Dudley is a southern coastal suburb of

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia, southwest of Newcastle's central business district on the eastern side of

Lake Macquarie The City of Lake Macquarie is a local government area in Greater Newcastle and part of the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed a city from 7 September 1984. The area is situated adjacent to the city of Newcastle and is ...

. It is part of the

City of Lake Macquarie The City of Lake Macquarie is a local government area in Greater Newcastle and part of the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed a city from 7 September 1984. The area is situated adjacent to the city of Newcastle and ...

local government area.

History

The Aboriginal people, in this area, the

Awabakal The Awabakal people , are those Aboriginal Australians who identify with or are descended from the Awabakal tribe and its clans, Indigenous to the coastal area of what is now known as the Hunter Region of New South Wales. Their traditional te ...

, were the first people of this land. Dudley started off as a mining town. Dudley developed into a suburb after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Dudley Public School

Dudley Public school opened in 1892 and has among its alumni two recipients of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

. In 1976, the ''Jeffries and Currey Memorial Library'' was opened by the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Roden Cutler, himself a VC, at Dudley Public School to honour the two ex-pupils who were decorated with the Victoria Cross during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

: Clarence Jeffries and

William Currey William Matthew Currey, VC (19 September 1895 – 30 April 1948) was a politician and an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth ...

. Jeffries and Currey (who survived the war and later went on to become a member of the NSW parliament) are also memorialised on the school's honour board which, in addition, records the names of the 93 other former pupils (of whom 19% were killed in action) who served in the First World War – a remarkable contribution given the small population of the school and the community in the early part of the 20th century.

References

External links

History of Dudley
(Lake Macquarie City Library)
Collection of Historic Photos
– City of Lake Macquarie {{City of Lake Macquarie suburbs Suburbs of Lake Macquarie