Maitland, New South Wales


Maitland is a city in the Lower 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 about from its start at Hexham.
At the it had approximately 78,015 inhabitants, spread over an area of, with most of the population located in a strip along the New England Highway between the suburbs of Rutherford and Metford respectively. The city centre is located on the right bank of the Hunter River, protected from potential flooding by a levee.
Surrounding areas include the cities of Cessnock and Singleton local government areas.

History

Originally Maitland was a culmination of three separate towns which arose roughly all around the same time. West Maitland, now just Maitland, was a privately founded town which grew because of its proximity to the river and which today is the commercial centre of the city. The other areas were East Maitland, which was established by the colonial New South Wales government, and Morpeth, another private town founded by Lieutenant Close, a Peninsular War veteran. Each town functioned as if they were separate municipalities.
The name, Maitland, was reported in 1885 to have had its name taken 'from Sir George Maitland,... Under Secretary for the Colonies, and M.P. for the Borough of Whitchurch, in Hampshire, England'.
The present city was proclaimed in 1945 with the amalgamation of the three local government areas. The city's boundaries have been increased by incorporating parts of other local government areas since then.
West Maitland was founded in 1820 close to the tidal reach of the Hunter River where vessels with a shallow draft could navigate. Nearby Morpeth served as the head of navigation for larger ships, and goods would be 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.
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 built, which faced onto the main High Street and backed onto the Hunter River. For almost 20 years until the Victorian gold rush, Maitland was the second largest town in Australia. 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 first electricity connected in the area was to Maitland Town Hall in 1922, to the Hall's front light.

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

YearDetails
1806Prior to settlement, but biggest on record. Reports of floodwaters being as high as.
1820Settlers report finding driftwood in trees above the normal river level.
1832Seven killed, floodwaters peak at.
1834Floodwaters peak at.
1857Floodwaters peak at.
1893Extensive flooding destroys homes in Louth Park and Victoria Street. Nine killed.
1913Floodwaters inundate central Maitland. Homes are lost on Mount Pleasant Street and in Horseshoe Bend.
1930Floodwaters inundate Maitland.
1931Floodwaters inundate Maitland.
1949Floodwaters invade lower High Street, Maitland.
1951Flooding in Maitland.
1952Flooding in Maitland.
1955Twenty five killed, 2,180 homes inundated by water.
1971Biggest flood on record since 1955.
1998Minor flooding in the Maitland district.
2007Floodwaters invade suburbs of Maitland; central Maitland escapes flooding.
2015Superstorm hits the Hunter, flash-flooding in Maitland.

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.
However, 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. 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 on 11 June 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 invade central Matiland. 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 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 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 Jews were buried in the low-lying cemetery. Burials ceased after this time due to dissipation of the community and the cemetery being full. 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.

Heritage listings

Maitland has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
According to the, there were 78,015 people in Maitland.
Maitland has an assault rate of 1,110.4 per 100,000 population, which is significantly higher than the NSW state average of 823.4 per 100,000 population.

Climate

Maitland has a humid subtropical climate with hot summers and cool winters. It gets 90.3 clear days, annually.

Economy

Retail

Maitland has many shopping precincts including Stockland Green Hills, High Street Mall, Rutherford, Melbourne Street and Lawes Street. Morpeth, a suburb of Maitland, is also popular for its fashion boutiques, cafes and speciality shops.

Transport

Rail

Maitland railway station lies on the Hunter line and is the branch point for the Main North Line and the North Coast Line.
Other railway stations in Maitland include:
A passenger tram system ran from East to West Maitland between 1909 and 1926 after which it was replaced by buses which continue to service the route today.

Air

Maitland Airport is a general aviation airfield located beside the New England Highway in Rutherford. Construction was started in 1948 by the now-defunct Maitland Aero Club. In 1957, operation of the airfield transferred to the Royal Newcastle Aero Club, which moved from Broadmeadow Aerodrome, its original base of operations, in 1963. The closest commercial airport is Newcastle Airport which is in Williamtown, New South Wales.

Media

Maitland is serviced by a number of regional newspapers, radio stations and television stations.

Print

The Maitland Mercury and The Newcastle Herald are the foremost newspapers in the city. The Mercury, established in 1843, operates out of offices on High Street and is Australia's oldest regional newspaper. "The Lower Hunter Star" is an adjunct to the "Mercury" and is published every Thursday. With a circulation of almost 20,000, The Lower Hunter Star is delivered to most residents within the City of Maitland.

Radio

Radio stations include:

AM stations

Maitland is part of the Newcastle-Hunter Region television market, which is served by 5 television networks, three commercial and two national services. These new channels are available on digital TV only. These networks are listed as follows:
NBN produces an evening news bulletin combining local, state, national and international news screening nightly at 6.00PM on Channel 9, while Prime7 and WIN Television produce short local updates to fulfil local content quotas.
Subscription television service Foxtel is also available via satellite.

Theatre

The famous Scottish entertainer Sir Harry Lauder performed to a packed audience in Maitland Town Hall on Saturday 15 August 1925.

Annual events

Maitland has many training facilities including short course vocational training schools to international standard Phd studies. The Hunter Institute of Technology has a campus in Maitland, as does the privately owned Hunter Valley Training Company. These facilities provide excellent training in all fields, especially building and construction, engineering, mining, tourism and business administration.
A new technical college is being developed within the city.
Maitland has twenty primary schools and seven high schools. The high schools are:
There are also numerous pre-school and day care facilities and a campus of Hunter Institute of TAFE.

Sport and recreation

Maitland is generally accepted to be the birthplace of Motorcycle speedway when New Zealand born promoter Johnny S. Hoskins organised a series of motorcycle races at the West Maitland Showground on Saturday, 15 December 1923.

Notable people