Hunter Paranormal Australia: May 2011

I went out to Paterson to take a look around and to take some pictures last week to get a feel of the place. It is a lovely little town very rural and the back drop in the distant of the mountains is very pretty.
There is a walk called the Heritage / Historical walk which was very interesting and well worth the look. There is also a guided tour done by the Paterson Historical Society.

A walking tour of Paterson
A good way to see Paterson is to obtain a walking tour pamphlet and map from the Paterson Country Cafe in King St, opposite the Court House Hotel. What follows here is a slightly different and more economical route.
http://www.patersonhistory.org.au/

Interesting Facts on Paterson.

The Court House Hotel
This is not an old building but the Court House Hotel has a long history. It started as the Cricketers Arms in 1864 on the river bank north of the present village site. A major flood in 1875 made the building uninhabitable. It was demolished and the material moved to the current site and rebuilt as the Court House Hotel. That building was badly damaged again by flood and then fire in the 1930s and, in 1960, the manager's wife was burned to death in another fire.

Extract from Website
http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-factsheet/paterson--paces-to-see-20081118-6a5n.html#ixzz1LHLXvTAd

On Thursday, June 29, An inquest was held on the body of Duncan Mcgillarvy, the man who died from the injuries he had received during the election riots in Paterson. Aged around 30 he had been struck on the head twice by a man with a large stick. At the time he was struck he was calling for a man called Lang. None of the witnesses could identify the man who struck the blows. They had still not heard the result. July 8,1843.

Extract taken from the book : Death in the Hunter The reports 1841-1898 (compiled by Maitland History Circle)

1877 25th November
Mr.Wells coach accident happened. Mary Holden Aged 10 was killed.

1886
Bob Welsh drowned Sunday night -Found Wednesday 1st December, was the first man to be buried in a new burying ground.

1868
October 6th Ellan Nouns baby was stolen Tuesday night, was found drowned on Wednesday morning
Oct 6th 1868 by W. Randles.W. Randles was brought into the township and put in the lock up on Sunday 11th by Police. He was then taken to Maitland on Tuesday 12th October.

Extracts taken from Paterson Museum News NO 1 (published by Paterson Historical Society)

John Tucker Jnr

John Tucker was one of the first settlers along side George Bell and John Swan who produced wheat, barley and other produce for the settlement of Newcastle.
The life of these isolated settlers on the Paterson was not easy. Conflicts occurred with Aborigines and escaped convicts.
In one Tragedy John Tucker (Jnr) lost his bride in a drowning accident when a river boat capsized. The couple had been married commandant on July 16th 1815.

Extract taken from The Settlement of the Paterson district A.C Archer.

John Doige Tucker's House and Park

In Queen St there is a timber house surrounded by trees and a verandah which belonged to the Hunter Valley's first free settler John Tucker Jr.
Opposite is John Tucker Park, a very nice, green, shady reserve with well-established trees and children's' play facilities on the banks of the river. A last wharf was built here after the railway arrived in 1911 but it didn't last long.
(there is no known relationship with John Tucker Jnr and John Doige Tucker after whom the Tucker Park is named)

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-factsheet/paterson--paces-to-see-20081118-6a5n.html#ixzz1LoYVHveC

Paterson Cemetery St. Paul's

I went to see both cemeteries one of which was behind St Paul's Church of England which was very old and some of the pieces where broken it was also very cramped and a very small area. The cemetery contains some of the many eerie settlers in the district.
The second cemetery was on the outskirts which was surrounded by bush land and was very quiet and peaceful and as i was there taken pictures the council was cutting the grass.

St Ann's Church

Many early settlers in the area were Scots and St Ann's, built in the late 1830s and still holding services today, is said to be the oldest Presbyterian Church on mainland Australia.

Tocal Homestead

I have included Tocal Home Stead as one place that cannot be missed in the Paterson area. I went to visit this place a while back and it is worth visiting for the history side and was fun for all the family, I will be going back there again in the near future. The house itself is grandeur and beautiful and the artifacts which have been kept and displayed in the house are fantastic, you really get the feel of how it was in the old days.

http://www.tocal.com/homestead/index.html

Tocal is in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales at the junction of the Paterson River and Webber’s Creek. Tocal was once one of the greatest cattle and horse studs in Australia. Tocal has one of Australia's finest collections of colonial farm buildings dating from the 1820's, and within the precinct are Aboriginal stone grindings indicating thousands of years of human activity at Tocal.
The two gruesome killings on Tocal in the 1800s - one during a drunken fight between convicts in 1837 and the other that of a nameless, headless stockman in 1874. The book nicely captures the mood and recounts the intrigue of turbulent times at Tocal. A compelling history of the period.

Stockman is buried at Paterson Pioneer Cemetery.

Crimes of Passion on the Tocal Run $19.95

Many thanks for reading.

Linzi Hunter Paranormal Australia.

Hunter Paranormal Australia

Pages

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

What's Happening So Far With Hunter Paranormal Australia

Monday, May 23, 2011

Paterson 'Hunter Valley' New South Wales Australia

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