Young Wallsend was established in 1885 as a new township between West Wallsend and Old Wallsend, to support the growing number of collieries in the area.
The township of Young Wallsend is in the very centre of the different collieries, viz. — Wallsend, Co-operative, Minmi, West Wallsend, Monkwearmouth, and the Northumberland Coal Estate, its boundary joining to these.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate,16 May 1885.
Exploratory shafts were sunk in the area in 1885 and a payable coal seam found in June 1886. The Young Wallsend Coal Company was formed in 1887, and development of the mine and a railway to connect to the port swiftly followed.
The work of opening out the Young Wallsend Colliery has been accomplished with a dispatch which reflects considerable credit on the directors and officials … The pit at present is ready to start work with thirty-six miners, and as it opens out more will of course be required.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 26 November 1889.
Land in Young Wallsend was first advertised on 28 April 1885, for a sale to take place on Monday 25 May 1885. On the same day as the land sale, a flag planting ceremony was held to commemorate the founding of the town.
Note that on the subdivision map the five north-south streets are all named after prominent colliery managers of the Newcastle district at that time.
- Thomas Street – named after James Thomas, manager of the New Lambton Colliery.
- Turnbull Street – named after William Turnbull, manager of the Australian Agricultural Company’s collieries.
- Croudace Street – named after Thomas Croudace, manager of Lambton Colliery.
- Fletcher Street – named after James Fletcher, manager of the Co-operative Colliery at Wallsend.
- Neilson Street – named after John Young Neilson, manager of the Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Company.
Young Wallsend was officially renamed to Edgeworth on 27 January 1967.
See also, Lake Macquarie History page for Edgworth.
This page is part of the collection of Newcastle’s Obsolete Place Names.