Fragile and wafer thin, a collection of Maitland Mercury newspapers dating back to the mid-1800s are on their way back to the city having spent years wrapped in plastic bags atop a bullock wagon in the Singleton Historical Society building.
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There are 18 years’ worth of the 1840s, 1850s and 1860s editions of the Mercury that have been handed over to the Maitland Historical Society following a clean out by their Singleton counterparts.
Maitland Historical Society’s publicity officer, Ruth Trappel, said the copies are the oldest originals she has ever seen.
“They’re as rare as hen’s teeth, I’m amazed by the condition they’re in.”
She said the copies will be looked at by Newcastle University archivist John Di Gravio and may have to be kept in a controlled atmosphere.
“They’re very fragile, very old and very special - some of the pages disintegrated when one of the bundles was opened.”
Almost every edition of the Mercury has been recorded in digital form at on Trove - the National Library of Australia’s archival system.
The Maitland Historical Society’s copies only go as far back as 50 years.
“It’s wonderful it’s coming home, it’s history coming back to Maitland in its original form – which is what historical societies are all about.”
Ms Trappel said the papers probably came to be in Singleton because at the time of these editions the Mercury was a major regional paper that covered news throughout the Hunter Valley and North Coast.
“At one time the Mercury was the only paper for a lot of people.”
The editions will be delivered to Maitland sometime next month.
