Maitland ( ) is a city in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia and the seat of Maitland City Council, situated on the Hunter River approximately by road north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle. It is on the New England Highway approximately from its origin at Hexham.
At the it had approximately 89,597 inhabitants, spread over an area of , with most of the population located in a strip along the New England Highway between the suburbs of Lochinvar and Thornton. The city centre is located on the right bank of the Hunter River, protected from moderate potential flooding by a levee.
Surrounding areas include the cities of Cessnock and Singleton local government areas.
History The Awabakal and the Wonnarua people were the first known people of this land. The Awabakal called the area where Maitland is now situated by the name Bo-un after a species of bird.
From around 1816, cedar logging parties from the convict settlement of Newcastle were the first Europeans to stay on the site. Governor Lachlan Macquarie visited the area in 1818, naming it Wallis Plains after Captain James Wallis who was commandant of the Newcastle penal colony at the time. In 1819, convict farmers were allowed to select land at Wallis Plains, the most notable of which was Molly Morgan.
Tom White Melville Winder was one of the largest proprietors on the Hunter. Winder held 7400 acres (2995 ha) by 1828 and by 1831 had acquired another 2600 acres (1052 ha). The oldest house (commenced 1821) in the greater Maitland LGA was called "Windermere" and also referred to the adjacent farmlands which were for agriculture and later a "boiling-down works". Windermere estate was established before East Maitland and West Maitland were established as suburbs and so is of historical significance.
By 1821 the first British government buildings, consisting of a cottage and barracks, were constructed, and in 1823 James Mudie financed the construction of a wharf. Two years later William Powditch opened the first general store at Wallis Plains.
In 1829, assistant surveyor George Boyle White, officially laid out a township on the site of Wallis Plains. The village was called Maitland possibly in honour of Frederick Lewis Maitland. Due to population growth, Maitland was partitioned in 1835 into West Maitland (which was the original Wallis Plains settlement) and East Maitland. The nearby town of Morpeth developed at the same time from the Green Hills land grant given to Lieutenant Edward Charles Close, a Peninsular War veteran. Morpeth served as the head of navigation for larger ships (later, steamships), and goods were transhipped upriver to West Maitland on barges and smaller vessels. Originally the river route between Morpeth and West Maitland was , today after various floods and river course changes this has reduced to just .
West Maitland was therefore the point at which goods were unloaded for, and distributed to, the prosperous riverland of the Hunter Valley. Accordingly, there were large warehouses (some of which still exist) built, which faced onto the main High Street and backed onto the Hunter River. One famous business being E.P Capper & Sons founded in 1841. The Cappers "prospered mightily, branching out into property and financing but the large store in High Street was the foundation of their empire. Built in 1888, it consisted of four stories in the front and three in the rear" it even included a lift. This impressive building was destroyed by fire in 1971.
The arrival of the railway from Newcastle in the 1850s, coupled with the increasing silting of the river and larger ships spelt the end of the traditional river traffic.
The municipalities of West and East Maitland were merged in 1944 and the name of West Maitland was officially reverted to Maitland in 1949, from which the present city is now known. The city's boundaries have been increased by incorporating parts of other local government areas since then (most notably Kearsley Shire which from 1946 to 1949 was the only local government area in Australia's history to have a Communist majority of councillors).
The first electricity connected in the area was to Maitland Town Hall in 1922, to the hall's front light.George, Peter. The Walka Power Station 1953–1977. Bolwarra, NSW. 1997. p. 1.
Belmore Bridge
The first bridge to link West Maitland with what is now the suburb of Lorn was opened in 1869 and named in honour of the then Governor of New South Wales, the 4th Earl of Belmore. Although the bridge proved vital to the city's development, the floods of 1893, 1913 and 1930 began to heighten the need for a new bridge that could withstand periodic flooding. A second Belmore Bridge, designed to withstand the impact of debris during floods, was built adjacent to the 1869 bridge in 1964. The new bridge, which redirected traffic away from St Andrews Street to a new intersection at the Maitland Court House, is one of the city's three main river crossings.
Floods
Year Details 1806 Prior to settlement, but biggest on record. Reports of floodwaters being as high as . 1820 Settlers report finding driftwood in trees above the normal river level. 1832 Seven killed, floodwaters peak at . 1834 Floodwaters peak at . 1857 Floodwaters peak at . 1864 The June 1864 flood was made worse after a series of wet seasons and repeated floods between then and 1857. It saw hundreds of people forced to evacuate.MAITLAND FLOODS, The Mercury (7 July 1864), p. 2. Retrieved 17 July 2022.Another Flood MAITLAND MERCURY. (13 February 1864), p. 2. Retrieved 17 July 2022.THE FLOOD AT MAITLAND. Illustrated Sydney News. (16 July 1864), p. 4. Retrieved 17 July 2022. 1867 The 1867 floods saw 2000 acres of agricultural land to South West of Maitland inundated.The Floods, The Maitland Mercury. (4 May 1867). p. 4. Retrieved 17 July 2022 1893 Extensive flooding destroys homes in Louth Park and Victoria Street. Nine killed. 1913 Floodwaters inundate central Maitland. Homes are lost on Mount Pleasant Street and in Horseshoe Bend. 1930 Floodwaters inundate Maitland. 1931 Floodwaters inundate Maitland. 1949 Floodwaters invade lower High Street, Maitland. 1951 Flooding in Maitland. 1952 Flooding in Maitland. 1955 Twenty five killed, 2,180 homes inundated by water. 1971 Biggest flood on record since 1955. 1998 Minor flooding in the Maitland district. 2007 Floodwaters invade suburbs of Maitland; central Maitland escapes flooding. 2015 Superstorm hits the Hunter, flash-flooding in Maitland. 2022 La Niña hits Maitland inundating all of Maitland flood land; Gillieston Heights isolated from Maitland in the process. Maitland's proximity to the Hunter River has resulted in a succession of floods since European settlement. Over 200 floods have occurred on the Hunter River since settlement, 13 of those higher than the river's normal peak limit of . Of these 13, all have had a direct effect on the city of Maitland.
Between 1830 and 1834 Maitland experienced five floods. The 1832 flood was severe with water reaching about and killing seven people. The 1834 flood water reached the same height. In the winter of 1857 the Hunter River rose again to record heights, reaching . Flooding continued for the next 30 years with the floods of the 1890s being the most disastrous. Much of the riverbank collapsed and many people were left without homes or personal possessions.
Flooding was described as an "annoyance" and "detrimental to the town" in the 7 April 1840 advertisement for the sale of "Windermere" where position "on a hill" was described as an appealing feature.
The 1940s and 1950s saw an increase in rainfall and the river rose again and again. In February 1955, Maitland and the Hunter Valley experienced its most severe flood in recorded history. The 1955 Hunter Valley floods, also commonly known as "The Maitland Flood", was the first Australian natural disaster to be broadcast by the media on an international scale. This flood is considered to be one of Australia's worst floods. The waters reached and caused catastrophic damage and loss of life. The volume of flood water was approximately and the cost of damage, in today's currency, would have been over A$2 billion. Seven thousand buildings and homes were damaged and the flood claimed the lives of 14 people.
In early June 2007 an intense low pressure system which caused devastating storms to hit the city of Newcastle and the Central Coast also caused major flooding throughout the lower Hunter Region including the Maitland area. During the flooding in 2007, the Hunter River was expected to reach a peak of at Maitland's Belmore Bridge and break levee banks. Some 4000 residents of the suburb of Lorn were evacuated before the floodwaters became stable at and did not inundate central Maitland. Other areas did not escape with waters inundating homes in Branxton, Louth Park and Raymond Terrace. The flood has been compared to the devastating 1955 Hunter Valley floods.
From 20 to 22 April 2015, heavy rainfall in the Hunter, Central Coast and Sydney regions of New South Wales resulted in flash flooding and extended power outages to over 200,000 homes. Maitland was badly affected and the flood gates at Maitland railway station were reinforced with sandbags to prevent flooding in central Maitland. Four people died as a result of the storms and a further four died in traffic related incidents. The towns of Dungog and Gillieston Heights, the homes of the four flood victims, were also badly affected, becoming isolated from other communities.
Jewish community
The Maitland Jewish Cemetery in Louth Park, one of only two provincial Jewish cemeteries in New South Wales, is testament to the Jewish community that was active in Maitland up until the 1930s. Between about 1846 and 1934, 53 Jewish people were buried in the low-lying cemetery. Burials ceased after this time due to dispersion of the community and the cemetery reaching capacity. One exception was Lea Abadee in 2010. The former Maitland Synagogue, located on Church Street, was the place of worship for about 70 families between 1879 and 1898.
Hospital The Immigrants Home was founded by Caroline Chisholm in East Maitland and was the first public building that was used to treat the sick. The site eventually became known as Maitland Benevolent Asylum. In 1835, when the population hit 1900, residents started to petition for a new hospital. In 1843 a meeting was called to discuss applying to Benevolent Asylum in Sydney. A committee was formed and succeeded in obtaining a grant of £1000 for a new hospital on 5 December 1844. In April 1845 Sir George Gipps approved a grant of a site at Campbell's Hill, West Maitland opposite Boyne's Inn. The foundation stone was laid by Edward Denny Day on 26 January 1846. In April 1846 the foundation stone was removed and was never recovered. In September 1847 the Building Committee announced that plans for the building of the new hospital would be accepted. The cost of the building was not to exceed £2000 and fifteen guineas would be awarded to the party furnishing the approved plan. By May 1848 the Maitland Mercury was reporting that the walls of the new hospital were visible from the town. Opened in 1850 its first years saw 231 patients and 26 deaths. Between 1903 and 1905 saw the completion of the Ward Block 1 at the southern end of the hospital. With the growth of population in the district, it was found that the accommodation was inadequate and a new building was erected and opened in 1905. In 1916 a blood bank and isolation cottage were completed. In 1926 the hospital became a training school for nurses. New nurses' quarters which occupied the site of the old Royal Oak Hotel was built during the twelve months from October 1927 to October 1928. In the 1930s Ward Block 3 was built and extensions were completed to the nurses home in 1932 and 1937.