Category Archives: Whitebridge (2290)

Flaggy Creek

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“Flaggy Creek” seems to have been quite a common name for a waterway. In the Newcastle area there is a Flaggy Creek near Glenrock, and there were at least two waterways in the Wallsend area previously known as Flaggy Creek, which have different names today.

1. Flaggy Creek- Whitebridge/Kahibah

The name “Flaggy Creek” is most commonly associated with the waterway that runs down into Glenrock Lagoon in Whitebridge.

Flaggy Creek is the waterway that runs into Glenrock Lagoon

The Waratah Coal Company sunk a shaft in the Flaggy Creek area in 1886. The shaft is marked on some old Kahibah parish maps.

“Flaggy Creek Shaft” marked on an old Kahibah parish map. Historical Land Records Viewer

The approximate location of this shaft is shown below.

2. Flaggy Creek – Barnsley

In the 19th century there was another Flaggy Creek, which was often referred to as being in the Wallsend district. An item from the Wallsend correspondent of the Newcastle Chronicle on 30 May 1868 refers to an accident happening to a man “at Flaggy Creek.” A land title from 1865 shows that Flaggy Ck was an alternative name for Slatey Ck in the Barnsley area.

Map from Vol-Fol-18-199 showing “Flaggy or Slatey Ck” in the Barnsley area.

By 1881 the “Slatey Ck” name seems to disappear and the “Flaggy Ck” name is used. For example a subdivision map for “Highgate near Wallsend”, shows the waterway to the west of the subdivision is named Flaggy Creek.

Flaggy Creek shown on the 1881 Highgate subdivision map. State Library of NSW.

An 1888 article refers to Flaggy Creek at Young Wallsend, which was the original name of Edgeworth.

We have been favoured with some magnificent oranges grown by Mr. William Johnson, Flaggy Creek, Young Wallsend.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 6 October 1888.
Flaggy or Slatey Ck in 1902. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.

3. Flaggy Creek – Elermore Vale

The creek that runs through Croudace Road at Elermore Vale at a place formerly called Chinaman’s Flat, was at one time called Flaggy Creek.

Edward James Howard, complainant, deposed that he resided at Chinaman Flat or Flaggy Creek.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 17 December 1887.

The creek is now the upper reaches of Ironbark Creek.

Ironbark Creek in Elermore was formerly known as Flaggy Creek.

Spot the difference

Where newspaper articles refer to a Flaggy Creek in the Wallsend district, it can be difficult to determine which creek is meant. Two pieces of information assist in this regard. Firstly, the Flaggy Creek at Elermore Vale was entirely within the borders of Wallsend Municipal Council, whereas Barnsley’s Flaggy Creek was about 3 miles to the west. Therefore a mention of Flaggy Creek in reference to Wallsend Council matters is almost certainly the Elermore Vale area. Secondly, the road to Cooranbong passed over Flaggy Creek at Barnsley, so a mention of the road to Cooranbong would indicate the Barnsley area creek.

The two Flaggy Creeks marked with red circles. Two key distinguishing features: the western one intersected with the road to Cooranbong (yellow line) , the eastern one was within Wallsend Council (shaded green).

Using these differentiators, the first unambiguous reference to the Flaggy Creek in the Barnsley area comes in 1870 …

I reached Lake Macquarie by way of Cockle Creek, the head of which is about three miles distant from the colliery township of Wallsend. Having walked from Wallsend to the creek, I was conveyed thence to the residence of Mr. Chapman, on Stony Creek (another small stream, emptying itself into the lake), in a boat belonging to that gentleman and his partner, Mr Lyster. But for this convenience I should have been compelled to ride from Wallsend on horseback, passing through the parish of Teralba, on the Coorambung-road, and proceeding thence over “Flaggy Creek,” “Cocked-hat Creek,” “Sandy Creek,” and sundry other streamlets more remarkable for their “curious nomenclature than for anything else.

Australian Town and Country Journal, 11 June 1870.

This page is part of the collection of Newcastle’s Obsolete Place Names.

Burwood

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When we think of “Burwood” in Newcastle today, it is most commonly associated with Burwood Beach, situated between Glenrock Lagoon and Merewether.

Burwood Beach is situated at the northern end of what was the Burwood Coal Company’s 1287 acre coal lease.

The coal company’s principal pit was located near the centre of their lease, where the modern day suburb of Whitebridge is …

Burwood No. 3 Colliery, was located in Whitebridge.

… and consequently this area is sometimes known as Burwood. The main north/south road here is named “Burwood Road” and there was formerly a Burwood Colliery Bowling Club at this location.

Burwood Colliery Bowling Club, 2010. Google StreetView.

However there is another area in Newcastle that earlier on was also known as Burwood. It was located in the area of Merewether immediately to the south of The Junction. The name appears on an 1855 map.

“Burwood” marked to the south of Lake Macquarie Road (Bar Beach Ave today) on the plan of the Australian Agricultural Company’s Estate, Newcastle, 1855. (Note that this plan is drawn with south at the top and north at the bottom.) University of Newcastle, Living Histories.

The Historical Land Records Viewer has a number of parish maps where “Town of Burwood” is marked. The area still has to this day a “Burwood Street” within it.

Some of the early churches in this area used the name “Burwood”, such as the Burwood Primitive Methodist Church.

The first methodist Church in the Junction was the Burwood Primitive Methodist Church, which was opened in 1859. In 1879 the original building was replaced by a brick building 50 feet by 30 feet, and service was continued in the building until 1904.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 7 February 1927.

The Burwood Primitive Methodist Church was located on the south side of Railway Street.

BURWOOD SUNDAY-SCHOOL PICNIC. The Primitive Methodist Sunday-school picnic was held in the vacant piece of ground in Railway-street, opposite the church.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 10 November 1896.
The Burwood Primitive Methodist Church was located at 5-6 Railway Street, Merewether. Google Earth with water board map sheet 086 from University of Newcastle, Living Histories.

This page is part of the collection of Newcastle’s Obsolete Place Names.

Bull’s Garden, Whitebridge

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Mike Scanlon in a Newcastle Herald article on 12 May 2017 has an interesting story on Bull’s Garden, an exotic pleasure garden established by Edmund Bull on 60 acres of land in Whitebridge in the late 19th century. The gardens closed sometime in the 1930s.

Land title Vol-Fol 991-221, a “Grant of land conditionally purchased for the purpose of mining other than gold mining” shows an area of 60 acres in Whitebridge (portion 85), granted to Edmund Bull.

Vol-Fol 992-221, conditional purchase of 60 acres of land at Whitebridge.

The date on this land title is 25 October 1890, however this is the date the title certificate was registered, and not the date the land was granted. The actual purchase of land may have taken place years before the paperwork was registered. The title certificate states that the grant was made under the “Crown Lands Alienation Act of 1861”, so that is the earliest the transfer to Edmund Bull could have occurred. This may be the reason why Mike Scanlon in his article states a date of purchase of “around 1860”, but other evidence points to a later date.

The name of these title certificates indicate they were “conditional purchases”. That is, a person could apply for a parcel of land and have it conditionally granted, but if they failed to follow through with the conditions (including making payment in the allotted time) then the grant could lapse or be forfeited. This appears to have occurred on portion 85, with an early historical parish map for Kahibah showing the name of G. Oakley on portion 85 crossed out, and the name “Edmund Bull” added in.

Kahibah parish map showing the name of G. Oakley on portion 85 crossed out, and the name “Edmund Bull” added. 1885 parish map, HLRV.

The advertised sale of another block of land in the Kahibah parish in June 1875 suggests that portion 85 was still conditionally granted to G Oakley at that time. Therefore Edmund Bull probably acquired the land after June 1875.

New South Wales Government Gazette, page 1729, 11 June 1875.

In a 17 January 1936 article in the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, Sydney Bull reminisces about the origins of Bulls Garden, established by his father Edmund. The article notes that Syd was 75 years of age, indicating that he was born sometime around 1861. Syd recalls that “over 60 years ago, my father acquired 60 acres of land in the bush, now in the town of Whitebridge,” which indicates the purchase was prior to 1876. He also stated that he was 14 years of age when his father first sent him and his brothers from Mayfield down to Whitebridge to work at clearing the land. Syd would have been 14 around the year 1875. Thus, the evidence points to 1875 as the year Edmund Bull acquired the land.

The 60 acres Edmund Bull purchased in Whitebridge circa 1875.

A 1911 map held by the National Library of Australia shows a shaded region labelled “Bull’s Garden” to the east of Bulls Garden Road.

Portion of 1911 map, showing location of Bull’s Garden, Whitebridge. National Library of Australia, MAP RASC 33.

This is a smaller 25 acre portion of the original 60 acre purchase, and probably indicates the area along the gully that Edmund Bull was developing as a scenic garden.

The green outlined area (approx 25 acres) corresponds to the area labelled on the 1911 map as “Bulls Garden”.
Location of former Bull’s Garden, Whitebridge.
The location of Bull’s Garden, 1944 aerial photograph overlaid into Google Earth.

Update, August 2023

While browsing the Newcastle Libraries Online Collection site, I came across a Ralph Snowball photograph titled simply “Bush scene”. [The caption has now been amended.] After studying the photo for a while and noticing quite a number of landscaped elements such as rock walls, paths, bridges and steps, I realised that it was a photo of Bull’s Garden in Whitebridge.

Bull’s Garden, Whitebridge, not dated. Photo by Ralph Snowball. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection 001 002710

Comparing the central rocky creek bed and precipice from Snowball’s photo, with an aerial photo of 76 Bulls Garden Rd Whitebridge from the SIX maps site, confirms the location of the Snowball photo.

Aerial photo of portion of 76 Bulls Garden Road, Whitebridge. SIX Maps.