Kurri Kurri, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
Kurri Kurri is a small town in the Hunter Region of New South Wales
, Australia
, in the Cessnock
LGA. At the 2006 census its population was 5,644. The combined population of Kurri Kurri and the adjoining suburbs of Stanford Merthyr, Pelaw Main
and Weston was 10,428.
Kurri Kurri's name comes from the local Awabakal language
where it has a meaning similar to "the beginning" or "the first".
The town's economy today is based on its aluminium smelter
and the surrounding wineries.
The Kurri Kurri Hotel (1904) is one of several built during the era of mining prosperity in the early 20th century. It is an impressive three storey building featuring prominent verandahs with cast iron lacework. The Empire Tavern was also built during this period. Kurri Kurri has numerous small miners' cottages from the same period.
, a government geological surveyor, uncovered the potential of the Greta
coal seam. More mines were opened in the early 1900s, supplanting those older pits at Newcastle
where the Australian Agricultural Company
enjoyed almost a monopoly. During this period there were a number of accidents including the death of six miners at the Stanford Merthyr Colliery in 1905, which is commemorated by a monument in the Kurri Kurri cemetery.
Richmond Main Colliery, also in the Kurri Kurri vicinity, was once the State's largest producer, at 3,400 tons per day, and which reputedly had the deepest shaft permitting access to two separate coal seams, the Scholey shaft, named after its founder, John Scholey
. Following the serious slump in the coal industry Stanford Merthyr Colliery closed in 1957, Pelaw Main in 1962, and Richmond Main in 1967.
The power station at Richmond Main Colliery, which provided the electricity for Kurri Kurri and surrounding districts, remained in operation for some years after the mine's closure, until the entire district was attached to the National Grid.
and originally had two passenger stations - one at Stanford Merthyr, and one on the main SMR line at North Kurri Kurri (opened in June 1904). A new red-brick station building and platform was built at Stanford Merthyr and opened in January 1909. It was renamed Kurri Kurri Station on 3 June 1922. However, with the closure of the SMR's branch line from Aberdare Junction to Stanford Merthyr, due to subsidence, North Kurri Kurri station was renamed Kurri Kurri in the mid-1930s. The station at Stanford Merthyr fell into disuse although the line from the colliery which passed through it was still in operation via the Richmond Vale Railway to Hexham
. While passenger services on the South Maitland Railway have ceased, the line is still in use for coal haulage. A new bridge is to be constructed to relocate the railway line to allow construction of the Hunter Expressway.
, Kurri Kurri was the centre of the Shire of Kearsley, which included most of the rural areas and villages around the township of Cessnock and part of the western suburbs of Maitland
. From 1946 to 1949 the Shire was unique in Australia in having a majority of the councillors who were members of the Communist Party of Australia
.
This was followed by the establishment of the Small Towns committee known as Towns with Heart. Their work has built on that undertaken by the Tidy Town committee.
Rugby League
player Andrew Johns
spent his childhood in Kurri Kurri, before moving to Cessnock. He would later play in the Kurri Kurri Under-16's side, as Cessnock was unable to field a team. Kurri Kurri is also noted has having produced more Rugby League internationals than any other town in Australia.
2007 saw Kurri Kurri noted for Australian motorcycle racing, with Supercross
champion Chad Reed
, MotoGP champion Casey Stoner
and Australian Superbike champion Jamie Stauffer
all once members of Kurri Kurri Junior Motorcycle Club.
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, in the Cessnock
City of Cessnock
Cessnock City Council is a Local Government Area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, located to the west of Newcastle. The largest population centre and council seat is the city of Cessnock, after which the LGA is named....
LGA. At the 2006 census its population was 5,644. The combined population of Kurri Kurri and the adjoining suburbs of Stanford Merthyr, Pelaw Main
Pelaw Main, New South Wales
Pelaw Main is a hamlet a few kilometres south-west of Kurri Kurri, in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It owes its origins entirely to the colliery there of the same name.-Pelaw Main Colliery:...
and Weston was 10,428.
Kurri Kurri's name comes from the local Awabakal language
Awabakal language
Awabakal is an Australian Aboriginal language that was spoken around Lake Macquarie and Newcastle in New South Wales. The name is derived from Awaba, which was the native name of the lake.-Classification:...
where it has a meaning similar to "the beginning" or "the first".
The town's economy today is based on its aluminium smelter
Kurri Kurri aluminium smelter
The Kurri Kurri aluminium smelter is located at Kurri Kurri, in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales, Australia. The smelter produced 164,000 tonnes of aluminium in 2006and is owned and operated by Hydro Aluminium - part of the Norsk Hydro group....
and the surrounding wineries.
Foundation
Kurri Kurri was founded in 1902 to service the local Stanford Merthyr and Pelaw Main collieries and mining communities. The town was named by District Surveyor T. Smith who chose the name because he believed it meant 'hurry along' in a local dialect. The town and suburban land of Kurri was proclaimed on 25 October 1902 and the first lots in the new development were sold on 10 June 1903. By 1911 Kurri Kurri had a population of 5,885 residents.The Kurri Kurri Hotel (1904) is one of several built during the era of mining prosperity in the early 20th century. It is an impressive three storey building featuring prominent verandahs with cast iron lacework. The Empire Tavern was also built during this period. Kurri Kurri has numerous small miners' cottages from the same period.
Coal-mining
Mining at the South Maitland Coalfields began at East Greta in 1891, after an 1886 exploration by Sir Edgeworth DavidEdgeworth David
Sir Tannatt William Edgeworth David KBE, DSO, FRS, was a Welsh Australian geologist and Antarctic explorer. A household name in his lifetime, David's most significant achievements were discovering the major Hunter Valley coalfield in New South Wales and leading the first expedition to reach the...
, a government geological surveyor, uncovered the potential of the Greta
Greta, New South Wales
Greta is a small town in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales, Australia in Cessnock City Council. It has a population of around 1000 people. It is largely a commuter town located midway between Cessnock, Singleton and Maitland...
coal seam. More mines were opened in the early 1900s, supplanting those older pits at Newcastle
Newcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
where the Australian Agricultural Company
Australian Agricultural Company
The Australian Agricultural Company is a company which serves to improve beef cattle production through responsible natural resource and land use...
enjoyed almost a monopoly. During this period there were a number of accidents including the death of six miners at the Stanford Merthyr Colliery in 1905, which is commemorated by a monument in the Kurri Kurri cemetery.
Richmond Main Colliery, also in the Kurri Kurri vicinity, was once the State's largest producer, at 3,400 tons per day, and which reputedly had the deepest shaft permitting access to two separate coal seams, the Scholey shaft, named after its founder, John Scholey
John Scholey
John Scholey was an extensive landed proprietor, prominent businessman, colliery owner, and Mayor...
. Following the serious slump in the coal industry Stanford Merthyr Colliery closed in 1957, Pelaw Main in 1962, and Richmond Main in 1967.
The power station at Richmond Main Colliery, which provided the electricity for Kurri Kurri and surrounding districts, remained in operation for some years after the mine's closure, until the entire district was attached to the National Grid.
Railways
Kurri Kurri was served by the South Maitland RailwaySouth Maitland Railway, New South Wales
The South Maitland Railway was once an extensive network of privately owned colliery and passenger railway lines which served the South Maitland coalfields in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia and were the second last system in Australia to use steam haulage, having used steam...
and originally had two passenger stations - one at Stanford Merthyr, and one on the main SMR line at North Kurri Kurri (opened in June 1904). A new red-brick station building and platform was built at Stanford Merthyr and opened in January 1909. It was renamed Kurri Kurri Station on 3 June 1922. However, with the closure of the SMR's branch line from Aberdare Junction to Stanford Merthyr, due to subsidence, North Kurri Kurri station was renamed Kurri Kurri in the mid-1930s. The station at Stanford Merthyr fell into disuse although the line from the colliery which passed through it was still in operation via the Richmond Vale Railway to Hexham
Hexham, New South Wales
Hexham is a suburb of the city of Newcastle, about inland from Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia on the bank of the Hunter River.Settlement occurred at Hexham in the 1820s when the land was granted to Edward Sparke...
. While passenger services on the South Maitland Railway have ceased, the line is still in use for coal haulage. A new bridge is to be constructed to relocate the railway line to allow construction of the Hunter Expressway.
Local government
Until the creation of the local government area known as the City of CessnockCity of Cessnock
Cessnock City Council is a Local Government Area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, located to the west of Newcastle. The largest population centre and council seat is the city of Cessnock, after which the LGA is named....
, Kurri Kurri was the centre of the Shire of Kearsley, which included most of the rural areas and villages around the township of Cessnock and part of the western suburbs of Maitland
Maitland, New South Wales
Maitland is a city in the Lower Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia and the seat of Maitland City Council, situated on the Hunter River approximately by road north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle...
. From 1946 to 1949 the Shire was unique in Australia in having a majority of the councillors who were members of the Communist Party of Australia
Communist Party of Australia
The Communist Party of Australia was founded in 1920 and dissolved in 1991; it was succeeded by the Socialist Party of Australia, which then renamed itself, becoming the current Communist Party of Australia. The CPA achieved its greatest political strength in the 1940s and faced an attempted...
.
Civic competitions
In 1988 the town established a Tidy Town Committee under the stewardship of the Keep Australia Beautiful competition. The town achieved immediate success and in the space of 6 years took the best town in NSW in 1993 and was a finalist in the best town in Australia. The town has taken more than 20 awards in this competition.This was followed by the establishment of the Small Towns committee known as Towns with Heart. Their work has built on that undertaken by the Tidy Town committee.
Local art
It is now becoming internationally renowned for its murals with more than 40 murals painted around the town and its environs depicting the history of the region and also recent events. Each year the town also hosts a Nostalgia Festival featuring rock 'n' roll dancing, hot rod and bike shows.Sport
Retired Newcastle KnightsNewcastle Knights
The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership...
Rugby League
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
player Andrew Johns
Andrew Johns
Andrew Gary "Joey" Johns is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s who is considered by many to be the greatest player of all time. He was heralded as the world's best halfback for a number of years...
spent his childhood in Kurri Kurri, before moving to Cessnock. He would later play in the Kurri Kurri Under-16's side, as Cessnock was unable to field a team. Kurri Kurri is also noted has having produced more Rugby League internationals than any other town in Australia.
2007 saw Kurri Kurri noted for Australian motorcycle racing, with Supercross
Supercross
Supercross is a motorcycle racing sport involving off-road motorcycles on an artificially-made dirt tracks consisting of steep jumps and obstacles. Professional supercross contest races are held almost exclusively within professional baseball and football stadiums.-History:Supercross was derived...
champion Chad Reed
Chad Reed
Chad Mark Reed AM is an Australian motocross and supercross racer. He is a multi-time supercross and motocross champion. He was taught from a young age as being capable of competing at the sports most elite level. He has proven to be the most consistent supercross/motocross racer in the 2000-2009...
, MotoGP champion Casey Stoner
Casey Stoner
Casey Stoner is an Australian professional motorcycle racer. Born in Kurri Kurri, New South Wales, Australia and raised in Southport, Queensland, Stoner raced from a young age and moved to the United Kingdom to pursue a racing career...
and Australian Superbike champion Jamie Stauffer
Jamie Stauffer
Jamie Stauffer born in Kurri Kurri, New South Wales, Australia is a professional motorcycle racer that competes in the Australian Superbike Championship....
all once members of Kurri Kurri Junior Motorcycle Club.
Notable people
- John Crook (Australian politician)John Crook (Australian politician)John Crook was an Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1949 to 1959. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party ....
- Luke FordLuke FordLuke Ford is an American writer, blogger, and former pornography gossip columnist known for his disclosures and traditionalist Jewish religious views.-Personal:Ford moved to California in 1977...
, writer - Bill Hamilton (rugby league)
- Paul HarragonPaul HarragonPaul "The Chief" Harragon OAM is an Australian rugby league football identity. A retired Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative forward, he played his club football for the Newcastle Knights whom he captained to the 1997 ARL premiership...
, rugby league footballer - Mark Hughes (rugby league)Mark Hughes (rugby league)Mark Hughes is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s. He played club football for the Newcastle Knights in the Australian National Rugby League and later for the Catalans Dragons in the European Super League...
- Bert James, politician
- Richard Johnson (footballer)Richard Johnson (footballer)Richard Johnson is an Australian former football player.-Club career:When still a teenager Johnson moved to England to seek a professional football contract. He joined the youth ranks of Watford, and made his league début in the closing stages of the 1991/92 season...
, soccer - Ernest LlewellynErnest LlewellynErnest Victor Llewellyn CBE was an Australian violinist, concertmaster, violist, conductor and musical administrator. He was the founding director of the Canberra School of Music and he is commemorated in the concert venue there, Llewellyn Hall.-Early career:Ernest Llewellyn was born in Kurri...
, violinist, violist - Eddie LumsdenEddie LumsdenEddie Lumsden is an Australian former rugby league player. He was a winger with the St. George Dragons during their eleven-year premiership winning run from 1956 to 1966, playing in nine grand finals....
, rugby league player - Greg McLarenGreg McLarenGreg McLaren is an Australian poet. Born in the New South Wales Hunter Valley coalfields town, Kurri Kurri. He moved to Sydney in 1990 where he studied at the University of Sydney and in 2005 he was awarded a PhD in Australian Literature. His thesis was on Buddhist influences on the Australian...
, poet - George NeillyGeorge NeillyGeorge Neilly was an Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Parliament from 1954 to 1977. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party ....
, politician - Sandy PearsonSandy PearsonMajor General Cedric Mandsley Ingram "Sandy" Pearson AO, DSO, OBE, MC is a retired Australian Army officer. He is a former Commander of Australian Forces during the Vietnam War, Commandant of the Royal Military College, Duntroon and Director of the Royal Agricultural Society of New South...
, Army Major General - Chad ReedChad ReedChad Mark Reed AM is an Australian motocross and supercross racer. He is a multi-time supercross and motocross champion. He was taught from a young age as being capable of competing at the sports most elite level. He has proven to be the most consistent supercross/motocross racer in the 2000-2009...
, motocross and supercross racer - John SattlerJohn SattlerJohn William Sattler is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1960s and '70s. He was a rugged Prop forward who led his club, South Sydney to four premiership victories between 1967 and 1971 and who played four tests for Australia – three as the national captain...
, rugby league footballer - Richard Saunders (skeptic)Richard Saunders (skeptic)Richard Saunders is an Australian skeptic, podcaster and professional origamist. He has received recognition by the Australian Skeptics with a Life Membership in 2001 for his contributions to the organisation...
- Adam ShieldsAdam ShieldsAdam Shields, born in Kurri Kurri, New South Wales), is an Australian international Speedway rider who has ridden for multiple teams in the British Speedway League. He first rode in this country for Premier League team the Isle of Wight in 2002, before stepping up to the Elite League for...
, Speedway rider - Jamie StaufferJamie StaufferJamie Stauffer born in Kurri Kurri, New South Wales, Australia is a professional motorcycle racer that competes in the Australian Superbike Championship....
, motorcycle racer - Casey StonerCasey StonerCasey Stoner is an Australian professional motorcycle racer. Born in Kurri Kurri, New South Wales, Australia and raised in Southport, Queensland, Stoner raced from a young age and moved to the United Kingdom to pursue a racing career...
, Grand Prix motorcycle racer - Reegan TannerReegan TannerReegan Tanner is a former Australian professional rugby league player who played for the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League...
, rugby league footballer