland, the completion of a large concrete stormwater channel in 1899 allowed the surrounding area to be developed for recreation. The government reserved a portion for aviation purposes in 1923 and in 1928 the Newcastle Aero Club formed and began using the aerodrome.  However, the combination of increasing aircraft movements and residential development posed a very real danger to the public.

On 20 January 1953, 70 years ago this month, newly qualified solo pilot Alan Kerle was practicing landings in an aero club Tiger Moth. As he landed, the plane bounced, was caught by a cross wind and carried across Turton-road where it brushed a rooftop, plunged into the back yard of Cedric Jenkins and burst into flames. Just minutes beforehand four children had been playing in the yard. Despite the damage the pilot walked away uninjured. Between 1931 and 1954 the newspapers reported 13 plane crashes at or near the aerodrome. The suitability of the site was increasingly questioned.  In 1961 the Department of Civil Aviation gave notice to the Aero Club to vacate the Broadmeadow airfield, and they soon relocated to Rutherford. The government’s grand plans for aviation in District Park had proved unworkable. Let’s hope their grand plans for Broadmeadow in 2041 prove to be of long-lasting value.

District Park aerodrome, 1954. The site of the 20 January 1953 Tiger Moth crash is circled in red. NSW Historical Imagery
The same area of Broadmeadow in 2016. NSW Historical Imagery
Excerpt from page 105 of the “Hunter Regional Plan 2041”, stating some of the state government’s plans for “Hunter Park” in Broadmeadow.

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

Broadmeadow Aerodrome

Further information about the history of the Broadmeadow Aerodrome can be found in my August 2019 article on the crash of a C47 aircraft in 1944.

Map showing the aerodrome area, gazetted for aviation purposes 25 May 1923. Historical Land Records Viewer.
Grouped about the Aero Club, ‘planes at District Park this afternoon, parties of school children have the theory of aviation explained to them. The inspection was part of the club’s programme this week to mark its tenth anniversary. The Newcastle Sun 12 October 1938.

The 1953 Tiger Moth crash

The Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate report of the January 1953 Tiger Moth crash states that the plane crashed into the backyard of Mr C Jenkins, in Turton Road New Lambton. It also states that the Goodbun family lived in the neighbouring property. Title deeds in the Historical Land Records Viewer site show that in 1953 the Goodbun’s owned Lot A of DP19321 (Vol-Fol 5630-190), and Cedric Jenkins owned Lot 5 of DP19321 (Vol-Fol 5230-223). This corresponds to 267 and 269 Turton Road, New Lambton.

Wreckage of the Tiger Moth that crashed near Broadmeadow Aerodrome on 20 January 1956. The Daily Telegraph.
The wreckage of a Tiger Moth aircraft which crashed into the backyard of a home at Newcastle on 20 Juanuary 1953. The Sydney Morning Herald.
The scene in the backyard of a house in Turton road, New Lambton, after an Aero Club plane had crashed last evening. The fowlyard of the home in the foreground, with the plane lying across the back garden. Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate.

Other Broadmeadow aeorodrome crashes

The following table summarises airplane accidents that occurred at or near the Broadmeadow (District Park) aerodrome that were reported in the newspapers. This is not a comprehensive list of all incidents that occurred. For example, the report on 12 August 1944 notes that the stormwater drain has caused “7 crashes in 2 years”, however only two of those crashed seem to have been reported in the papers.

DatePlaneNotes
8/3/1931De Havilland Moth, “Sky Hawk”The plane fell into a spin at an altitude of 2000 feet and crashed into a paddock adjoining the aerodrome. Pilot (E Buck) and passenger (G Lynch) uninjured.
18/8/1935Tiger Moth, “Halcyon”The propeller caught in street lighting wires while the machine was making a forced landing. The pilot, Captain H. S. Preston, was uninjured, but the machine was severely damaged.
26/9/1935Westland WidgeonTwo accidents in 2 days! Damage to the undercarriage in 26/9/1935, and then the following day “the ‘plane struck some rough ground at the south-eastern end and pitched forward on to its nose. The fuselage, undercarriage, and propeller were damaged, and Mr. Hall received lacerations to an ankle.”
28/11/1935Monospar, “City of Grafton”Wheel collapsed on landing.
7/9/1936High wing monoplane, “Sky Baby”Forced down with engine trouble. Crashed in Lindsay Street Hamilton after hitting an electric light pole. Pilot Frank Cook pulled unconscious from the wreckage, and treated at hospital for abrasions and contusions to the face, lacerations, slight concussion, and shock.
11/9/1943Beaufort bomberEngine trouble, with white smoke issuing from the
Beaufort bomber. The plane made a right hand turn, to land at Broadmeadow aerodrome, hit some trees in District Park and immediately burst into flames. The plane then hit the side of a deep stormwater drain, skidded on to the tramline, and came to rest in Lambton-road, Broadmeadow. Flight Sergeant William Milton Trengove, 34, navigator, of Spalding, South Australia, died later in Newcastle Hospital.
?/?/1944Boomerang fighter“An R.A.A.F, man was injured when a Boomerang fighter struck the channel early this year”
10/8/1944C47 DouglasA U.S. Army transport plane, making a forced landing in a storm at Newcastle, crashed into a stormwater channel at Broadmeadow aerodrome. In the past 10 months two other planes have crashed into the stormwater drain while trying to land at Broadmeadow. Two U.S. airmen were injured in the crash. The pilot suffered a broken nose and abrasions, and the radio operator head injuries.
4/8/1947Wackett trainerA Wackett trainer belonging to the Newcastle Aero Club,
took off from the Broadmeadow aerodrome.The engine cut out at 150 to 200 feet, and the pilot brought it down in a paddock, narrowly missing two people walking along a track. The pilot (Dick Gilford, 22, of Carrington Parade, New Lambton), and passenger (Mr. A. Gilford) were uninjured.
16/4/1950Wackett trainerAfter engine failure, the pilot Jack Stone crash landed the Wackett trainer on rough, undulating ground off Turton-road near District Park aerodrome. The plane was damaged, but the pilot was uninjured.
8/12/1951Ryan monoplaneTwo men scrambled unhurt from the cockpit of a Ryan
monoplane which crashed on a narrow vacant allotment near Broadmeadow aerodrome. They are Louis Plumstead of Beresfield, an instructor employed at the Newcastle Aero Club, and his pupil, Victor Boyce, of Maitland.
20/1/1953Tiger MothA Tiger Moth plane partly unroofed a house, crashed into a fence, and burst into flames. The pilot, Alan Roger Kerle, 24, of Boyce Street, Taree. climbed from the wreckage unhurt.
27/7/1954De Havilland Hornet bi-planeThe undercarriage of the aircraft collapsed when the plane was landing. The plane slewed wildly across the runway and
its port wings ploughed into the ground.
1960Cessna 172“badly damaged soon after arrival in an unfortunate accident”
Crash of a Wackett trainer aircraft near Broadmeadow aerodrome.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 16 April 1950.

Newspaper articles

Article Date Event DateNotes
25 Mar 1923Portion of District Park gazetted "for public recreation and aviation purposes."
9 Mar 1931
8 Mar 1931		Mr. E. Buck's "Sky Hawk," a De Havilland Moth 'plane, at District Park, yesterday with one passenger aboard (Mr. G. Lynch, of Waratah) fell into a spin at an altitude of 2000 feet and crashed into a paddock adjoining the aerodrome."
19 Aug 1935
18 Aug 1935		"Newcastle Aero Club's new Tiger Moth biplane, the Halcyon, crashed at District Park late yesterday afternoon. The pilot, Captain H. S. Preston, was uninjured, but the machine was severely damaged."
27 Sep 1935
26 Sep 1935		"THE Westland-Widgeon 'plane, which was involved in a sensational crash at the District Park Aerodrome last evening, wrecking the undercarriage, figured in another accident this afternoon. AFTER repairs had been effected to the landing gear, the owner, Mr. Hall, made a preliminary flight prior to leaving for Sydney. When returning to the 'drome, however, the 'plane struck some rough ground at the south-eastern end and pitched forward on to its nose. The fuselage, undercarriage, and propeller were damaged, and Mr. Hall received lacerations to an ankle."
28 Nov 1935"Five passengers in the airliner 'City of Grafton' had remarkable escapes this morning when a wheel collapsed after the big 'plane had landed at District Park aerodrome, throwing the 'plane on to its side."
13 Dec 1935"The discovery of four slashes in the fabric underneath the wing of an aeroplane shortly before it was due to take off caused a stir at District Park Aerodrome this morning. Mr. Henry said that the incident illustrated the need for public hangars at all important aerodromes."
8 Sep 1936
7 Sep 1936		"The small high wing monoplane Sky Baby crashed in one of Newcastle's most thickly populated suburban thoroughfares, Lindsay-street, Hamilton, shortly after 5 p.m. to-day. The right wing struck an electric light pole and was torn off. The machine finished partly on the footpath."
6 Oct 1943
11 Sep 1943		Inquest into the death of Flight Sergeant William Milton Trengove, who died in a plane crash at Broadmeadow on 11 September 1943.
2 Jun 1944Calls to improve Broadmeadow aerodrome … "The present aerodrome is entirely inadequate for the future needs of a city the size of Newcastle,' said Mr. Cavalier, "Further, it is in its present size a danger to certain types of aircraft."
11 Aug 1944
10 Aug 1944		"A U.S. Army transport plane, making a forced landing in a storm at Newcastle yesterday, crashed into a stormwater channel at Broadmeadow aerodrome. Two U.S. airmen were injured."
4 Aug 1947"A pilot, with his father as passenger, crashed in an emergency landing at East Lambton today. Neither was injured. The pilot is Dick Gilford, 22, of Carrington Parade, New Lambton, the passenger is Mr. A. Gilford, of the same address. The plane, a Wackett trainer belonging to the Newcastle Aero Club, had taken off from the Broadmeadow aerodrome. The engine cut out at 150 to 200 feet, and the pilot brought it down in a paddock, narrowly missing two people walking along a track."
17 Apr 1950
16 Apr 1950		"The pilot of a Wackett trainer plane escaped injury when he crash landed on rough, undulating ground off Turton-road near District Park aerodrome yesterday afternoon."
9 Dec 1951
8 Dec 1951		"Two men scrambled unhurt from the cockpit of a Ryan monoplane which crashed on a narrow vacant allotment near Broadmeadow aerodrome this afternoon. The engine cut out soon after the plane took off from the aerodrome."
21 Jan 1953
20 Jan 1953		"When a Tiger Moth plane crashed today it partly unroofed a house, crashed into a fence, and burst into flames. The pilot climbed from the wreckage unhurt. As flames reached the petrol tank a bus driver put them out with an extinguisher from his bus. The pilot of the plane is Alan Roger Kerle, 24, of Boyce Street, Taree. He is a student pilot of Newcastle Aero Club. The crash occurred as he was landing the plane on Newcastle aerodrome." (The Daily Telegraph)
21 Jan 1953
20 Jan 1953		"When a Tiger Moth aircraft crashed into the backyard of a home in Turton Road, Waratah, a suburb of Newcastle, shortly before 5.30 p.m. to-day it missed a woman and four children by four feet. The sole occupant, Alan Roger Kerle, 24, of Boyce-Street, Taree, was not injured." (The Sydney Morning Herald.)
21 Jan 1953
20 Jan 1953		"A Tiger Moth plane owned by Newcastle Aero Club crashed in the backyard of Mr. C. Jenkins's property in Turton road, New Lambton, late yesterday afternoon. The plane was extensively damaged but the pilot, Alan Roger Kerle, 24, of Taree, who had made his first solo flight on Sunday, climbed uninjured from the cockpit. A wing hits the edge of a fernery in a house adjoining and caught fire. The plane dropped on to its nose, pivoted, and then landed on its wheels." (Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate.)
28 Jul 1954
27 Jul 1954		"A De Havilland Hornet bi-plane, crashed on landing at Broadmeadow about 5 p.m. today. Crew of the plane, Mr. J. Neal, of Tamworth (pilot) and Capt. R. Hall, of East. West Airlines (navigator) were uninjured in the crash. The undercarriage of the air craft collapsed when the plane was landing. The plane slewed wildly across the runway and its port wings ploughed into the ground."

Hartley Vale Colliery, Newcastle

Reply

The naming of coal mines is often ambiguous and confusing, especially when a locality name is used for a mine in a completely different region. Such is the case with the short lived Hartley Vale Colliery in Newcastle in the 19th century.

Today when we hear “Hartley Vale” we think of the Hartley Vale on the western side of the Blue Mountains, near Lithgow. A form of coal called kerosene shale was found in this location in 1865, and by 1874 the NSW Kerosene Shale and Oil Company had a substantial mining operation there. But 150km away in Newcastle there was another “Hartley Vale” colliery, with no connection to the Blue Mountains.

In 1862 the brothers James and Alexander Brown were operating a colliery at Minmi, west of Newcastle. In late 1862 they issued a prospectus for a new company, called the Melbourne and Newcastle Minmi Colliery Company, and by February 1863 had sold their mine to the newly floated company. Around the time they were divesting themselves of the Minmi colliery, the Browns acquired the coal lease on a 310 acre block of land in the Broadmeadow area adjacent to Hamilton. This new venture they named “The Hartley Vale Colliery” (sometimes spelled “Hartly Vale”) and commenced to develop it, including plans to build a rail line from the pit to the Great Northern Railway

THE HARTLY VALE COLLIERY. This new colliery which has been in the course of development for several months, having bared a good seam of coal and began to open it out, is now also about beginning the formation of a railway to connect the works with the Great Northern Line, to come in somewhere about the spot where the Waratah and Lambton junction is formed. This line has been surveyed and cleared, and in the course of a few days it is anticipated that the formation will be commenced.”

The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, 13 August 1863.

By June 1864 the Browns had reportedly spent £12,000 developing the mine which was nearing completion.

The works at the Hartley Vale Colliery have proceeded so far as to be ready for coming into market, with the exception of the completion of a small portion of the branch line intended to form a junction with the Lambton. In consequence of a dispute between the two companies, the progress of this line has been retarded.

The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, 25 October 1864.

The completion of the rail line from the Hartley Vale mine was prevented because of a dispute with a competitor, the Lambton colliery. To remedy this impasse the Browns petitioned the government to to pass an Act of Parliament to give them the right to construct their railway. The Bill was brought before the Parliament in October 1866, but ongoing disputes and opposition from competing interests meant that the bill was not passed until December 1867.

Plan of the Hartley Vale Railway, 4 October 1867. State Library of New South Wales.

Having finally obtained the legal right to build their railway, it was of no consequence, for by this stage, after spending £18,000 the mine had already proved to be unprofitable.

No sooner was the Minmi Company floated (1863) than the Browns took up land at Hartley Vale, sunk their shaft, erected their winding gear, and other appliances ; but found the seam run out so shallow as to be unprofitable to work, so that was dismantled and abandoned, with a loss of £18,000.

Report on the death of Alexander Brown, Australian Town and Country Journal, 7 July 1877.

About the same time that the Hartley Vale Colliery railway Bill was passed in December 1867, the Browns acquired a new coal mining lease in the adjacent area of New Lambton, and within a few months were pushing ahead with the development of the New Lambton Colliery, including a branch rail line that was to use materials from the failed Hartley Vale venture.

The greater portion of the [New Lambton] line will be constructed with the material used in the formation of the old line to the Hartley Vale colliery, which turned out such a lamentable failure, and through which the Messrs. Brown lost such an enormous sum of money.

The Newcastle Chronicle, 27 June 1868.

The location of the failed Hartley Vale colliery can be identified by the Hartley Vale Colliery Railway Bill and accompanying map. The Bill describes the railway as passing through …

“… fifty-four and three hundred and ten acres leased to the said James Brown and Alexander Brown and known as the Hartley Vale Colliery.”

NSW Government Gazette, 27 December 1867.

The 54 acre block was the area eventually sold to Thomas Adam in 1869 to form Adamstown. The 310 acre block stretches from Adamstown to Broadmeadow, with the approximate location of C and D pits as shown in the Google Earth overlay below.

Location of C and D pits of the Hartley Vale colliery.

Newspaper articles

Article Date Event DateNotes
4 Jul 1863A passing remark in a parliamentary discussion about Reserves, indicates that the the Browns had acquired a mining leases in Newcastle by July 1863. "The Government, however, had leased portions of it [Newcastle Pasturage Reserve] to the Australian Agricultural Company, James & Alexander Brown, and the Waratah Coal Company."
13 Aug 1863"The Hartly Vale Colliery.-This new colliery which has been in the course of development for several months, having bared a good seam of coal and began to open it out, is now also about beginning the formation of a railway to connect the works with the Great Northern Line, to come in somewhere about the spot where the Waratah and Lambton junction is formed."
25 Aug 1863"The Co-operative, Wallsend, the Hartley Vale, and the Australian Agricultural and Coal Company, are contemplating running onto" the Great Northern Line.
8 Jun 1864"I may mention that a rumour gains ground here that some desire is evinced by the Messrs. Brown to connect the projects of the Co-operative Company and the Hartley Vale Colliery. On the Company's property it is said that £10 000 have been expended, and £12,000 on the Vale." [There is no evidence that this rumoured joint venture proceeded.]
18 Jun 1864"A report was in circulation a short time ago, that Messrs. J. A. Brown had some intention of working the seam of coal which exists on a property of theirs, called Hartley Vale, adjoining the Co-operative Company's pits."
25 Oct 1864"The works at the Hartley Vale Colliery have proceeded so far as to be ready far coming into market, with the exception of the completion of a small portion of the branch line intended to form a junction with the Lambton. In consequence of a dispute between the two companies, the progress of this line has been retarded, which, however, is now in a fair way of being completed in a few weeks."
22 Apr 1865"Towns have sprung up and forests have been cleared with surprising rapidity. A dozen years ago no one know of the Glebe, of Wallsend, Minmi, Lambton, or Hartley Vale … But notwithstanding all the improvements in the town, and all the facilities for trade, one cannot help feeling that there is a sort of lassitude about the movements of people-a sort of 'hanging on' appearance … Lambton and Waratah doing only about quarter-time, and Wallsend, which is, perhaps, best off, not doing more than half its capabilities. Minmi, Tomago, Hartley Vale, and the Lake Macquarie pits doing nothing."
20 Aug 1867"Mr COWPER presented a petition from certain persons of Waratah against the passing of the Hartley Vale Colliery Bill."
20 Aug 1867Notice by James and Alexander Brown and Stephen Foyle to petition parliament to enable then to construct the Hartley Vale railway.
3 Dec 1867
28 Nov 1867		Partial opening of the Hartley Vale Railway. The descripton of the piece of line just opened suggests that it was the branch line from the Hartley Vale line that went eastwards to the Dog and Rat pit, and in 1868 to the New Lambton colliery.
27 Dec 1867
23 Dec 1867		Passing of the Hartley Vale Colliery Railway Bill in NSW parliament.
27 Jun 1868"The greater portion of the [New Lambton Colliery] line will be constructed with the material used in the formation of the old line to the Hartly Vale colliery, which turned out such a lamentable failure, and through which the Messrs. Brown lost such an enormous sum of money."
17 Nov 1875"NEW LAMBTON. The old Hartley Vale pit, which has been standing open for several years without any protection, is now being covered over by the employees of the Messrs. Brown."
7 Jul 1877In a report on Alexander Brown's death … "No sooner was the Minmi Company floated than the Browns took up land at Hartley Vale, sunk their shaft, erected their winding gear, and other appliances ; but found the seam run out so shallow as to be unprofitable to work, so that was dismantled and abandoned, with a loss of £18,000."

Gittins and Eastham Store

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Broadmeadow Co-Operative Society

The 19th century saw the birth of a new mode of grocery retailing – the Cooperative Society movement. Begun in the UK and brought to Australia by immigrants, the core idea was for consumers to own, control and benefit from their local store. Membership was open to all through the purchase of shares, controlled through democratically elected officers and regular meetings, and profits returned to members as dividends.

In April 1887 the Broadmeadow Co-operative Society formed with 17 initial members, and rented a four-room house in Lambton Rd to operate a store. At the second quarterly meeting in November 1887, the society reported the business to be “in a flourishing and prosperous condition.” In 1889 the society purchased their own premises (the small wooden building in Snowball’s photo) in Brunker Road adjacent to the Premier Hotel. Membership had increased to over 170, and a bakery department was soon added.

However, in the 1890s a prolonged economic depression put the society under financial strain. With many miners out of work, trade fell dramatically. The working capital of the society slowly eroded with over-optimistic dividend payments in the face of declining profits, and members withdrawing from the cooperative. By April 1897 the financial position was untenable, and the society closed. Only the largest cooperative societies, with many members and multiple stores, survived the downturn.

In May 1897 the Broadmeadow store was taken over by Robert Gittins and George Eastham, who soon erected a large brick building adjacent to the original building. Gittins and Eastham had emigrated from the UK to Australia around 1887, and after a brief stint working as pit mates at the Bullock Island colliery, opened grocery stores in Wickham and Carrington. They traded at Broadmeadow for 10 years until selling to Thomas Hughes, who then ran the store for the next quarter century.

Independent, locally owned stores such as this were the norm until the 1960s, when the big supermarket chains rapidly rose to a dominance in grocery retailing they maintain to this day.

Gittins and Eastham Store, Broadmeadow, September 1897. Photo by Ralph Snowball, University of Newcastle, Living Histories,
The store was located at 3 Brunker Rd Broadmeadow, where the Premier Hotel carpark is today.

The article above was first published in the March 2021 edition of The Local.

Additional Information

The Broadmeadow Co-operative Society

The Broadmeadow Co-operative Society got off to a good start. After six months of operation, at their second quarterly meeting pm 31 October 1887, the secretary Mr W Roe presented a report and balance-sheet …

… which showed the society to be in a flourishing and prosperous condition, both with regard to members and financially. The shareholders number 69; paid-up shares, 104; unpaid-up shares, 22. The weekly takings at the store average over £50 per week. There is also a large number of non-members who purchase their goods at the store. The balance-sheet also showed that a large sum had been spent during the quarter in procuring a horse and cart and other necessaries required in the business; but despite this expense the society was enabled to declare a dividend of ten per cent. The report and balance-sheet were unanimously adopted, and the shareholders were very jubilant over the progressiveness of the society.

Location of Broadmeadow Co-operative Society Store. 10 Lambton Rd (April 1887 to April 1889) and 3 Brunker Rd (May 1889 to April 1897).

At the district Co-operative Conference held at Burwood on Saturday 13 July 1889, Mr R Gray, manager of the Pioneer Society at Burwood delivered a speech on “The rise and progress of cooperation in this district.” In the speech Mr Gray described the essence of the Co-operative movement as being …

“… that the profits of an undertaking do not go into the pocket of an employer, be that employer an individual, or several individuals united in partnership; but that they should be shared by the largest possible number of those who engage in the undertaking, either as consumers or workers. In our distributive co-operative societies the net profits on sales, after paying working expenses, interest on capital etc, go to the consumer.”

Mr Gray gave detailed statistics on each of the district societies, including the Broadmeadow Co-operative Society, which …

“… started business on April 17th, 1887, with 17 members, and a share capital of £14, and a loan of £50, making in all £94. They have paid away in dividends to members on their purchases alone, since they commenced, £1037 6s. Their share capital at the end of this quarter is £685 11s 10d, and the number of members on their books is 173. These facts speak for themselves. Then there is the fact of their having purchased the premises which they now occupy, their fixed stock account amounting to £200.”

The premises purchased by the society was on the Newcastle Pasturage Reserve (Commonage). The location can therefore be identified from the Land Court Sittings in July 1890, when people of the Commonage were finally able to apply for legal title to the land they were residing on. From the sitting of the court on 28 July 1890 …

“Portion 2102; applicants, the Broadmeadow Cooperative Society, Limited. The district surveyor reported that the land was valued at £103 4s, and he submitted that the applicants should prove ownership of the improvements. James Raine stated that he was president of the Broadmeadow Co-operative Society, Limited, and he appeared in support of an application made by John A. Davidson, the then secretary of the society, for portion 2102. The society owned the improvements on the portion, which consisted of a shop and outbuildings. The land had been purchased from Charles Heath, who had been in occupation prior to 1888, and the purchase was completed on the 25th May of that year. Witness claimed that the society had a perfect right under the Act to make application for the portion, as they had been in continued occupation since purchasing. Heath had not, to witness’s knowledge, made application for the land. After a short discussion, the board stated that they would adjourn the further consideration of the appraisement until they were dealing with other portions in the same vicinity. In the meantime, they would recommend that the application be accepted.”

Subsequently on 4 September 1890, the Land Court formally accepted the application of …

“Broadmeadow Co-operative Society, Limited, lot 2102, £163 4s”

The Co-operative’s store is just visible on the right hand side of Snowballs 1892 photograph of the Premier Hotel surrounded by floodwaters.

Premier Hotel, Broadmeadow, NSW, 18 March 1892. Ralph Snowball, University of Newcastle, Living Histories.
Broadmeadow Cooperative Store, 1892.

The rise of the Supermarkets

The Australian food history timeline website indicates that Farr’s of Newcastle may have been the first Australian supermarket. In 1957 the Chermside Drive-in Shopping Centre opened in Brisbane, including a supermarket that was soon afterwards bought by Woolworths. Coles then opened their first Australian supermarket in North Balwyn in Victoria in 1960.

By the early 1970s the big supermarket chains (Woolworths, Coles, Supa Value, Foodland, Franklins, FAL) had 50% share of the grocery retail market, and by 2020, the two major chains (Woolworths/Coles) had a 67% market share.

Newspaper articles

Article Date Event DateNotes
4 Apr 1887
4 Apr 1887		"A public meeting will be held at the junction of Adamstown and Broadmeadow Roads on MONDAY, 4th inst., at 7 p.m. All in favour of establishing a Co-operative Society are requested to attend."
6 Apr 1887"The meeting advertised to be held on the Commonage for the establishment of a co-operative society was, on account of the wet weather, adjourned to Mr. Raine's residence, where a very successful meeting was held. About 21 persons enrolled themselves as members, and gave the newly-formed society the name of the Broadmeadow Co-operative Society. "
9 Apr 1887
8 Apr 1887		Meeting of the newly-formed Broadmeadow Co-operative Society … "A letter was read from a Mrs. Dickford, offering a four-roomed house, with outhouse and stable, facing the Lambton-road … it was agreed to take the building from Wednesday next, which would allow ample time to commence business by next pay."
2 Nov 1887
31 Oct 1887		Second quarterly meeting of the Broadmeadow Co-operative Society reported "the society to be in a flourishing and prosperous condition."
12 Nov 1887William Roe, secretary of the Broadmeadow Co-operative Society authorised to sell postage stamps.
8 May 1889
4 May 1889		Broadmeadow Co-operative Society annual meeting. The co-operative now had 174 members and was in a good financial position, attributed to the fact that "the society has now premises of its own, which is a great saving in rent."
17 Jul 1889An essay on "The rise and progress of cooperation in this district" read by Mr. R. Gray, manager of the Pioneer Society, Burwood, at the Co-operative Conference. It has some good insights into the history and goals of the Co-operative movement, as well as detailed statistics on the current state of the Co-operative movement in Newcastle.
29 Jul 1890Commonage Allotments land court sitting, where the application by the Broadmeadow Co-operative Society for portion 2102 was considered. The application was adjourned, but with an intimation that it would be approved.
6 Sep 1890
4 Sep 1890		Sitting of the Land Court formally accepts the application of the Broadmeadow Co-operative Society for lot 2102.
14 Jan 1892At the quarterly general meeting … "The report showed the number of members on the books to be 217" and "special attention was drawn to the bakery department, which is now in full working order."
28 Oct 1893Tensions at the Quarterly meeting of the Broadmeadow Co-operative Society regarding: withdrawal of members, lack of support from members, paying of dividends, bakery accounts.
31 Jan 1896
29 Jan 1896		Correspondence to Hamilton Council: "From Mr. A. Sharp, manager of the Broadmeadow Co-operative Store, complaining of the bad state of the road in front of the store, and asking council to effect the necessary repairs. It was resolved that the request be complied with."
20 Apr 1897"A special meeting of the Broadmeadow Co-operative Society will be held this evening for the purpose of considering the financial position of the society."
6 May 1897"The Assigned Estate Broadmeadow Co-operative Society. WE have This Day DISPOSED of the BOOK DEBTS of this Estate to Messrs. Gettins (sic) and Eastham, Grocers, Broadmeadow, whose receipt will be a sufficient discharge."
9 Aug 1897"Messrs. Gittens and Eastham, who have secured the property and business of the now defunct Broadmeadow Co-operative Society, have made good progress since they opened a branch store at Broadmeadow. The experience of the firm has been such that they have near completion a large brick building that is to be used for a store. The building adjoins the old store on the Brunker-road frontage, and is a splendid site from a business standpoint. Mr John Francis is managing the business on behalf of the firm."
25 Oct 1897"By the opening of the large branch store by Messrs Gittans (sic) and Eastham on the site of the old Co-operative Store the thoroughfare has been given a brighter aspect and the surroundings more enticing."
5 Nov 1907"PUBLIC NOTICE, TOM HUGHES WISHES to announce to the General Public of Broadmeadow and Surrounding Districts that he has Purchased the Business lately carried on by GITTENS & EASTHAM, at Broadmeadow."
29 Apr 1919
29 Apr 1919		"Mr. Robert Gittins, of Hannell-street, Wickham, the principal partner in the firm of Messrs. Gittins and Eastham, died at an early hour this morning at Waratah Hospital. Mr. Gittins was 65 years of age, and a well known and highly respected resident of Wickham for upwards of 30 years. His son is Alderman Reece Gittins, of the Wickham Council."
29 Apr 1919"PUBLIC NOTICES. GITTINS & EASTHAM. THE BUSINESS PREMISES of the above Firm at Wickham, Carrington, and Steel-street, Newcastle will be CLOSED ALL DAY TO-MORROW (WEDNESDAY), on account of the death of Mr. Robert Gittins"
30 Apr 1919Obituary of Robert Gittins.
5 Oct 1931Obituary of George Eastham.
23 Jan 1937Obituary of Thomas Hughes.