X-Nico

54 unusual facts about Newcastle


1804 in Australia

24 March – The settlement at the Hunter River, also known as the Coal River, is officially named Newcastle.

Alfred Webb-Johnson, 1st Baron Webb-Johnson

He was educated at the Newcastle High School at Newcastle-under-Lyme and at the Manchester University Medical School.

Battle of Laing's Nek

The first British camp on the march lay some 4 miles short of Laing’s Nek, a ridge in the foothills of the Drakensberg mountains that blocked the road between Newcastle and Standerton in Natal, South Africa.

Colley gathered his force at Newcastle in Natal, dispatched an ultimatum to the Boers and, on its rejection, advanced towards the Transvaal border.

Charlestown, New South Wales

The suburb contains four primary schools; the State schools of Charlestown Primary, Charlestown South Primary and Charlestown East Primary, and the Catholic Diocese's St Joseph's Convent Primary School.

Christopher Augustine Reynolds

The principal consecrator was Archbishop John Bede Polding of Sydney, and the principal co-consecrators were Bishop Daniel Murphy of Hobart, Bishop Matthew Quinn of Bathurst, and Bishop James Murray of Maitland.

Dan Frawley

After returning to Australia in 1910 Frawley made a guest appearance for the English team in their tour match against Newcastle.

Fanny Deakin

In 1934 she became a County Councillor in the recently merged Newcastle-under-Lyme Council, continuing her advocacy of child and maternal welfare issues through a number of different committees.

Her advocacy of mother and child welfare issues was recognised when Fanny Deakin Maternity Home was opened in 1947 in Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough.

Fanny Deakin (1883–1968) was a politician from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England, noted for her campaigns for better nourishment of young children and maternity care for mothers.

Frederick William Ward

He was then sent to Newcastle, New South Wales but resigned in 1869 and then joined the Wesleyan Church.

Gary Wiggins

He was taken to Muswellbrook Hospital nearby before being airlifted to the John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle, New South Wales, where he died.

Geoffrey Bindman

Bindman attended the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle, and then graduated from Oriel College, Oxford, with a law degree in 1956, qualifying as a solicitor three years later.

Greg Bownds

In March 2007, TNT defeated Steve Corino in the suburb of Cardiff in Newcastle, New South Wales to win the AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship.

Harold Snell

Snell, a scrum-half, was born in Newcastle, New South Wales and claimed a total of 3 international rugby caps for Australia.

Harry Oakman

An immigrant from Belgium, Oakman wrote numerous illustrated books on gardening and, as a public landscaper, enjoyed enormous influence over the design of open spaces in Brisbane, Canberra, and Newcastle.

Henry Machin

Henry Turner Machin I.S.O. (Born 26 November 1832 at Newcastle-under-Lyme, England. Died 25 April 1918 at Sherbrooke, Quebec)

Hunter Jaegers

After a search for a new location with the state, it was decided to move the second license to Newcastle and create a Hunter Region team.

John and Benjamin Green

The Green’s most important commissions in Newcastle were the Theatre Royal (1836–37) and the column for Grey's Monument (1837–38).

Kangy Angy, New South Wales

Home to a section of the convict built Great North Road, the area remained important as a hill crossing between Sydney and Newcastle until large scale earthworks permitted the development of more direct roads and highways.

Kanimbla-class landing platform amphibious

After transferring into the RAN and arriving in Australia, Kanimbla and Manoora spent two years docked at Fleet Base East before they were moved to Forgacs Dockyard at Newcastle, New South Wales in June 1996, where they underwent conversion from tank landing ships to amphibious warfare transports.

Keith Froome

Known as Keith, he was born in Armidale but grew up in Newcastle, New South Wales and played his junior football with Wests Newcastle.

Listed buildings in Brereton, Cheshire

It is in cast iron and consists of a cylindrical post with a curved plate inscribed with the distances in miles to Church Lawton, Newcastle, Holmes Chapel, Knutsford, Warrington, and Liverpool.

Marc Bolton

Bolton has enjoyed a varied career on the stage and has appeared at The Gate, The Bush Theatre and The Pleasance, as well as touring with the Hull Truck Theatre.

Mary Moore-Bentley

In 1943 she was committed to the Mental Hospital at Stockton in Newcastle, where she died in 1953.

Melverley

It is thought that the design of St Peter's may have inspired the architecture of St Andrew's Episcopalian church in Newcastle, Maine.

Michael Dameski

In October 2008 Dameski joined the cast as one of the five Billy's in Billy Elliot the Musical, along with Joshua Denyer (Sydney), Rhys Kosakowski (Newcastle), Dayton Tavares (Sydney) and Joshua Waiss Gates (Hobart) in the Sydney production.

Natal Mounted Rifles

The first depot was at Dundee, but, on the unit changing its name, this was transferred to Newcastle.

Newcastle Cathedral

:For the Anglican Cathedral in Newcastle, Australia, see Christ Church Cathedral, Newcastle

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Central by-election, 1976

The Newcastle-upon-Tyne Central by-election of 4 November 1976 was held after the resignation of Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Edward Short who left to take up the position of Chairman of Cable & Wireless.

Newcastle, County Down

Award winning children's author Martin Waddell, although born in Belfast has lived most of life in the town.

Newcastle, Jamaica

Formerly a military hill station for the British Army it is now a training centre for the Jamaica Defence Force.

Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal

This city serves surrounding maize, livestock and dairy farmers as well as workers connected to Karbochem, Mittal Steel South Africa (previously ISPAT/ISCOR), the textile and service industry.

Fani Madida – Former soccer player (Current Amazulu Assistant Coach)

Margaret H. Marshall – former Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Newcastle, Maine

Together with the village of Damariscotta linked by the Main Street bridge, they form the Twin Villages (see Damariscotta-Newcastle CDP).

Newcastle, New Brunswick

He has been recognised via many awards, including two Governor General's Awards.

Situated on the north bank of the Miramichi River, the former town is sometimes referred to as Miramichi West.

Prior to municipal amalgamation in 1995, it was an incorporated town and the shire town of Northumberland County.

Newcastle, Oklahoma

The main street of Newcastle historically was called the Ozark Trail, running from Rogers, Arkansas to Roswell, New Mexico.

Newcastle, Ontario

Newcastle has a beautiful community hall, donated by the Massey family, one public high school (Clarke), one public elementary school (Newcastle Public School), one Catholic elementary school (St. Francis of Assisi), a post office, churches, a few plazas, several small parks, six restaurants, Tim Hortons, a new recreation complex, an ice arena, fire hall, two grocery stores, professional offices, hardware stores, a marina on Lake Ontario, and a golf course (Newcastle Golf Course).

Newcastle, Saint Kitts and Nevis

Newcastle is a village on the northern coast of the island of Nevis in Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Newcastle, Texas

Following the beginning of coal mining in 1908, the town was established and named for the English coal town, Newcastle upon Tyne.

Oenone Wood

Oenone Wood, born on 24 September 1980 in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, is a retired professional cyclist, who commenced her cycling career in 2001 at the age of 21.

Patonga, New South Wales

Along with visitors from the Central coast, day trippers from Sydney, Newcastle, and other areas of the NSW provide customers to the handful of retail outlets.

Paul W. Franks

Prior to this, Franks received his general education at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle, and studied classical rabbinic texts at Gateshead Talmudical College.

Queer Collaborations

A challenge to the conference occurred in 2001 in Newcastle, when a political dispute caused the conference floor to split.

St Catherine's School, Germiston

It was to fill the growing need of education for the children of the miners and merchants in this growing township that the Dominican Sisters of Newcastle, Natal stepped in.

Stoke to Market Drayton Line

This was enabled by an Act of 1859 and passenger services from Stoke to Newcastle began in 1862.

Newcastle-under-Lyme

Tony Saint

He had contact with the theatre through the People's Theatre in Heaton.

Warnervale, New South Wales

Warnervale train station lies on the Main North line of the CityRail network allowing transport between Newcastle and Sydney.

Whaleback Shell Midden

Other shell middens are located on the estuary in both Damariscotta and Newcastle.

William End

End set up practice at Saint John as an attorney, was called to the bar in 1825 and moved to Newcastle.


1836 Wetheral train accident

Six or eight miles westwards along the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway from Brampton Junction is the village of Wetheral and a few hundred yards before Wetheral railway station is the hamlet of Great Corby.

1995–96 FA Premier League

Manchester United and Newcastle United emerged as the primary title contenders for the 1995–96 season.

2010–11 Stevenage F.C. season

Joey Barton pulled a goal back for Newcastle in injury-time with a long range effort that dipped over Chris Day, but Stevenage replied instantly with Peter Winn neatly finishing past Krul after good work from John Mousinho.

Anstey College of Physical Education

By the late 1960s the college was awarding degrees accredited by the University of Birmingham, and had successfully resisted a proposed merger with the larger and co-educational Madeley College, based near Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, which would have entailed the closure of the Chester Road premises.

Baron Skelmersdale

The title was created in 1828 for the former Member of Parliament for Westbury, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Clitheroe and Dover, Edward Bootle-Wilbraham.

Battle of Schuinshoogte

General Sir George Pomeroy Colley's communications with Newcastle were under constant harassment by mounted Boer patrols under Commander J D Weilbach after the Battle of Laing's Nek (another British defeat) and as a result he planned to clear a path along the Newcastle-Mount Prospect road to better protect the British supply line, and receive fresh reinforcements he needed to bolster his ranks.

Cárthach Bán Breathnach

He has been quoted as saying Demba Ba is his favourite player and was heartbroken to see him leave Newcastle.

Christian Allhusen

In 1827 in Newcastle, a businessman in the grain trade, he went into partnership with Henry Bolckow.

ComputerTown UK

An example of such a group was 'ComputerTown North East' (Newcastle-upon-Tyne & Gateshead) which met in the Tyne & Wear Science Museum cafe (and thus could claim to be the first ever cyber-cafe on Tyneside).

Cyril Golding-Bird

After time as vicar of St Barnabas', Dover, he began a long period of service overseas: first as Dean of the Falkland Islands; then a similar post in Newcastle, New South Wales following which he was ordained to the episcopate as Bishop of Kalgoorlie.

Edmund Fortescue

In the ‘Propositions of the Lords and Commons for a peace sent to His Majesty at Newcastle’ in July 1646, he is included in a list of persons who are to be removed from ‘his majesty's councils and to be restrained from coming within the verge of the court, bearing any public office or having any employment concerning the state’.

Elaine Willcox

Wilcox was born in Berlin, after her father was stationed in the city as part of the Royal Engineers, she was brought up in Newcastle where she stayed to complete a degree in English and History.

England riots

1991 England riots, mainly in Oxford, Cardiff, Dudley, Leeds and Newcastle upon Tyne; riots in Birmingham around the same time

Erik Routley

He was chaplain of Mansfield from 1948 to 1959 and then held appointments as minister in Edinburgh and Newcastle before becoming Professor of Church Music at Westminster Choir College, Princeton, New Jersey in 1975.

Fort Stockton, Texas

Other forts in the frontier fort system were Forts Griffin, Concho, Belknap, Chadbourne, Richardson, Fort Davis, Fort Bliss, McKavett, Clark, Fort McIntosh, Fort Inge and Phantom Hill in Texas, and Fort Sill in Oklahoma.

Francis Jones

Francis R. Jones, poetry translator and Reader in Translation Studies, Newcastle University

Hermann Behmel

He worked as a long term consultant for NATO in Newcastle, England, and Torino, Italy, and was head of Department at Universität Stuttgart, Institute for Geology and Paleontology.

Irving Nattrass

The then Newcastle manager Joe Harvey once commented "Nattrass is my Paul Madeley and I can't pay him a bigger compliment than that".

Jimmy Lawrence

Lawrence showed an aptitude for administration when Chairman of The Players' Union in his later days at Newcastle and after his playing retirement Lawrence moved into management.

John Colquhoun

John Campbell Colquhoun, British MP for Dunbartonshire, 1832–1835, Kilmarnock Burghs, 1837–1841, and Newcastle-under-Lyme, 1842–1847

John Erasmus Blackett

He was one of the original partners of the Newcastle upon Tyne Fire Office, now part of Aviva plc.

Kathryn Tickell

She has also composed music for two productions by Newcastle's "Live Theatre", presented a series of programmes for "BBC Radio 2" and TV programmes on music composition for Channel 4 Schools, recorded with the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, The Chieftains, Beth Nielson Chapman, The Boys of the Lough, Jimmy Nail, Linda Thompson, Alan Parsons, Andy Sheppard and many others.

Lake Innes Ruins, Port Macquarie, New South Wales

In 1853 he abandoned Lake Innes House and accepted employment as assistant gold commissioner and magistrate at Nundle and later police magistrate at Newcastle, where he died on 29 August 1857.

Liverpool poets

Other related poets include the Londoner Pete Brown (who wrote lyrics for Cream), Pete Morgan and Alan Jackson (both associated with the 1960s Edinburgh poetry scene), Tom Pickard and Barry MacSweeney (both from Newcastle), Spike Hawkins, Jim Bennett, Heather Holden, Mike Evans, Pete Roche and Henry Graham.

Luke Eves

Eves signed for Newcastle from Bristol towards the end of the 2009/10 season, with the signing being announced the day after Bristol lost to Exeter in the Championship final.

Newcastle Building Society

In 2006, it merged with another Newcastle-based society, the Universal Building Society.

Newcastle Scholarship

Distinguished winners of the Newcastle Scholarship in its original form include Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy, WR Inge, Patrick Shaw-Stewart, Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone, Douglas Hurd and William Waldegrave (currently Provost of Eton College).

Paul Winsper

After leaving Newcastle United, Winsper set up his own consultancy company and quickly had large customers including Nike, English Cricket Board, British Columbia Soccer Association, Toronto FC and Complete Football.

Robert George Gammage

He stopped briefly in Harrogate, where he had an introduction from his employer in Sherbourne to a coach trimmer who had moved there from Dorset, and he finally arrived in Newcastle in September 1842.

Robert Pierrepont, 1st Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull

The earl had five sons, one of whom became Henry Pierrepont, 1st Marquess of Dorchester, another was Francis Pierrepont (died 1659), a colonel in the parliamentary army and afterwards a member of the Long Parliament; and another was William Pierrepont (1608–1679), father-in-law of Gilbert Holles, 3rd Earl of Clare and also Henry Cavendish Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Sheriff's March

At an inquisition at Tynemouth in 1278, it was duly declared that the King of Scotland, the Archbishop of York, the Prior of Tynemouth, the Bishop of Durham and Gilbert de Umfraville, Earl of Angus should arrange to meet with the justices prior to their entry into Newcastle, provided that they came through the county of Yorkshire first.

Slampt

Slampt (also Slampt Underground Organisation) was a record label set up in Newcastle, England in 1992.

Somen Tchoyi

In a feat revered as 'Tchoyi Story 3' by Baggies fans (referencing the film Toy Story 3) he scored a hat-trick against Newcastle United at St. James' Park on the last day of the 2010–11 season, rescuing a point after being down 3–0 early into the second half.

The Newcastle Song

Hudson also wrote Girls in our Town, a more serious look at the position of young women in towns like Newcastle, which was performed by Margret RoadKnight.

Tomasz Bajer

The artist has been a two-time grant holder of the Ministry of Culture and an artist-in-residence in Carrara, Essen, Strassbourg, Munich and Newcastle (UK); nominated for the Europaeisches Kolleg der Bildenden Kuenste in Berlin.

Tyneview Park

The East Coast Main Line can be found to the east of the site also, with the Newcastle to Edinburgh stretch of the line.

Ursula Moray Williams

Many of Williams' manuscripts and further correspondence are held at Seven Stories, the Centre for Children's Books in Newcastle.

Wayne Richards

During the 1997 season split between the ARL and the Super League, Richards played for Newcastle (an ARL loyal club).

William Dobell

Among private and other public holdings, examples of Dobell's work are exhibited in the Newcastle Region Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane and the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.

William Westwood, 2nd Baron Westwood

Amid allegations of back-stabbing in the boardroom, when Lord Westwood, claimed himself and the then just sacked manager Richard Dinnis were being knifed in the back, he ordered a complete ban of every Newcastle United employee, especially the players, from talking to the press.

Willie McFaul

A battling 2–2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur seemed to have been the start for McFaul, but no wins in the next four matches saw his Newcastle side under severe pressure, but they pulled off a great win at champions Liverpool 2–1 with Mirandinha and Hendrie scoring.