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Voices of the Hunter

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Jack Delaney

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Ken Hartcher

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Voices of the Hunter

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Mary Hanna, née Ronaldson (1912-2005) - Greta resident. Recorded 20 April 1983. Part 1/1.

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SummaryTAPE 434B MARY HANNA Recorded 22 December 1993. Part 1/1.

0:00
Mary is aged 81 at this time. Her family was in Maitland in the 1913 flood at Telarah. Her father worked in the shaft at East Greta. Her mother wanted to move then and they went to Greta at Anvil Creek. Her father worked at Whitburn and left and went to Central Greta until he went to the War in 1915. He was away for 3 and a half years. When he came back he went back to Central Greta.

3:40
In later years they ran a tunnel from the old pit right across to the station. They had the railway through it.

4:40
Ken Hartcher helped pull up the railway.

5:20
There was a separate rail track to the mine from the main line. The Whitburn one was higher up.

7:05
The coal train came through the red gates straight to the pits. There was another tunnel opened alongside the road – it didn’t eventuate to anything. It was never used.

9:00
The skips were brought by wire ropes on a winch. The skips were tipped over. They had the name Central Greta on the sides of the wagons.

10:40
In 1930 the pits were finished. They married in 1934. The line was more a tram line, it wasn’t wide. It went over the main road (New England Hwy). They lived near the Club at Whitburn.

13:55
Ken Hartcher. Mrs Hartcher was a war bride. They lived at Anvil Creek. Mr Bill Humphrey was mine manager at Greta Colliery in 1901 when it caught fire. Mentions Farthing family.

16:30
Mary’s father as a miner had to blast and dig out the coal. The skips were wooden and about 4ft long. She saw the skips going down the pit – about 6 going down with 2 or 3 coming up. On the pit top the wagons were tipped into trucks.

19:55
Ken Hartcher went out to work at Cwmdu when he knew how to fire a boiler. Bill Humphrey.

23:30
Mary remembers a dam dug for water for the boilers.

25:25
The horses were kept underground – Mr Wade was a hostler.

27:50
Steve Guildford. Closed down Glen Davis shale mine.

29:45
The old Greta Pit where the people were buried. Apparently there were 5 men who weren’t retrieved from a mine accident.

30:20
Many people moved from Greta to Kurri Kurri, some houses were moved to new locations.

31:40
Mary’s early days in Greta – the other side of the railway was called “Old Pongie”.

33:30
Dams were built to supply water to the boilers for steam.

35:40
When Mary was 14 she recalls going with her father and Mr & Mrs Bell down the single tunnel walking right through from one side of the mine site to the other. Her father had a cap with the tallow lamp. He also worked at Maitland Main until he retired.

40:50
Subdivision of land at Ellalong - Farthing – Hughes – Hoskins – Rev Purves. Ellalong belonged to Hoskins and Hughes – Ellalong was another name for Anvil Creek.

42:15
Farthing’s pit 44 yards from the railway station – a shaft went down. Close to the railway buildings. Farthing’s platform. Granny Callaghan. Granny Hodges.

44:55
Tape finishes. Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

SubjectGreta (N.S.W.)Greta Colliery (N.S.W.)Maitland Main Colliery (N.S.W.)Coal mines and mining -- New South WalesEllalong (N.S.W.)Hanna née Ronaldson, Mary Jane, 1912-2005 Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

PersonJack Delaney Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Depicts or Relates ToKen Hartcher Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

CreatorHanna née Ronaldson, Mary Jane, 1912-2005Delaney, Jack, 1919-2010CollectionVoices of the Hunter Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Date Created22nd December 1993Location^[1]Ellalong, NSW Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

^[2]Greta, NSW Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

^[3]Maitland Main Colliery, NSW Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Identifier434B Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Job Identifier434B

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