Uncovering and Understanding Australia’s First Railway

Abstract

In 1831 the Australian Agricultural Company (AACo) began operations of its fi rst coal mine in Newcastle to serve the growing colony of New South Wales (NSW). It honoured an agreement (and contract of 1824) to take over the sourcing of coal from the NSW Government, which since 1801 had been carried out ineffi ciently using convict labour under supervision of the military. The mine was developed on “The Hill” overlooking Newcastle’s Harbour and was connected to a staith (coal loader) on the wharf by a railway. With an offi cial opening date of 10 December 1831, the railway can rightly claim to be Australia’s fi rst. However, for many years little was known about the design, history or archaeology of this railway to give this claim substance and credibility. This paper will fi rst explain the historical background to the AACo’s coal mine and railway based on evidence unavailable until recently. This evidence includes sketches of the mine and accounts from the AACo’s records. It suggests that AACo carefully designed and resourced its fi rst mines with technology of the time that was developed for mines in the northeast of England. In a second part, this paper will describe recent archaeological evidence and research that shows that the design of the mine and the supply of equipment for the railway was of a high standard for that time (c. 1826). The opportunity to do this follows a very fortuitous uncovering of an iron relic from the early AACo mines by local historian and co-author, David Campbell. Recent research of early rail line technology has provided an understanding of this relic and its historic provenance. International inquiries have led to the discovery that the railway line may be contemporary in design and supply with some of the very early English railways. Railway historians in the UK are also surprised that a rare, cast iron “fi sh-belly” rail section, similar to that used on their famous Stockton to Darlington Railway of 1825, could be found from a railway in Australia.