NSWMining
Merewether
A doctor’s coal estate south of Newcastle became a mining municipality.
1885Municipality proclaimed
WHAT STARTED IT
Merewether grew on the Burwood Estate, bought in 1835 by Sydney physician James Mitchell, whose small coal mines and copper smelter challenged the Australian Agricultural Company’s hold on Newcastle coal. Mitchell’s son-in-law Edward Merewether, the company’s general superintendent, built The Ridge on the estate in 1861, and the district took his name.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
Mining on the estate drew a working population, and in 1885 a petition of 243 residents won incorporation of the 1,114-acre Municipal District of Merewether. From 1910 the family began selling the estate, and the first 46 lots in 1911 began its shift from mining to housing.
TURNING POINTS
1885The Municipal District of Merewether is proclaimed on 20 August.
1889Crowds gather at St Augustine’s Church for the funeral of Glebe Pit men.
1911The Merewether family sells the first 46 subdivided lots of the Burwood Estate.
1925The Salvation Army buys The Ridge and opens it as Maryville Mothers’ Hospital.
1938Merewether is merged into the City of Greater Newcastle.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A beachside suburb of Newcastle with about 11,800 residents. The Ridge, the 1861 Merewether house, is on the State Heritage Register.