For many years, when historians spoke of the Barrallier Survey or Map of the Hunter Region, conducted during the survey mission of June to July 1801, the map (above) was the only one known to them. It was published in the Historical Records of New South Wales, Volume 5 between pages 420-421. It wasn’t … More Barrallier’s Surveys of the Hunter Region (1801-1802)
We recently received a call for help from Tourism Newcastle relating to an enquiry (presumably from a Tasmanian) questioning Newcastle’s claim of being Australia’s second oldest city: “I was recently visiting your “visitnewcastle.com.au” website and was surprised to see that it is claiming Newcastle to be Australia’s second oldest city. I would like to … More Newcastle – First Among Seconds?
For many years we’ve wondered about the early settlement of Newcastle in 1801 under the command of Corporal Wixstead. We first found out about him in Huntington’s serialised history of Newcastle published in the Newcastle Morning Herald of 1897: Corporal Wixstead arrived at Hunter’s River aboard the schooner Francis on the 23rd July 1801, accompanied … More Corporal Wixtead and the fate of Newcastle’s first settlement in 1801
On Tuesday 15 November 2011 I had a wonderful day recording Episode 20 of Phil Ashley Brown’s River Stories, retracing the paddlesteps of the 1801 Survey mission’s journey from Raymond Terrace to Greenhill (Morpeth) then onto Maitland (Shanks’s Forest Plains). The Radio Show can be heard on ABC 1233 Radio’s website here: Tracing the Hunter’s … More River Stories – Raymond Terrace to Maitland
On the 208th anniversary, the University of Newcastle’s Coal River Working Party embarked on a pilgrimage to Mt Elizabeth. Mount Elizabeth was the furthest west that the original 1801 Survey party led by Colonel Paterson reached on the 10 July 1801. On the peak they left two blazed trees with their initials and date 1801 … More In Search of Two Carved Trees from the 1801 Expedition
We have today posted two surveying reports by the University’s Emeritus Professor John Fryer on our Coal River Working Party and Aboriginal Sourcebook sites. Both reports pinpoint important locations in the region’s history including the site of Threlkeld’s mission house at Belmont and the location of Barrallier’s camp site during the early survey mission in … More Two Surveying Reports Released
Another version of the Barrallier Survey plan completed in June July 1801 has been uncovered in England and uploaded to the University of Newcastle’s Coal River Website. This plan, located at the United Kingdom’s Hydrographic Office in Taunton [Shelf Location: 435 Press 45B ] is identical with the National Archives plan except for the detailed … More Another Version of Barrallier Survey Plan 1801 Uncovered