On Boxing morning, 1912, the steamboat Guthrey, with about 400 people on board, left Newcastle to travel up the Paterson River to the Paterson township.
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But at a bend in the river, about 400 metres from Dunmore Bridge, the boat struck a rock and stuck fast.
According to a report in the Sydney Mail, “the engines worked so vigorously that part of the river seemed to be a great boiling cauldron, but all in vain”.
The stranded Guthrey turned on its side as the tide went out, and the passengers had to either wait for another boat or walk overland to catch a train from Mindaribba station.
At midnight another boat, the Shamrock, reached the spot.
The Guthrey was eventually hauled off the rock with the help of the Butter, the Bluebell, the Commerce and a pontoon and she was docked for repairs.
Two of the adjoining photos show the Guthrey aground, and the third shows the cream boat Nelson at Paterson wharf in 1912.
These photos were loaned by the Maitland and District Historical Society and are among many in the new book, The Way We Worked, by journalist Greg Ray and his wife, Sylvia.
The book is available from the Maitland Mercury office at 6/555 High Street, Maitland, theherald.com.au online bookstore and from participating newsagents and booksellers.