The Lost Post Offices of Australia - Teralba (2284)

"This now little township, which has sprung up like a mushroom, has some comfortable miners residences already built in it. Mr. T. Williams, late of Minmi, has just opened a new hotel there, which is situated close to the edge of the lake. He seems to be one of the right sort, and is doing a flourishing trade, as it is the only hotel within several miles. There are two butchers' shops, two stores, and a baker's shop to supply the people's wants, with a good school for the children." - The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser 13th December 1887.


It would seem that our good correspondent from the Maitland Mercury forgot to add that Teralba also had a Post Office, although the Post Office was known as Winding Creek at that time.

original letter/newspaper receiver  

Teralba is a small community situated on the northern edge of Lake Macquarie (about 20 kilometres from Newcastle) and is part of an area of 914 acres that was originally granted to Capt. James St. John Ranclaud in the 1830's. Upon his death in 1842 the title passed to James Mitchell, who combined the Ranclaud land with his existing Lake Macquarie holdings and the area became known as the Awaba Park Estate. Upon his death in 1896, the Mitchell estate was then bequeathed to his daughter, Margaret Quigley, who continued to develop the land for pastoral enterprises. 


In the 1880's the NSW Government decided to extend the railway from Homebush to Newcastle and so it was from this great engineering achievement that the town of Teralba (or Tirelbah, as it was known to the local aborigines) began to rise from the scrub. The site was chosen by the contractors because of the access to a fresh water stream and that they were able to quarry the much needed ballast from a site that was known as 'Big Hill'

Teralba PO - 1920's  (NLA C4076)

As men sought employment on the railway, a town quickly established around the quarry and by 1885 there were over one hundred men employed in the quarry. A lot of these workers were accompanied by their families, living in rudimentary accommodation, mostly tents and dealing with the harsh environment of the Australian bush. It should also be remembered that at the time there were also over 45 children living in the fledgling camp as well ... hard days indeed!    

As the camp expanded the needs of a Post Office were required and so on the 1st January 1885 the Winding Creek Post Office opened, with Mr S.G. Hooper appointed as the first Postmaster. Who Mr Hooper was I can't ascertain, however, as most of the business owners can be identified, Mr Hooper could have been a mine manager at the  Amos & Co. gravel quarry, which was not uncommon in the early days of the Post Office. The mail was initially conveyed from Wallsend to Teralba (Winding Creek) three times per week via horse/coach and was incorporated into the existing Wallsend to Cooranbong mail run.

Street Posting Box circa 1870's

Luckily for the residents of Teralba a viable coal seam was also opened up in 1886, so once the railway reached Teralba in August 1887, the little township continued to thrive. Also coinciding with the arrival of the railway, the postal and telegraph operations were transferred to the railway station on the 1st January 1888 with the Officer in Charge Mr H.F. Nesbitt appointed the new Postmaster, his remuneration for performance both tasks was £150 p.a. ($115,000). The arrival of the railway also provided Teralba with a direct link to Sydney with the mail now arriving daily at 4.30pm without it having to come via Newcastle and Wallsend. The Teralba Post Office continued to grow, becoming a Money Order Office  (3/6/1889) and then a branch of the Government Savings Bank (1/10/1895). 
   


The growth of the Post Office was forcing more and more people to cross the busy main north railway so calls were made to find a more suitable location for the Post Office. The site that was eventually chosen on the western side of William St (possibly at 61 William St ) and the 'new' £700 ($85,500) non official Post Office was eventually opened on the 12th August 1904 with Miss M. O'Shannessy  appointed Postmistress.


According to the Sydney Morning Herald, on the 4th October 1924 the Postmaster-General called for tenders for the "Removal and re erection of post office building, repairs and painting, and installation of electric light". Who accepted the tender and when the work was actually done is still unclear, however we do know that the Post Office, including of the original building,  were moved from it's William St location to 42 York St in 1924/25. In 1996 Teralba became a Licensed Post Office (LPO) and then the current owners, Llynda & Peter Cleary, finally moved the Post Office from the cramped 100 year old building to combine the Teralba Post Office with their newsagency next door.


So it doesn't matter if it is called Tirelbah, Awaba Park Estate, Fresh Water Creek, Winding Creek, Big Hill, Glen Mitchell, Gravel Pits, Ballast Pit, Billy Goat Hill, Hillsborough, Quigley Estate or even Monkey Town .... the present day Teralba is still being served by Australia Post, as it has been for over 125 years!  

I would like to thank the NCC Library, LMCC Library, Trove Australia, Newcastle Family History Assoc. and Llynda & Peter Cleary for their assistance in compiling this blog.  

Teralba Update -  Teralba no longer has a Post Office. A few weeks ago the newsagency ceased to be an LPO & the licence has been downgraded to a CPA (Community Postal Agency).


P.S. I mentioned in an earlier blog about how I come across some interesting side stories during my research. However, some of those stories are tragic and with the railway running through the middle of town, some of those stories are truly heart wrenching. On the 17th December 1911, one week prior to Christmas, two young girls were killed in a terrible tragedy. Below this is the SMH report from Monday 18/12/1911 -

“A double fatality occurred line near Teralba yesterday, when two little girls were dashed to death by a passing train

At about 3.15 yesterday afternoon Ada Duncan, aged 10 years and 9 months; Clara Duncan, aged 8 years; and Gladys Duncan passed through tho wicket-gates about half a mile north of the Teralba railway station. They were about to cross the rails, when they noticed an empty ballast train travelling from Teralba towards Newcastle. As their attention was directed towards this train, they   failed to notice the Tamworth mail, which was dashing along towards Sydney. When the ballast train had passed, the children attempted to cross, but Ada and Clara were struck by the englne of the Tamworth mail. Ada was dragged about half a dozen yards, and was killed instantaneously. Clara was thrown clear of the rails, but was badly injured. She was brought on to Newcastle, and taken to the Newcastle Hospital, where she died at 17.30 last night.

Gladys appears to have had a narrow escape. The little girl Ada, who was killed instantaneously, was a cousin to the two other girls. Ada had arrived from Dora Creek at about midday, and the three children were taking a walk when the accldent occurred. Clara and Gladys were sisters, and lived with their mother In Victoria Street, Teralba. Their father, Robert Duncan, died recently.

An inquest will be held at the Courthouse, Teralba, at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning"

site of the former wicket gates at Teralba

That makes this tragic accident 100 years old this year and so I plan to give reflection on the 17/12/2011 to the two young lives, Ada and Clara Duncan, who were snatched away well before their time.


   

Summer Holidays In Carrington

The Christmas/New Year breaks are pretty special, they give you time to relax, unwind and practice some photography in exotic locations .... such as Carrington. Now I will admit that Carrington doesn't have wonderful beaches where you can kick back to relax in the sun, neither does it have rolling acres of lush vineyards with fattened grapes that are ready for picking or wonderful cellar doors dispensing some of Australia's best vintage. Nope, Carrington is Carrington, an often much neglected industrial suburb on Newcastle Harbour, located on a narrow piece of land between the Hunter River and the shores of Throsby Creek.

When Newcastle was first settled, Carrington, as we know it  today, didn't exist. It was a low lying tidal island that was known to the local Aboriginals as "wuna - r tee" and was known to be abundant with fish, mud crabs and oysters. Originally named Chapmans Island during the convict era, then later Bullock Island, it rose from the mud from 1859 when extensive dredging commenced in Newcastle Harbour to help alleviate flooding (probably following the 1857 floods) with the spoil spread over the tidal flats gradually raising the island above the tidal influence. Then during the 1860's Bullock Island became a ballast dumping ground for the visiting coal ships and as the demand for coal continued to grow, more expedient methods were sought on the loading of the colliers with Mr. E O Moriarty, the Chief Engineer of the NSW Steam Navigation Board, expanding Bullock Island to accommodate the growing coal trade. In 1874 Mr Moriarty commissioned the British based  Armstrong Hydraulic Machinery Factory to design  a hydraulic crane delivery system for the Bullock Island site. James Barnet was commissioned to design  the Power Station to accommodate the new fangled  equipment and so in 1878 Newcastle led Australia when the £20,000 ($16 million) Carrington Hydraulic Power Station began operations with the first load of coal dispatched using this new system on the 18th March 1878. It wasn't until 1916 -17 that electricity replaced the steam pumps and in 1964 the last of the internal machinery were removed from building for scrap. Recently the building has been purchased by the NSW State Government which intends to restore this excellent example of 19th century industrial architecture to its former glory after nearly 50 years of disgraceful neglect.   

It was also during the 1860's that families first began to settle on the former mud flats and a town quickly established itself around the growing community, so much so, that the Municipality of Carrington was proclaimed in1887, with a brand new council chambers being completed one year later in 1888. The town continued to grow with over 2,000 residents by 1900 and when BHP opened, Carrington's future seemed assured. However, the 1930's depression proved disastrous for Carrington with 58% unemployment or those lucky enough to be working were on  reduced wages, so much so that a shanty town called 'Texas'  sprung up to provide struggling families with rudimentary accommodation


Carrington survived the Great Depression and continued to grow as a tough, no nonsense, Newcastle working class suburb with its proximity to the railway, wharves and associated industries providing workers with stable employment. This is also evident in the amount of pubs in Carrington, with nearly a pub on every corner! Even with the closure of BHP in 1999 and the relocation of many supporting business, Carrington, once again proved resilient and has since then become more gentrified as young families take advantage of the towns proximity to Newcastle.


Today Carrington is still an industrial suburb, dominated by the Hunter Port Corporation, however, it is still dotted with many historic buildings that are over 100 years old, including the Hydraulic Power House, Public School, Post Office, Council Chambers, hotels and numerous private houses that give the suburb it's unique rough diamond character. 


So if you are looking for something to do during your next summer holidays, grab your camera and take a stroll back through time in Carrington.   
    

Scars On The Landscape - Greta

Most of us have seen those old gritty films that feature coal mining, movies like "How Green Was My Valley (1941) & "Coal Miner's Daughter" (1980), they are just two that come readily to mind. Both these films portray a hard working life in the Welsh and Kentucky coal fields, where the countryside was as hard as the miners that dug for the black ore.


However, here in the Hunter Valley, while the miners were as tough and as gritty as any miners in the world, the country was, for want of a better word .... nice. 


There was no bitingly cold snow laden winters or towns trapped in dank valleys where the sun rarely shone or where misery was worn like a shawl that wrapped itself around generations of mining families condemned to work in the pits

No, the Hunter Valley coal mines, even from the time of the first pits, right through to today can be considered a rather pleasant working environment, mining accidents not withstanding.


Now while the coal industry had been a thriving concern in Newcastle and the Hunter region since the early 1800's, it was a discovery of a few precious lumps on the banks of Anvil Creek (21 kilometres north of Maitland) that was to establish the Hunter Region as the worlds leading supplier of high quality low ash coal.


The honour of that find goes to William Farthing whose tenacity proved correct when in 1861 he obtained a lease on Anvil Creek and commenced operations in 1862 (which was known as Farthings Pit). From these small beginnings, helped along by the arrival of the Great Northern Railway 1869 and then by the geological findings of Sir T.W. Edgeworth David who declared in 1886 that this area was sitting atop some of the richest coalfields in Australia, the small rural village of Greta quickly expanded with at least eight coal mines beginning operations in this small area by 1910.

It hard to envisage today that this sleepy village  at the height of mining operations, had over 7,000 inhabitants and the town boasted no less than 11 hotels! As with al these towns the local Post Office played an important role in the towns development and Greta was no different. The local Post Office began operations as a non official office in 1874 at Anvil Creek and then in early 1877 it was operating from the new  £1800 ($1.5million) Farthings Platform ( which was then renamed Greta Railway Station in 1878) and was still called Anvil Creek Post Office (are you confused yet?). However, eventually commonsense prevailed and Anvil Creek Post Office was renamed Greta in October 1886. Then in 1889 with the mines around Anvil Creek closing and most of the population moving closer to the Greta township the Post Office at the railway station was closed and transferred to High Street (New England Highway) and was made an official Post Office with Mr M.J. Sheppard appointed Postmaster. The original Greta Post Office is still standing today, however the Post Office (which then became non official, or LPO, in 1979) has changed locations, now co-located with the newsagent next door and still providing the Greta community with postal services as it has done for over 120 years.     


As for William Farthing, well his mining ventures didn't flourish as he'd hoped they would, mainly due to fires that ravaged his pits in 1871 and so he settled into the Greta district, ultimately becoming the local Magistrate for both Greta and Branxton Courthouses. On the 6th August 1886 William Farthing died suddenly while sitting in front of the fire with his wife Lillias, he was aged 68 years old. While others went on to claim higher honours for achieving less, William Farthing should never be forgotten for his contribution to the Hunter Valley and its mining heritage.    


Not much remains of Greta's extensive mining heritage, no grand memorials, sculptures or dedications and mines such as Anvil Creek, Farthings Pit, Leconfield. Whitburn and Central Greta are now just scars on the landscape. Today it is difficult to see where these mines once operated, where proud men worked and died, however, these old mining ventures can give up subtle clues to their proud heritage ... if you know where to look.

I'd like to thank the online resources of the Newcastle Regional Library & especially the excellent contribution by the late John Delaney  - http://archive.amol.org.au/newcastle/greta/background.html

P.S. There is a small dedication to the 36 miners who died whilst working in the various Greta pits and also to the one miner shot dead by the police during the Rothbury Riot. This small, but important memorial is located in Water St, outside the Greta Arts & Sports Community Hall.


William Farthing and his wife Lillias are buried in a small unpretentious plot in the Presbyterian section of the East Maitland cemetery.  

Australia's Riviera

I'd like to be a Tram-man, and ride about all day,
Calling out, "Fares, please!" in quite a 'ficious way,
With pockets full of pennies which I'd make the people pay.
But in the hottest days I'd take my tram down to the Bay;
And when I saw the nice cool sea I'd shout "Hip, hip, hooray!"
   But I wouldn't be a tram-man if ...
      I couldn't stop and play.
         Would you? 

 CJ Dennis (A Book For Kids - 1921)

What a grand day it must been when Mr Cary from the Excelsior Land Company smashed a bottle of champagne over wheel of the locomotive and declared the £15,000  tramway officially open on the 7th March 1891. The 100 or so invited dignitaries made the 6 minute trip from Fassifern Station  and were greeted at Toronto by  Mr Samuel Fisher (owner of the Toronto Hotel) who had prepared a banquet to celebrate this momentous occasion. This tramway was only one of three privately run ventures in NSW, with the others being at Parramatta and Rockdale in Sydney.

A day trip to the Toronto picnic grounds was a special day indeed and with the Excelsior Land Company selling land throughout the boom years of the 1890's the tramway's future seemed assured. While the early years proved productive for this privately run venture, with the economic downturn of the late 1890's, the standard gradually fell away, even to the point where locomotives were replaced by horses to complete the 5klm journey and so local residents started to demand that the Government take over the operation. 

So it was on the 28th May 1911, NSWGR reopened the totally refurbished railway, including a new station at Toronto, new tracks and upgrading of the bridges to mainline standard, capable to taking any of NSWGR's rolling stock.Once again Toronto had became a day trippers delight with visitors coming from Newcastle and some as far away as Sydney, to partake in the pleasures of what was described as Australia's Riviera.

However, with the advent of the private motor car, the fascination of a long train trip to Toronto fell away and so on 30th March 1990 the last diesel electric train left Toronto, to be replaced by a bus service (ironically called 'The Train'). 

Today the entire length of the railway is a is an easily traversed bike/walk track, which is sealed all the way and is quite a pleasant way to spend an afternoon. The old rail tracks are still visible through the encroaching scrub and there are many points of interest along the way.

So grab your camera, grab a picnic lunch and spend an enjoyable day along one NSW most historic railways, the railway to Australia's Riviera. 

   

 Further reading on this subject can be found at http://home.kooee.com.au/ajl/cp/history.htm