Newcastle’s history has been dominated by coal mining and the steel industry.

The Walsh Island Dockyard and Engineering Works was established in 1913 at Walsh Island on the Hunter River and by the early 1920s was the centre of Newcastle’s shipbuilding and engineering industr

Shipbuilders work at the Whyalla shipyards for Australia’s war effort. A woman shakes out a broom over a veranda with the ship visible to the left. Men walk through the streets to or from work.

Crowds gather at the docks at Cockatoo Island for the launching of the HMAS Brisbane on 30 September 1915.