The Terminus Hotel, corner of Munro and Albion Streets, Singleton, 1950s. Picture: Noel Butlin Archives, Australian National University
Jimmy Carruthers. Picture: Supplied
FORMER world bantamweight champion, Jimmy Carruthers, claimed that serving beer in a crowded bar was harder than a day’s gymnasium work.
Carruthers, after his retirement from the ring, spent a few weeks working at the Terminus Hotel, Singleton (NSW) during May of 1954 as preparation into a new career behind the bar.
The Sun Herald reported on May 30 1954 that there was a record crowd for the hotel on the Friday Carruthers started work behind the bar, and the beer was sold out before closing time.
“I think I satisfied the customers with the way I pulled the beer. There were no complaints, anyhow,” he was reported as saying at the time.
After two weeks at Singleton, Carruthers moved to a bigger hotel, at Gilgandra, where he went on to host a number of NSW pubs, including the popular wharfie’s pub, The Bells Hotel at Woolloomooloo.
Boxing promoter and Carruther’s manager, Dr. J.J. McGirr bought the Terminus Hotel’s freehold in 1953. McGuirr, whose protégée was Jimmy Carruthers, organised for the retired boxing champion to learn “the bar trade” before helping him gain a foothold in the hotel industry.
Jimmy Carruthers (left) in the ring. Picture: Supplied
Jimmy Carruthers (James William Carruthers) was born in Paddington NSW on July 25 1929. He became world champion in the bantamweight division before his retirement in 1953. He died on August 15 1990 at Narrabeen, Sydney.
The Terminus Hotel was one of Singleton’s early hotels, established in the early 1860s. It sat opposite today’s (2019) Albion Hotel at the corner of Munro and Albion Streets.
The Terminus Hotel, Singleton early last century. Picture: Singleton Historical Society and Museum
Terminus Hotel, Singleton 1930. Picture: Noel Butlin Archives, Australian National University
The Terminus was one of the few pubs not owned by the breweries. It was privately owned until it closed for business in 1964.
There were several owners, with McGuirr eventually changing its name to the Tattersalls Hotel on June 15 1954. The boxing promoter had the old corner pub completely redeveloped in 1959. The pub lost its Victorian features, including the replacement of its grand balcony with a cantilevered awning.
The end came for the pub in 1962 with a fire severely damaging the building. The hotel traded from “a temporary bar” for a number of years before its closure on May 8 1964. In 1966 Kirkwood’s Produce moved into newly built premises on the site.
The Tattersalls Hotel, Singleton (formerly the Terminus) before it was destroyed by fire in 1962. Picture: Noel Butlin Archives, Australian National University
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