{"id":12524,"date":"2013-08-27T10:09:00","date_gmt":"2013-08-27T10:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/top-10-historical-secrets-of-newcastle-australias-second-oldest-city-celebrates-history-week-with-a-calendar-of-exciting-events\/"},"modified":"2013-08-27T10:09:00","modified_gmt":"2013-08-27T10:09:00","slug":"top-10-historical-secrets-of-newcastle-australias-second-oldest-city-celebrates-history-week-with-a-calendar-of-exciting-events","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/2013\/08\/top-10-historical-secrets-of-newcastle-australias-second-oldest-city-celebrates-history-week-with-a-calendar-of-exciting-events\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 10 historical secrets of Newcastle – Australia’s second oldest city celebrates History Week with a calendar of exciting events"},"content":{"rendered":"

For those keen to uncover the tales and tribulations of the past there\u2019s no better place to indulge your interest than Newcastle, Australia\u2019s second oldest city and the birthplace of much of our history \u2013 and there is no better time to visit than during History Week.<\/span><\/span>
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<\/span><\/span>To whet your historical appetite \u2013 see below (and attached) 10 facts you may not know about Newcastle:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
(the attached also provides information about the City of Newcastle\u2019s History Week events and its year-round historical attractions offering)<\/span><\/div>\n
1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Newcastle was founded by one of Australia\u2019s most important colonial artists \u2013 Captain James Wallis, and the city continues its strong connection to the arts to this day, boasting one of Australia\u2019s best regional galleries.<\/span><\/div>\n

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2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Newcastle convict James Hardy Vaux wrote\u00a0Australia\u2019s first full length autobiography, and our first dictionary<\/a>\u00a0(a vocabulary of \u2018Flash Language\u2019, or convict slang) during the 1800s under the reign of Commandant Thomas Skottowe.\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
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3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Newcastle was home to the first \u2018lighthouse\u2019 on the east coast \u2013 a coal-fired beacon at Colliers Point which opened in\u00a01804<\/a>. The famous Nobbys Lighthouse was turned on in January of\u00a01858<\/a>.\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n

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4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Reverend L.E. Threlkeld began the first systematic study of Aboriginal language in Newcastle in\u00a01824<\/a>.<\/span><\/div>\n

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5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Newcastle was the birthplace of Australian railway<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 with the Australian Agricultural Company officially opening Australia\u2019s first railway in\u00a01831<\/a>. A plaque on Wharf Rd commemorates the occasion.<\/span><\/div>\n

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6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Iconic Australian biscuit manufacturer Arnott\u2019s traces its humble beginnings back to Newcastle<\/a>\u00a0when a small bakery was opened by William Arnott in1865<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
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7.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Australia’s first Prime Minister,\u00a0Sir Edmund Barton, was married in Newcastle<\/a>\u00a0to Novocastrian Jane (Jean) Mason Ross in\u00a01877<\/a>\u00a0at the Presbyterian manse on Newcastle\u2019s oldest street – Watt Street.<\/span><\/div>\n

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8.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Newcastle is home to\u00a0Australia\u2019s first European-style swimming baths<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 the Bogey Hole, which was hand-carved by local convicts in\u00a01819<\/a>\u00a0under the commandment of Major James Morriset.<\/span><\/div>\n

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9.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0On June 7th<\/sup>,\u00a01942<\/a>, Fort Scratchley became\u00a0the only Australian fort to fire at an enemy ship during war<\/a>\u00a0time when the Battery\u2019s six inch guns fired two salvoes at a Japanese submarine that bombarded the city with two dozen shells.<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
\n10.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Newcastle was the\u00a0first Australian city to elect a female lord mayor<\/a>, Joy Cummings, in\u00a0<\/span>197<\/span>4<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For those keen to uncover the tales and tribulations of the past there\u2019s no better place to indulge your interest than Newcastle, Australia\u2019s second oldest city and the birthplace of much of our history \u2013 and there is no better time to visit than during History Week. To whet your historical appetite \u2013 see below […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12524\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}