Invitation to Celebrating the Early History of Newcastle Event
On Friday 26th October 2012 a public announcement was made by Dr Alex Byrne of the NSW State Library, relating to the exciting news that the artistic treasures of early Newcastle would make their historic return to the City for the first time in over 195 years.
The forthcoming “Treasures of Newcastle from the Macquarie Era Exhibition”, scheduled for 2 March to 5 May 2013, will see the return of the Macquarie Collector’s Chest, Wallis Album and Edward Charles Close Panorama, among many other artistic and historic treasures created in Newcastle almost two centuries ago.
The treasures are of immense significance to the people of Newcastle and the Hunter Region, and also of national and international significance in terms of the cultural evolution of the Australian people.
The Exhibition is being made possible through the collaboration of the Newcastle Region Art Gallery and The State Library of NSW with the generous support of Noble Resources. We are delighted with all the people that have made this happen. We applaud their efforts.
The video above was recorded by Gionni Di Gravio at the Event, which was held at the Fort Scratchley Historic Site Centre, and features the following speakers:
Mr Shane Frost – Managing Director – Awabakal Descendants Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation
Dr Alex Byrne – NSW State Librarian and Chief Executive
Mr Ron Ramsay – Director Newcastle Art Gallery
Cr Jeff McCloy – Lord Mayor of Newcastle
Click to examine higher resolution image of this view from The Wallis Album (reproduced for Event Invitation)
Illustration of a John Dory from the Wallis Album.
Our traveling correspondent, Ann Hardy, recently sent us information and a link to the Wondrous Land Exhibition currently on display at the National Gallery of Victoria.
It is a fabulous exhibition that includes the work of a number of key artists that worked and lived in Newcastle. The Exhibition inlcudes drawings and engravings of Newcastle by Lycett, Wallis and Preston. The other half of the exhibition is opening this month at the Ian Potter Gallery (in Federation Square), with a forthcoming book as well. It is worth seeing if you get a chance to visit Melbourne.
Exhibition runs from Friday 29 April 2011 to Sunday 25 September 2011
Please find below an image of the Aboriginal Burigon (also known as Long Jack) and the caption which states that ‘his killer was the first man tried, convicted and executed under British Law for the murder of an Indiginous person’.
Burigon (Long Jack) by Richard Browne c.1819
Burigon - Caption Text
Burigon was also the chief of the Newcastle Tribe that is immortalised by Walter Preston in this hand coloured copper engraving ‘Corroboree, or dance of the natives of New South Wales, New Holland. 1820.’ (click here to look for him at the lower left of the painting smiling).
The Macquarie Show
Curated by DAVID HAMPTON, AMY HILL and REBECCA HOLMES
With ZOE TWEEDALE, MICHAEL KEITH RICHARDS, MAREE HENDRY, AMY HILL, DAVID HAMPTON and BREONY DELFORCE
2010 marks the 200th anniversary of Lieutenant Colonel Lachlan Macquarie becoming the fifth Governor of NSW. To celebrate this event, which is of both local and national significance, the 2010 Watt Space student Committee is curating an exhibition exploring his influence and legacy. Students were asked to submit a work or series of works relating to Macquarie, Australia during his time as governor, his legacy or all three, or any variation there on. Supplementing these works will be an array of fascinating source material generously provided by the Coal River Working Party, giving an insight into Newcastle during the time Macquarie was governor and providing an historical context for the art works on display. Combining these historical and artistic insights it is hoped we will provide a unique and fascinating insight into a distant but significant chapter in Australia’s history.
'Take the Pasha as an omen for renaissance' by Gionni Di Gravio
Last week as the panic and despair unfolded over the twin decisions of GPT and DJs to leave town, my mind drifted back to July 2007 when the Pasha Bulker left town.
Many CBD retailers and shop owners were sad to see it go, because their sales had doubled while it was here.
At long last Newcastle had an ‘attraction’ that everyone was clamouring to see, and on the way, bought something at their shops.
As the Pasha Bulker floated back out to sea, Newcastle sank back into its usual divisions and arguments.
In ancient times such a dramatic event would have been seen as an omen. Poseidon, god of the sea, threw that ship out of the ocean and smack dab in the middle of Nobbys. His message to us may have been something like ‘Build it and they will come’.
We need to create a beautiful and awe inspiring attraction. Yes, it could be an even bigger shopping centre, but that’s only as good as the next bigger one. But Newcastle has something more to offer, its history, its culture, its natural beauty. All lie at the heart of the Australian nation. Why not glorify that?
Back in 2008 Council unanimously adopted Boyce Pizzey’s Coal River Precinct Conservation and Cultural Tourism Management Plan. This would have created a magnificent visual attraction at the top of town. Imagine the Fort Scratchley search light with 4 other light cannons criss-crossing the evening sky, each beam representing one of the five foundation stories of Newcastle, along with a sound garden. Nothing ever came of it. Why?
In 2009 a young final year Master of Architecture student Andrew Cavill designed a magnificent discovery centre, a ‘Newcastle Opera House’ style building called ‘The Midden’ adjacent to Nobbys Beach.
Exhibition Panel No. 1 for ‘The Midden’ by Andrew Cavill
Exhibition Panel No. 2 for ‘The Midden’ by Andrew Cavill
The University even commissioned a new symphonic and choral work for Newcastle by Colin Spiers called ‘A Slender Strand of Memories’.
This year has seen our member for Newcastle buy back the former Newcastle Post Office and place Nobbys and the Carrington Pump House into public ownership and management as well as undertake the formal heritage listing of the James Fletcher Hospital site.
Imagine a symphonic work performed outside the Carrington Pump House, at dusk, lit up like a Roman temple, with concert goers sailing across the harbour from the Maritime Centre, to witness the performance under the stars in candle lit gondolas.
Imagine the ground floor of the Newcastle Post Office with a permanent display of Newcastle’s historic records that verify the great accomplishments and our global relations across time. Imagine those beautiful series of Panoramas from 1812 to the present spanning the walls of our city.
We are nothing without our history, and our records, lay testament to who we are as a people. All these things could become real if we wish them to be. Dreams are always dashed when someone say’s ‘its too expensive’ and the result invariably is we don’t do anything exciting.
The dreams and aspirations of our creative people are the missing pieces of the ‘magnet’ that will attract the visitors, and they deserve all the investment and respect they require.
Egypt has its pyramids, and we have a rich and older Aboriginal culture and unique colonial heritage that is world class if we wish to acknowledge and look after it. I’m sure the Egyptian government doesn’t have to worry about revitalising their Cairo CBD, and neither would we have to worry about our CBD if we choose to promote our unique history on the world stage. Of course we can’t do that if we are clamouring to bury or eliminate it because it’s in the road of ‘progress’ and ‘revitalisation’.
Too often the protection of our heritage is pinned against business will in a fight to the death to build something new and shiny. The new and shiny wins most of the time. I see a multitude of new shiny apartment buildings boxing the Newcastle skyline. Have they revitalised the CBD? Perhaps we need to think outside these boxes?
When people speak of the urban renewal, let’s talk about a Novocastrian Renaissance instead. And rest assured that the more we look back, the more inspired our future becomes. Our business is a product of such aspirations and so I solemnly ask we come together for Newcastle. As the poet Vergil declares in his crowning work the Aeneid, let’s do it for the ‘Fame and Fortune of Our Descendants’ .
Gionni Di Gravio
City’s History a hook for tourists by Tim Connell. Newcastle Herald 2 September 2010 p.7
'Plaque Offers A Steeping Stone to Past' Newcastle Herald 5 August 2010 p.7
The Macquarie Pier Commemorative Plaque was unveiled by Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO, Governor of New South Wales at a ceremony at the Nobbys Surf Life Saving Club on the 4 August 2010 at 4 pm.
The occasion was kindly sponsored and organised by the Fort Scratchley Historical Society, The Newcastle Port Corporation, The University of Newcastle’s Coal River Working Party and the City of Newcastle.
Governor Lachlan Macquarie laid the foundation stone for the Newcastle breakwater, named in his honour by Commandant Captain James Wallis as “Macquarie Pier” on the 5th August 1818 at 4 pm.
Where exactly the foundation stone was laid is not known, many believe it was lost, but a map by the A.A. Company surveyor John Armstrong, drawn in 1830, indicates the point of commencement of the stonework with annotations on both sides of the Pier reading on the left “The stonework begins here on this side” and further along the Pier towards the present Nobbys surfhouse sheds “The stone work begins here on this side”. This plan is the key to possibly identifying the stone’s present location.
Macquarie Pier Commemorative Bronze Plaque
The Coal River Working Party has assembled an archaeological ‘Time Team’ team with the professional expertise drawn across Government, Business and community to re-discover the Macquarie Pier Foundation Stone.
To mark the spot a commemorative plaque cast in manganese bronze was commissioned with the financial assistance of the Institution of Surveyors (Hunter Manning Group) and Emeritus Professor John Fryer. This plaque is to be inlaid into the path adjacent to the spot that marks the start of the stonework.
Peter Sherlock (Director of Monteath & Powys Pty Ltd Surveyors) showing peg marking start of Macquarie Pier (Photo: Robert McLardy)
Peter Sherlock (Director of Monteath & Powys Pty Ltd Surveyors) showing peg marking start of Macquarie Pier (Photo: Robert McLardy)
This ceremony blessed the forthcoming archaeological works and honoured the Macquarie Pier as a land bridge safe guarding our Port, and connecting land and all peoples across time.
Macquarie Pier Plaque Unveiled - (l-r) Gionni Di Gravio, Danylo Motyka and Aunty Nola Hawken
Gionni Di Gravio (Chair, CRWP) and Aunty Nola Hawken (Awabakal Descendant) at Unveiling (Photo: Robert McLardy)
Following the unveiling Her Excellency then opened the Quest for Macquarie Pier exhibition at Fort Scratchley, and her husband, Sir Nicholas Shehadie AC OBE launched the search light and fired the guns in honour of Governor Macquarie, Governor Sir Roden Cutler and Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir.
Firing of the Guns - Mr Doug Lithgow (Freeman of the City of Newcastle), Gionni Di Gravio (Chair of the Coal River Working Party), Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir Governor of New South Wales AC CVO, and Amir Mogodam (University Conservator) at the dusk firing of the guns at Fort Scratchley
Students show an eye for design - Andrew Cavill's 'Midden' is launched
One of our final year Master of Architecture students Mr Andrew Cavill has, for the past year, been working on a design for an iconic interpretation, discovery and learning centre at the Coal River Heritage Precinct in Newcastle East. ‘The Midden’, as it has been called, officially went on Exhibition this week.
On behalf of the University’s Coal River Working Party we congratulate Andrew for the outstanding work and commitment he has undertaken for this project. We are delighted with his design and words cannot express the joy of seeing such a beautiful concept reach fruition.
We hope that it can inspire a refreshed approach to re-modelling our city’s birthplace.
I want you all to imagine a beautiful and iconic ‘Newcastle Opera House’ style building at the Coal River Precinct, birthplace of this city. At dusk, above our heads, the light cannon sculptures (as proposed in the Boyce Pizzey Cultural Tourism plan) illuminating our foundation stories, come into being one after another, these light beams culminating together in a central point or ‘star’ above the precinct and its Centre. On earth, the Conservatorium orchestra and choirs perform our sesquicentenary piece. This would be such a beautiful cultural happening for the City. We hope and pray that one day such visions can become a reality.
Gionni Di Gravio – University Archivist and Chair – University’s Coal River Working Party
Andrew Cavill is a 5th Year Architecture student at the University of Newcastle that has chosen to design an interpretative centre for the Coal River Heritage Precinct as his final year project.
Friday 3 – 19 April
INTERPRETATIONS: Art Exhibition Local artists were invited to interpret ‘Our Place in Space-Under the Southern Cross’. Exhibition opening will be on Friday 3 April at 7pm. John Paynter Gallery, the lockup, 90 Hunter Street Newcastle.
'Festival Upholds heritage' in the Newcastle Herald 2nd April 2009.
Opening of Interpretations Exhibition 3rd April 2009
Saturday 4 April 5- 8pm
Cocktail party at Monet’s Cottage in the grounds of the historic James Fletcher Hospital. Dr Troy Duncan will be speaking about the history of this mental health institution that first opened in 1871. $30 (members NT) $35 (non-members) Bookings on 0438509139.
Jon K Chesterson recites ‘Key to Thrive’
John K Chesterson recites ‘Churning of the Foam’
Dr Troy Duncan – On the history of the James Fletcher Hospital site (Part 1)
Dr Troy Duncan – On the history of the James Fletcher Hospital site (Part 2) (The REAL St Trinians of Newcastle)
Dr Troy Duncan – On the history of the James Fletcher Hospital site (Part 3)
Saturday 4 April 9am-4pm
Newcastle Family History Open Day. Newcastle Family History Society Mechanics Institute, 68 Elder St, Lambton. Enquiries: 49578296.
Saturday 4 to 19 April 10am – 4pm
Navigation by the Stars. The Maritime Centre. Special display of heritage navigational equipment. Workshops on Saturdays 2pm: on 4, 11, 18 April. Navigation workshop 7.30pm, Wed 15 April. $10 Adult / $7 Concession / $5 Children / $25 Family. Enquiries 4929 2588.
Sunday 5 April 9am-4pm
‘Pits and Pubs’ tour. Friends of Grossmann House. Join historian Ed Tonks for a tour of the coalfields. Morning tea & pub lunch included. $40 (members NT) $45 (non-members). Bookings 4933 6452.
Sunday 5 April 2 – 4 pm
Convicts Under the Southern Cross Heritage Walk. Accompany Newcastle University’s Coal River Working Party & National Trust members for a walk from the Obelisk through the James Fletcher Hospital grounds & Watt Street to explore this early area of the settlement of Newcastle. Meet at the Obelisk, Newcastle. Donation welcome. Bookings 0438509139.
Back to the future for first council chambers
Sunday 19 April 11am – 12 The Newcastle Mall, Rail & Heritage Walk
Join former Newcastle councillor & National Trust executive member, Keith Parsons, for a walk around the CBD with a particular focus on Newcastle Mall and railway heritage. Meet at Newcastle Railway Station.
Friday 17 April 7.30pm
Friends of the Regal- Film. ‘The Overlanders’: this classic 1946 film is a factual of fictional twists about a cattle drive across northern Australia. Cost $12. Newcastle Theatre Company. 90 De Vitre Street, Lambton. Bookings 4967 42 73.
Friday 17 April 6 30pm
Friends of Tomago House The Southern Cross: Our Place in Space Candle-lit talk and demonstration by Col Maybury, President of Astronomical Society of the Hunter. Drinks & finger food provided. 21 Tomago Rd, Tomago $20/$15 concession. Bookings 4929 2117.
11 – 12 April 10am – 4pm
Friends of Miss Porter’s House. Special Centenary Open House Exhibition. The house has stood under the Southern Cross for 100 years. Walk through the house and experience it as Miss Porter left it. 434 King St Newcastle, Enquiries 49 270202.
27 March- 12 April Fri- Sun 10am-3pm
Friends of Grossmann House. Art Exhibition-drawings by Holly McNamee recreating streetscapes of Maitland, to be opened by historian Cynthia Hunter. Enquiries 4934 4314.
FORUM: Wednesday 8 April 7- 9 pm
‘My Country, My Place’ Newcastle City Hall, Hunter Room. Speakers: Professor John Maynard and Ray Kelly from the Wollotuka School of Aboriginal Studies, University of Newcastle and Aboriginal people, who have come to live in the Hunter Valley, and who will tell their stories about their country and their experiences living in this place. Donations Welcome.
ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY EVENTS
Sunday 5 & 18 April 5.30pm
Telescope viewing of the night sky Newcastle Astronomical Society Public viewing. Members will answer your questions. Cook Park Macarthur St, Shortland. Enquiries 4951 2506.
Sunday 12 April 7pm
Yuri’s Night. Newcastle Space Frontier Society. Silver Dolphin Family Restaurant, Panthers Cardiff, cnr Munibing & Pendleburry Rds. An international commemoration of the launch of Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. Guests will receive information about Yuri, and related items. $30 for an all you can eat smorgasbord. Bookings Essential 4963 5037.
March to 28 April
Astrophotography Display, Newcastle Astronomical Society. Newcastle Regional Library (second floor), Laman St Newcastle.
Wednesday 15 April 7pm – 8pm
Celestial Navigation and Exploring the Hunter. Newcastle Astronomical Society George Barnes will talk on celestial navigation, with a focus on the early exploration of the Hunter region using the stars. Newcastle University Lecture Theatre GP1. Enquiries 4951 2506 See http://www.nas.org.au for map of venue.
21 April 7.30pm
Space Law Lecture. Newcastle Space Frontier Society. Law in Space Lecture, by National Space Society of Australia, director and lawyer, Anthony Wicht. Joy Cummings Community Centre. Cnr Pacific & Scott Streets. Donation welcome. Bookings Essential 4963 5037.
Newcastle on the Edge – Panoramic Visions of Newcastle on the Coquun Hunter River is an outdoor exhibition of seven (7) panoramas of Mulumbinba – Newcastle dating from the 1812 to the present.
The University of Newcastle will mark History Week with a stunning outdoor exhibition depicting the cultural transformation of the Newcastle Port to tie in with this year’s theme of ‘At the Water’s Edge’.
The exhibition is sponsored by the University of Newcastle’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences and is a collaborative event involving the University, the Maritime Centre and the History Council of New South Wales.
The beautiful panoramas of early Newcastle will be officially launched on Saturday September 6th 2008 by Head of ABC1233 Radio and devoted lover of Novocastrian – Mulumbinban history Philip Ashley-Brown at 10am at the Maritime Centre Honeysuckle.
Newcastle on the Edge will be run at the Maritime Centre during History Week from Saturday 6 – Sunday 14 September 2008.
The exhibition will include:
Panel 1.
Browne 1812 60 x 202cm
Caption: Browne, T.R. (1776 – 1824). Newcastle, in New South Wales, with a distant view of Point Stephen,1812 and View of Hunters River, near Newcastle, New South Wales, 1812. Copper Engraving. Photographer: Bruce Turnbull. Courtesy Newcastle Region Art Gallery.
Mr Michael Meany in visual arts has prepared a couple of 360 wrap around panoramic virtual views of the 1812 (Browne) and 1821 (Campbell) works for our online University’s Coal River Working Party site. These are two of the panoramas that will be on display for the ‘Newcastle on the Edge’ exhibition. Be sure to open them using the Quicktime viewer. Browne, T.R. (1776 – 1824). View of Hunters River, near Newcastle, New South Wales. 1812; and Newcastle, in New South Wales, with a distant view of Point Stephen. 1812. (316 KB) Copper Engraving. Photographer Bruce Turnbull. (Courtesy Newcastle Region Art Gallery)Presented as a complete Panorama identified by Mr Russell Rigby, and prepared as a 360 Quicktime Panorama by Mr Michael Meany.
Panel 2.
Newcastle 1818 60 x 152cm
Caption: Campbell, Sophia, 1777-1833. Sophia Campbell Sketchbook [1818?] Courtesy National Library of Australia.
Sophia Campbell 1818 Panorama from Nobbys
B. 10m long section
Panel 3.
Sophia Campbell 1821 (60 x 615cm)
Allan Chawner retro-photo-pan-graphic (2008) Sophia (60 x 615cm)
Caption: Panorama of Newcastle 1821. Panorama of Newcastle : watercolour drawings by Edward Close – Sophia Campbell. Courtesy State Library of New South Wales.
Sophia Campbell 1821 Panorama (360 wrap around)
Below the Aborigines is written
N.B. This Corrobory has no business here as it is never danced in the day-time. Taken at and finished in Newcastle on Hunters River. June 11th 1821. E.C. Close
Full View Panorama (1.35MB) prepared as a 360 Quicktime Panorama by Mr Michael Meany. Be sure to view with the Quicktime Viewer for 360 effect.
Panel 4.
Rae Newcomon 1849 (60 x 436cm)
Caption: Rae, John, 1813-1900. Newcastle in 1849. Courtesy State Library of New South Wales.
C. 5m long section
Panel 5.
Rae Photo 1878 (60 x 326cm)
Chawner retro-photo-pan-graphic (2008) Rae (60 x 326cm)
John Rae 1878 Photographic panorama
Caption: Rae, John, 1813-1900. [Panoramic photograph of Newcastle, 1878-1882, taken from Barker Street, possibly from The Obelisk] — 4 albumen photoprints. From Sketches in New South Wales in the olden time 1842 – 1859 by John Rae, M.A. / album of watercolour panoramas and photographs of watercolour sketches. Courtesy State Library of New South Wales.
Panel 6.
Acknowledgements
“Newcastle on the Edge” : Panoramic Visions of Newcastle on the Coquun – Hunter River
was kindly sponsored by the University of Newcastle’s School of Humanities & Social Sciences
Thanks to:
Associate Professor Allan Chawner
Cultural Collections of the University of Newcastle Library
Inter Library Loans Team of the University of Newcastle Library
History Week 2008 Committee: Ann Hardy, Evelyn King, Gionni Di Gravio, Dr Victoria Haskins.
History Council of New South Wales
The National Library of Australia
The Newcastle Maritime Centre
The Newcastle Region Art Gallery
The State Library of New South Wales
The University of Newcastle Coal River Working Party
