Swansea: early days
by Denise Porter
As a kid, my family and I used to spend every summer Sunday at Swansea. My great grandfather Thomas Southon owned some land which went from Black Ned’s Bay up to Bowman Street and an old stone structure sat on it, half way down the block. He may have used the place when he was building the school at Catherine Hill Bay (1894) and Galgabba School (1887). Then there was the Wallarah School which was built in 1919. Perhaps it was also used when his brother William built the second Swansea Hotel. Swansea is a long way from Waratah/Mayfield where they lived. They surely would have camped out.
From what I can gather, the land in those days were divided into farm-like parcels. The Lake Macquarie Rate Notice History doesn’t go back far enough to find when the property was bought by my great grandfather. In 1919, the Newcastle Herald said that:
A new type of building, and one that is likely to prove popular, has been introduced by Mr. T. Southon, who is erecting a row of weekend cottages, each of two rooms, with verandah, etc., upon his land adjoining Black Ned's Bay. The walls are concrete four inches in thickness, the outside walls being rough cast, and the inside walls smoothed. The ceilings are lined and the first cottage to be completed presents a neat and comfortable appearance. Mr. Southon has commenced the building of a large concrete boatshed for a Newcastle resident, and concrete for buildings is likely to find a good deal of acceptance. Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), Wednesday 16 April 1919
Thomas Southon built his weekender on the Black Ned’s Bay water-front and they used it as their weekender for themselves and family members. It was eventually handed down to my grandmother from her brother Great Uncle Richard (Dick) Southon, who was a WW1 veteran. He spent a lot of time there and took my father on holidays often. My father adored him and said he taught him so much.
The old house sat one quarter on land and three quarters on pillars in Black Ned’s Bay. It was a very old house by the time I saw it and erosion had taken its toll. It was a bit of a worry when king tides hit. It used to flood. There was a newspaper article in the ‘60’s about dredging and the problems it led to, with my grandfather’s photo standing on the front verandah. After he retired he and my grandmother lived there from time to time. In the article, my grandfather says that "the house used to look over a rocky beach, leading down to the water. Now it is well in the water. At high tide, the water leaks into the kitchen. He says the position along the channel foreshore has deteriorated. He could remember when the channel near his place was hardly deep enough to put a boat, and now I can put a boat in at my back door".
There was a lady called “old Maud” who lived next door on the waterfront of the Peel Street side of the property. I used to have to take things, food I think, over to her and she ducked her head to get out. I think the floor of the cottage may have been of earth or that the land around the house was higher than the house. I’m not quite sure as I was very young and it was such a long time ago. I remember she seemed to have lots of cats. She was tall, thin and wiry, with a shock of white hair. I was a bit afraid of her. I contacted my aunt recently who said Maud was so lovely. She was an unmarried lady, surname Peel. My grandmother used also to visit an old lady called Amy Peel who also lived in Peel street. Her father Robert had a job opening the bridge.
The aunts and uncles used to drive down Peel street and park on a large vacant block between Amy’s house and Maud’s place on the water. I surmise that all that land was owned by Robert Peel. The rate notices again don’t go back that far unfortunately.
We had such fun in the water and out of it. Climbing the mulberry tree and having our fill, being bitten on the feet by bees, sandflies and of course the pelicans that sailed past. They were so graceful, peaceful and I loved them. To me, it was the best part of being there. As the verandah was “floating” in the Bay, you could watch them closely, coming up and down so quietly. There were no fences so there was so much land to run and play and because of the erosion, we had our own little beach. We used to play with the next-door neighbours on the south side, the Richardson’s. I used to play with Pauline.
Unfortunately, one day my sister let go of her floatie and mum decided to swim out after it. She got caught in the tide and couldn’t swim back. She sang out for help and dad dived in and swam out after her. Of course, he made sure he took his cigarettes out of his pocket first!!! They swam to the little island and a fishing boat brought them back. How quickly things can change in an instant. We were all very lucky that day.
The Pelicans must have loved Black Ned’s Bay as there was plenty of fish to satisfy themselves. I remember one late Sunday afternoon when the men were late getting back from fishing and went to the RSL afterwards and we kids were getting tired and cranky. My grandmother quietly took out her row boat and caught enough whiting to feed us all. She knew those waters so well. I was amazed! That little cottage sort of became “famous”. It was used in a small shot in the movie Summer City.
The house is now gone and a lovely new home was built in its place by my aunt. There is a concrete pad out the front which is where the original house was. It amazes me that it stood so long without floating down to the channel. As of about 2 years ago, the property is no longer a part of our family. My own family had the good fortune to spend a week there just before our move to Brisbane. I remember my sons learning to fish and one of them chasing by hand, a squid out the front of the house. The squid won. It was so fun to watch.
Some divers were scrounging around the front of the house and found some old bottles. There was sheer delight on their faces, so they must have found some good old ones.
The Southon Family were very hardworking people. There is a list of their buildings here The Southon Family of Builders: The Southon Family of Builders: Biographical Notes, Photographs and Newspaper articles. Transcribed and Compiled by Denise Porter (hunterlivinghistories.com)
I was recently amazed by the Rate Notices in Lake Macquarie old rate notices. Here I found all manner of land that my great grandfather mostly and his brother William owned. I remember when I was about 10-14 years old, my father took me to his mother’s house in Mayfield. There was a meeting of the “men” of the family. There were all these papers about 2 ½ inches thick. I saw them. All of them represented a block of land. Great Uncle Dick must have been left these properties and he didn’t pay the rates. I believe they were all handed back to the council. Most of the land was at Morisset. After my great grandfather died there was also a sale of other land that must have been sold, except the Swansea house, which was withdrawn from sale.
10/07 /1937 NMH - TUESDAY. 13th JULY, at 3 O'CLOCK. AT THE" ROOMS. 9 & 11 WOLFE-STREET. To wind up the Estate of the late Thomas Southon, deceased, by order of the Exectrix. WARATAH, SWANSEA, WANGI AND NELSON'S BAY ALLOTMENTS. WARATAH .--Prince-street, adjoining Waratah. Engineering Works, Allotment Land 38ft: to Prince-st., by a depth of 99ft. 6in., near Waratah Rail Way Station. Land, Prince-street and Turton-road, 148ft. and 75ft. front ages, depth 72ft. and on rear line 117ft. SWANSEA.-Main-road, adjoining Hotel, 39ft. to Main-road, by a depth of 295ft., return frontage to Wood-at., at rear. SWANSEA.-- Black Ned's Bay, a Weekend or home Site, 50ft, to Bowman st., depths of 183 and 157ft., return frontage to Black Ned's Bay at rear. WANGI WANGI--No. 2 Estate, Lot 227a. fronting Wangi Point-road, depths of 122 and 123 feet. SWANSEA.-Lot 5, Sec. B, Taaffe Estate frontages to Catherine Hill Bay road and Wallace-street. NELSON'S BAY PORT STEPHENS, Village of TERAMBY.--Lot 2. Sec. 6, near Town and Main Road. Plans can be inspected at our office. Further particulars apply to CREER & BERKELEY
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