The Mystery of the Selwyn Chessmen by Greg Wilson

Have you ever heard of the Selwyn Chessmen – otherwise known as The Selwyn Trophy? Probably not! Forgotten in time, these Chessmen remain elusive in Novocastrian History. The mission is to track them down with the aid of historians and local readers of this blog. If you can shed any light on their whereabouts, no … More The Mystery of the Selwyn Chessmen by Greg Wilson

Milton Kent’s Airplane Photographs of Newcastle

  The aerial view of Newcastle by Milton Kent,  located in TROVE, and reproduced above was originally published in The Australasian on the 22nd June 1929 page 71, and appears to come from the same set of original glass negatives reproduced below. This may provide some evidence to the dating of at least some of … More Milton Kent’s Airplane Photographs of Newcastle

Stockton is Newcastle’s First Settlement?

While researching references to the early settlement at Coal River (Newcastle) in a previous post, we were directed (thanks to Jen Willets) to a very interesting footnote in the Historical Records of Australia Vol III p. 772 – 773 which provided an interesting aside. There appears to be evidence that Newcastle had an initial settlement … More Stockton is Newcastle’s First Settlement?

A Bird’s Eye View of Newcastle and Suburbs [1974]

These twenty-one aerial posters of suburbs across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie were originally published by the Newcastle Sun. They were entitled “A Bird’s Eye View: A Portfolio of outstanding aerial photographs of Newcastle and suburbs. A Special ‘Newcastle Sun’ Reader Service” [1974] They look more like a early prototype of Google Earth for the Region, … More A Bird’s Eye View of Newcastle and Suburbs [1974]

The Moriarty 1858 Plan

Thank you to Mr Rod Caldwell who kindly arranged for his personal copy to be digitised and provided for us to publish to the wider research community. The full report can be accessed in a number of formats: Legislative Assembly. New South Wales. Breakwater at Stockton. (Report of Mr. Moriarty Upon Advisability of.) Ordered by … More The Moriarty 1858 Plan