About

About the Signpost

Newcastle Signpost tells the history of Newcastle, New South Wales, one place at a time.

It is a fan’s paper: the stories behind the places people swim, walk and stop to read a plaque. Each one is built from the records that survive, the State Heritage Register, the City of Newcastle, the University of Newcastle’s Living Histories, Geoscience Australia, and the newspapers of the day on Trove, and each names its sources at the foot of the page.

Who writes it

The stories are written by Ruth Ellery, a disclosed editorial pen name. The stories use AI-assisted drafting and review of named sources; the byline does not claim local residency, archival qualifications or first-hand visits.

When the records disagree

Old records often give different dates for the same thing. Where they do, the page says so in a box headed “The dates don’t agree”, with each source’s version.

Checking a story

Each story links to its records below. Those sources show what was published and who holds the original archive material.

Country

The Signpost is written on Awabakal and Worimi Country. Mulubinba is an Awabakal name for the place that became Newcastle; read about the names.

Pictures

Photographs come from Wikimedia Commons and the State Library of New South Wales, most of them public domain, the rest under Creative Commons licences, and each is credited under the picture. The map is drawn from OpenStreetMap.

Disclaimer

Newcastle Signpost is not connected with the newspaper that once used this web address. It is not part of the City of Newcastle or any museum, historical society or newspaper.