The northern portion is hilly, and is crossed by a rugged range, the Wickham Heights, running east and west, and rising in some places to a height of nearly 2000 ft.
The earliest mention of tea by an Englishman is probably that contained in a letter from Mr Wickham, an agent of the East India Company, written from Firando in Japan, on the 27th June 1615, to Mr Eaton, another officer of the company, resident at Macao, and asking for "a pot of the best sort of chaw."
Wickham is one of the centres of a coal-mining district, the mines employing the majority of the industrial population; but there are also iron, steel, and chemical works.
Most of the suburbs are separate municipalities, namely, Stockton, Carrington, Wickham, Hamilton, Merewether, Adamstown, Waratah, New Lambton, Lambton, Wallsend and Plattsburg.
Owing to ill-health he applied for leave to reside at Wickham, and in 1712 he removed to London on the plea of poverty, intending to pursue a literary career.
