page_title: Newcastle, New South Wales
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Newcastle, New South Wales / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Captain John Shortland, 1769-1810. This print is based on a miniature of the sitter, now MNT0089, this copy being presented with it. It originally accompanied a memoir of Shortland published in the 'Naval Chronicle' for 1810, just after his death. The original was most probably painted at Halifax, Nova Scotia, by Field - who then worked there - probably in late 1807 or early 1808 since it shows only the right epaulette, indicating a captain of under three years' seniority. The engraver has here added the left epaulette, since Shortland was a senior captain by the time he died of wounds at Basseterre in the West Indies in January 1810. [PvdM 5/10]
context_page_description: The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas. It is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area which includes most parts of the local government areas of City of Newcastle, City of Lake Macquarie, City of Cessnock, City of Maitland and Port Stephens Council.
  Located at the mouth of the Hunter River, it is the predominant city within the Hunter Region. Famous for its coal, Newcastle is the largest coal exporting harbour in the world, exporting 159.9 million tonnes of coal in 2017. Beyond the city, the Hunter Region possesses large coal deposits. Geologically, the area is located in the central-eastern part of the Sydney basin.
caption: Lieutenant John Shortland, the first European to explore the Newcastle region.
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