HASTINGS in Newcastle Harbour
Datebefore 1964
Object number00030236
NamePhotograph
MediumPhotographic print on paper
DimensionsSheet: 558 × 644 mm
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from McIlwraith McEacharn Limited
DescriptionA framed colour photograph of tugboat HASTINGS spraying water in Newcastle Harbour with Nobby's Head in background.
HASTINGS was built in 1983 and continues service at its homeport of Melbourne, Victoria.HistoryMalcolm McEacharn was a Scottish shipbroker and the son of a master mariner who had died in 1854 when his ship was wrecked in Bass Strait.
Andrew McIlwraith was born into a family of shipowners and two of his brothers were well established businessmen and politicians based in the Australian colonies of Queensland and Victoria. Within a year of forming, McIlwraith McEacharn had won a major contract with the Queensland Government to provide six ships for two years, transporting British migrants to Australia. When the contract between McIlwraith McEacharn and the Queensland Government ended in the 1880s, the company's ships instead conveyed wool and passengers.
Around this time McIlwraith McEacharn gained some notoriety as pioneers of frozen and refrigerated sea transport. Throughout next few decades, McIlwraith McEacharn became involved in mining and transportation services, and strengthened its hold on passenger shipping. By the 1980s coal had become the major focus of McIlwraith McEacharn and the company sold its remaining shipping interests. In 1992 the remainder of the business was traded to a US company and lost the 19th century name.
SignificanceMcIlwraith McEacharn Limited originated in London in 1875, going on to become one of the largest and most successful companies operating in Australia throughout the following century.
