{"id":20782,"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-2\/"},"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-2","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-2\/","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.       Newcastle 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.       Newcastle convict James Hardy Vaux wrote Australia\u2019s first full length autobiography, and our first dictionary<\/a> (a vocabulary of \u2018Flash Language\u2019, or convict slang) during the 1800s under the reign of Commandant Thomas Skottowe. <\/b><\/span><\/div>\n

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3.       Newcastle was home to the first \u2018lighthouse\u2019 on the east coast \u2013 a coal-fired beacon at Colliers Point which opened in 1804<\/a>. The famous Nobbys Lighthouse was turned on in January of 1858<\/a>. <\/b><\/span><\/div>\n

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4.       The Reverend L.E. Threlkeld began the first systematic study of Aboriginal language in Newcastle in 1824<\/a>.<\/span><\/div>\n

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5.       Newcastle was the birthplace of Australian railway<\/a> \u2013 with the Australian Agricultural Company officially opening Australia\u2019s first railway in 1831<\/a>. A plaque on Wharf Rd commemorates the occasion.<\/span><\/div>\n

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6.       Iconic Australian biscuit manufacturer Arnott\u2019s traces its humble beginnings back to Newcastle<\/a> when a small bakery was opened by William Arnott in1865<\/a>. <\/span><\/div>\n
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7.       Australia’s first Prime Minister, Sir Edmund Barton, was married in Newcastle<\/a> to Novocastrian Jane (Jean) Mason Ross in 1877<\/a> at the Presbyterian manse on Newcastle\u2019s oldest street – Watt Street.<\/span><\/div>\n

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8.       Newcastle is home to Australia\u2019s first European-style swimming baths<\/a> \u2013 the Bogey Hole, which was hand-carved by local convicts in 1819<\/a> under the commandment of Major James Morriset.<\/span><\/div>\n

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9.       On June 7th<\/sup>, 1942<\/a>, Fort Scratchley became the only Australian fort to fire at an enemy ship during war<\/a> time 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

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10.   Newcastle was the first Australian city to elect a female lord mayor<\/a>, Joy Cummings, in <\/span>197<\/span>4<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/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-20782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20782","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=20782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20782\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}