What's new in Newcastle?

18/09/2023 · by Dr Stephen Gapps

As Artefact opens a new branch in Newcastle, our in-house historian Dr Stephen Gapps shares some of his top picks of digital histories about the region. Stephen also happens to be an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Newcastle.

Here Stephen looks at the Living Histories and Hunter Living Histories sites and takes us through a few of his favourite items. 

Image - The Beach, Newcastle NSW, 1905-1915, Nelly Bligh Collection. 

Way ahead of its time

Some wonderful sites for research into the history of Newcastle and the Hunter region are the Living Histories and Hunter Living Histories sites. Living Histories is the digital home of the University of Newcastle's Special Collections.

The content on this site, such as the evocative collection of postcards in the Nelly Bligh Collection (above), is provided at a high resolution and is downloadable. The content is free to be used for research or study purposes. The University’s Special Collections, incorporates the University Archives, and Rare Books and Special Collections. It really is, as the homepage says, ‘the home of the historical and cultural memory of the University and its regional context’.

The Hunter Living Histories initiative follows a Community-University collaborative model. Way ahead of its time, Hunter Living Histories has been going for over 20 years.

"...the home of the historical and cultural memory of the University and its regional context’.

Dreaming is a one-page version of the Virtual Sourcebook for Aboriginal Studies in the Hunter Region site. This important project attempts to list any and all historical sources related to the Hunter Region from 1791 to the present.

It was originally created to assist the Awaba project, a collaborative venture by the University of Newcastle’ s School of Liberal Arts and the Wollotuka School of Aboriginal Studies.

"...with the help of local communities it continues to identify materials relating to Aboriginal people throughout Newcastle and the wider Hunter Region.


The original brief was to digitise the works of Reverend Lancelot Threlkeld, a missionary to Aboriginal people who arrived in Newcastle in 1825. Threlkeld began recording the elements of the local Aboriginal language with a number of people, especially a man known as M’Gill or Biraban.

The first systematic study of an Aboriginal language was undertaken by Threlkeld. Now with the help of local communities, the Virtual Sourcebook continues to identify materials from the collections and elsewhere relating to Aboriginal people throughout Newcastle and the wider Hunter Region.


Image:
Aborigines Night Fishing By Torches ca. 1817 Painting by Joseph Lycett. Courtesy of National Library of Australia.

Eliza Nowlan’s original hand-written diary and correspondence

Digitising the collections is one thing. Writing about their history, acquisition, their provenance, locating the site where diaries were written is quite another.

Along with digitised letters, diaries, maps, etc. are a raft of blog posts that provide valuable information about the context of collection items. For example, the richly detailed diary and letters of Eliza Nowlan is a very rare document - through the eyes of a woman - of the early period of farming at Patterson’s Plains from 1822 to 1824.

"She gives a valuable record of noting what plants and produce are successful and what are not."


Eliza writes to her relatives back home in Ireland detailing their efforts to establish their new farm. She provides a valuable record of which plants and produce are successful and those that are not suitable to the region. The diary and letters were acquired from the family in 2003 and digitised in 2022.

Image: First leaf of Eliza Nowlan’s Letter or Diary 16th December 1822. 

We can help with local history and heritage

Jenny Winnett and Kristen Tola are experts in cultural heritage management and are based at Artefact's Newcastle office in Mayfield West. 

Jenny's lived in the Hunter Region for over 6 years and has been involved in a wide-range of transport infrastructure and commercial development projects. She's an expert in historic (non-Aboriginal) heritage.

Kristen is well established in Newcastle having previously worked at Newcastle Museum and with Fort Scratchley Historical Society in the management of Newcastle’s premier historic site. 

Jenny and Kristen are supported by a 50-strong team based in Sydney and collectively we offer a range of professional services including historical and Aboriginal archaeology, heritage interpretation, history, built environment, environmental assessments, Aboriginal cultural heritage and training.

Importantly Artefact believes it is essential to collaborate with First Nations communities and has strong connections with members of the local Aboriginal land councils. Our program of employing in-house Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Officers to work on projects points to our belief that Aboriginal people are best placed to manage their own heritage. 

If your project requires specialist heritage advice coupled with local knowledge and connections - then we've got you covered. 

You can find us on
(02) 9518 8411 and office@artefact.net.au


Image: Kristen Tola (left) and Jenny Winnett (right) outside Customs House in Newcastle. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr Stephen Gapps

Stephen is Senior Associate – Historian at Artefact 

As a writer, he's committed to bringing the Frontier Wars (1788-1930) into broader public recognition as Australia’s First Wars. Stephen's published two award winning books The Sydney Wars 1788-1817 (NewSouth, 2018) and Gudyarra – The First Wiradyuri War of Resistance, The Bathurst War 1822-1824 (NewSouth 2021).

CONTACT

HOLIDAY CLOSE
Our offices will be closed from Monday 23 Dec 2024 and will re-open on Monday 6 Jan 2025.
For unexpected finds and urgent project enquiries, please contact our Heritage Manager Stephanie Moore at stephanie.moore@artefact.net.au or call 0420 403 581.
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We wish you a peaceful holiday break and look forward to working with you in 2025.

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