Thursday, August 29, 2013

Support for Metford brickworks reserve plan

From the Maitland Mercury report:
The Metford brickworks quarry should be transformed into parkland or a nature reserve, according to survey ­participants.
“The old quarry site is very significant in the Metford community and people are keen to be involved in planning for its future,” project manager Kris Leck said.

Full article available at Maitland Mercury, Aug. 29, 2013.

Picture This - Launch of Maitland City Library's Historic Photograph Collection

Take a peek into Maitland's past during NSW History Week and join us to celebrate launching  Maitland City Library's historic photograph collection. Featuring never before seen images of our community at work and play, this digital display will capture your imagination.

Thursday 12 September, 6.00-8.00pm, Maitland Gaol. Maitland City Library

Miss Porter's House, Newcastle

The National Trust magazine August-October 2013 issue features an in-depth article by Roland Bannister, Chair, Miss Porter's House Management Committee.
An extract from the article:

"The House and the Porter family have been part of the evolving commercial, social and cultural landscapes of Newcastle West since James Porter established his shop there in about 1880. It is important that the House be recognised as an element in what the Newcastle Herald has called 'preserving our city's soul. Miss Porter's House is, we believe, a keystone of heritage in the West End."

Cheryl Kernot to deliver Harry Boyle lecture

From the Maitland Mercury report:
Cheryl Kernot, the director of social business, the Centre for Social Impact University of NSW, and former Maitland Girls’ High School student, has been chosen to deliver the 2013 Harry Boyle Memorial Lecture in Maitland next week.
Ms Kernot’s topic will be: “Why social is the new green; reshaping capitalism for 21st century values.”

The Harry Boyle Memorial Lecture is on Friday, August 30 at Brough House, 73 Church Street, Maitland.
Canapes will be served at 6.30pm with the lecture starting at 7pm.
The cost is $25 and $20 for National Trust members.
All proceeds to the upkeep of Grossmann and Brough houses.
Phone Lynn 4932 0518.

Full article available at Maitland Mercury, Aug. 24, 2013.

Art Deco 1920s Fashions - Australian Museum of Clothing and Textiles

Art Deco 1920s Fashions - an exhibition featuring an amazing vintage collection of day wear, evening wear, handbags and accessories from the 1920s to the 1930s.

August-December 2013, Open Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 10am-3pm, Admission $3.00
At the Australian Museum of Clothing and Textiles, John Street, East Maitland.
Contact 0458505280 for out of hours and group bookings.
http://www.maitlandgaol.com.au/activities/amcat  

Lost memorial to loved doctor

From the Maitland Mercury report:
One of west Maitland’s best known landmarks disappeared on January 26, 1939.
It was the Dr RJ Pierce memorial fountain at the intersection of High and Hunter streets.
The fountain had been in place on the corner since 1889 and quickly became one of the best known places in a wide district.
It had served as a watering place for horses, but with more motorised traffic in the town, it became a danger zone.
Council had decided to remove the fountain but to preserve the plate bearing the memorial inscription.
The plate was removed shortly after that decision and workmen demolished the fountain, the Mercury reported.
The plate, inscribed “Erected to the memory of the late Dr RJ Pierce, 1889” was to be placed in a prominent position in the vestibule of the Maitland Town Hall but is now in Maitland Library.

Full article available at Maitland Mercury, Aug. 24, 2013.

Redevelopment of Maitland's heritage mall

From the Maitland Mercury report:
Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon has announced Maitland City Council will receive $7 million to kick start the redevelopment of the city's heritage mall.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Business and Professional Women celebrates 60 years

From the Maitland Mercury report:
The Maitland branch of the Business and Professional Women will hold its 60th anniversary dinner at Maitland Gaol on Saturday night.
Maitland BPW branch president Bente Talseth-Palmer said she looked forward to the night.

Full article available at Maitland Mercury, Aug. 21, 2013.

Early Maitland: convicts' treatment un-English

From the Maitland Mercury report:
West Maitland was lush, heavily wooded, virgin ground in 1818 but by 1820 the area was at the centre of a Royal Commission into the brutal treatment of convicts.
The lash reigned supreme and crime was rampant at Wallis Plains.
Convict gangs were brought from Newcastle to clear the densely wooded brush and the stories of the brutal treatment meted out to those unfortunate wretches at the hands of their taskmasters are a reflection upon humanity.

Full article available at Maitland Mercury, Aug. 17, 2013.

Last-ditch effort to fund columbarium

From the Maitland Mercury report:
A large-scale plan to build a columbarium at St Mary’s Anglican Church, Maitland has hit the wall with less than $70,000 being raised for stage one of the $280,000 project.
The church has launched a last-ditch effort to raise enough capital for the 4000-niche columbarium, with the cut-off date set as November.
The plans were unveiled late last year to attract subscriptions to bring the design to fruition, but the church rector Father Chris Butterworth said the response had been surprisingly slow.

Full article available at Maitland Mercury, Aug. 16, 2013.

Maitland's Heritage Lamps

From the Maitland mercury report:
Maitland councillor Bob Geoghegan wants people to come forward with ways to reuse the city’s 40 heritage-style street lamps.
“I have been contacted by a number of people who were originally concerned about the removal of the lights but are now picturing the lights in other locations where they would look good,” Cr Geoghegan said.

Full article available at Maitland Mercury, Aug. 13, 2013.

World War OneLink

We are building an online resource that allows you to list and share information about your World War I project in Australia.

The aim of this resource is to encourage collaboration and reduce duplication of effort across the very important projects already underway or planned to honour our World War I Anzacs. The project is non-commercial and is funded by a Your Community Heritage grant - click here for more information.

Please take a moment to register your interest in sharing the details of your project and keep updated about our service. The database will launch in November for Remembrance Day 2013 and we'll be in touch in August with how we'd like to work with you and help you honour our WWI Anzacs.

More Maitland Mercury on Trove

In addition to the Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser (NSW : 1843 - 1893) being available on Trove, the Maitland Daily Mercury (NSW : 1894 - 1939) has recently been released.

Newcastle news also available:
Newcastle Argus and District Advertiser, 1916
Newcastle Chronicle  , 1866-1876
Newcastle Chronicle and Hunter River District News (NSW : 1859 - 1866)

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Subdivision plan near heritage cemetery

From the Maitland Mercury
Sixteen rural hectares in East Maitland could be transformed into 40 residential lots if a planning proposal is approved at tomorrow night’s Maitland City Council ­meeting.
The site is close to the state heritage-listed Glebe Cemetery that council has lodged a heritage office grant for to review the conservation management plan.
An Endangered Ecological Community – Lower Hunter Spotted Gum-Ironbark Forest is present on the site as a scattering of trees.
Compensatory revegetation has been included in the development application.
The proposal would require extensions to existing roads and footpaths and council has recommended that a further report be presented following the public exhibition period. report:

Full article available at Maitland Mercury, Aug. 12, 2013.

Maitland Regional Art Gallery Photography Exhibition

Cath Bowen
16 August -13 October 2013
Cath Bowen is well known as a press photographer for the Maitland Mercury, Cath has extensive knowledge and a deep understanding of the history and culture of Maitland. For this exhibition Cath has photographed those hidden aspects of the vast network of op shops in the Maitland CBD; generously providing a glimpse to those hidden aspects of life for many in Maitland.

National Library: Fairfax collection now available online

The first batch of the glass-plate negatives from the Fairfax Glass Plate Collection has now been digitised and published. The images capture significant events, news and everyday life in Australia during the early 1900s. Fairfax Media donated more than 18,000 glass-plate photographic negatives to the National Library in December 2012. Since then, the Library has been undertaking an extensive project to restore, digitise and catalogue the collection.

Early Maitland: a wild old place, 80 miles up river

From the Maitland Mercury report:
Maitland will celebrate its bicentenary in 2018 and historians are already searching for ­stories and images of life in pioneer times in preparation for the event.

Community views sought over future of brickworks

From the Maitland Mercury report:
The future use of the former Metford quarry and brickworks will be open to community comment this weekend.
Brick and clay pits once played a significant role in Maitland’s economy and the Metford pit was the last to be decommissioned in the area.
The 1930s infrastructure will be removed from the site in two stages and a consultant is preparing a heritage interpretation plan for the old brick press.
The heritage report will be available for public feedback.

Full article available at Maitland Mercury, Aug. 9, 2013.

Meet ghostly Maria on tour at Tomago House

From the Maitland Mercury report:
The ghost of Maria Windeyer still lingers at her home, the historic Tomago House.
For a glimpse of Maria’s ghost and other supernatural experiences, Newcastle Ghost Tours has arranged this year’s last torchlight tour of Tomago House to be held on August 24 at 7pm.

Full article available at Maitland Mercury, Aug. 9, 2013.

Monday, August 12, 2013

Sunny days! Garden Ramble No.30

From the Maitland Mercury report:
The Maitland Black and White Committee hopes recent warm weather will contribute to one of the best Garden Rambles in years.
In 2013, the committee is celebrating its 45th year of raising funds for blind and visually impaired people in the Hunter Valley with its 30th Garden Ramble next month.
“It’s our 30th anniversary of the Garden Ramble so we must be doing something right,” said Mrs Noonan.
“It’s also the 45th anniversary of the whole committee and we have 11 gardens on show this year.”

Full article available at Maitland Mercury, Aug. 7, 2013.

Upgrade for historic Maitland Court House

From the Maitland Mercury report:
Work to restore the historic Maitland Court House will begin later this month after a $1.1 ­million upgrade for the site was announced yesterday.

Society of Australian Genealogists: August is Family History Month

In 2013 National Family History Week will be trialled as a month long initiative. August is Family History Month, an initiative of AFFHO (Australasian Federation of Family History Organisations). During the month events will be conducted across the country that focus on genealogy, family history, heraldry and related subjects.

A listing of all events taking place during the month, including those being held by SAG, can be found on the National Family History Month website.

Thursday 29 August to 12 September (10.30am - 12.30pm) - Writing Family History - 3 part workshop
A comprehensive 3 week workshop covering writing up your research (or memoir) and preparing your book for printing or publication. Working step-by-step, we will cover formatting/ book style, use of photos, maps, charts, editing, indexing, cover design, registering your book, print quantities, preparing print specifications and obtaining quotes, as well as ways to self-market the book. After publishing 9 of her own books, and now retired, Margaret Szalay offers a self-publishing service, Cremorne1.com, to help authors finalise and self-publish their work. Presenter - Margaret Szalay. Bookings essential and limited to 20 people. $70 ($105 non-members).

British government and military records of the First World War

From the British National Archives:
A brief guide to researching British government and military records of the First World War. First World War records are wide-ranging and are kept in a variety of archives. This guide will help you gain a general overview of the main sources of the information that exists, and where to find it. 

More information at the National Archives.

Call to save cemetery

From the Maitland Mercury report:
The headstones of the graves facing east at St Paul’s Church cemetery, Paterson, each tell a story.
But with the cemetery falling into ­disrepair, parishioners and residents of the historic village are calling on people to come forward for a clean-up of the site.
Earlier this year long-time Paterson ­residents Wayne and Val Patfield began a project to restore the graves of their ­ancestors Samuel Patfield, who died in 1910, and his wife Sarah Australia Patfield, who died in 1926.

Full article available at Maitland Mercury, Aug. 6, 2013.

Take a step back to the 1920s

From the Maitland Mercury report:
Titled Art Deco, the latest Australian Museum of Clothing and Textiles exhibition is a glamorous nod to the fashion’s foray into the modern era.
“We can’t believe we’ve got so many pieces from the 1920s, it’s just incredible,” co-curator Stephanie Rogers said.
“The pieces have been donated to AMCAT over the years and some of them are very fragile, so we’ve had to be extremely careful with them, but we’re just so pleased we got so many beautiful evening gowns.”
Ms Rogers said the 1920s was a time when women also eschewed more restrictive fashions for comfortable wear.
Art Deco is on show at the museum at Maitland Gaol until December.

Full article available at Maitland Mercury,

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Film Collection Online: The First World War

The Australian War Memorial is currently in the process of releasing a vast selection of its film collection online as downloadable content through our website. This material, comprising of over 3000 titles, joins items from the Memorial’s sound collection which have been available online for the last few months. Already over 1200 film items have been released to our website. Each title that is available online has a link embedded on its object record page which lets you download a copy of the film to your personal computer.

The films in this collection contain actuality footage from the home front to almost all of the major theatres of war that featured Australian troops. From the sands of the Middle East to the trenches of the Western Front by way of the hills of Gallipoli, this enlightening collection opens a window into the storied past of the men and women who served in the First World War.

Plan to take in some of Maitland's oldest, spookiest haunts

From the Maitland Mercury report:
There are countless haunting tales hiding inside the walls of Maitland’s oldest houses and buildings.

Museum move is ‘a step in the right direction

From the Maitland Mercury report:
A steering committee to pursue a museum for Maitland will be formed within the next fortnight.
More than 50 people gathered at Maitland Town Hall on Wednesday night for a two-hour long meeting – hosted by the Maitland Historical Society – to determine the interest for a museum for the city.
It has been decided that a steering committee will be formed with the aim of approaching private and government authorities for funding opportunities.
Maitland Historical Society president Ruth Trappel said the committee would include members of the society, the Australian Museum Clothing And Textiles, the Maitland Genealogical Society and Friends of Grossmann House.

Full article available at Maitland Mercury, July 26, 2013.

POLL: Calls for a museum in High Street

From the Maitland Mercury report:
Plans to establish a large-scale Maitland museum will be put forward for public discussion as part of a campaign to create a permanent tribute for the city’s pioneers.

We must record our city’s past for future generations

From the Maitland Mercury report:
Maitland has a long and proud history that must be recorded and kept for future generations.
In the early 1800s Maitland was one of the biggest cities in the colony and its people played a major role in forming this great nation of ours.
Our city is steeped in history and that’s why Maitland Historical Society is keen to secure a site to create a permanent tribute for our pioneers.
Society secretary Tom Skelding rightly points out that most major towns in the Hunter Valley have a museum to showcase their history throughout the ages so with Maitland’s bi-centennial coming up he believes the time is right to establish one in our city.

Full article available at Maitland Mercury, July 22, 2013.

Open day at Western Sydney Records Centre

On 30 August State Records will be holding an Open Day at the Western Sydney Records Centre. Open Day provides a rare opportunity to see behind the scenes of the State government archives. Highlights of the day are tours of the state-of-the-art record storage facilities and conservation lab, and an opportunity to see a special selection of original Treasures of the Archives.

 Guest speakers will present talks throughout the day on the theme of Transport, Travel & Tourism. Relax in the beautiful grounds where there will be stalls hosted by National Archives of Australia, Inside History magazine, Wagga Wagga Regional Archives, University of Western Sydney Archives and other historical and genealogy groups. Plus souvenirs, a range of food options and a display of vintage military vehicles.

When: 10.00 am – 4.00 pm, Friday 30 August 2013
Where: Western Sydney Records Centre, 143 O’Connell Street, Kingswood
Enquiries: 9673 1788

Fifties Fair

Fifties Fair - Sydney Living Museums
It’s time to dance! Put on your Sunday best and be seen at Rose Seidler House, home of the Fifties Fair. Fire up with Pat Capocci Combo, one of Australia’s most energetic and entertaining rockabilly acts – for special performances Pat will be joined by 'A Man Called Stu'. Brisbane’s Miss Teresa and Her Rhythmaires will crank the pace with their mix of rockabilly and country sounds.

Get styled by Sterling Hair, our in-house barber shop, or step into Boogie Bop Dames’ hair salon and beauty parlour for some 50s-style pampering. Shop for authentic 50s fashion, furniture and vintage wares from over 15 leading dealers, including 20th Century Modern, mrs peel and nifty fifty. Then join in the fabulous Fifties Fair fashion parade for the chance to win first prize.

Rose Seidler House
Sunday 25 August
10.00am — 4.00pm

General $30 | Member/conc $25 | Pre-sale tickets ONLY