Maitland, New South Wales

Maitland is a city in the Lower Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia and the seat of Maitland City Council, situated on the Hunter River approximately 166 km by road north of Sydney and 35 km north-west of Newcastle. It is on the New England Highway about 17 km from its start at Hexham.

It has approximately 61,431 inhabitants, spread over an area of 396 km2, although the main built up area predominantly forms a strip between the suburbs of Rutherford and Metford respectively.

Surrounding areas include the cities of Cessnock and Singleton Local Government Areas.

History
Founded in 1820, vessels with a shallow draft could navigate the Hunter River to West Maitland. Nearby Morpeth served as the head of navigation for larger ships (later, steamships), and goods would be transhipped upriver to West Maitland on barges and smaller vessels. Maitland was therefore the point at which goods were unloaded for, and distributed to, the hinterland. Accordingly there were large warehouses (some of which still exist) built, which faced onto the main High Street and backed onto the Hunter River. For almost 20 years until the gold rushes in Victoria, Maitland was the second largest town in Australia. The arrival of the railway from Newcastle, coupled with the increasing silting of the river and larger ships spelt the end of the traditional river traffic.

Originally three separate towns - West Maitland aka "The West Side") (a privately founded town which grew because of its closeness to the river and which today is the commercial centre of the city), East Maitland (established by the colonial government) and Morpeth (also a private town founded by Lt Close, a Peninsular War veteran) each of which were separate municipalities. 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 (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).

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

Tourism
Tourism is also a significant local industry.
 * Maitland Gaol
 * Morpeth, New South Wales

Transport
Maitland 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:
 * East Maitland
 * High Street
 * Metford
 * Mindaribba
 * Telarah
 * Victoria Street

Media
Local print media include:
 * The Lower Hunter Star
 * Maitland Mercury

Hunter Valley Steamfest
Annual festival celebrating the history of steam power. It was established in the 1980s in response to the temporary closure of the extensive South Maitland Railway network to Cessnock.

Morpeth Jazz Festival
The Morpeth Jazz Festival is an annual music festival held at the popular historic riverside port of Morpeth. It is a celebration of music, wine and food.

Groovin' the Moo
Groovin' the Moo is an annual music festival held at the Maitland Showground.

Maitland Show
Annual agricultural show held at the Maitland Showground.

Education
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 (Australia's largest group trainer). 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 six high schools. The high schools are:
 * All Saints College, St Joseph's Campus
 * All Saints College, St Mary's Campus
 * All Saints College, St Peter's Campus
 * Hunter Valley Grammar School
 * Maitland Christian School
 * Maitland Grossmann High School
 * Maitland High School
 * Rutherford Technology High School

There are also numerous pre-school and day care facilities.

Floods
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 10.7 m. 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 8.84 m 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 9.2 m. 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 12.5 m and caused catastrophic damage. The volume of flood water was approximately 3,750,000 megalitres (824,884.7 million imperial gallons), or enough to fill approximately 1.5 million Olympic-size swimming pools and the cost of damage, in today’s currency, would have been over AUD $2 billion. Seven thousand buildings and homes were damaged and the flood claimed the lives of 14 people. The 1955 flood was also the first Australian natural disaster to be transmitted world wide.

In June 2007 a low pressure system that devastated the city of Newcastle caused major flooding throughout the lower Hunter Region including the Maitland area. Floodwaters, expected to reach a peak of 11.3 m at Maitland's Belmore Bridge, inundated homes in Branxton, Louth Park and Raymond Terrace but did not invade central Maitland. The flood has been compared to the devastating 1955 Hunter Valley floods.

1800s

 * 1806 - Prior to settlement, but biggest on record. Reports of floodwaters being as high as 24.4 m.
 * 1820 - Settlers report finding driftwood in trees 18.9 m above the normal river level.
 * 1832 - Seven killed, floodwaters peak at 8.9 m.
 * 1834 - Floodwaters peak at 8.9 m.
 * 1857 - Floodwaters peak at 9.2 m.
 * 1893 - Extensive flooding destroys homes in Louth Park and Victoria Street. Nine killed.

1900s

 * 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 invaded by water.
 * 1971 - Biggest flood on record since 1955.
 * 1998 - Minor flooding in the Maitland district.

2000s

 * 2007 - Floodwaters invade suburbs of Maitland; central Maitland escapes flooding.

Notable residents

 * John Bell (1940 -) actor
 * David Berthold theatre director
 * Greg Bird (1984-) professional rugby league player
 * Alexander Brown (1851 - 1926) merchant and politician
 * Caroline Chisholm (1808 - 1877) humanitarian
 * Percy Brereton Colquhoun (1866 - 1936) sportsman, lawyer and politician
 * Abbie Cornish (1982 -) actress
 * Ruth Cracknell (1925 - 2002) actress
 * Les Darcy (1895 - 1917) boxer and folk hero
 * Luke Dorn (1982 -) professional rugby league player
 * Joseph Wilfrid Dwyer (1869 - 1939) Roman Catholic bishop
 * Walter Edmunds (1856 - 1932) judge
 * Adolphus Peter Elkin (1891 - 1979) Anglican clergyman and professor of anthropology
 * Nick Enright (1950 - 2003) playwright
 * Walter John Enright (1874 - 1949) solicitor and scientist
 * H. V. Evatt (1894 - 1965) jurist, writer & politician
 * Robert Ewing (1871 - 1957) taxation commissioner
 * Lionel Bale Fletcher (1877 - 1954) Congregational minister and evangelist
 * William Calman Grahame (1863 - 1945) politician
 * Sir Cecil Stephen Hincks (1894 - 1963) politician, farmer and soldier
 * Eleanor Mary Hinder (1893 - 1963) welfare officer and international public servant
 * Richard St John Honner (1897 - 1962) surgeon and athlete
 * Charles George Macartney (1886 - 1958) cricketer
 * Percy Joseph Marks (1867 - 1941) solicitor and historian
 * Charles Stuart Mein (1841 - 1890) barrister, politician and judge
 * Sir Arthur William Morrow (1903 - 1977) physician
 * Kathleen Clare O'Keeffe (1883 - 1949) public servant and campaigner for equal pay for women
 * Charles Edward Pilcher (1844 - 1916) barrister and politician
 * Henry Chamberlain Russell (1836 - 1907) astronomer and meteorologist
 * Arthur Ernest Stonham (1900 - 1966) magistrate
 * John Duncan Tipper (1886 - 1970) conservationist and electrical engineer
 * Edward George Young (Dan) Tyrrell (1871 - 1959) vigneron
 * Walter Lawry Waterhouse (1887 - 1969) agricultural scientist
 * Ella Wilson (1870 - 1959) Sister of Charity
 * Leonora Wray (1886 - 1979) golfer