Steamships and a bustling port - Morpeth in the early 1840s

Small, flat-bottomed, barge-like droghers plied the Hunter in both directions between Wallis Plains and Morpeth, connecting to ocean-going vessels that made the trip to and from Sydney.

During the early 1830s, the steamships Sophia Jane and William the Fourth began to replace sailing vessels on the seaward journeys.

The shipping function was central to the existence of Morpeth, providing employment to labourers and carriers who loaded and unloaded the craft.

Wide-ranging ancillary port functions were soon established, including ship maintenance and repair, victualling, ships' chandlery and accommodation. Customs and excise activity and bond stores also took root. At the head of navigation for sea-going ships, Morpeth's economy was dominated by the port function. Wharves catering to shipping lined the river's right (southern) bank.

The port was small but busy. In October 1841, a ship came up the river to Morpeth with supplies every second day and many tons of agricultural produce (including flour) went out on return voyages to Sydney. Increased production on the large farms of the Hunter attracted larger ships like the Rose, the Thistle and the Shamrock, vessels introduced by the Hunter River Steam Navigation Company.

These were making the Morpeth-Sydney run every two to five days and ships under other ownerships were similarly active. Competition for trade between shipping firms was fierce, and some shipping companies were bankrupted by it.

Morpeth grew with the trade associated with its port and soon became recognisable as a town. Land was first sold there in 1832, and two years later more land was sold for business enterprises and dwellings. Further auctions followed later, and by the early 1840s there was a church, a school and a post office in what had clearly become a town.

There was manufacturing, too, in the form of John Portus's Morpeth Flour Mill which began operations next to the river in 1836: grain was collected by boat from the farms of the district and flour was returned to them. Portus also made milling machinery. He was one of the pre-eminent businesspeople of early Morpeth.

Several buildings were constructed along Swan St and next to the river itself where substantial multi-storey warehouses and stores appeared. Early in the 1840s there were at least two large wharves on the river's right bank over a distance of a few hundred yards, one of them 100 feet (30 metres) long, along with separate smaller docking facilities for small, locally-owned boats. Other substantial wharves came later.

On Swan St there were five inns and many dwellings, though little development had yet occurred further back from the river.

By the early 1840s the population of Morpeth would have numbered in the hundreds. West Maitland was the Hunter region's main centre, with Morpeth its principal link to the outside world.

Much earlier, in 1825, the colonial government had realised that Morpeth would be an ideal site for a major town, but it was unable to reach an agreement with Edward Charles Close to purchase a portion of his estate (Closebourne).

Had a price been agreed and the government taken over the site at which Morpeth developed, the place would probably have grown much larger than it did and Maitland less rapidly.