Often the artefacts of local history are plainly seen in old buildings or monuments around us, but sometimes history lies unnoticed at our feet. A few months ago, in the back streets of New Lambton, I spotted some old stones in the kerb. What at first appeared to be foundations for a corner shop veranda, turned out to be much more significant – rare examples of the 1888 Commonage street alignment stones.
The Commonage was reserved by the government in 1850 for the purpose of pasturing stock before shipping from the port of Newcastle. It consisted of 1600 acres stretching from Waratah to Adamstown, from Lambton to Hamilton. With the development of nearby collieries many miners erected homes on the Commonage even though it was Crown land. After decades of debate and confusion the government decided to pass legislation to allow people to purchase the land they were occupying.
Before land could be sold however, an accurate survey was needed to mark the alignment of streets and property boundaries. A municipal conference in February 1888 agreed “to use stone blocks for alignment marks instead of wooden posts, on account of the damage done to posts by white ants.” The survey work budgeted for 1400 stones to be placed at street corners, with the colonial government and local councils sharing the cost. Each stone protruded a foot above the ground, was 9 inches square, and had a small hole in the centre to position a surveyor’s pole. Over time most of the stones have been removed due to kerb upgrades or replaced with modern survey marks, and only 49 stones remain today. These are significant relics of an important turning point in Newcastle’s history, when a large tract of land close to the city was opened for private ownership and development. The Broadmeadow Place Strategy endorsed by Newcastle Council in 2025 aims to establish 20,000 new homes, mostly within the area marked out with alignment stones in 1888.
The 1600 acres of the Commonage (Newcastle Pasturage Reserve) where the streets were surveyed and aligned in 1888.A few of the remaining Commonage alignment stones.
The article above was first published in the November 2025 edition of The Local.
Additional Information
I first encountered the alignment stones when walking down in New Lambton in July 2025, and noticed two stones on the corner of Wickham Road and Gwydir Road.
Stones on the corner of Wickham Road and Gwydir Road, New Lambton. July 2025.
My first impression was that they were the foundation stones for a street veranda of a corner store, as they looked similar to the veranda stones of the Lambton Cooperative Store. However my research drew a blank on there ever being a store at that location. The nature of these stones remained a mystery until some weeks later, when perusing reports of Lambton Council meetings I stumbled upon the following …
From the Department of Lands, respecting the payment of half cost of the alignment of the commonage. Alderman DENT moved, “That the letter be received and department informed that Council prefer stone alignment marks to wood, and are willing to pay half cost of same when the survey of the commonage could be utilised.”
Researching street alignment stones led me to an interesting paper by Fred de Belin presented to the Association of Public Authority Surveyors Conference in 2014 on “The Big Stone Alignment Posts of Ryde”. The paper contained an excerpt of an old map of Ryde that showed the position of some stones, which raised the question of whether old maps of Newcastle also had maps that showed alignment stones?
The University of Newcastle Living Histories site has a collection of old Water Board maps, and checking the map for New Lambton showed that the stones I had found in Wickham Road, were indeed marked with a dot annotated “A.S.”
In a custom Google Map I added a place-mark at each location where the water board maps had indicated an alignment stone in the Commonage area. Over the course of six weeks I walked the streets and verified where alignment stones still remained. Of the 958 alignment stones marked on the water board maps, I found only 49 remain – a survival rate of 5%.
In the map below, the stone locations are split into three separate layers …
Extant (green) – The stone still exists in place.
Remnant (yellow) – There is some evidence of where the stone once was, or there is a modern survey mark in its place.
Missing (red) – The stone has been removed or is not visible.
The numbering of the stone place-marks is in the form “SheetNumber-StoneNumber”. For example “211-14” is the 14th stone marked on sheet 211 of the water board maps.
It is not clear exactly how many alignment stones were placed in the Commonage originally. At a municipal conference in February 1888, a letter tabled from the Lands Department stated that …
… alignment posts should be put in their proper position at an estimated cost of 15s per post, equal to £1050 for the whole subdivision.
This costing implies that up to 1400 alignment points were planned. The fact that the water board maps have only 958 stones marked is probably due to some of the original 1888 stones having been removed by the time the maps were last updated in the 1910s.
The surveying and placement of the stones in the commonage in 1888 was not without incident. Ralph Snowball, who lived in Clarence Road New Lambton, wrote to the newspaper complaining of the surveyors’ work.
I wish, through the columns of your valuable journal, to draw attention to the manner in which a party of surveyors are executing their work on the New Lambton Commonage. The parties who previously surveyed went though the whole of the work in this particular district and unduly interfered with no fence, trees, etc. But it seems in the majority of instances that I have heard, and my own in particular, that surveyors must go straight through gardens and not have to enter by the usual mode, namely, by the gate, but take their feet or an axe and knock down palings, and leave them off when they go away for goats and pigs to have a parade, as they have done on three occasions at my place. On the 21st, when I arrived home at 7 p.m., I found a valuable Californian pepper tree lopped and mutilated on one side in a disgraceful manner, and, as I keep the branches clear on this of the roof of the verandah owing to wind blowing them, and so making a noise on the iron roof, and the height of the surveyor’s tripod, with theodolite, being not more than 5 feet 6 inches, or 6 feet when set, and also being set within 15 or 20 feet from said tree-I cannot see any reason why it had to be cut nearly to the top of the tree, which is 20 feet or more in height. It was not previously in the road of other surveyors. There is also the annoyance caused by their being two or three hours around close to the house talking, &c., and my wife lying very ill with typhoid fever. Had I been at home I should certainly have tried to get them to act in a more manly way, and leave the fences, &c., as they found them, especially when no one belonging to the house was there to replace the palings, &c.
Lambton Council in a meeting in March 1888 also complained about the placement of stones.
The report of March 20 drew attention to the placing of stone alignment posts on the Commonage, some of them far into the macadamised roadway, and as they were placed a foot above the surface they ran the risk of being smashed. One of them was smashed on Saturday by a three-horse dray colliding with it. He suggested that a yard of broken metal be placed around the stones wherever so exposed.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 22 March 1888.
The Mayor [of Adamstown] stated that the alignment posts had been placed in position by the surveyor. He expressed his displeasure at the way a number of the street ends had been left.
Quite a few alignment stones still exist in Adamstown, south of Brunker Road.
A street alignment stone in Victoria Street, Adamstown.
New Lambton Council was incorporated on 9 January 1889, and subsequently set about getting their streets surveyed and aligned. There is a mention in September 1890 of “alignment posts” (presumably wooden) and then a mention of “alignment stones” in December 1892. There are still a few alignment stones in the streets of New Lambton, south of Russell Road.
A street alignment stone in Evescourt Road, New Lambton.
Waratah Council was incorporated on 23 February 1871 and had street alignment posts in place well before the Commonage was surveyed in 1888. Water board map Sheet 208 shows that survey marks in Waratah streets were labelled with “A.P.”, presumably meaning “Alignment Post”.
Alignment posts marked at the corner of High and Bridge Streets, Waratah.Alignment posts at the corner of High and Bridge Streets, Waratah, c. 1885-1888. Photo by Ralph Snowball. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.
Letter to Lambton Council from the Department of Lands, respecting the payment of half cost of the alignment of the commonage. Alderman DENT moved, "That the letter be received and department informed that Council prefer stone alignment marks to wood, and are willing to pay half cost of same when the survey of the commonage could be utilised."
"Surveyors are now busy at work on the commonages cutting it up into suitable allotments, with a probable view to early disposal. If the terms of sale are fixed at reasonable rates and present holders have preferential rights accorded them, then the satisfactory settlement of a long-standing trouble will be hailed with delight."
Municipal conference: "It is proposed that as the subdivision progresses, alignment posts should be put in their proper position at an estimated cost of 15s per post, equal to £1050 for the whole subdivision." (This costing implies that there were 1400 alignment posts. ) "The Councils interested recommend to the Minister for Lands the advisability, while aligning the streets of the Commonage to use stone blocks for alignment marks instead of wooden posts, on account of the damage done to the posts by the white ants."
Thomas Frith, candidate for Adamstown council elections "referred to the alignment of the streets on the Commonage, and said that if the Government had the power to sell the Common, they should pay for the alignment, and let the rates derived from the property go towards improving the streets of the Commonage."
"The work of surveying the Commonage previous to its disposal to the present occupants is proceeding. The surveyors have, in many instances, laid the streets out so that they take the lines as at present occupied by the houses, and which, if carried out, will necessitate the removal of the structures."
"A deputation, representing a conference of delegates from Adamstown, Hamilton, Lambton, and Waratah Municipal Councils, waited on the Minister for Lands in connection with the alignment of streets." The minister "would agree to the erection of stone pillars instead of wooden posts.”
Waratah Council: Letter "from the Lands Department, stating that the district surveyor has been authorised to obtain about 350 alignment posts (stating dimensions), price not to exceed 3s each, for the alignment of streets in the sub-division of the Newcastle Pasturage Reserve. Stone could be used instead of posts, if Council desired."
Adamstown Council meeting: "The clerk stated that he had been informed by one of the surveyors that he had been instructed to survey Adamstown along with the commonage."
Adamstown Council: “The Mayor reported having waited upon Mr. Surveyor Halworth re alignment marks, and submitted two designs for the consideration of the aldermen. After a deal of talk it was resolved, on the motion of Alderman Weir, that the alignment marks be stone, one foot high.”
Adamstown council: "The MAYOR stated that the alignment posts had been placed in position by the surveyor. He expressed his displeasure at the way a number of the street ends had been left."
East Lambton Progress Association: "It was also decided to write to Newcastle Council asking that the alignment stones at the corner of Karoola and Durham Roads be removed and not placed back on the footpath as suggested by the council."
When not many people lived in Newcastle, the needs of the dead were met by a few small burial grounds – the Church of England cemetery below the cathedral, the Catholic and Presbyterian cemeteries adjacent to Cottage Creek, and the Wesleyan Methodist cemetery in Newcastle West. With a rising population came the need for a larger general cemetery outside the city, and in 1863 the government reserved 20 acres of land at Waratah.
However, the commencement of mining and a growing township at Waratah soon made that location unsuitable. After many delays, in 1878 the government purchased 50 acres of land at Sandgate for a cemetery. This site had the advantages of being in an unpopulated area, and close to both Maitland Road and the northern railway.
Opened in September 1881, the cemetery included a short branch rail line to provide transport for mourners, as well as the deceased in a special hearse carriage. In 1883 the rail authorities opened a mortuary station and platform in Honeysuckle as the starting point for funeral trains. In 1896 the Tramway Department acquired a hearse carriage that allowed funeral processions from the suburbs to proceed via tram to Honeysuckle, thence by train to Sandgate.
Sandgate became the principal burial ground in the district, and the cemetery train was much used. On a single day in 1932 there were fourteen funerals, ten of which travelled by train. In 1933 the Honeysuckle mortuary station closed, but the cemetery rail continued to carry passengers, with extra trains provided on special occasions. In 1938 the newspaper reported that 3000 mourners had travelled by train to Sandgate on Mother’s Day. With rising car ownership, the need for a cemetery train gradually declined, and the last passenger service ran on Sunday 13 October 1985. Forty years later a low brick platform, half-buried rails and a rusting points lever are the scant reminders of a railway that served both the living and the dead for over a century.
There were three denominational cemeteries in Newcastle West. The Honeysuckle Point cemeteries for the Presbyterians and the Roman Catholics, were adjacent to Cottage Creek and opened in 1845. A Wesleyan Methodist cemetery a little further west along the Maitland Road opened in 1846.
Interments in all these grounds ceased in 1881 when Sandgate Cemetery opened. The dedication of the Wesleyan cemetery was revoked in 1910. The Honeysuckle Point cemeteries were removed in 1916 to make way for a tram and road bridge over the railway, however due to lack of funds the bridge was never constructed. Refer to my Honeysuckle Point Cemetery and Wesleyan Cemetery pages for further details.
An 1896 tramways map showing the Honeysuckle Point Cemetery (Presbyterian and Roman Catholic). From Flickr user Peter Deane
In the published article above, I stated that the Sandgate cemetery site was selected in preference to a Waratah site “after many delays”. This polite phrase, required for brevity, masks the true omni-shambles of the Government’s and Newcastle Borough Council’s handling of cemetery matters. See my Waratah Cemetery page for further details.
Sandgate Cemetery
After a delay of several decades, the government finally secured a site for a general cemetery at Sandgate.
It is satisfactory to learn that the vote of £3000 for a cemetery for this city has been appropriated. The Government have just purchased 50 acres of land at Waratah from the A. A. Co. at the rate of £50 per acre, the remaining £500 has been placed in the hands of the Municipal Council to defray the expense of inclosing the same with a substantial fence.
(Note the mention of the land being “at Waratah” meant in the Waratah region, not Waratah township/suburb we know today. The locality name of “Sandgate” was not used until 1882.)
That the Town Clerk be instructed to write to the Government, urging the necessity of dedicating the land lately purchased for a general cemetery, and appointing the Municipal Council as trustees; also for taking immediate steps for closing the burial grounds within the municipality, and providing the necessary railway accommodation for the general use of the cemetery.
At the same meeting the council accepted the tender of Mr W W Johnston of Wallsend for fencing the cemetery. The following month Johnston reported to the council …
… that the unusual size of the rails for the cemetery fence had caused him considerable difficulty in procuring same, but he would be in a position to commence the fence within a fortnight.
In June 1879 a major controversy erupted over the proposed distribution of land within the cemetery to the various church denominations.
Our attention has been very forcibly drawn to the extraordinary manner in which the land set apart by the Government for burying purposes has been apportioned to the different denominations.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 3 June 1879.
Half the area of the cemetery had been allocated to two denominations (Church of England, Catholic), some denominations had “manifestly inequitable” allocations, and some no allocation at all.
As for the Baptists, they must all be presumed by the Government Distributors to be translated to heaven as Enoch and Elijah were, without dying, as no place appears to have been provided for their burial!
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 3 June 1879.
At a public meeting held on 26 July 1879, the various denominations discussed how the cemetery should be divided. The Church of England and Roman Catholics wanted it apportioned based on the general census of 1871 (which gave them a greater area), whereas others wanted it apportioned based on the ratio of the denominations in the local district. The meeting resolved to send a deputation to the Minister for Lands on the following Tuesday to argue their respective cases. In August 1879 the Minister issued a new subdivision of the cemetery that reduced the allocation to the Church of England and Roman Catholics, and increased the allocation to the other denominations, including some that had previously been overlooked.
A few months later, Newcastle Council were again asking the Government for a rail link to the cemetery, and reminding them of the need to pass legislation to close the existing cemeteries within the city boundary.
Alderman BROOKS moved – “That the Government be communicated with, urging the necessity of making railway accommodation to the new cemetery; and also passing a bill to restrict the burials in the city, and close all cemeteries within the city boundary.” He had been given to understand that before burials in the municipality could be stopped, a special Bill must be passed, and no steps had been taken by Government to do that. It was the Council’s duty to remind the Government that such a bill was urgently required. If they did not continually peg away at them it would be a couple of years before they had the new cemetery available. The MAYOR remarked that the fencing of the ground was completed. Doubtless each denomination would take steps to see that their section of the enclosure was properly cleared.
The following year, the Government finally got around to appointing trustees for the cemetery, the denominational trustees on 30 July 1880, and trustees for the General section on 1 October 1880. In January 1881 word was received that the Government had agreed to construct a branch rail line into the cemetery.
We are glad to notice that the City Council has at last been successful, aided by the exertions of the members for the city, in inducing the Minister for Works to connect the new general cemetery to the Great Northern Railway by a siding. Mr. Bewick, the Superintendent of Permanent Ways and Works, has been instructed to proceed with this necessary work at once, and in the course of four or five weeks at the furthest we may expect to see this work completed.
In April 1881 several of the trustees of the cemetery visited the site to inspect the railway works, rapidly nearing completion.
To form a connection [from the cemetery] to the main track, a siding has been run in, proceeding by a gentle incline and gradual curve towards the middle of the cemetery, at the exact centre of which a terminus is formed, a platform erected, and a hand- some mortuary receiving house or waiting room provided. The benefit of this arrangement will be readily appreciated; since by the plan thus adopted funeral parties can be conveyed to the nearest approach to either one of the various denominational sections into which the whole is subdivided. The structure itself measures internally 26ft x 16, with a verandah 20 x 17, the platform being 100 foot long, exclusive of two fifteen feet ramps at either end. The upper portion in galvanized iron with neat barge-board fringing the eaves, and ornamental verandah posts, &c., attached. The formal work of constructing it is being carried out by Mr. P. Morrison, who expects to have every- thing complete within a day or two.
Those present made a careful inspection of the ground, which is thus virtually ready for interments. With the infusion of a little energy there can be no reason whatever to prevent every detail being satisfactorily settled within the next fortnight at the utmost.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 14 April 1881.
The mortuary receiving house and rail platform can be seen in the background of this 1910 Ralph Snowball photo. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection 001 003847
Despite the optimism of the trustees of an imminent opening, four months later the cemetery was still not ready. A meeting on 12 August 1881 outlined four main issues to be resolved.
The need for clearing the ground.
The need for a caretaker to be appointed and a caretaker’s house to be erected.
The need for “an official sketch plan of the ground, shewing the various denominational sub-divisions, together with a plan of the paths, sizes of graves, distinguishing sections.”
The need for “a committee of trustees to draw up a code of by-laws, to be submitted to Government for approval.”
On 8 September 1881 the trustees met again at the cemetery site, and …
reported that the Government had promised £200 towards clearing and fencing;
moved that tenders for the clearing work be invited;
moved that a a surveyor be employed to prepare a plan of the whole cemetery;
moved that the draft by-laws prepared by the sub-committee be submitted to the next general meeting for approval.
Twenty two years after it was first called for, the general cemetery was finally ready. The first interment took place two days later on 10 September 1881, when Mary Wilson, the wife of John Miller was buried in the Presbyterian section of the cemetery. The Government Railways advertised that funeral trains to the General Cemetery would run daily from Newcastle Station, if required.
Locomotive, passenger carriages, and hearse trailer at the Sandgate Cemetery station and platform. circa 1881 to 1890. University of Newcastle, Living Histories. This photo appeared in the Newcastle Sun in 1950 with the caption “One of the early funeral trains to Sandgate Cemetery. The picture was taken 60 years ago.”
At the next meeting of the cemetery trustees, plans for the improvement of the cemetery progressed.
[Funds] will be devoted to clearing the main avenue of the cemetery to a width of 66 feet, and trees of an appropriate character will be planted on each side. Application is also to be made to the Minister for Works for the erection of a residence for a caretaker, the site of which has been approved of by the trustees.
Efforts have also been made to secure telephonic communication between the cemetery and Newcastle, so that no time need be lost in any case of emergency . The Trustees are applying to the Government for a platform to be constructed so that the various kinds of material likely to be required for interments, such as timber, monumental masonry, iron railings, etc, may be easily unloaded, and also that parties wishing to visit the burial ground may disembark there from any ordinary train without being compelled to travel by the special mortuary one.
In April 1882 we see the first reference to the name “Sandgate” as the locality of the cemetery, and on 19 July 1882 the first reference to the name “Sandgate Cemetery” appears. There is no clear information on the origin of the name. (In 1928 there was a short-lived agitation to change the name of the suburb. One resident gives a confusing explanation for the naming of Sandgate, but coming nearly 50 years later it should be received with some skepticism.)
Locomotive engine and hearse trailer at Sandgate Cemetery, 10 May 1900. Photo by Ralph Snowball. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection 001 001107Mothers Day in 1939, when about 5000 people visited Sandgate Cemetery. Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 15 May 1939.Two-car diesel set NTC738/NPF638 sits at the platform at Sandgate Cemetery station 9, June 1985. Photo courtesy of Australian Rail Maps.
Mortuary Station, Newcastle West
When Sandgate Cemetery opened in September 1881, cemetery trains departed from Newcastle Station. In 1883 the Government erected a mortuary station and platform at Honeysuckle, and from 9 April 1883 funeral trains departed from this station.
Advertisement for opening of new mortuary station at Honeysuckle. Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 5 April 1883.
Portion of an 1894 map showing the location of the old cemeteries, Honeysuckle Point railway station, and the Mortuary Station that opened in 1883. State Library of NSW.Mortuary Station, Honeysuckle Point, November 1896. Photo by Ralph Snowball. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.Mortuary Station and Bullock Island Bridge, NSW, 14 August 1900. Photo by Ralph Snowball. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.
The mortuary station was used for 50 years, and closed at the end of March 1933, because of declining patronage and a deteriorating building.
The old mortuary platform at Honey suckle railway station is to be closed from April 1. After that date funerals at Honeysuckle will entrain from the main platform for Sandgate Cemetery. The question of closing down the mortuary, platform has been under consideration by the Railway Department for a long time. At present the platform buildings are in a state of disrepair, and need painting, and it has been decided that the change should be made at the end of this month. The department claims that no public inconvenience will be caused; its records show that of the 228 funerals that went by rail from the Newcastle district stations between August and December of last year, only 35 left from the Honey suckle mortuary platform.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 11 March 1933.
Although the mortuary station closed, the train service to the cemetery continued, particularly passenger traffic for mourners and visitors. Transport of the deceased to the cemetery via train appears to have waned quickly, with the last mention in the paper of this practice being the funeral of Mrs Eleanor J Varley on 24 June 1935.
It is often remarked that Newcastle gets a poor allocation of funds for projects compared with spending in Sydney, and the mortuary stations in the respective cities is a fine example. While Sydney got a magnificent architect designed Victorian Free Gothic style sandstone building in 1868, fifteen years later the Government could only manage a weatherboard shed for Newcastle.
In 1886 the rail authorities commenced mortuary train service from Wallsend to Sandgate Cemetery, that used the Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Company railway.
The funeral [of John Kilpatrick] took place on Monday, and was the first mortuary train from Wallsend to the District Cemetery. I understood that 83 tickets were issued, proving conclusively that in cases when the remains of any member of our friendly society is conveyed by rail to Sandgate the authorities will be called upon to provide plenty of carriage accommodation.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 1 September 1886.
After trams in Newcastle commenced operation in 1887 the opportunity arose for a funeral tram service. In May 1896 the Railway Commissioners announced that a hearse trailer for the tram network in Newcastle would soon be provided.
It is expected that a hearse will be available for use on the tramways about the 1st June. This will supply a want which has been long experienced by residents in the suburbs.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 23 May 1896.
A hearse car has just been added to the tramway rolling stock. It is intended to attach this car to funeral trams, which are henceforth to be run as required from the suburbs to the railway station in competition against the undertakers.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 8 June 1896.
With the introduction of a tram hearse, the Railway Commissioners decided to discontinue the funeral train service that had been running from Wallsend for the previous ten years.
The Commissioners promised to arrange for the arrival and departure of the tram from Newcastle so as to prevent any unnecessary delay and insure a return to Wallsend by 6pm, so that it will now be understood that in lieu of a funeral train, a hearse will be attached to the tram leaving Wallsend at 2pm and returning at 5pm, the return fare being 1s.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 7 AUgust 1896.
Funeral procession of Dr A W Nash in Morehead Street, Lambton, heading for Howe Street to board the funeral tram service. The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, 29 March 1905.
The introduction of the funeral tram service allowed quite large funeral processions to travel to Sandgate Cemetery from the suburbs.
The funeral of the late Mr. John Avery took place yesterday, and was one of the largest attended that ever left Lambton, upwards of 700 persons joined in the procession from the house to the tram, and about 500 proceeded by tram and train to Sandgate Cemetery.
Ralph Snowball took a large number of photographs of headstones and monuments at Sandgate Cemetery, many of which are in Newcastle Libraries Online Collection. Some of these photographs show trains, or rail infrastructure in the background.
Gravestone of Margaret (Reta) Walker Swan at Sandgate Cemetery, with the cemetery train in the background. Photo by Ralph Snowball, 6 September 1898. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection 001 003530The same location in 2025. Note that the original headstone for the infant Reta was later replaced with a more elaborate monument that also memorialised her parents Andrew and Mary Ann.Gravestone of William Lashmore and his wife at Sandgate Cemetery, with the wooden cemetery train platform in the background. Photo by Ralph Snowball, 24 May 1905. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection 001 002110Gravestone of Grace Ann Kay at Sandgate Cemetery, with mortuary station building in the background, 16 November 1901. Photo by Ralph Snowball. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection 001 002102Gravestone of Joseph Lloyd at Sandgate Cemetery, with rail tracks and platform in the background, 13 October 1912. Photo by Ralph Snowball. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection 001 004132
Meeting of Newcastle Town Council: "Alderman Bolton then brought on his motion that application be made to the General Superintendent of the Australian Agricultural Company for a grant of land for the purpose of a general cemetery. In introducing it, he said that he had little to say, as all were aware of its necessity. The Church of England cemetery was in the centre of the town, and was nearly full and the others were small, and not suited for the purpose."
"The COLONIAL SECRETARY has informed the deputation that the Minister for Lands had directed that the manager of the A. A. Co. should be communicated with, and that the purchase of the site should be completed before the end of the present month. The fact is, that if the land is not purchased by that time, the offer of the company to sell the land for the purpose required will lapse, and the citizens will have to look round again, but perhaps in vain."
"Negotiations had been entered into with the Australian Agricultural Company for the purchase of fifty acres of land for a cemetery at £2500, and that, in fact, £3000 had been voted by Parliament for buying a piece of land for this purpose, and for fencing it in."
"It is satisfactory to learn that the vote of £3000 for a cemetery for this city has been appropriated. The Government have just purchased 50 acres of land at Waratah from the A. A. Co. at the rate of £50 per acre, the remaining £500 has been placed in the hands of the Municipal Council to defray the expense of inclosing the same with a substantial fence."
Meeting of the cemetery trustees, plans for an avenue of ornamental trees, and another railway platform for the easy unloading of timber, monumental masonry etc.
"Fourteen funerals, described by an undertaker as the highest number for one day since the influenza epidemic, took place in the Newcastle district yesterday. Three special trains, two from Newcastle and one from Kahibah, had to be run by the Railway Department to cope with the situation. Ten of the funerals entrained for the cemetery, the others went by road."
"Four special trains from Newcastle and suburbs, in addition to the ordinary Sunday trains, carried about 3000 people to Sandgate cemetery yesterday afternoon. Hundreds went in cars and on motor cycles and bicycles. "
Usually I write historical articles about something that happened in the past, but this is a story about something that didn’t happen. It’s a tale of government bunglings, buck-passing and bureaucracy, of poor planning and public protests, explaining why the cemetery marked on this 1873 map of Waratah never came to be.
Portion of 1873 Waratah Coal Company map overlaid into Google Earth showing that the land reserved for a cemetery, where Waratah Park is located today. National Library of Australia.
In 1845 when the Honeysuckle Point Cemetery opened, Newcastle had just two principal places for burial – the Church of England cemetery below the cathedral, and the Honeysuckle Point Cemetery in Newcastle West for Presbyterians and Roman Catholics. Both cemeteries were small and quickly ran out of space. By 1859 Newcastle Borough Council were well aware of the need for a larger general cemetery in a location outside the city, and made enquiries to the A A Company for a grant of land, as well as approaching the colonial government for a grant of land at Waratah. Neither of these approaches yielded any result.
In December 1862, the Mayor of Newcastle, James Hannell wrote to the Minister for Lands concerning the cemetery site at Waratah, complaining of three years of inaction.
As far back as August, 1859, I endeavoured to get a satisfactory settlement of this question [land set apart for a public cemetery at Waratah] , but regret to say, without effect.
After a further delay of six months, in July 1863 the government gazetted 18 acres of land for a general cemetery at Waratah, “on the Great Northern Railway, adjoining J Moate’s 35 acres.”
Map from the land grand for Waratah Park in 1881 (Vol-Fol 527-228) showing the proposed cemetery site om the south side of Station St, and near Joseph Moates’ 35 acres of land.
However just months after the cemetery site was reserved, “The Waratah Coal Company” incorporation act passed in October 1863. As the colliery developed, miners and merchants moved to the rapidly growing township of Hanbury adjacent to the newly proposed cemetery.
Very soon the residents of Hanbury were protesting the proposed cemetery site.
A meeting was held at Mr. Arnold’s, Cremorne Hotel, last Tuesday, for the purpose of taking steps to induce the Government to select another piece of land for a general cemetery for the district of Newcastle instead of the one already fixed upon near the railway station, Waratah.
The Newcastle Chronicle and Hunter River District News, 2 July 1864.
In July 1865 the Newcastle Borough Council agreed that the Waratah site was unsuitable, and suggested an alternative site further out of town, on a piece of A. A. Company land “adjacent to the Great Northern Railway, beyond the Wallsend junction.” After John Bowie Wilson became Minister for Lands on 22 January 1866, the people of Waratah were hopeful of a change of plan.
The inhabitants of our little township (some of them at least) feel some little pleasure in the recent change of Ministry, as they have some hope that the new Minister of Lands will give now what he promised when he held the same office before, viz., all his influence to prevent the new cemetery being in the place where the Government had given the land for it to be, as he was decidedly of opinion that the dead of Newcastle ought not to be brought to the door of our township for interment.
The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, 30 January 1866.
In August 1866, Alderman Thomas Adam gave notice of a motion to be placed before the next meeting of Newcastle Council :
That in the opinion of the Council a public cemetery for the city and district of Newcastle is urgently required.
That the land at Waratah dedicated by the Government for that purpose is, from its proximity to the village of Hanbury, the nature of the soil, making proper drainage impracticable, unsuited for the purpose.
The land situated on the Great Northern Railway, about six miles from Newcastle is the most suitable for the purpose.
Despite the note of “urgently required”, when the council next met …
The Mayor said he had not yet drawn out a report of the Cemetery Committee, but he would have it ready by the next meeting of the Council. In consequence of no report having been drawn up, Alderman Adam obtained leave to postpone the motion standing in his name.
The council then did nothing until the following May when Alderman Adam raised the subject again. However the matter was adjourned and referred to a committee despite the objections of Alderman Christie, who …
… thought the subject was too important to adjourn. It had been put off from year to year, and it was high time something was done in the matter.
The Cemetery committee met the following week, but was the scene of bitter recriminations, insults, and personal animosity between the aldermen. Despite these shenanigans, the committee managed to resolve that a letter be sent to the A. A. Company to enquire about the purchase of land for a cemetery in lieu of the proposed site at Waratah.
For the next year no progress was made. In February 1868, when Henry Parkes visited Waratah to lay the foundation stone of the public school, the Rev Pritchard (Primitive Methodist) met with Mr Parkes to discuss the proposed cemetery at Waratah. Rev Pritchard pointed out “the unsuitableness of the ground”, and Mr Parkes agreed the the land …
… was not at all adapted for the purpose intended, and the sooner therefore another piece was obtained the better.
Just two months later, in April 1868 the Newcastle Council Cemetery Committee, despite having previously panned the Waratah site as unsuitable, performed a spectacular about-face and now recommended the Waratah site.
After visiting and inspecting the proposed site, your committee have now to report the site chosen is most eligibly situated at the Waratah station of the Great Northern Railway, giving easy access by rail to the chief centres of population.
The reason given for the change of mind? Weariness and pessimism!
Having also taken into their consideration the suggestion of the sale of the land at Waratah, which they know was at one time made with the view of obtaining with the proceeds, a more suitable one, have come to the conclusion that any such attempt now would only lead to endless delay even if a sale were possible, and a more suitable site could be found; which to your Committee appears extremely doubtful.
Having cast their lot with the Waratah site, the council then engaged with the Lands Department in a long running dance of bureaucratic bungling and buck-passing, as the following quotes reveal …
[The council made] immediate application to the Government for the necessary appointment of trustees, as well as for funds sufficient to fence in the ground.
After the usual official delay, answers were received by the Council, to the effect, that a sum of £120 would be allowed for fencing in the land, and that the names of trustees would be gazetted after having been first appointed by each of the denominations.
The Mayor wrote to the heads of six out of eight denominations, inviting them to appoint their own trustees. It was soon observed that the list of ministers written to, did not include the names of the representatives of the Primitive Methodist and Baptist denominations.
On being queried about the omission, the Mayor’s reply was that he had merely acted in accordance with directions from the Minister for Lands, requesting him to write to the heads of the different denominations marked in the Government plan of the land. Not finding the Primitive Methodists marked in the plan, he had not written to their minister.
Thinking it must have been the result of some oversight on the part of the Government, the Mr. Pritchard (Primitive Methodist minister) requested the Mayor to send down the name of Mr. Richard Hull, as trustee for the Primitive Methodist denomination. The Mayor acceded to Mr. Pritchard’s request and to that letter a reply was received, stating that the subdivision of the land, as marked in the Government plan, which ignored the Primitive Methodist and Baptist bodies, would have to be adhered to; but assigning no reason for such an extraordinary and sectarian decision.
Nineteen months later the Newcastle Chronicle lamented the continued inaction and government delays.
Why any delay should have occurred in either dedicating or resubdividing the cemetery we are at a loss to conceive, seeing that a public cemetery is urgently needed. We are, of course, aware that the Government proceeds generally upon absurdly circumlocutionary principles, as they have done in this very matter ; but it is perfectly unreasonable to suppose that it should require three or four years to complete so simple a piece of business as the granting and dedication of a few acres of land for a cemetery.
The inaction however, did allow the opportunity for the unsuitability of Waratah as a cemetery site to be be expressed again.
The cemetery ground, as already marked out by the Government, seems, however, to be ineligible for the purpose, from its being occasionally covered with water, and, perhaps, too near the township of Waratah. It would, therefore, be better to select a new site for the cemetery, and that speedily, seeing that it is imperatively required.
For the next eight years there were repeated appeals for the cemetery to be constructed somewhere other than Waratah. Sandgate was most commonly recommended location, but a site between Lambton and Waratah on the Commonage was also considered, as was a site in Tighes Hill adjacent to Throsby Creek.
6 January 1872 – “Ironbark Hill, or the Sandhill, as it is better known, near Ironbark Creek, some two miles beyond Waratah, appears to me to be the most eligible place in the district, as no population is likely to settle down near it for generations to come.”
21 December 1875 – “Alderman Brooks moved that the Mayor renew the application to the A. A. Company for a suitable piece of ground for a public cemetery, either at Ironbark Hill, or all that piece of land bounded by Throsby’s Creek, Waratah Line, and Great Northern Line,”
4 March 1876 – Municipal conference – local councils are tired of Government inaction and are taking steps to obtain a cemetery within the Commonage.
21 February 1877 – Alderman ABEL moved – “That the Mayor communicate with the Mayor of Waratah with a view to jointly apply for the dedication of the land recommended by Mr. District Surveyor Evans, for cemetery purposes.”
12 April 1877 – “A deputation will interview the Minister for Lands, with reference to the granting of a portion of the Commonage Reserve for the purposes of a general cemetery for the district.”
17 May 1877 – “After a careful examination of the ground it was resolved to recommend to the Government the advisability of granting that portion running parallel with the Waratah Company’s railway, commencing at the white gates, and running twenty chains down the line with a width of six chains.
In August 1878 the “weary pile of correspondence” had still not arrived at a solution, and a deadline for the acquisition of land from the A. A. Company was drawing near.
The sum of £3000 has long been voted by Parliament for the purpose of purchasing land for burial purposes and 50 acres belonging to the A A. Co. have been negotiated for in many a weary pile of correspondence! Yet the ‘indifference,’ if not the ‘insolence of office and the law’s delay,’ have combined to perpetuate the postponement of the transfer of the land, and we are still without a suitable place to bury our dead.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 22 August 1878.
It was explained that negotiations had been entered into with the Australian Agricultural Company for the purchase of fifty acres of land for a cemetery at £2500, and that, in fact, £3000 had been voted by Parliament for buying a piece of land for this purpose, and for fencing it in. It was also stated that the negotiations in question must be concluded before the end of the present month, or they would fall through.
The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, 24 August 1878.
In December 1878 the purchase of land for a general cemetery at Sandgate was concluded, and the plan for a cemetery at Waratah was finally dead and buried.
Meeting of Newcastle Town Council: "Alderman Bolton then brought on his motion that application be made to the General Superintendent of the Australian Agricultural Company for a grant of land for the purpose of a general cemetery. In introducing it, he said that he had little to say, as all were aware of its necessity. The Church of England cemetery was in the centre of the town, and was nearly full and the others were small, and not suited for the purpose."
Newcastle Council following up with the Minister for Lands in Sydney on an earlier unactioned request regarding "land set apart for a public cemetery at Waratah."
Letter from Department of Lands to James Hannell, M.L.A. - "In reference to your letter of the 6th August last, representing the necessity for the appropriation of a portion of land near Newcastle as a general cemetery, I am directed to appraise you, that twenty acres have now been formally dedicated for that purpose, at Waratah, near the Newcastle and Maitland railway line, which appears to the Secretary for Lands to be quite sufficient area for the city of Newcastle."
"A meeting was held at Mr. Arnold's, Cremorne Hotel, last Tuesday, for the purpose of taking steps to induce the Government to select another piece of land for a general cemetery for the district of Newcastle instead of the one already fixed upon near the railway station, Waratah."
After hearing that the Government intended to nothing about the objections of the residents of Hanbury to the proposeed cemetery adjacent to the Waratah railway station, another public meeting is called to organise continued opposition to the plan.
Newcastle council Cemetery Committee considering a couple of sites for a cemetery - 1. A piece of A. A. Company land adjacent to the Great Northern Railway, beyond the Wallsend junction, and near the Government ballasting ground. 2. The north side of the White Gates, bounded by Throsby's Creek, and containing about twenty acres more or less.
"WARATAH. The inhabitants of our little township (some of them at least) feel some little pleasure in the recent change of Ministry, as they have some hope that the new Minister of Lands will give now what he promised when he held the same office before, viz., all his influence to prevent the new cemetery being in the place where the Government had given the land for it to be, as he was decidedly of opinion that the dead of Newcastle ought not to be brought to the door of our township for interment."
Newcastle council notice of motion on unsuitability of Waratah site, and recommending an alternate site "on the Great Northern Railway, about six miles from Newcastle."
Complaint about the slow pace of progress on the new cemetery … "We are, of course, aware that the Government proceeds generally upon absurdly circumlocutionary principles, as they have done in this very matter ; but it is perfectly unreasonable to suppose that it should require three or four years to complete so simple a piece of business as the granting and dedication of a few acres of land for a cemetery. "
"The COLONIAL SECRETARY has informed the deputation that the Minister for Lands had directed that the manager of the A. A. Co. should be communicated with, and that the purchase of the site should be completed before the end of the present month. The fact is, that if the land is not purchased by that time, the offer of the company to sell the land for the purpose required will lapse, and the citizens will have to look round again, but perhaps in vain."
"Negotiations had been entered into with the Australian Agricultural Company for the purchase of fifty acres of land for a cemetery at £2500, and that, in fact, £3000 had been voted by Parliament for buying a piece of land for this purpose, and for fencing it in."
"It is satisfactory to learn that the vote of £3000 for a cemetery for this city has been appropriated. The Government have just purchased 50 acres of land at Waratah from the A. A. Co. at the rate of £50 per acre, the remaining £500 has been placed in the hands of the Municipal Council to defray the expense of inclosing the same with a substantial fence."
When Lambton began in 1864 the population grew quickly, and with it the need for policing. In 1868 one constable based in Waratah also had to cover Lambton, and the Newcastle Chronicle lamented that “at Lambton the absence of officers of the law frequently results in drunkenness and disgraceful rows.”
In 1870 the government appointed John Lee as Lambton’s first resident police officer, although initially there was no dedicated police station. In 1874 a correspondent described the office as being a shanty hut at the policeman’s home, consisting of “a straggling collection of timbers nailed together, with a broken-down shingle roof.” To rectify this situation, the government constructed at the east end of Dickson Street a building for a courthouse and police station, which opened in 1879.
In 1884 a contract was awarded for the erection of a residence for the senior officer stationed at Lambton. Construction was delayed for two years, as the preferred site had previously been promised to Lambton Council for a town hall. Finally in August 1886 the newspaper noted that “excavations are being made near the Courthouse and massive blocks of stone laid down for the foundation of the new police barracks.”
The police station in the courthouse building was used until 1933, when it was condemned as “unfit for human habitation”. Although the station closed and was then demolished, an officer was still assigned to Lambton and lived in the police residence. By 1946 there were calls for a police station to be re-established, and in 1954 a small office and lockup was built adjoining the police residence. This operated until the mid-1990s, when Lambton policing was once again covered from Waratah. The house in Dickson Street remained derelict and decaying for many years. However, the property is currently for sale, and as it is listed as a heritage item in the Newcastle Local Environmental Plan, there are hopes this significant 19th century building may soon be restored.
Sergeant George Salter and lock-up keeper Constable William Mahood at Lambton Police Station and Courthouse, 8 August 1898. Photo by Ralph Snowball. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection, accession number 001 001053.The former Lambton police residence in Dickson Street in August 2024, ready for restoration.
The article above was first published in the September 2025 edition of The Local.
Additional Information
An Historical Parish Map showing the location of the Police Barracks on Dickson St, west of the Court House. Historical Land Records ViewerOverlaying a 1909 Water Board map into Google Earth suggests that at that time the west side of the building extended back further, and that there was a deck and/or verandah at the front. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.
A 1944 aerial photograph showing Lambton Police residence (yellow) and the outline of the foundations of the Lambton Courthouse demolished in 1937. NSW Historical Aerial Imagery
A 1954 aerial photograph shows that the office and lockup has been erected adjacent to the police residence, and that houses have been erected where the courthouse once stood. NSW Historical Aerial Imagery
A 1989 street directory still has a police station marked on Dickson St, Lambton.
"At Lambton, the absence of the officers of the law frequently results in drunken orgies and disgraceful rows, the majority of which take place on the Sabbath. In the face of facts like these it is high time, we think, that something was done to try and get the authorities to station a constable in [Lambton]."
"We are glad to learn that the Government has, at last, deemed it proper to give police protection to the populous and rising township of Lambton. The Inspector General of Police has given the necessary instructions to Mr. Inspector Harrison to station a constable at Lambton, and those instructions are to be carried out immediately, and in the course of ten days hence the Lambtonians may expect the presence of a guardian of the peace amongst them."
"A gentleman from the survey department has been appointed district surveyor, and has been here measuring out the piece of land on the pasturage reserve, for the proposed extension of Lambton, near Peacock's dwelling, that was applied for to erect municipal chambers on. From what I learn the police station and lock-up are also to be built near here as being the most suitable and central situation for the three colliery townships — Waratah, Lambton, and New Lamb ton."
"At present the policeman stationed here was in an awkward position if obliged to take a prisoner in charge, for, having no lock up, he had no alternative but to take him to his own home and sit up with him all night."
"There has never since Lambton was a township been more need for a lock-up than during the present week end. On Sunday a woman of most disreputable character was walking about the streets in a state of intoxication ... Constable Price searched the town to find her. He at last found her near Mr. Avery's hotel, The constable took her in charge, but had no place to put her. Mr. Avery, however locked her up in one of his rooms, and was rewarded by being kept awake during the whole of the night by her striking matches, and knocking the furniture about in the room. At midnight Constable Frize was called up by another constable, who had a prisoner in charge for passing spurious notes at Singleton. The man was taken to Con- stable Daly's residence at Waratah, and had to be watched during the whole of the night. That such a state of things should exist in a district like this, is a disgrace to the Government."
"The new Court-house was formally opened on Tuesday … but there were no cases for trial."
"Though the Court has been opened, there are many things yet required to make the premises complete."
"Alderman GRIERSON said he had heard it was the intention of the Government to erect Police Barracks on the reserve for Council Chambers, near the Courthouse, which he thought should be prevented."
Lambton Council meeting: "Letter read from Mr. Surveyor Allworth, asking Council to state proposals with reference to site for Council Chambers and the conditions on which, they would hand over the present site for police barracks."
"I notice that excavations are being made on the reserve near the Court-house, and massive blocks of stone laid down for the foundation of the new police station and barracks. The building is to be a large and substantial one, and, when completed, will make an important addition to our police structures."
"From the inspector of nuisances leaving his notice book for examination, and referring to the cesspit near the new police barracks being of defective construction."
"In connection with the removal of Constable D. Fay, lockup-keeper, to take charge of the Adamstown station, Constable Mahood, of Greta, has been appointed to the charge of the Lambton lookup, and will probably arrive to-day to enter upon his new duties."
"Constable William Mahood, who has been in charge of the lockup for the past four years, has (on his own application) been removed to Newcastle. During the time he was stationed here, Mr. Mahood proved a zealous and faithful officer of the law, who discharged his duties in a quiet and unassuming manner, and totally free from bluster. His uniform courtesy and civility to all has won for him a host of friends who regret his departure and wish him every success in his new position. Constable Knight, late of Stockton, succeeds Mr. Mahood as lock-up keeper."
"Sergeant George Salter, who has been stationed at Lambton for the last nineteen years, retired on pension from the 1st instant. During the time he was in charge of the Lambton station, Sergeant Salter has, by his uniform courtesy and kindness, won the esteem of the community, and his exceptional tact and knowledge of human nature. "
"Lambton Courthouse has seen the end of its days of usefulness as far as the Justice department is concerned."
"This court is perhaps the oldest in suburban Newcastle, and at one time boasted three sittings a week.
Since then, however, they have fallen away to one a month, and as people can not afford to wait so long to have their troubles dealt with, they prefer to go to Newcastle."
"Formerly, the sergeant for the district resided in the quarters about 50 yards from the actual police station. Recently, a change was made, and the new sergeant appointed temporarily does not reside in the quarters. The police station itself has no telephone, but there is a telephone in the quarters. Newcastle police, if they urgently required the sergeant, are compelled to wait for a ring from him on his periodical walks over to the telephone in the quarters."
Expression of opinion from the Medical Officer for Health (Dr. H. G. Wallace) "that the lock-up keeper's quarters at Lambton Police Station were unfit for human habitation."
"Lambton Council has decided to seek the subdivision of three acres of land ad joining the local police station, which is to be closed, owing to the unhealthy state of the building."
"Lambton Council decided last night to protest to the Police Department against the decrease in the number of police stationed in the municipality. Ald. S. Spruce, who raised the matter, said that the town was served by only one policeman for the greater part of the day. Ald. Spruce said that formerly, with a smaller population, there were three police men at Lambton. To-day there were only two, and one constable spent most of his time at Carrington."
"Lambton residents are afraid to leave their homes at night because of the lack of police protection. No police were stationed in the district and the call-boxes, introduced by the Commissioner of Police had proved a failure, he said. The committee decided to recommend to the council that the Superintendent of Police be asked to station police at Lambton and New Lambton."
"The Superintendent of Police in Newcastle (Mr. Swasbrick) will recommend that there be a permanent officer at the existing Lambton Police Station with a motor cycle and sidecar and that a cell be erected at the station."
Ralph Snowball photographed William Lahay’s family butcher shop in Morehead Street Lambton, 125 years ago this month. Little is known about Lahay, although another photograph shows that in 1902 his business had moved to Elder Street in a small wooden building where butchers Joseph Palmer had previously traded, and Edward Box would trade from 1903.
At this time butchers obtained their meat from nearby slaughterhouses, whose disagreeable stench and health risks were a persistent concern. In April 1876, the Mayor of Wickham, James Hannell, had written to the Colonial Secretary expressing “the absolute necessity for the erection by the Government of a public abattoirs, there being at the present time no less than fourteen licensed slaughterhouses in the district, most situated in the midst of, or near to a rapidly increasing population.”
The Government denied any responsibility, replying that it was up to the local councils to act. And so began decades of to-and-fro on the need for a district abattoir, where it should be located, and who should pay for it. In the 1890s the matter gained momentum with the municipalities holding many conferences. Several sites were suggested including Shortland, and Ironbark Hill at the north of Sandgate.
In 1913 the authorities chose a site in Mayfield West adjacent to the railway, allowing a short branch line to be constructed. The Newcastle Abattoir finally opened on 3 June 1916, forty years after James Hannell’s letter of 1876! It operated for seven decades, and when the cost of upgrading equipment to meet new export requirements could not be justified, it closed in 1981. It was soon demolished and the suburb of Warabrook grew in its place. Newcastle’s meat was then sourced from other rural and regional facilities. In the time of Lahay’s butcher shop, people could see their meat supplied from local suburbs. Today’s sources are out of sight and far away, sometimes surprisingly so. It may astonish many to learn that 75% of the packaged bacon and ham currently consumed in Australia is imported.
The article above was first published in the August 2025 edition of The Local.
Lahay’s Butcher
Elder St Shop
In March 1874 Joseph Palmer, butcher, purchased lot 9 of Section E in Lambton. (Vol-Fol 106-208) and as early as October 1874 he is mentioned as being a butcher on Elder Street. In October 1884 the paper reported that …
Mr. Joseph Palmer has just had the foundations laid for a two-story brick dwelling-house and butcher’s shop, in Elder-street, which, when erected, will be another valuable addition to the street.
After the death of Joseph Palmer on 19 January 1901, his house, effects and shop were put up for auction on 27 August 1901, with the advertisement of 16 August 1901 noting “a W.B. Butcher’s Shop, occupied by Mr. Lahay.” An April 1902 photograph shows the shop with Lahay’s name on the verandah side.
On 23 September 1903, Stephen Richardson purchased Palmers’ house and shop, by October 1903 Richardson’s brother-in-law Edward Box was trading as a butcher in that location, and continued there until about 1915.
Snowball’s 1900 photograph of Lahay’s butcher shop is in some places captioned with a location of De Vitre Street. This identification is possibly because the Federal Directory of Newcastle and District 1901 has on page 93 an entry for “Lahey, W., De Vitre st” in the list of Lambton butchers. Land title Vol-Fol 878-207 shows that “William Lahay, Butcher” purchased a portion of Lot 13 Sec C on De Vitre St on 29 April 1889. However this lot is on the north side of the street and would have the North Lambton hill behind it, and is clearly not the location of Snowball’s photo.
In the photo we see that the street has a marked slope down to the left, and in the far background there is a hill with a cleared section and trees on the horizon. This is more suggestive of a location on the west side of the upper section of either Grainger or Morehead Streets. Looking at land titles on those streets for possible connections with a butcher reveals a block of land owned by Nathaniel Elliott (butcher) from 1888 to 1903. (Vol-Fol 193-3)
Inspecting that block of land (41 Morehead St) shows the house on the right side of Lahay’s shop in the 1900 photo appears to still be there today, although with the verandah roof no longer extending over the footpath.
41 Morehead St, Lambton.Composite of Snowball’s 1900 photo and 41 Morehead St in 2025.
As a final confirmation of the location, in the photo to the left of the butcher is a house set back from the street (1) and in the background a two storey building (2) with an odd slope up of the roof line at the left hand side.
Using a 1909 Water Board map, and drawing a line from the suspected butcher shop (B) through the corner of the set-back house (1) the line passes through a thin building on Elder St (2).
That building still stands today (at 102 Elder St) and photographing it from the rear shows it to be the same building, minus the chimney.
The verandah roof of both the house and the shop can be seen in the background of an October 1900 Lambton colliery photo.
District Abattoir
Prior to the establishment of a district abattoir in North Waratah, butchering of animals was conducted in a variety of small slaughter-houses around the towns and suburbs of Newcastle. Some examples of these include the slaughter-house of A L Payne of Lambton, and the meat-works at Waratah.
Water Board map of abattoir, 1932. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.Abattoir and saleyards marked on a 1936 map. Interestingly the map also has a “Slaughter Yard” marked in the lower left, in a time when the district abattoir was supposed to have done away with suburban slaughter-yards. National Library of Australia.Abattoir and saleyards in a 1944 aerial photograph. NSW Historical Aerial Imagery.
A 1984 aerial photograph shows the abattoir has been partially demolished.
The new suburb of Warabrook was officially named on 7 December 1984.
The Greater Newcastle Permanent Building Society is one of three financial backers along with the Kern Corporation and the Newcastle Master Builders’ Association for a prestige display village at the new Warabrook Gardens Estate being developed on one of the last remaining tracts of residential land close to Newcastle.
In 2024 the only obvious reminder of the abattoir site is the tree lined Warabrook Ave marking the former entry road to the site. Google Earth. Image copyright 2025 Vexcel Imaging US Inc.
James Hannell, Mayor of Wickham, writes to the Colonial Secretary regarding the need for public abattoirs: “There are, at the present time, no less than fourteen licensed slaughter-houses in the police district, most of them being situated in the midst of, or near to, a rapidly increasing population, and, in which, on the average, no less than 200 bullocks, 1200 sheep, besides pigs, calves, &c., are slaughtered every week. The whole of the medical gentlemen residing and practising in the district of Newcastle, assert most , positively, I am told, that the noxious effluvia arising from these establishments, as at present conducted, has for many years past, and especially during the late drought, been the principal cause of the spread of disease in its worst form all over the district.”
The editor of the Newcastle Chronicle supports Hannell's call for erection of public abattoirs, and suggests the North Shore (Stockton) as a possible location.
"I am directed by the Colonial Secretary to inform you that the Government have no power, so far as is known, to cause the erection of abattoirs, and that this matter seems to be one in which the inhabitants of Newcastle and the surrounding municipalities should move for themselves."
A meeting at Wallsend "to take further steps to urge the councils to have the slaughter-houses removed. The township was almost completely surrounded with slaughter yards, and no matter from what quarter the winds of Heaven were driven, with them came the odour, that in the opinion of those present was decidedly objectionable."
Motion at the municipal abattoir conference"That this conference is of the opinion that it is important, in the interests of the public health, to have abattoirs erected in order that a more rigid inspection may be made of all animals slaughtered for food for the people of this district."
Inspection of two candidate sites for the abattoir. 1. Old House Paddock on Wallsend Company's Estate. 2. Ironbark Hill on the Hexham road. 3. Waratah side of Sandgate Cemetery.
The Ironbark Hill site was favoured: "This land, which is owned by the A.A. Company, was found to be most suitable for the erection of abattoirs, being perfectly drained, with the tidal waters below to wash away the slush; and, in addition to this, it was considered to be most central to Maitland and Newcastle, possessing an easy access from both sides."
"A deputation from the municipalities of the Newcastle and Maitland districts waited on the Premier yesterday to urge that steps be taken to establish central abattoirs for those districts. If anything was done it would be necessary to make killing illegal at any other place."
Alderman Asher moved in the City Council meeting on Wednesday night, "That an application be made to the A.A. Company and the Wallsend Company for a statement of the terms on which they will be prepared to sell 10 or 20 acres of land near the Sandgate railway station, suitable for the establishment of cattle sale yards."
"The proposal to erect stock saleyards and abattoirs for the Newcastle district is one that has engaged the attention of the local municipal authorities for a considerable time. Owing to the growth of population and the expansion of the suburban area, the necessity of abolishing the various slaughtering establishments, which have become surrounded by settlement, and the substitution of a properly regulated abattoir system, has been forced upon the local authorities. This afternoon the Mayor of Newcastle (Ald. Cook), along with representatives from the various municipalities and shires in the district, visited a site on Ironbark Creek, near its junction with the Hunter River, and the opinion was expressed that it was a suitable one for saleyards and abattoirs. Its area comprises from 80 to 100 acres, and is bordered on one side by the Great Northern railway, and on the other by the south arm of the Hunter, so that it could be easily served by both rail and water carriage. A ridge runs along the centre of the land, affording an excellent fall on both sides, and the drainage is good."
Another municipal conference, still discussing possible sites. "The site chosen by the committee some time ago was on Ironbark Hill, but the cost of resumption was quite beyond their anticipation." Discussion on an
"an alternative site between Sandgate and Wallsend, on the left side of the railway. The site was an elevated one, with perfect drainage, and there were hundreds of acres of land which could be bought for a reasonable sum. In every respect the site was preferable to that chosen at Ironbark. The latter site was altogether too public, but the one proposed was out of sight, and was easy of access, both by rail and road, in addition to which it was central, and had the advantage of water for drainage purposes."
Inspection of potential abattoir site at Shortland. "The land is owned by the Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Company, and the area inspected is known as the Old House Paddock, and contains 316 acres. Practically the whole of it is high ground, sloping away to Ironbark Creek on the west. It is only half a mile from the Great Northern Railway, and there appears to be no difficulty in the way of running a branch line in from a point near Sand gate Railway Station. Practically no cutting or filling would be needed. It is the site which has been favoured by Dr. Dick as being in many ways preferable to that at Ironbark Hill."
A conference of municipal representatives to deal with the abattoir question. The "old house paddock" site between Wallsend and Sandgate was discussed as a suitable site.
"The fact that Dr. Ashburton Thompson has approved of the site for the proposed abattoirs in the old House Paddock, at Ironbark Creek, which is within the Tarro Shire area, has called forth a protest from the Tarro Shire Council. "
"The A. A. Company has men engaged clearing the large paddock north of the Great Northern Railway, and between the western municipal boundary of Waratah and the road leading from the high-level bridge to Maitland road. The purpose of clearing is to make the land ready for the construction of stock saleyards. The site is a suitable one for the object contemplated, and although within Tarro Shire, it is immediately adjacent to Waratah, which place should certainly benefit by the saleyards."
Official opening of Waratah saleyards. "The yards cover an area of 10½ acres, and consist of 70 sheep yards, and 10 cattle yards, providing accommodation for from 4000 to 5000 sheep, and from 400 to 500 cattle, while an area of about 700 acres has been subdivided and fenced as rest paddocks."
A municipal conference upholds the selection of Waratah site despite a protest from Wallsend Council. The Old House Paddock site was rejected principally because of concern that drainage into Ironbark creek would make its way up to Wallsend.
"The secretary [of the Abattoir Board] submitted a report as to the clearing of the abattoir site, recommending that twenty acres be cleared and grubbed as soon as possible, and submitted draft specification of the work to be done."
"A letter was received from the Railway Commissioners, forwarding plan and estimate of cost for siding from the present stock siding at the Wallsend Junction to the abattoirs."
"TENDERS. Newcastle.- Construction of a branch railway, including earthwork, from the sale-yards siding at Waratah to the Newcastle District Abattoirs, a distance of 40 chains."
"Mr. Creer said that the construction work had been practically completed for several weeks past, but the use of the abattoir had been delayed, pending an agreement with the Federated Meat Trade Employees' Union of Australasia, as to the working conditions and wages, and also the gazetting of the bylaws."
A dispute with the Federated Meat Trade Employees' Union of Australasia preventing commencent of operations at the new abattoir was resolved when the union "decided to accept an interim agreement with a view to work being commenced as soon as possible."
"The Newcastle Abattoir Board has is sued a notification prohibiting after to morrow the slaughtering of any cattle within a radius of 14 miles of the New castle Post Office, except at the board's abattoir. "
Inspection of the abattoirs by "about ninety aldermen and councillors of the constituent municipalities… The party were conveyed along the company's siding from the main line to the area of the abattoirs,
where they detrained."
This 1904 image of a shop in New Lambton is a fine example of Ralph Snowball’s technical and aesthetic excellence in documenting the commercial life of his town. I have long wanted to write a story on Thompson’s store, but my knowledge to date can be expressed in a single sentence: Joseph Thompson operated a store on the south-west corner of Hobart and Wallarah Roads from 1901 to 1910.
However, as with many Snowball photographs a close inspection reveals a wealth of detail, such as the advertisements on the shed wall. Researching them led to some unexpected places. A search of the product names reveals that the United States Trading Company exhibited a collection of Nirvana Tea and Yankee Doodle Jams at the 1903 Newcastle Show. The company was run by Holmes Samuel Chipman, who proved to be a somewhat ‘creative’ entrepreneur.
Chipman was born in Canada in 1850 and moved to the United States in 1868 for study and work. In 1879 he arrived in Australia and established himself as a merchant. From 1881 he began a relentless campaign of registering a multitude of trademarks and patents for an astonishing variety of products: agricultural tools, musical instruments, medicinal remedies, cosmetics, hairbrushes, clocks, heating and illuminating oils, bicycles, carriage parts, and various foods and drinks. In 1883 he registered the trademark “Dr. Scott” to be used for “electric flesh brushes and electric tooth charms.” (The nature of these devices was one rabbit-hole too much for me and I leave them as an exercise for the reader’s imagination.)
In 1904 Chipman’s business empire crashed, having accumulated £27,500 of debt, equivalent to $5M today. In bankruptcy court Chipman admitted setting up multiple companies for the purpose of deceiving banks into providing loans. In August 1905 the US Trading Company was wound up, and Yankee Doodle Jam faded into history except for Snowball’s photo of Thompson’s store. The corner store is long gone, but unfortunately shonky businesses and financial fraud linger on.
A close-up of the advertisements for Nirvana Tea and Yankee Doodle Jam.
The article above was first published in the July 2025 edition of The Local.
Joseph Thompson’s Store
John Gillespie Thompson purchased portion 1451 of the Newcastle Pasturage Reserve, on the south west corner of Hobart Rd and Wallarah Rd, in July 1891. After his death the property passed to his widow Mary in 1898, and then subsequently to her son Joseph in 1902. (Vol-Fol 1021-233)
Portion 1451, purchased by John Gillespie Thompson in 1891. Vol-Vol- 1021-223
There are only a few passing mentions of Thompson’s store in the newspapers from 1901 to 1910. These occur mostly in reports of New Lambton council meetings when referring to the location of road or drain repairs, or location of tram stops.
1 Mar 1901 – Alderman Shepherd suggested that the Commissioners be asked to appoint a stopping place at Thompson’s store.
11 Oct 1901 – Alderman Dunckley moved, “That Mr. Thompson’s offer to supply the stone for the dish gutter, opposite his premises in Hobart-road, be accepted.”
24 Oct 1902 – The Mayor recommended that a mitre drain be cut in Wallarah-road, near Thompson’s store.
1 Nov 1906 – Letter from Mr. W. Atkinson, drawing attention to the state of the crossing over the tramline near Mr. J. Thompson’s store.
31 Oct 1907 – Alderman Beath suggested that a load of gravel be placed near Thompson’s store.
28 Jul 1909 – mention of “Joseph Thompson, of New Lambton, storekeeper”
28 Apr 1910 – Alderman Jordan brought under the notice of the Mayor the state of Hobart-road, near Thompson’s store.
Chipman was born in Berwick, Nova Scotia, Canada on 22 December 1850. After graduating from school he worked as a school teacher in Nova Scotia 1866-1868. He moved to Boston USA in 1868 where he studied and then taught at the Bryant-Stratton Commercial College. He then worked in a number of jobs in Michigan, New York, New England, Minnesota, and California.
In 1870 he moved to Japan to work in printing and publishing, before returning to the USA in 1876. He moved to Australia in 1879 and set up a “general mercantile business”. Based on addresses given in trademark applications appears to have been initially based in Melbourne before relocating to Sydney in 1884. He married Julia Anna Ventrillion Tortat on 1 August 1882.
A December 1915 article about a house in Sydney that Chipman had at one time occupied, indicates that he had by this time returned to America. [Note that the 1920 genealogy says that Chipman moved to Australia “where he now carries on a business”, implying that he was still in Australia in 1920. I suspect that is incorrect, and due to the author reproducing the sentence from an earlier 1905 geneaology of the Chipmans.]
Chipman died in Oceanside, Nassau County in New York on 9 September 1941 and was then buried in the town of his birth, Berwick, Nova Scotia, Canada.
When I first started to write this article I was a little hesitant at characterising Chipman as a shonky businessman, but the more I learned of him the more it became clear that his entrepreneurial actions were of a highly dubuious nature.
The first suspicions arise when noting Chipman’s trademark registrations for “medicinal preparations” such as “St Jacobs Oil”, “Hamburg Tea”, and Minerva Tonic. These were stereotypical ‘snake oil’ medicines, made from inoccuous ingredients but claiming miraculuous powers to cure a wide range of ailments.
ST. JACOBS OIL, is the Most Efficacious Liniment Known. There is no Lotion or Embrocation in the world with which it can be compared, and the sale of it largely exceeds the sale of all other preparations combined which are advertised for similar use. ST. JACOBS OIL is an Established Cure of Marvellous Merit for Rheumatism, Neuralgia, Stiff Joints, Swellings, &c., and a sure relief from all aches and pains of every description. Every bottle of ST. JACOBS OIL Contains a Cure. It has never been puffed, but it has been thoroughly tried and never found wanting. It always does what is claimed for it that it will do. It has SAVED THOUSANDS OF LIVES, relieved Millions of Sufferers, and earned the Gratitude of the Nations.
Many a serious illness might be spared by the knowledge that MINERVA TONIC, taken when the first symptoms of health failure manifest themselves, is a perfect safeguard in cases of Nervous and Physical Weakness, INFLUENZA, PROSTRATION, LOSS OF ENERGY, MENTAL DEPRESSION, ANAEMIA, INSOMNIA, LOSS OF APPETITE, IMPAIRED MEMORY AND VISION, AND SIMILAR WEAKNESSES OF THE SYSTEM. MINERVA TONIC restores the natural waste, and provides the requisite material for building up the system ou a sound and healthy basis. It creates a regular appetite and promotes digestion, acts on nerve and muscle at the same time, inflicts no injury on the constitution, and is in every sense of the word what its name implies – a perfect tonic that may be taken with advantage by patients of either sex. MINERVA TONIC is Necessary to Health. Strongly recommended in cases of BILIOUSNESS, TORPID LIVER, GASTRIC TROUBLES, HEADACHE, DIZZINESS, &c.
24 Aug 1897 – Taken to court by employee for unpaid money
10 Mar 1898 – In court regarding a dispute over Minerva tonic
19 Nov 1903 – In court regarding a disputer over the supply of paper to the “Evening News”
The most damning evidence appears after the collapse of Chipman’s business empire, when he is questioned in the Bankruptcy Court over a number of days. (10 March 1905, 11 March 1905, 17 March 1905, 21 March 1905, 22 March 1905) In this testimony I found much that paralleled the actions of modern day fraudsters and failed business operators when they are brought to justice, in particular the frequent use of ‘convenient amnesia’, answering questions with “I can’t remember.” The court testimony brought to light a slew of financial irregularity and ‘creative’ accounting committed by Chipman.
Setting up of shell companies to obfuscate financial dealings
Avoiding liablities by moving assets to family members
Setting up multiple companies to fraudulently obtain credit from the bank
‘Paying’ debts with worthless shares in worthless companies
Exaggerating the prospects of company profitability
Making ‘guarantees’ of profitability that could not be fulfilled
Investing in mining companies that subsequently failed
Doctoring the company balance sheet by
Inflating the value of assets
Counting spurious and disputed ‘debts’ owed by other companies as assets
Hiding of debts by offloading them to an associated company in New York
Counting debts owed to him by insolvents as assets
Counting assets twice
Valuing assets by what he had originally paid for them, not what they were currently worth
Amongst all of this trickery my favourite discovery was when Chipman paid a cash bonus to a relative in New York. He then included this amount in his Australian company balance-sheet as an asset, because the relative had supposedly agreed to pay back the bonus! Of course, this never happened and the ‘asset’ was written off.
Trademarks and Patents
Applications for trademarks and patents by Holmes Samuel Chipman in Australia in the period 1881 to 1903:
Forty years ago this month the Skyline drive-in theatre in Lambton screened its final film, and a much loved and fondly remembered entertainment venue fell dark and silent.
The drive-in was in an area west of Croudace St, accessed from Pride Ave. The land was formerly owned by the Scottish and Australian Mining Company who established Lambton colliery in 1863. In 1903 the company leased four acres to Lambton Council to use as a sanitary depot, a place to bury the euphemistically named ‘night soil’ collected from the outside toilets of residents. With connections to a piped sewerage system commencing in 1917, the need for the night soil paddock gradually declined and the lease expired in 1938.
In 1955, Provincial Gardens Pty Ltd, a company controlled by Hoyts and Union Theatres, purchased the land and applied to open the first drive-in theatre in NSW. Constructed in 1956 at a cost of £200,000, the theatre’s 15 acres catered for 720 cars, with the 156-ton pre-stressed concrete screen the biggest in Australia at the time. The Skyline opened on 17 October 1956 with a screening of Three Coins in the Fountain. It became a popular venue for families with a snack bar, and a children’s playground that later included a ride-on train.
The site remained vacant, derelict and vandalised for several years, and a fire destroyed the main building. In the 1990s the area was redeveloped for housing, and today many of the younger residents there are possibly unaware of the varied former uses of the land beneath their homes.
Lambton’s Skyline drive-in theatre in 1956.The drive-in theatre location in 2022. Google Earth.
The article above was first published in the June 2025 edition of The Local.
Acknowledgement: Some of the information in the article was sourced from the book “Front Stalls or Back? The history and heritage of the Newcastle Theatres” by K J Cork and L R Tod.
Additional Information
For further information on the nightsoil paddock, see the Lambton sanitation page.
Advertisement for the opening of the Skyline drive-in theatre in Lambton. Newcastle Morning Herald, 13 October 1956.Skyline birthday card invitation from 1961. Courtesy of Robert Watson.
Skyline theatre marked in a 1965 Gregory’s street directory.
Newspaper articles referenced below can be found in the “Lambton” clippings folder in the Local Studies section of Newcastle Library.
Article Date Event Date
Notes
13 Oct 1955 12 Oct 1955
"An application by Provisional Gardens Pty. Ltd., for a drive-in theatre at Lambton was granted today." Newcastle Morning Herald
7 Mar 1956
"Work will start shortly and the theatre is expected to be in operation before the end of the year." - Newcastle Morning Herald
14 Sep 1956
"A regulation issued last week [by the Films and Theatres Commission] forbids the erection of a drive-in theatre within a four-mile radius of any other drive-in". This "left no site for another drive-in in Newcastle except the Pacific Ocean, Alderman Herrald said yesterday." - Newcastle Morning Herald
16 Oct 1956
Newcastle Sun six page supplement for the opening of the drive-in, with the following headlines:
"Dinner and a Show: 1956 Style"
"Garden Site From Scrub"
"Rain Won't Worry Drive-In Patrons"
"Blind Will Benefit From Skyline Invitation Show"
"Screening Time-Table"
"Facts : Figures"
"How To Reach The Skyline"
"Eat Out Of Doors - And Choose Your Style"
"Magnificent Effort Says Manager"
"50 Years Ago, Movies Began - In the Open Air. Screen Was A Sheet Hung On Goal Posts"
