Coastal coal-carrying trade of New South Wales

Coal was needed in Sydney to feed the production of town gas (from 1841 to 1971), as bunker coal for steamships, and as fuel for industrial and hospital heating boilers. Brickworks were a significant user of coal as a fuel. In the C19th and very early C20th, there was also some demand for coal as a fuel for domestic heating. Some coal also was trans-shipped and exported from Sydney.

Coal seams extend under Sydney but the huge depth of these seams has resulted in only very limited mining activity in Sydney.[12] The coal seams of the Sydney Basin outcrop to the north, south and west of Sydney. The Metropolitan Colliery, 45 km south of Sydney at Helensburgh, is the closest commercially viable coal mine.

Given the short distances involved, it is not immediately obvious why coal would be carried to Sydney by sea. Not all coal consumed in Sydney arrived by ship; the railways also carried coal to Sydney. However, the main railway lines from Sydney to the north and south were not completed until the late 1880s. By that time, some mines were already well established and connected to nearby ports by local rail lines, the shipping trade was well established, and many major customers already had facilities on the waterfront of the natural port of Sydney Harbour and were without a rail siding. Some mines had been designed to ship coal by sea only, for example Coalcliff (up to 1910) and the Wallarah Colliery at Catherine Hill Bay. Most of the local rail lines to the mines were privately owned and used rolling stock that was not to the standards expected of main line rail operations—for example wagons without air brakes—and operation over government-owned lines was restricted to specific lines and not allowed on others.

Coal bunkering of steamships in Sydney Harbour was a natural fit for the coastal coal trade. Sixty-milers could moor alongside a steamship and directly transfer coal to the ship's bunkers.[13] After 1920, coal could be off-loaded at the purpose-built bunkering facility, the Ball's Head Coal Loader.[14] Coal bunkering also took place at a 'coal wharf' at Pyrmont.[15]

The New South Wales Government Railways were large users of coal. But once the railway from Sydney reached the western coal-fields in 1869 and later the other coal fields, they had no need for coal carried in ships.

Four of the electrical power stations in Sydney—Bunnerong on Botany Bay, and White Bay, Pyrmont and Ultimo on Sydney Harbour—were supplied with coal by rail. All these power stations were situated close to the waterfront but that was to obtain cooling water not port access.[16] Two of the power stations—Ultimo and White Bay—initially were operated by the railways and all the power stations in Sydney were built after the rail connections from the coalfields to Sydney were completed. The other power station, at Balmain, had no rail siding. It was coal-fired but also raised some steam by incinerating garbage. Its coal was landed from barges at the waterfront until 1965 [17] and so it seems likely that some or all of the coal for the Balmain Power Station came by sea.

In parallel to the coastal trade to Sydney, there was an interstate coastal trade in coal and coke from the same ports to other Australian states, particularly Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania where black coal was needed for steamship coal bunkering, rail transport and industrial purposes and coke was needed for smelting ores.

Coal was carried to Sydney in ships known as ‘sixty-milers’. The name refers to the approximate distance by sea—in nautical miles—from the Hunter River to Sydney.

The heyday of the 'sixty-milers' was from around 1880 to the 1960s. In 1919, a Royal Commission identified twenty-nine ships engaged in the coastal coal-carrying trade.[18]

There was almost no overlap in the ships used in the two coastal coal trades. The interstate ships were larger than most 'sixty-milers' [19] and making longer voyages needs different crewing arrangements and larger coal bunker capacity..

In the earlier years of the trade, there were many owners and operators, sometimes just owning or operating on charter just one vessel. Owners of the 'sixty-milers', during this period, most typically were coal-mines (such as Coalcliff Colliery and Wallarah Colliery), or coal-shippers or merchants (such as Scott, Fell and Company, G.S.Yuill & Co. ),[20] The southern coalfield collieries (Coalcliff Collieries, etc.) owned their own ships but most were chartered to the Southern Coal Owner's Agency, which operated the ships. Later companies that both owned coal mines and were also coal merchants (such as R.W.Miller and Howard Smith Ltd) owned ships and ownership became more concentrated.

In the later years of the trade, one of the dominant owners was R.W. Miller[21] and its successor companies. However, due to company takeovers and cross-ownership between R.W. Miller, Howard Smith Limited and Coal and Allied Industries, it is somewhat difficult to track ownership of vessels and loading assets of these firms. In 1989, Howard Smith took full ownership of R.W.Miller. Another dominant owner in the later years of the trade was the Melbourne shipping company McIlwraith McEachern, owners of the sixty-milers whose names included 'Bank' (Mortlake Bank, etc.) [22] Ownership was sometimes difficult to follow; the Hexham Bank may have been described as an 'R.W. Miller' ship when in fact it was on charter to that company from its actual owners McIlwraith McEacharn. Ships of course were bought and sold and changed ownership, while still carrying coal cargoes for their new owners; sometimes the change in ownership also resulted in the ship's name changing, such as when the Corrimal became the Ayrfield.

In contrast to the 'sixty-milers', the owners of the interstate coastal ships were usually more traditional ship-owners, some of whom specialised in carrying coal and coke.[19]

Coal from the northern coalfields was loaded at Hexham on the Hunter River, Carrington (The Basin, The Dyke) near Newcastle, on Lake Macquarie, and at the ocean jetty at Catherine Hill Bay. In the early years of the trade, coal was loaded at Newcastle itself, on the southern bank of the Hunter River, at the river port of Morpeth, and at a wharf at Reid's Mistake at Swansea Heads.

The coalfields to the north of Sydney had the advantage that the Hunter River and its estuary, while not ideal, could be used as a port. Mining commenced on the northern fields first. The first coal mines were initially operated by the government using convict labour. Sporadic mining operations started around what is now Newcastle and, in 1799, a cargo of coal was shipped to Bengal aboard the Hunter. The first ‘permanent’ mine at Newcastle was opened in 1804.

When Newcastle ceased to be a penal colony in 1821, the government continued to operate the mines. Commissioner Bigge had recommended that the mines be given over to private operation. In 1828, there was an agreement struck between the Secretary of State for colonies and the Australian Agricultural Company that made coal mining a monopoly of that company.[23] One other company was able to persuade the government to allow it to mine coal from 1841, the Ebenezer Colliery at Coal Point on Lake Macquarie.

Lambton Coliery in 1886, with rakes of empty 'non-air' wagons in the foreground. (Photographer: Ralph Snowball)

The monopoly was broken when challenged in 1847 by the Brown family, who began mining coal at Maitland and using the river port of Morpeth and undercut the price of coal mined by the AAC. Coal was accessible in many places throughout the Hunter Valley and on both the eastern and western shores of Lake Macquarie. Once the monopoly was broken, many mines were soon in operation throughout the northern coalfields. At the end of the C19th, the four most important companies on the northern field were the Australian Agricultural Company, J & A Brown, Newcastle Wallsend and Scottish Australian (Lambton Colliery). Of these, only the Scottish Australian was not a member of the Associated Northern Collieries. This was essentially a cartel that divided production as quotas for each of the participating colliery owners. There was a monetary mechanism under which collieries selling above their quota compensated those selling under their quota. To avoid companies just leaving coal in the ground, quotas were adjusted based on actual sales for the previous year. The arrangement was known as "the Vend" and operated for most of the years between 1872 and 1893, when it collapsed due to competition in the export market.[24]

Four-wheel 'non-air' coal wagon at Hexham in 1990. The lugs at the top were used to lift the removable hopper out of the frame by crane.

Many collieries on the northern coalfield of NSW were named after collieries in the United Kingdom. Other names referenced the coal seam being mined and that confused the locality and identity of the mine further. With changes of ownership, mine names often changed and sometimes names associated with good-quality coal were moved to completely different collieries.

Most mines of the northern coalfields were connected to the ports at Hexham and Carrington by an extensive network of railway lines; some were government lines and others were privately owned. Coal was loaded into four-wheel wagons owned by the mining companies. The type of four-wheel wagon used consisted of a frame with wheels and a removable wooden hopper. Trains of wagons were hauled to the port, where the removable hoppers were lifted out of the frame by a crane and dumped by opening the bottom of the hopper. They were known as 'non-air' wagons because they did not have air-brakes.

At their peak, there were 13,000 of these ‘non-air’ wagons in service, belonging to around sixty operators. Larger modern bogie wagons were introduced in the 1960s and ‘non-air’ wagons were banned from Port Waratah in 1974 but continued to be used to bring coal to Hexham. There were still 3,000 in use in 1975 and 900 when the Richmond Vale Railway closed in September 1987. 'Non-air' wagons came in different capacities between 7 and 12.5 tons. Large letters on the side of the wagon identified the owner, and small letters its capacity.[25]

Ships bound for the river ports of Newcastle (Port Hunter), Carrington, Hexham and Morpeth had first to enter the river mouth between Nobby's Head and Stockton.

Shipping coal at Newcastle c.1878. Steam-cranes are lifting the removable hoppers from the rail wagons.[26] The building in the left background is the Newcastle Customs House.

The mouth of the Hunter was difficult for sailing ships heading south to Sydney. Sailing ships leaving port could not negotiate the east-north-east facing channel leaving the river, when winds favourable to a southern passage were blowing. From 1859, these ships were towed out by steam tugs and the situation improved.[27] The construction of the breakwater and land reclamation between Nobby's Head and Newcastle increased the safety of the port.

Map of Newcastle in 1868. The locations of coal staithes and the six steam cranes on the Government Wharf (Queens Wharf) are shown.[28]

Just to the north of the river mouth is the notorious Oyster Bank, actually a series of shifting sandbanks. At least 34 vessels were lost on the Oyster Bank. Construction of the northern breakwater somewhat reduced the hazard to shipping entering the river.[29][30][31][32] Around the same time as the northern breakwater was built over the Oyster Bank, a southern breakwater was extended from Nobby's on the southern side of the river.[33]

The shallowness of the entrance to the Hunter River continued to be a limitation on shipping into the 1920s[34] and a hazard during bad weather.[35] Work continued to improve the river mouth, culminating in the excavation of a deep channel 600 feet wide, with 27 feet of water depth, effectively removing the rock bar at the river's mouth.[36][37]

Coal was shipped from Newcastle to Sydney, from around 1801 onward. Initially mines were located in what is now the inner-city of Newcastle and coal was loaded from wharves on the southern bank of the Hunter River. Newcastle was the main port, during the time of the Australian Agricultural Company's monopoly on the mining of coal (1828–1847). The A. A Co. built the first rail line in Australia, from its mines to the Newcastle port.

By the 1860s, Newcastle was a busy coal port with both the privately-owned coal staiths and the government-owned Queen's Wharf in operation. The Queen's Wharf was connected to the Great Northern Railway[28]—opened as far as East Maitland in 1857—and had six steam cranes used for loading coal.[38][39] The westernmost staithes were the privately-owned staithes of A.A. Co., which were connected to their private railway line. The stathes to their east were connected to the Great Northern Railway and to the Glebe Railway.[28][40]

With the completion of the port at nearby Carrington and the end of coal mining in Newcastle itself, the importance of the old port of Newcastle as a coal port, declined. Steam cranes were relocated from Newcastle to the Dyke at Carrington.[41][38]

Morpeth c.1865, during its heyday as a river port. (Unknown engraver, Illustrated Sydney News, 16 October 1865, Page 5.)

The river port at Morpeth on the Hunter River was used to load coal mined in the Maitland area by J & A Brown from around 1843. Coal was also needed to recoal steamers at the port.

Although it lies far downstream from the tidal limit,[42] Morpeth was the effective head of navigation of the Hunter, because farther upstream there were many large bends in the river between Morpeth and Maitland. Aside from greatly increasing the distance by water to Maitland, these bends were difficult for vessels to navigate. It also lay just upstream of the confluence of the Hunter River and the Paterson River, below which the river broadens. Morpeth had been a river port from the 1830s.[43]

Map of the East Maitland to Morpeth Railway Line showing the location on the coal staiths and the siding. Note the bends in the river above Morpeth.

The importance of Morpeth as a port began to decline, once the railway from Newcastle reached East Maitland in 1857. A branch railway to the old port was opened in 1864. There were coal staiths[44] and a railway siding for these at Morpeth, These new staiths were still unfinished in early 1866.[45] Once completed, the new Morpeth staithes were rarely used.[46] By the late 1870s, little coal had been loaded there[47] and, by the late 1880s, the coal staiths were in a derelict and dangerous condition.[48] Construction of the Morpeth Bridge, downstream of the staiths, in 1896 to 1898, ended any possibility of their revival, as only very small steamers could pass under it.[49] Morpeth continued as a port but mainly for agricultural products.

Morpeth was disadvantaged by its distance up river, the shallowness of the river, and the impact of river floods.[50] It was overtaken, as a coal port, by the downstream river ports at Newcastle, Hexham, and Carrington, which had better railway connections to the coalfields, could handle greater volumes and larger vessels, had better port facilities, and were closer to Sydney.[51] However, local interests continued to advocate coal loading at Morpeth.[52]

Regular shipping port operations at Morpeth ceased in 1931,[53] but some shipping continued in a small way after that time.[54] Due to wartime constraints on transporting coal by rail, in 1940, coal from Rothbury was shipped at Morpeth but not directly to Sydney; it was brought to the port by road and then sent by barge for transshipment at a downstream river port.[55]

The river gradually silted up[56]—no longer being dredged[57]—leaving Morpeth to fall into further decline. The branch line closed in 1953.[58][59]

The Dyke, with the Basin on the right, the rail-yard in the foreground and the pump house to the left - 1904. (Melvin Vaniman collection of photographic panoramas in the State Library of New South Wales)

The port at Carrington was the largest of all the coal ports of the coastal coal-carrying trade. The Basin and the Dyke could handle larger ships and were also used for coal export and coal bunkering, as well as loading 'sixty-milers'.

Coal loading cranes at Carrington. in December 1955. (Hood Collection of the State Library of NSW)

The area was originally a low-lying island, Bullock Island, within the estuary of the Hunter River, which was partially submerged at high tide. Sailing ships using the old port of Newcastle tipped stone ballast in the area and, with other reclamation work, the line of The Dyke was created by 1861. The Dyke had the effect of constraining the channel of the Hunter River, so that the natural flow and tidal movement of the river tended to scour sediments from the river floor and maintain a deep-water port. Land was reclaimed behind the original Dyke, which became the large rail-yard for the port. Coal was loaded at The Dyke from 1878.

The Basin is an artificial harbour, to the west of The Dyke, which opens into the junction of Throsby Creek and the Hunter River. It was created by dredging and completed in 1888. The Basin was also used to load coal.

The Carrington coal-loaders used twelve hydraulic cranes powered by water under pressure supplied from a pumphouse nearby. There were also three steam cranes. In 1890, this government-operated facility was capable of loading a total of 12,000 tons per day. There were also some privately operated chutes capable of another 3,000 tons per day.[60] Later some electrically operated cranes were added. The hoppers of rail wagons were lifted by these cranes and the coal dumped directly into the holds of ships.

Hexham is located on the Hunter River upstream from Newcastle. It is where the Hunter River separates into its north and south channels. Upstream of Hexham the river, although still tidal, becomes meandering and more difficult for vessels to navigate. There were three coal loaders at Hexham.

Hetton Bellbird Collieries Ltd. ship loader at Hexham. It was capable of loading at 500 tons/hour. (Unknown Photographer, Newcastle Morning Herald, 25 Jan 1936, Page 7.)[61]

The most downstream loader was J & A Brown's staithes that were supplied with coal by the Richmond Vale Railway, via a right-angle crossing (across the Main North government line), from 1856 until November 1967.[62]

The next loader upstream was the R.W.Miller coal loader, located next to the Hexham Bridge, which was built in 1959 and supplied only by road. After the merger of R.W. Miller with Coal & Allied in the mid-1980s, it was used by Coal & Allied to load coal washed at the Hexham Coal Washery and destined for Sydney. This loader was closed 1988 after the closure of the washery.[62]

The most upstream loader was built in 1935 for the Hetton Bellbird Collieries and was sold to the Newcastle Wallsend Coal Company in 1956. It was supplied via the South Maitland Railway up to the East Greta Exchange Sidings (near Maitland) and from there via the Main North (government) railway to the Hetton Bellbird Sidings at the loader. The coal was dumped at a dump station and was transferred via conveyor across the main line and highway to a ship-loader. The loader was closed in 1972 and demolished during 1976.[62]

As a river port, care had to be taken so ships made use of the tides to avoid running aground in shallow Fern Bay, when laden with coal and heading downstream, via the North Channel of the Hunter, to the sea.[63]

Lake Macquarie could handle only very small craft due to the shallow opening of the lake to the sea at Swansea. Only the very smallest of the 'sixty-milers'—ships like the Novelty,[64] Commonwealth,[65] and Himitangi[66]—were suitable. A breakwater and dredging of the channel allowed these ships to pass the shallow entrance.[67]

The South Hetton Colliery shipped coal from a wharf—probably at Coal Point—on the western shore of Lake Macquarie.[68] Coal was also loaded at Green Point on the eastern side of the lake.[67] A wharf on the south side of Swansea Channel, near the Reid's Mistake Headland was used as a transhipment location for Sydney in the 1840s. There were other collieries near to the northern, eastern or western shores of the lake but these were connected to railway lines and sent their coal to Carrington and some for local consumption at the Newcastle Steelworks.

Catherine Hill Bay Jetty with a small 'sixty-miler' alongside. (NSW State Archives collection)[69]

Catherine Hill Bay was the only ocean jetty port on the northern coalfields. Coal from the Wallarah Colliery was loaded here for Sydney and Newcastle. By using an ocean jetty, this colliery could exploit the coal seams of Lake Macquarie, without ships needing to enter the Swansea Channel. The port could still be dangerous, under unfavourable weather conditions, and some ships came to grief there.

It was the last port used by the coastal coal trade in 2002. Coal was last loaded for the short trip to Newcastle, where it was loaded for export.[70] The Wallarah Collliery closed in the same year,

South Bulli Colliery (Date unknown, within 1900-1927) (Photographer: Broadhurst, William Henry, 1855-1927, from collection of the State Library of N.S.W.)

Although lying much closer to Sydney, the southern coalfields were not developed early, due to the absence of any natural port. Coal in the southern coalfields was generally more easily won than in the northern field. The coal outcropped in sea cliffs or part way up the Illawarra Escarpment and adit mining was feasible. Adits were less costly to construct and operate than the shafts and sloping drifts of the northern coalfields. The southern coalfields could be worked profitably, if the problem of shipping could be solved. The absence of a suitable port held back development of the southern mines, until around 1849 when the Mt Kiera mine opened.

Coal from the southern coal fields, at various times, was loaded at Wollongong Harbour and Port Kembla and at the ocean jetty ports: Bellambi; Coalcliff; Hicks Point at Austinmer; and Sandon Point, Bulli. Port Kembla was originally an ocean jetty port but two breakwaters were added later to provide shelter.

Coal trains consisting of four-wheel bottom-dump wagons at Thirroul. (Date unknown, within 1900-1927) The wagons in the foreground are owned by South Bulli Colliery. (Photographer: Broadhurst, William Henry, 1855-1927, from collection of the State Library of N.S.W.)

Loading at the southern coalfield jetty ports typically used four-wheel wagons with hoppers fixed to the frames, which were tipped into chutes that led to high staithes from which the collier alongside the jetty or wharf was loaded. At Wollongong Harbour only, some loading was done by crane using wagons with removable hoppers, similar in concept to the ones used in the northern coalfields. After 1915, four-wheel bottom dump wagons were used to bring coal to the new No.1 Jetty at Port Kembla, via an unloading rail loop and dump station.[71] This bottom-dumping operation was similar in concept to the coal-handling practice of today.

Unlike the northern fields, mines of the southern coalfield were usually named after a locality or geographical feature and their names rarely changed over their lifetime. The number of mines was also less and the mines tended to have longer lives.

Most of the southern coalfield mines were members of the Southern Coal Owners' Agency, which had as one of its aims 'prevention of ruinous competition'. It was a cartel-like organisation, controlling production volume, prices, and transport costs, but only for the southern coalfields. It lasted from 1893 to 1950, being renewed every few years by agreement. Although the collieries that were members owned 'sixty-miler' ships, those ships were chartered by the Agency. The Agency managed the operations of the ships and paid the owner a monthly fee based on each ship's capacity. Although the operation of the ships may not have been profitable, the collieries seem to have seen controlling the shipping of their coal as important to ensure reliable delivery, and as a necessary cost. Collieries received an initial low payment upon delivery of their coal to a customer but also later received a share of the actual profits from all sales, in proportion to their market share.[72]

Wollongong Harbour in 1887. (From an engraving later published in Illustrated Sydney News, 15 October 1887, on pages 1 and 2)[73] Belmore Basin is in the left foreground - with its coal staithes on the far-left - and the 'Tee-wharf' is in the centre. Mt Kembla is in the centre-background with Mt Kiera on the right. The rail ine from Mt Kiera can be see running from that mountain and that from Mt Pleasant running along the beach. Red Point - near the site of Port Kembla - is in the distance at the very top left.

Wollongong was for a time the only safe anchorage on the southern coalfields and the third largest port in New South Wales.

The coal port at Wollongong Harbour consisted of the man-made Belmore Basin and the 'Tee Wharf'. On Belmore Basin, there were four coal staithes on the western side of the basin and two steam cranes on the eastern side. Loading at the 'Tee Wharf' was by a single steam crane. The 'Tee-Wharf' was somewhat exposed to weather from the north and north-east; the existing northern breakwater was not built until 1966-67.

The port was connected to the Mt Kiera and Mt Pleasant Collieries by rail lines operated by the respective collieries. Originally these were horse-drawn but later used steam locomotives.

From 1875 to 1890, there was a cokeworks, which converted unsaleable fines to coke, some of which was loaded at the port for Sydney.

By 1927, there was only one coal staith in operation at Wollongong. The last coal was loaded there in 1933, by which time it had been eclipsed as a coal port by Port Kembla.[74]

From 1883, coal was shipped from an ocean jetty on the beach just to the north of a rocky headland lying to the north of Red Point and Boiler's Point. This new port was named Port Kembla, after the Mount Kembla mine from where the coal was transported by rail.

A second jetty belonging to the Southern Coal Company was opened in 1887, which loaded coal sent by rail from the Corrimal Colliery.

In its earlier years—much like the other ocean jetty coal ports—Port Kembla was exposed to rough seas during bad weather, Between 1901 and 1937, first an eastern breakwater and then a northern breakwater was constructed, resulting in a large protected and safe anchorage now known as the ‘Outer Harbour’.

A new coal jetty was built to the north of the two existing coal jetties. The new coal jetty opened in 1915 and became 'No.1 Jetty', the Southern Coal Jetty became No.2 Jetty, and the Mt Kembla Jetty became Jetty No.3.[75]

By 1937, the No.1 Jetty was loading coal from all the southern mines that shipped coal by sea, except those mines still using Bellambi or Bulli. After 1952, Port Kembla was the only coal port on the southern coalfields.

The No.1 Jetty remained in service until it was replaced in 1963, by a new export coal loader located on the new ‘Inner Harbour’. Port Kembla remains a major coal export port.

South Bulli Jetty, Port Bellambi c1909.[76]

View towards Bellambi from Sublime Point Lookout (date unknown). Sandon Point, Bulli is the first headland, in the lower half of the photograph, with Bulli Jetty just visible. The long headland in the upper half of the photograph is Bellambi and its dangerous reef.

There were originally two jetties at Bellambi, the South Bulli Jetty named after the mine of the same name and the Bellambi Coal Co. Jetty used by the Model Mine at Woonoona. The South Bulli Jetty built in 1887[77][78][79] was on Bellambi Beach immediately to the north of Bellambi Point. The Bellambi Coal Co. Jetty (also known as the "Woonoona Jetty") built in 1889[80] was located on a small rocky outcrop just to the north of the South Bulli Jetty, The port had also been the site of an earlier coal jetty completed around 1858 but only used for a relatively short time.

The Bellambi Coal Co. Jetty was damaged in a storm in 1898[81] and thereafter all coal went across the South Bulli Jetty.[82]

Coal was sent from the mines by rail to the jetty, where there were two rail tracks on the jetty—one for full wagons and the other for empty wagons—and two loading chutes (one for each hold of a 'sixty-miler').[79]

The wagons were separated for tipping. One end of the coal wagon was raised by a steam ram, acting on a wagon axle, tipping the coal through a hinged panel in the other end. The coal then passed through a chute, directly into one hold of the ship moored alongside the jetty.[83] In 1909, six colliers were loaded with a total of 4,500 tons in 14-hours.[84]

Bellambi was a particularly dangerous port. Bellambi Point protected the jetties from the south but its reef extends 600m to seaward[85] and was a hazard to shipping. In total, twelve ships were wrecked at Bellambi between 1859 and 1949, of which seven ran aground on the reef.[86]

The South Bulli Jetty operated until 1952. The jetty partially collapsed in 1955 and was demolished in 1970.

Coalcliff Jetty 1885 (Tyrrell Photographic Collection, Powerhouse Museum)[87]

The Coalcliff Colliery, opened in 1878, was originally developed as a jetty mine. Coal from the mine, after screening, was brought directly onto the jetty. This arrangement made working the mine difficult, as there was limited storage for mined coal and only coal that could be shipped promptly could be mined.[88][89]

The jetty at Coalcliff was the smallest of the southern ocean jetties. It was very exposed to ocean swell, and shifting sand shoals added to the danger by changing the depth of water near the jetty.[90] The jetty was used only by the Colliery's own 'sixty-milers' and then only in favourable weather.

Storms in 1878,[91] 1881 and 1904 caused considerable damage to the jetty, further restricting shipping operations while damage was repaired and the jetty design modified.

In 1910, a shaft was opened that allowed coal from the mine to be transported by rail and the jetty closed by 1912. Although no longer operating its own jetty, Coalcliff Collieries continued to own and operate its sixty-milers, such as the Undola. This may have been so that the jetty mine's quota under the Southern Coal Owners' Agency agreement would still be allocated to the company, in addition to its new quota for the 'new' shaft mine.[92]

Hicks Point Jetty, Austinmer, viewed from the north, in the 1880s.(Tyrrell Photographic Collection, Powerhouse Museum)[93]

Hicks Point is a small rocky outcrop in the beach in Hicks Bay, just to the north of Brickyard Point, Austinmer, NSW. Even its name is almost forgotten today.

The Hicks Point Jetty was built in 1886 for the North Bulli Coal Company's colliery at Coledale [94] to which it was connected by rail. It was also connected by rail to the Austinmer Colliery.[95] Brickyard Point to the south provided some shelter from southerly weather; today the area is used to launch boats.

Coal was railed from the mine to the jetty in wagons with bottom opening doors, which were opened over a hatchway cut in the jetty deck. The coal flowed onto loading chutes and from there into the hold of the ship.[96]

The jetty was damaged by storms in November 1903.[94] The North Bulli Co. won the right to ship its coal via Port Kembla in 1906.[97] The Hicks Point Jetty was no longer needed and fell into disuse. It was destroyed by fire in 1915.[94]

Bulli Jetty circa 1900. The unusual steam locomotive is a former steam tram motor.

The Bulli Jetty at Sandon Point was opened in 1863 and used to load coal obtained from the nearby Bulli Colliery.

The Bulli Colliery was bought by BHP in 1937 and thereafter much of its coal went to the Port Kembla steelworks by rail.

The Bulli Jetty was last used by ships in 1943. After closing, it was damaged by storms in 1943,[98] in 1945[99] and in 1949, when the centre section of the remaining structure collapsed and stranded four fishermen at the sea-end.[100][101] Some of the structure was still standing in the mid-1960s but was gone by the end of the decade.[102]

Steamships requiring bunker coal at Sydney Harbour could have their bunkers loaded directly from a 'sixty-miler' standing alongside. This bunkering operation was common, especially before the mechanised Ball's Head Coal Loader opened in 1920 and before there were mechanised coal hulks in operation. Steamship companies preferred the coal of southern coalfields, because it burned with little smoke.[106] However, bunker coal came by 'sixty-miler' ships from the both the northern and southern coalfields.

Inside the hold of the 'sixty-miler' workers known as 'shovellers' would shovel the coal by hand into coal baskets that were limited by regulation to a weight of two hundredweight (one-tenth of a ton, or approx. 100 kg). The coal baskets were then hoisted out of the hold of the 'sixty-miler'. A worker—the leader of the gang, known as a 'planksman'—working on a 16-inches wide plank suspended high above the hold of the 'sixty-miler' and level with the steamship's rail, would walk along the plank and swing the suspended basket over the steamship's rail. From there other workers—known as 'carriers'—would carry it on their shoulders and tip it into the steamship's bunker chutes. Inside the steamship's bunkers, other workers known as 'trimmers' distributed the coal within the bunker.[13][106] The work of the winch-driver, while less physically taxing, involved great mental strain; any miscalculation in hoisting or braking, could result in death or serious injury to the others in the gang. These workers, collectively known as 'coal lumpers', may have been the most highly paid casual employees of their time, but their pay recognised the arduous, extremely dirty and highly dangerous nature of the work.[13]

Work was carried out day and night, except in wet weather, so that bunkering was reasonably fast.[106] A complete gang of 1 'planksman', 4 'shovellers', 1 winch-driver, with 4 'carriers' and 'trimmers' could move about 9.5 tons per hour. The number of gangs that could be put on bunkering a ship was set by the receiving space of the ship and the number of planks that could be suspended from gaffs on the masts of the 'sixty-miler'. The Bellambi could suspend sufficient planks to allow twelve gangs to work,[76] allowing a coaling rate of over 100 tons per hour if the receiving ship was of a suitable design.

Such rapid coaling was not without its own hazards. The 5,524 tonne steamer Austral was being coaled—apparently without due care taken of its trim—when it keeled over and sank off Kirribilli Point on 11 November 1882.[107][108]

Vessels moored at Wharf 16, Pyrmont, Sydney Harbour in 1925. (Unknown photographer, Australian National Maritme Museum.)The 'sixty-miler' Stockrington is on the right. A mechanised coal hulk, with two hoists, probably Sampson, is between Stockrington and the (unknown) vessel at the wharf.[109]

Some 'sixty-milers'—such as the Stockrington—had their own lifting gear with grabs and were capable of coaling other ships; these semi-mechanised operations continued after the loader opened at Ball's Head.[110]

Mechanised coal hulks were used on Sydney Harbour. Hulks could be loaded at an on-shore loader or from 'sixty-milers', including those with a self-discharging capability such as the Stockrington. Without propulsion of their own, the hulks were towed into position by tugboats. Once alongside the vessel receiving the coal, the mechanised coal hoists aboard the hulk were used to discharge the coal directly to the bunker chutes or bulk cargo holds of the vessel. It seems that it was common practice to coal a ship moored at a wharf, using a mechanised coal hulk with a 'sixty-miler' standing alongside (see photograph).

Fortuna—still with the stern of a former sailing ship—coaling a liner at Circular Quay in 1923. (Unknown Photographer, Sydney Mail, 28 November 1923, Page 41)[111]

The Fortuna, a mechanised coal hulk owned by the Wallarah Coal Co., was used for coal bunkering and ship-loading on Sydney Harbour. This strange-looking vessel was a familiar sight on the harbour for the four decades between 1909 and 1949. Her equipment was steam powered, with two 60-foot high grabs on her starboard side, and she was capable of coaling a ship at a rate of 200 tons/hour.[112]

The Fortuna, was launched, in 1875, as a fully rigged, iron-hulled ship, the Melbourne, with accommodation for sixty passengers. She was sold and rechristened Macquarie in 1888 and, in 1903, rerigged as a barque. In 1905, she was sold to Norwegian interests. In 1909, she was stripped of her tall masts and figurehead—in the likeness of Queen Victoria—and was converted to a mechanised coal hulk, the Fortuna.[112][113][114][115]Fortuna was also the name of an earlier coal hulk.[116]

Mechanised coal hulk, Muscoota under tow by tugs in Sydney Harbour. (William Hall collection of the Australian National Maritime Museum)[117]

By early 1925, the Bellambi Coal Company had introduced its own mechanised coal hulk, fitting an old coal hulk Samson with two coal hoists.[118] This vessel was still working into the early 1930s at least.[119] The coal-handling equipment aboard Sampson was powered electrically and capable of coaling at 240 tons per hour.[120] The 'sixty miler' Bellambi (formerly Five Islands) was modified so that its holds could be readily accessed by the grabs of Sampson.[121]

After lying idle in Sydney Harbour from 1922, the barque Muscoota was sold in 1924 and converted—at the Mort's Dock, in 1925—to be a second mechanised coal hulk for Wallarah Coal Company.[122][123] As a coal hulk, the Muscoota had only one coal hoist.[117] In 1943, she was refitted and was towed to Milne Bay, New Guinea, in early 1944, to recoal ships there. She was involved in an accident with a Dutch steamer during a storm, following which she was towed to nearby Discovery Bay, where she sank slowly.[124][125]

Balls Head Bay with Coal Loading Wharf on the left. (Samuel J. Hood Studio Collection of the Australian National Maritme Museum. Unknown date between 1920 and 1953)[126] Some coal skips are visible on the metal superstructure mounted atop the timber wharf.

The Ball's Head Coal Loader, at Waverton on the Lower North Shore, opened in 1920. It was owned and operated by the Sydney Coal Bunkering Co., a subsidiary of the Union Steamship Co.. It was mainly used for bunkering steamships using the port of Sydney but also supplied some coal to local hospitals and other customers needing heating coal.[14]

Coal was unloaded, from the holds of 'sixty-milers' moored parallel to the shoreline by two gantry cranes fitted with grabs—later reduced to one crane, after the other suffered irreparable storm damage (causing the death of a crane driver) in 1940[127][128]—and was deposited into a stockpile located on a raised platform constructed of sandstone and concrete.[14]

The loading operation was highly automated for its time; it used a loading system supplied by an American company, the Mead Morrison Company. Coal fell via chutes in the base of the stockpile, into skips—of four tons capacity each—that were drawn by a continuous cable through tunnels below the stockpile and onto the loading wharf, a timber structure perpendicular to the shoreline. Thirty-three skips, running on a rail track of 20-inch gauge, were spaced along 3,200 feet (980 metres) of steel cable that moved at 3 miles/hour. The system was capable of loading ships at 700 tonnes per hour.[129]

The loader was operated by the Wallarah Coal Co.—the company that also operated the Catherine Hill Bay ocean jetty and two mechanised coal hulks on Sydney Harbour—from 1934 to 1964, when it closed for the first time. It was taken over by Coal & Allied Industries and reopened as a coal export terminal in 1967. In 1976, the cable loading system was replaced by a system of converyor belts capable of loading at 1,000 tonnes per hour.[14]

There were coal wharves, at Pyrmont on the western shore of Darling Harbour, where coal was sometimes unloaded[104] but, more commonly, was loaded. The Pyrmont Coal wharves were connected to the government rail system and land transport to and from these wharves was by rail. There were at least two coal cranes at Pyrmont by 1892.[130] Coal bunkering also took place at a 'coal wharf' at Pyrmont.[15]

In the 1870s, coal from Bulli was unloaded from 'sixty-milers' at Sydney and then transported by rail to the Fitzroy Iron Works at Mittagong,[104] as there was at the time no rail connection to Bulli.

Coal wharf at AGL Gasworks, Mortlake (c.1900-1927) with a 'sixty-miler' alongside. (Broadhurst, William Henry, 1855-1927, from collection of the State Library of NSW)

The Australian Gaslight Company (AGL)—established in 1837—operated two gasworks. The first of these at Miller's Point opened in 1841. It fronted Darling Harbour where coal was unloaded. This plant closed in 1921.

A larger plant was opened in 1886 on a 32 hectare site at Mortlake on the Parramatta River. At full production, the Mortlake gasworks consumed nearly 460,000 tons of coal in a year, all of it delivered to its wharf by 'sixty-milers'. The Mortlake works alone needed about three 'sixty-milers' to keep it supplied.[131]

AGL Gasworks at Mortlake in 1937. The original coal wharf is in the foreground with the new coal wharf to the left of centre. Royal Australian Historical Society, Adastra Aerial Photography Collection

The original coal wharf at the Mortlake gasworks was a T-shaped structure located at the end of Breakfast Point. The unloading arrangements at Breakfast Point were that the coal was shovelled into large metal tubs by coal lumpers working inside the holds of the sixty-miler. The tubs were lifted out of the hold by cranes on the wharf—a mix of steam and electric—and transported off the wharf in rail wagons hauled by steam locomotives. Unloading a 1000-ton 'sixty-miler', in 1920, required a total of forty-nine workers per shift: five crane drivers, five tippers, five wharfmen, two locomotive drivers, two shunters, and thirty coal lumpers.[132]

From 1937, coal unloading was carried out by grab cranes on an entirely new wharf on Kendall Bay and transported from the wharf by conveyor belt, ending the dangerous and arduous—but well-paid—occupation of 'coal lumping' at Mortlake.[132]

The North Shore Gas Company—established in 1875—operated two gasworks on the Lower North Shore. The first of these was established at Neutral Bay in 1876. The second and larger works was at Waverton and was opened in 1917. In 1937, the aging plant at Neutral Bay was closed. Both these plants had wharves for unloading coal. The Waverton plant was dominated by a massive enclosed coal store.[131]

In 1943, the gas mains of the Australian Gaslight Company and the North Shore Gas Company were interconnected to allow either company to supply the other company's customers, in case of wartime damage to one gasworks.

There was a gasworks at Little Manly Point. The operator of this gasworks, Manly Gas Company Limited, was taken over by the North Shore Gas Company in 1938, but continued to make gas at the Manly site.[133] Coal was unloaded at a wharf on the Spring Cove side of the site.[131]

Blackwattle Bay in the 1970s - Wharf 21 (with Jones Brothers Coal Co. bunker and gantry crane) and to its right, R.W. Miller coal wharf and storage bins. (Sydney City Council Archives, 093512; Photographer: Niels Ellmoos.[134] Reproduction rights are owned by Sydney City Council Archives [135] Image used here with their permission)

Blackwattle Bay is an inlet lying between the Pyrmont Peninsula and Glebe Point to the east of Rozelle Bay. Blackwattle Bay was once much larger in area. The shallow part of the inlet—then known as Blackwattle Swamp—was filled in, in the late C19th, to create what is now Wentworth Park.

There were three coal depots at Blackwattle Bay, located between the reclaimed shoreline and Pyrmont Bridge Road.[134] Coal arrived by sea on 'sixty-milers' and was distributed to resellers and other customers by road transport.

The most easterly was Wharf 21, operated by Jones Brothers Coal Co.. It opened around 1926,[136] after Jones Brothers expanded their operations and relocated, from Darling Harbour at the bottom of Bathurst St.[137][138] In its final form, this installation consisted of a timber wharf—with ships berthing parallel to the shoreline—a gantry crane with a grab for unloading, and a bunker structure.[134] The first level of the bunker structure was made of concrete and brick and it had a timber superstructure as its second level. The two long edges of the bunker structure carried rails for the travelling gantry crane. It appears that the coal bunker structure and gantry crane dated from around 1951.[139]

West from Jones Brothers was R W Miller & Co.'s wharf—perpendicular to the shoreline—and further west was Wharf No. 25, the business of Howard Smith Ltd.[134] The Howard Smith coal wharf was already in operation by 1922.[140]

The area at the head of Blackwattle Bay, adjacent to the coal wharves, was used for the unloading construction aggregate—from the 'Stone Fleet' ships—and timber.

Lever Brothers factory (February 1939) Coal dump, rail line, and a tipping wagon used to bring coal from the wharf.[141] (Hood, Sam, 1872-1953, from collection of the State Library of NSW)

Some industrial customers had their own wharves at which coal could be unloaded.[142] Colonial Sugar Refinery (CSR) at Pyrmont had grab cranes for unloading raw sugar in bulk, which could also be used to unload coal—from 'sixty-milers'—or other bulk cargoes when necessary. Cockatoo Island Dockyard had a coal wharf and two coal bunkers, on the south-western side of the island immediately to the north of the Sutherland Dock.[143] Coal was used as fuel by the powerhouse that supplied Cockatoo Island's electricity, including power for the dock pumps. The Nestlé chocolate factory at Abbotsford had a wharf with a coal bunker (located at the water-end) for the coal used to power its boilers.[144][145] Coal for the Balmain Power Station was landed from barges at the waterfront until 1965 [17] The Lever Brothers factory, on White Bay at Balmain landed coal as well as copra at its wharf.[141]

Coal was distributed by coal lighters (or barges); the R.W. Miller company had its origins in operation of coal lighters on Sydney Harbour. Some coal during the period from 1897 to 1931 was sourced locally from the Balmain Colliery and distributed by coal lighter.[146] The Balmain Colliery had a wharf at which ships took on bunker coal.

Although far less important than Sydney Harbour as a coal port, some coal was unloaded at the 'Government Pier' (or 'Long Pier')—constructed in 1885[147]—at Botany on the northern shore of Botany Bay, near where Hill Street joins Botany Road today.[148] The coal unloaded here was for nearby industrial users. Coal for the nearby Bunnerong Power Station—opened in 1929—came by rail.[16] Botany Bay was, in those days, a shallow port with sandbanks and could only be used by smaller ships.