Seventy-five years of piping and drumming in Maitland
In 2022, the City of Maitland Pipes and Drums celebrated its 75th anniversary. The band began as the Maitland District Pipe Band with nothing more than courage and enthusiasm.
Establishment
A public meeting was called for the evening of Thursday, 28 August 1947, for the purpose of forming a pipe band in Maitland. It was instigated by Ron Kiem and Ken McLeod with the support of Albert Finney, president of the Maitland branch of National Fitness. Mr Finney convened the meeting in the National Fitness rooms and was quite moved by the public response and interest shown in forming a band. On the night, six potential pipers and two drummers put their names forward. Only one of the six had his own bagpipes and a call went out for any pipes and drums in the community that people no longer wanted.
There were no funds to purchase instruments at this time, so most members purchased their own, to be reimbursed by the band at a later date. Three women enrolled in the band and women have been represented ever since. The Maitland Mercury of 19 September listed the enrolled band members as follows: Pipers - Ms Fay McDonald, Ms M Forshaw, Ms M McKenzie, Ken McLeod, H D Sayers, Ron Kiem, Robert Bowman, W O’Connor, Ron Garner, Roy Cheetham, R Eckford, F Withington and D Flanagan; Drummers – W McMinn, O Parmentor, R Eddy, N Parker, John McCare and W Furness.
The office bearers elected were President – Arthur Finney; Vice Presidents – Rev J Gaudie, H Sayers and J Harvey; Secretary – Ms Fay McDonald; Treasurer – Mrs R Bowman; Committee – Mrs J Reynolds, Ron Kiem, D Stephens, Robert Bowman, W O’Connor, R Eddy, G Deans and Ken McLeod.
Soon, the new band members were practising on their instruments and attracting the ire of some local citizens for the noise they were making. One Bolwarra resident wrote to the Lower Hunter Shire Council complaining about ‘the barbaric drumming and the in-expert squealing of the pipes’. The Council tabled the letter but took no action.
As well as playing, band members had to learn ‘parade ground’ discipline to be an effective marching band. Drill instruction took place in Maitland Park and soon the band was an effective unit. The first public appearance was on Largs Oval in early 1948 and they also took part in their first Anzac Day service that year. A grainy black and white photograph shows the band marching along High Street in a mixture of civilian clothes and tartans. By Anzac Day 1949, most members had their own kilts, but a uniform tartan had not yet been chosen. The band was described as ‘a kaleidoscope of colour’ as they marched down High St.
Band members couldn’t decide on a uniform tartan to wear. A draw from the hat came up with Clan MacPherson, but they never wore that tartan. Instead, the McKenzie tartan was used. It is thought that John Perry, an early piping instructor with the band, influenced them to use the uniforms of the defunct Cessnock Pipe Band as an economy measure.
Activities
The band has taken part in many activities around Maitland and the lower Hunter, providing entertainment for various agricultural shows, charitable organisations and service groups. They have provided an escort for visiting dignitaries, including prime ministers and royalty, and have represented the City of Maitland in towns and cities throughout Australia. The band has also attended many Highland Gatherings over the years and has been well placed in some of the competitions.
Maitland District Pipe Band at the Tamworth Highland Gathering, 1957
The band gained 3rd place in the A Grade Championship. Drum Major - Ken Tucker; Pipe Major - Don Johnson; Pipers - Dick Graham, Nancy Graham, Ina Bennett, Bob Dewar, Nancy Grubb, Doug Lambert, Bob Griffiths; Drummers - Roy Cheetham (base), Keith McLenan, Harley Longbottom, J Clarence
Prime Minister Robert Menzies, his wife Pattie and daughter Heather visited the Hunter in October 1953 and spent a day in Maitland meeting the local worthies. The band provided entertainment and a piper escorted Menzies into the Town Hall playing Atholl Highlanders in honour of the geographical origin of Clan Menzies in Scotland.
Viscount Maitland (Ian Maitland, heir to the Chiefdom of Clan Maitland) visited in 1981. The Viscount and his wife, Lady Anne, were guests of honour at a civic reception at the Town Hall. The Maitland District Pipe Band piped the couple into the reception and provided the musical entertainment for the evening. The band also took part in the visit of Prince Charles and Princess Diana to the city in 1983, marching down High Street and piping as the royal couple met dignitaries in front of the Town Hall.
The band wore the McKenzie tartan until March 1984, when they changed to the Maitland tartan. Permission to wear the tartan had been granted by Patrick Maitland, Earl of Lauderdale and Chief of Clan Maitland. The Earl visited Australia in November that year and spent a few days in the city meeting dignitaries, members of the band and debutantes at the ball organised by the Hunter Valley Scots Club.
The visit of Patrick Maitland, Earl of Lauderdale, November 1984.
From left, in front: Stuart Wilson, Shirley Wilson, the Earl, Janette Massey and Joe Skinner.
(Shirley Wilson)
An article in the Maitland Mercury of 16 February 1984 stated that Maitland City Council was concerned that many of the band’s activities were held outside the city’s confines and Alderman Ray Fairweather, as the band’s delegate on Council, was asked to find out why. The band had submitted a list of engagements for the previous year, which included the Dungog Presbyterian Fete, the Incitec Christmas party on Kooragang Island and a concert at the Wescott Nursing Home at Stockton. There had been a number of activities within the Maitland City area, of which the Aldermen had been blissfully unaware. In the previous year, 21 engagements had been undertaken within Maitland and the surrounding district, with only four further afield.
Graham Broadhead, a band member, wrote to the Mercury on 20 February stating there had been little public support for the band and only recently strong support from Council after 36 years of service to the community. He cited street parades, fete appearances, nursing home charity events and council functions, all largely unnoticed by many citizens of Maitland. He also stated that appearances beyond Maitland were ambassadorial undertakings on behalf of the City of Maitland. The council aldermen were suitably chastened.
A new beginning for the band occurred on 30 October 1985, when the Maitland District Pipe Band became the City of Maitland Pipes and Drums. Shirley Wilson, a piper in the band, instigated the name change to honour the drummers, who had provided sterling service for almost 40 years.
In 1992 the band finally had a permanent home in the former St Ethel’s Public School after years of having only temporary accommodation. The school had been handed to Maitland City Council by the NSW Department of Education as surplus to its needs and both the Pipe Band and Maitland Brass Band benefited from the decision. The school, in Cross Street, South Maitland (formerly Louth Park), closed in 1982. When Parallel Street was widened to accommodate the New England Highway bypass and renamed Les Darcy Drive, a portion of the old school grounds was resumed to include the new road.
Lance Murray, a former councillor of Maitland City Council and the council’s delegate to the City of Maitland Pipes and Drums, was made an Honorary Life Member of the band in March 1996. Lance had been an avid supporter of the band, both on council and in the community. He had defended the band at council meetings and supported it until his death in 2015. The band played at his funeral in the rotunda on Stockade Hill and piped his casket away at the finish of the service.
On 15 and 16 March 1997, the band celebrated 50 years of service to the community with eleven invited pipe bands, the Maitland City Brass Band, the Maitland City Choir and other organisations. Celebrations included a march of massed bands down High St and a day of entertainment, music and games for the public at Walka Water Works.
Band members at the 50th Anniversary celebrations on 16 March, 1997
Back row: Stuart Wilson, Greg Dewar, John Duncan, Bill Turnbull.
Middle row: Greg Queenan, Andrew O’Neill, Murdoch Gilbert, Malcolm Causley, Ben Lewis.
Front row: Robert Cheetham, Graham Gawthorpe, Shirley Wilson, Don Pirie, Sue O’Neill, Roy Cheetham, Andrew Gilbert
(Henderson Collection)
Popular music was not neglected when the City of Maitland Pipes and Drums, the Maitland City Brass Band and the Maitland City Choir gathered in the auditorium of the University of Newcastle’s Conservatorium of Music on 12 March 2005. This was to record the music for the Sounds of Maitland. A CD of the music was released in August 2005, to general acclaim.
Major General Gordon Lindsay Maitland AO, OBE, RFD, ED, long-time Chief of Clan Maitland in Australia, died on 18 October 2018. He had made a special request that the City of Maitland Pipes and Drums play at his funeral. The band was joined by the Hills District Pipe Band, Parramatta RSL Caledonian Pipe Band and Sydney Thistle Pipe Band for the service at the Parish Church of St James, Sydney. Major General Maitland was given a military funeral.
Anzac Day, Morpeth, 2018.
The band has attended Anzac Day services throughout the Maitland district since 1948
(Henderson Collection)
The 75th anniversary of the City of Maitland Pipes and Drums was celebrated with a tattoo and dinner at the auditorium of the Hunter Valley Grammar School on 30 July 2022. Visiting bands joined in a massed bands display, and entertainers, including Town Crier Stephen Clarke, amused the crowd. An exhibition of band memorabilia and history was displayed at the Maitland Regional Museum in Brough House, and a book, 75 Years: The City of Maitland Pipes and Drums, was published to commemorate the band’s history. Band members Peter Campbell and Robbie Cheetham composed the song 75 Years, to celebrate the occasion.
l to r:
Part of the display commemorating the band’s 75 years, in the Maitland Regional Museum, 2022. (Henderson Collection)
The book cover. The cover shows the Clan Maitland Tartan and Crest. The Clan motto ‘Consilio et Animis’ translates as ‘With Wisdom and Courage’.
The book launch. Meryl Swanson (Federal Member for Paterson), Greg Queenan (Secretary Pipes and Drums), Jenny Aitchison (State Member for Maitland), Peter Blacknmore (Patron Pipes and Drums and former Mayor of Maitland), Janece McDonald (President Maitland Regional Museum) and Lawrie Henderson (the book’s author)
click on above images for larger views
75 years
Musical score by Robbie Cheetham
Lyrics by Peter Campbell
1st Part
Now 75 years since Maitland was formed
Where has it gone (now)
Where has it gone?
Now 75 years since Maitland was formed
Marching down High St and Mall
Marching down High St and Mall
2nd Part
Now people have come and people have gone
Piping and drumming and marching along
Now people have come and people have gone
Marching down High St and Mall
It’s 75 years since Maitland was formed
Marching down High St and Mall
Band and Individual Members’ Achievements
Over the years the City of Maitland Pipes and Drums have participated in many gatherings and competitions with varying levels of success, as follows:
Maitland City Council - Community Service Medal in 2014
Maitland City Council - Community Service Achievement Certificates
All local RSL Branches – Many Certificates of Appreciation for Anzac and other commemorations
Many Certificates of Appreciation from Community Groups such as schools, hospital, Relay for Life, Palliative Care, St Patrick’s Day celebrations, Lions, Rotary, various nursing homes, Steamfest, Australia Day celebrations, Scouting, Rural Fire Service etc.
1999 Port Macquarie Bands Festival – Street Parade Winners,
1998 Competed in the Australian Pipe Band Championships in Newcastle.
1988 Ettalong Beach War Memorial Club Gathering – Street Parade Winners.
1970 Tamworth Highland Gathering Gala Day – Miniature Contest, Grade 3 Winners.
1970 Tamworth Highland Gathering Gala Day – Winning Open Section for Bass Drum, 2/4 Marches.
1957 Tamworth Highland Gathering Gala Day, Open Band Competition Winners.
Individual Members’ Achievements
Greg Dewar - Open Australian snare drumming Champion in 1968, Won NSW Under 21 State Championship in 1966
Nancy McLennan (nee Grubb) - NSW lady piping Open Champion for 5 years
Alan Swanson - Pipe Major of Adamstown RSL, Grade 3, runner-up in Australian
Championships
Alan Swanson - Awarded Order of Australia Medal whilst in the City of Maitland Pipes and Drums
Peter Campbell - competed in the 2014 World Championships at Glasgow in Grade 4B with NSW Highlanders Pipe Band, Awarded City of Newcastle and RSL Sub Branch Commendation Award in 2015
Ian Innes - Grades 3 & 4 Pipe Band Championships with various pipe bands, 2018 Maitland City Council’s Individual Community Service Award
Robbie Cheetham - Grades 3 & 4 Pipe Band Champions with Mineworkers Pipe Band
David Tanare - active over his years of drumming, performing in other bands such as St Mary’s District Band Club Pipes & Drums, Northern Suburbs Pipe Band. (1988 Bi-centenary Champion Bass Corps) NSW Police Pipe Band, City of Maitland Pipes & Drums and The United Mineworkers Pipe Band. David is an accredited Bass and Tenor Tutor for the NSW PBA. He has achieved success on the solo competition circuit as a tenor and bass drummer, from beginners through to open grade over a period of twenty years of solo competing.
Stephen Tripp, invited to join the NSW Police Pipe Band to perform at the 2017 Edinburgh Military Tattoo
Travis Hall, invited to join the Australian Defence Force Pipes and Drums to perform at the Edinburgh Tattoo in Sydney in 2019.
References
‘Barbaric noises’, Dungog Chronicle Durham and Gloucester Advertiser, 24 July 1948.
Henderson, Lawrence, ‘Our past: City of Maitland Pipes and Drums - 75 years of sterling service’, Maitland Mercury, 20 June 2021.
Henderson, L J, 75 Years: The City of Maitland Pipes and Drums, Maitland Regional Museum, Maitland, 2022.
‘Newcastle Highland Gathering’, Newcastle Sun, 10 April 1950.
‘Pipe band for Maitland’, Cessnock Eagle and South Maitland Recorder, 2 September 1947.
‘Pipe Band to wear clan tartan’, Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate, 1 May 1948.
‘Pipers Band for Maitland’, Newcastle Sun, 20 September 1947.
‘Pipes and Drums Members celebrate 50th Anniversary’, Maitland Mercury, 18 September 1997.
‘Prime Minister Brought Goodwill to High Street’, Sydney Morning Herald, , 30 October 1953.
Queenan, G, I Innes and P Campbell, pers com, 2020.
‘Sounds of Maitland will be as bold as brass’, Maitland Mercury, 3 February 2005.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to the City of Maitland Pipes and Drums for access to official documents as well as past and present band members for access to personal information and photographs.
Thanks to the Australian National Library’s Trove service for access to past copies of local newspapers.
