The History & Coal Resources of Newcastle from 1830 - 1889

A series of articles published in the Newcastle Morning Herald during the period 26th September, 1889 to 21st November, 1889 in which information about many of the twenty seven mines in Newcastle, Greta and Lake Macquarie in operation at that time are discussed. The articles cover the mines' formation, their location, output, the type of machinery used and men employed.

The first two articles cover aspects of coal mining in the Australian colonies as seen from the Hunter perspective. The Articles are as follows:

Important Figures: Future Prospects (this page) The Outlook Their Rise & Progress: The Newcastle Wallsend Mine The A.A. Company Wickham & Bullock Island Company Greta Coalmining Company The Scottish Australian Mining Company Stockton Coal Company J. & A. Brown's Coal Mines

The Co-operative Coal Mine Waratah Coal-Mining Company & the New Lambton Colliery The Great Northern Coal-mining Company Burwood Coal-mining Company Mines Being Developed - The Maitland Colliery, The South Greta Coal Company, The East Greta Colliery, The Richmond Vale Coal Company Mines Opening Out - The West Wallsend Coal Company, The Young Wallsend Coal Company

Published 26/9/1889
Newcastle has long held the enviable position of having a larger export trade in coal than any other place south of the line. During the year ending December, 1888, the output from the Northern district collieries was 2,067,042 tons, or considerably more than half the entire quantity raised in the Australasian colonies. This grand result has been attained within half a century, and there is no better example of stupendous progress in the face of many obstacles to be found in colonial history than the development of the coal-mining industry in this district. Its commencement may be said to date from the year 1830, as prior to that time the only coal raised by means of convict labour. The quantity was exceedingly small, and was mined as such little profit that Mr Wentworth, in his history of the colony, states that the Government were glad to dispose of it at 2s 6d per ton for household purposes, and 5s per ton for export. In 1829, as pointed out by Mr. H.J. Brown in his able paper recently read before the Engineers Association, the price was 10s per ton, and the total quantity raised up to that date was 50,780 tons, or considerably less than a fortnight's output at the present day.

The A.A. Company commenced operations in 1830, and until 1844 enjoyed a monopoly which was then broken by Messrs. J. and A. Brown, after a lawsuit with the company. In 1859 the output was 308,213 tons, and in 1887 it reached the enormous quantity of 2,243,793 tons, valued at over one million sterling. These figures are sufficient to show with what leaps and bounds our staple industry has sprung to its present proportions; but while examining them, the progress made by the Southern district and the mines of the other colonies must not be overlooked. The output from the Northern mines last year was behind that of the three previous years, and very little above the amount raised in 1881, when it was 2,055,342 tons. But that result was owing to the great strike. Taking the progress made by the Southern mines during the same time, it is found to be enormous, as in 1884 it stood at 419,912 tons, while last year no less than 796,806 tons were raised. This is an increase of 420,238 tons over the previous year when it stood at 376,568 tons. Although in a great measure due to the strike, which closed our mines for three months, it is nevertheless astonishing and, when the vast strides made by the coal mines in other colonies is understood, the truth that Newcastle, while still far ahead as a coal-producing district, has virtually lost the monopoly at one time enjoyed, is fully demonstrated.

That we had monopoly until very recently is amply proved by the fact that previous to the opening of the mines on the West Coast of New Zealand there was no true bituminous coal known to exist outside of our own measures, and to this in a great degree is due to the feeling of security which has prevailed among us that our position as the greatest coal-mining community in the colonies was assured. That Newcastle will for many years hold the premier position is almost a certainty, but it is also equally certain that within a very short time she will have to face still keener competition than has yet been experienced. So far as can be gleaned the present year, promises to be one of the most successful on record, as for the quarter ending on March 30th no less than 578,813 tons were raised, while at the end of June the record stood at 1,000,000 tons.

Since then, however, there has been a dearth of shipping, and many of the colliers find it impossible to execute orders from abroad. Owing to a variety of causes freights to America and India, are very high, so that the prospect of a good year is far from being assured. There are now some twenty-seven collieries in actual work in the district, while thirteen new ones are being opened. Some of these latter will be very large, but the question as to whether they will be able to find a market for their product at the present prices naturally arises.

Looking at our export trade for last year, it will be found that Victoria is far and away our largest purchaser, with

666,947 tons, while the United States comes next with 314,593. As compared with the previous year our intercolonial trade shows a marked decrease, and one which it is necessary to closely examine.

The total is close on 200,000 tons, and while our foreign trade shows the enormous increase of 160,364 tons, the United States took 66,268 tons more from us last year than in 1887, while Chili increased her import by 53,478 tons. Hongkong and Singapore show a large falling off, while India imported some 13,000 tons less. Other markets, notably Japan and Mexico, are being rapidly opened up, and there is every prospect that the exports to foreign lands this year will, if ships can be secured, even larger than that of last year. The falling off in the colonial trade, and the rapid progress being made in developing the export trade to foreign ports, proves that the product from the other colonial mines have been slowly but surely creeping in, and now the wealthy companies in our midst find it more profitable to ship their coal to distant lands instead of selling it in the colonial markets at a reduced rate.

At a recent meeting of the associated colliery in Sydney, it was expected owners, in view of some of the pits working half-time, that a motion would be submitted lower the price of coal. This proposition was not brought forward, for the simple reason that the price of Newcastle coal is firm in the foreign market, and so long as that is the case it will probably remain at the present price. In the mean time however, the selling rate enables the product of the Southern and Western mines to step in and secure a large share of the international trade. The relative qualities of other coals of the colony, when compared to Newcastle, is not nearly so much in our favour as many suppose. In 1887 the selling price of Newcastle coal was 9s 9 3d per ton, while the Southern article was worth 9s 0 77d. Last year the price of our product had risen 9s 10 6d per ton, but the Southern Coal showed an increase in price of 4d per ton, which brought it up to 5s 7d. When the comparison is extended to the other colonies, the product of Queensland is found to be of a quality midway between the Southern and Western coals, while that of the West Coast of New Zealand is much the same in Melbourne as our own.

From which quarter we may expect the keenest competition is as yet a subject of debate. The Southern collieries are at present our greatest rivals, while the output of New Zealand for last year was close on 1,000,000 tons, and increase on the previous year of nearly 60 per cent. The coal measures of that colony extend nearly all over its entire area, outcrops being found in every province. There is a splendid seam now being worked in the Bay of Islands in the province of Auckland, and it is here that the steamers of the Union Company procure their coal. Its quality however, is not first class, and the same may be said of the mines in the south of South Island, which supply the Government Railways. On the West Coast however, a splendid seam of coal of unknown extent, is now being worked, and although for some time the companies at Westport and Brennerton have been heavily handicapped, they have at last been able to thoroughly open their collieries. Two of these, namely the Corkingdale and the Brenner, last year had an output of nearly 150,000 tons between them, while several new ones are about to be opened. The harbour of Westport has a bad bar at the entrance, but, owing to the great stimulus which these mines received during the closing of the Newcastle collieries last year, public attention was drawn to them and the Government are now undertaking a scheme by which the largest vessels will be enabled to coal at the wharves. The mineral has also found its way into Melbourne, where it has commanded the highest price, and as the distance is not greater than from Newcastle, it is from these mines that we can look for the keenest competition in the Victorian and South Australian markets. New Zealand in the past has imported a great deal of our coal but there is no doubt that in the near future, the demand will cease, and her mines will more than supply her own needs.