Maitland is a city in eastern New South Wales, Australia, in the Hunter River valley. Originally, it was inhabited by the Aboriginal people of the Awabakal, Worimi, Gringai, Wonnarua and Darkinung tribes, but Europeans came to the area in 1801 and a settlement for convicts was founded in 1818. The area is very well suited to farming, but it also has thick forests and was found to have coal as well. The first major industries in the area was cedar-cutting and farming, but today most people are employed in the manufacturing, retail, and service industries.

From 1818-1821, it was a penal colony and was known as, "The Camp, then "Molly Morgan Plains", and lastly, "Wallis Plains". A second town was built near by in 1829 and was fist called Maitland, and then East Maitland. The first settlement was known as Wallis Plains until it was renamed West Maitland in 1832. The city of Maitland was formed in 1944 by combining eight towns, including East and West Maitland.

The city of Maitland covers 396.27 square kilometers and is only 175 kilometers north of Sydney and 32 kilometers northwest of Newcastle. Its current estimated population is over 54,000.

Sources:
http://www.eb.com/
http://ww2.visitmaitland.com.au/