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MORE than 1000 people remembered Martin Hawcroft as a fun-loving larrikin who loved race days and supervising Byerley Stud in the Upper Hunter at a moving tribute this month.
Those paying their respects included family, civic and hotel industry identities, friends, colleagues, staffers and equine community members. Many came from far and wide, remembering Martin not only as a breeder of race horses, but also as a prominent hotelier whose Newcastle East property, Noah’s on the Beach, attracted industry awards and as a down-to-earth business person who often doubled as an unofficial tourism promoter of the region he loved.
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During Newcastle’s 1997 bicentenary, Martin welcomed journalists, columnists and broadcasters from around the nation to Newcastle, hosting media familiarisations of the city.
Martin also facilitated media visits to events including Newcastle’s international Surfest competition, highlighting the significance of Newcastle beach to the world’s champion surfers.
He enthusiastically highlighted the attractions of the surrounding areas of Maitland and Morpeth in his attempts to increase visitors.
He also contributed to visitors’ awareness of the Upper Hunter’s nearby delights including thoroughbred horse studs and winegrowing precincts.
After the Hawcroft family acquired Noah’s on the Beach in 1989, it was managed by Martin and his wife Jennifer.
He was excited by the potential he saw in the Upper Hunter as a thriving diversified area and Noah’s soon expanded, buying a second hotel, Noah’s in the Valley at Muswellbrook, in 1996.
Martin Hawcroft was born in Sydney and attended Saint Ignatius’ College Riverview secondary school. He met his wife in Orange while she was managing the family hotel.
Martin had left university and his nearly completed degree in accountancy to take over the family’s thoroughbred stud.
In 1991, the couple transferred Martin’s Cudal-based Byerley Stud to Sandy Hollow.
Sir Laurence was the foundation sire for the new stud and was followed shortly by popular group1 winner Nothin’ Leica Dane, which famously ran second in the 1995 Melbourne Cup.
Jennifer recalled very busy years, managing the stud and the two hotels. During this time they also expanded their family with the birth of sons Nicholas and Henry.
Martin wanted his boys to experience the close-knit community of Denman and the boys completed two years of school at StJoseph’s, Denman and Scone Grammar School.
Jennifer said: ‘‘Martin felt it was important that the boys had the opportunity to be a part of a rich country life that they could remember forever.’’
Long-term business associate and former schoolmate, Frank Ryan, a former executive director of the Hunter Regional Tourism Organisation, first met ‘‘Marty’’ in secondary school and the pair remained firm business associates and friends.
‘‘I met Marty at boarding school, the school motto ‘Quantum Potes, Tantum Aude’ means ‘Dare to do as much as you are able’,’’ Frank said.
‘‘Considering the way he lived his life, the school would be proud of Martin. He was full of life, and like any youth he had to test things.’’
Frank also remembered Martin as a proud and loving father to Nicholas and Henry.
‘‘The boys have many great times to remember,’’ he said.
‘‘We would often sit around a campfire, with dad cooking in the camp oven and delivering renditions of his beloved bush poetry,’’ Martin’s son, Nicholas, said. An indelible memory for Henry is of his father laughing.
Henry would say: ‘‘Dad, when you laugh, so much of you enjoys it.’’
Chairwoman of the Newcastle Tourism Industry Group (NTIG), and business development manager at Noah’s, Debera Mackenzie said: ‘‘Martin was more than a boss to his employees, he was a friend they could rely on, with a number of them working for him for more than 20 years.’’
She spoke of Martin’s recent generous contributions to tourism marketing and how he had supported the industry and helped form NTIG.
She also reflected on the first of the visitor walkabout maps he had developed which enjoyed popular acceptance throughout the 1990s.
Sydney-based artist Merrilee Fleeting and a supplier of artworks to the hotel for many years, spoke of Martin’s kindness and the way he encouraged others to believe in themselves.
Others remembered Martin’s love of music, especially country and western, and paid tribute to his warm hospitality, his ready laughter, his warm personality, his reading of bush poetry and storytelling and that strong handshake and direct look in the eye that he will always be renowned for.