Important Moments in Newcastle History

A History Survey (Sept-Oct 2018) co-ordinated by Brendan Josevski for UON Cultural Collections found that the following themes associated with Newcastle were mentioned frequently by participants in the survey. General/Convict History Convict Lumberyard Royal Newcastle Hospital Newcastle Earthquake Newcastle Post Office Star Hotel Riot This post provides a general historical overview of these themes. For … More Important Moments in Newcastle History

Newcastle Proclamations and Regulations 1801 – 1818

An interesting digitisation project relating to historical documents of Newcastle has been undertaken by the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Library in London. It comprises the contents of three hand written volumes entitled: ‘Proclamations, government and general orders : made and published by the several Governors in Chief of the territory of New South Wales’ … More Newcastle Proclamations and Regulations 1801 – 1818

Newcastle: Colony’s first place of secondary punishment?

Was Newcastle the Colony’s first place of secondary punishment?  by Dr Brian Walsh In 1804, following the uprising at Castle Hill, a permanent settlement was established at Newcastle to house convicts who re-offended in the Colony. Until it closed in 1822 the Newcastle settlement functioned principally as a place of secondary punishment for convicts sentenced … More Newcastle: Colony’s first place of secondary punishment?