Josiah Cocking Photographic Archive

The Josiah Cocking Photographic Archive consisting of over 220 glass negatives was donated to Special Collections on the 9 December 2016 by the great grand daughter of Josiah Cocking, Lauren Prokes. They finally joined the rest of the archival material including the diaries and notebooks from Josiah Cocking donated in 1999 by Keith Cocking and family.

These glass negatives were cleaned and conserved, then scanned from the original glass negatives.

Josiah Cocking (1867-1960) was a published Newcastle poet, a coal miner and often wrote for local Socialist newspapers. Cocking was a member of the Australian Socialist League and advocate of industrial unionism and Industrial Workers of the World. 

Born in South Australia of Cornish descent, poverty frequently surrounded the Cocking household. Three brothers settled in Wallsend in 1886, Josiah gained work in the mines outside the local area. By 1911 he built a house on Billygoat Hill and had five children. In 1914 the family moved near the steelworks. 

The photographic collection contains some images of Wallsend, Plattsburg and Pit town, looking east from Billygoat Hill, steam engines and coal trucks. There are also photographs of steam and electric trams. There is also a number of photographs taken of friends and family members.