On this page members of the Maitland and District Historical Society are sharing their research into a variety of aspects of the history of our locality. New stories will be added as they become available.
Use search to find stories about the person, place, topic or keyword you are interested in.
Maitland’s loss of the regional capital role
Maitland was once known as the ‘Hub of the Hunter and the ‘Capital of the North’. Both labels had lost currency by 1900.
Maitland: ‘Hub of the Hunter’ and ‘Capital of the North’ in the mid-1800s
For decades, Maitland was, for the north of the colony of New South Wales, the principal centre of commerce and industry apart from Sydney. It was patronised from hundreds of kilometres away.
Maitland, circa 1830
By 1830 the convict farming settlement of Wallis Plains had become a small town. Development was beginning in East Maitland and Morpeth as well, and the Hunter Valley had been opened up for commercial farming.
Thomas Strode and the ill-fated Hunter River Gazette
The first newspaper to be published in Maitland lasted only seven months.
East Maitland, a century ago
East Maitland in the early years of the last century looked and felt much different from the East Maitland of today, and the lifestyles of its residents were very different too.