By MICK ROBERTS ©

A NEGLECTED, ramshackle survivor from our pioneering past, the old Bald Nob inn possesses all the ingredients to conjure up tales of troubled spirits with unfinished business.

Under its roof, fortunes were lost and life’s ruined. It was where a brutal bushranger took his last breath, and a sick and dying publican violently ended his life. It was also where a young child’s life was cut short from sickness.

Besides tragedy, the old inn was also the home of joy. It was where new life was brought into the world, where marriage ceremonies were celebrated. It was where men gathered enjoying their beer, toasting successes, and drowning their disappointments.

The Junction Inn was a public house of contradiction.

The old pub sits on the edge of the Gwydir Highway. It is located between Glen Innes and Grafton on the NSW Northern Tablelands. The long-forgotten inn is on her last legs, decaying with neglect and the ravages of time. She sits a sad building, once bustling with the vitality of life of a Victorian era coaching inn.

Located 26kms (15 miles) north-east of Glen Innes, the Junction Inn was named because it traded near the intersection of two major roads.

The inn catered for coaches. It serviced their teams of horses. It was a place where passengers, travelling between the Tablelands and the coast, rested during their long and arduous journey.

Three different hotels have traded at Bald Nob since the first was built in 1872.

The first hotel, the Bald Nob Inn, was built late in 1872 by wealthy pastoralist, 48-year-old Alexander Rodgers. Rodgers had an interest in several hotels in the region.

The inn was described as trading on “the Main Road from Glen Innes to Grafton” at Bald Nob. I have been unable to locate the exact location of the inn. Any help with information on its whereabouts would be appreciated.

The influential Irish immigrant held several significant positions. He was a magistrate and chairman of the NSW Pastures Protection Board. More interestingly, he was also a member of the NSW Licensing Bench.

Tin had been discovered in the region in 1872. A stream of miners was steadily populating the area. Rodgers learned about a new line of four horse coaches that would pass through Bald Rock. The Brisbane Telegraph reported on April 26 1873:

What may be styled the great Tin Field of Australia commences on the New England Tableland, near a place called Bald Nob, about twenty miles from Glen Innes and ten miles from Dundee… In some parts of the field stream tin is found in rich quantities, but in others it is only patchy…

A regular coaching service began operating through Bald Nob in 1873. It ran over the Great Dividing Range between the New England Tablelands and the coast. This route was known as the Old Grafton Road. It crossed the Henry River. It passed through Bald Nob and the pastoral village of Newton Boyd.

Rodgers strategically built his new coaching inn about 15 miles from Glen Innes. This was the perfect distance for the newly established Pioneer Coaching Line. It allowed them to change horses and rest passengers on the two-day journey between Glenn Innes and Grafton.

The passage between Glenn Innes and Grafton required an 200km coach trip over the Great Dividing Range. That arduous journey also meant traversing the notorious Seven Mile Hill. 

Rodgers was never a publican and leased his hotels to those more tuned to the business of hospitality. Rodgers completed the roadside inn and promptly leased the premises to John Rae. In January 1873, John Rae gained a license for what became the ‘Bald Nob Inn’.

Rae leased the property from Rodgers for seven years on a handshake deal. The annual rent was £20. Nonetheless, that handshake deal would later cause problems for Rodgers. This happened when Rae fell into financial difficulty and went into insolvency.

Rae had a short stay at the pub.

His wife gave birth to a son at the inn on December 28 1874. Afterward, he fell into financial difficulties. The business was sequestrated by the courts on February 27 1875. He was declared insolvent with liabilities of £492 18 shillings and assets of £792 12 shillings and 5 pence.

As a consequence Rae’s hand-shake lease and goodwill of the hotel was put up for sale in March 1875. The publican attributed his financial woes to heavy expenditure on the hotel premises. There was also a general drop in business due to the failure of the nearby tin mines. Additionally, he faced a large number of bad debts. At the time the pub was described as dilapidated and was in need of a new roof. As a result, Rodgers was incapable of finding a new publican to take-on the lease of the hotel. Consequently, it closed for business.

Coach builder Henry Green applied for a new license for Bald Nob. He did this at the Glen Innes Police Court on Tuesday 17 August 1875. The police made no objection and license was granted.

Like the earlier Bald Nob Hotel, I’m unable to determine its exact location. Any help in finding where the pub traded would be appreciated.

Business increased at the inn in 1875. A coaching service began between Glen Innes and Grafton, carrying the Royal Mail, parcels, and passengers. The coach called at the Bald Nob Inn, twice a week. Before 1875, the Royal Mail was delivered on horseback a couple of times a week.

While host. publican Henry Green revived the annual Bald Nob Races, a handicap horse race. He was treasurer when the race was held on 1 December 1875. The Glen Innes Examiner reported on December 8 1875:

Bald Nob Races — These races took place on Wednesday last, and were attended with, every success. The weather was delightfully fine and about 150 persons attended the course. The new proprietor of the Bald Nob Hotel Mr. H., Green, managed to drive a good trade, but not withstanding this fact, great sobriety prevailed, and friendship and good feeling seemed to be the features of the day.

The races attracted large crowds for many decades. After 1903, the races seem to have been less frequent. The last event was held about 1916.

Like his predecessor, Green also had a short stay at Bald Nob. He had the license of the hotel removed to Wellingrove, about 20kms north-west of Glen Innes, in 1877. Green removed the license to the Woolpack Inn, which had been trading since 1857 and had recently closed. The removal of Bald Nob’s license to Wellingrove enabled the Woolpack’s reopening in August 1877 with Green at the helm.

The license was officially removed from Bald Nob to Wellingrove on 28 August 1877.

After leaving Bald Nob, Green is probably best known for his stewardship of the New England Hotel at Glen Innes. His position there lasted from 1886 to 1894. He was also licensee of pubs at Dundee and Deepwater. He hosted the West End Hotel at Armidale before leaving the district.

Just prior to Green’s departure, a third pub was opened at Bald Nob by Bartholomew and Elizabeth McCormack. The couple purchased land at Bald Nob, moving from Emmaville in August 1877. They established a new hotel – Bald Nob’s third and the ruins that can be seen today.

This new hotel was licensed in July 1877. It was located near the junction of two roads. The location was a little east of the intersection of the Bald Nob Road. It was on what was then known as the Newton Boyd Road.

At the inn, westward traffic had two options. They continued travelling along the Newton Boyd Road into Glenn Innes. Alternatively, they turned right for the journey to Tenterfield. Not surprisingly, the McCormacks gave their new pub the sign of the Junction Hotel.

Bartholomew ‘Bart’ McCormack was born at Castle Connell, County Limerick, Ireland. He left for Australia as a boy of 11 years old. He arrived in Australia with his parents, Dennis and Ellen, and his siblings around 1852. He travelled over the greater part of Victoria and NSW, before marrying Kiama born Elizabeth Connolly in Sydney in 1875.

The couple eventually settled at Vegetable Creek, known today as Emmaville, about 43km north of Glen Innes. Bartholomew worked there as a pound-keeper. He also dabbled in gold, gem, and tin mining.

Tin was discovered at Vegetable Creek, named after the Chinese market gardens, in 1872. McCormack must have succeeded in mining there. In June 1877, he purchased 320 acres of farming land at Bald Nob. The Glen Innes Examiner reported on August 29 1877:

I notice that Mr. P. McCormack has been appointed pound keeper in the place of Mr. B. McCormack, who has resigned. I believe he has commenced business as innkeeper, at the Bald Nob, on the Grafton road, and I have no doubt his well-known courtesy will secure for him a fair share of patronage.

Bart McCormack’s 42-year-old brother, Patrick took over the job as Vegetable Creek’s pound keeper. Bart was now 37 years old. He became host of the Junction Hotel, Bald Nob, with his 20-year-old wife, Elizabeth. They had a baby daughter, Margaret. This was in the latter half of 1877. It was here he would spend the remainder of his life.

Soon after opening his new pub, disturbing reports of a notorious Aboriginal bushranger circulated throughout the district.

‘Yarrow Creek Tommy’ had a fearful reputation. Also known as Tommy McPherson, the bushranger had been on the run from the law for almost a year when the McCormacks opened the Junction Hotel.

Yarrow Creek Tommy had a £50 reward on his head, after he murdered another Aboriginal man known as ‘One-eyed Bill’, on the evening of December 25 1877.

Before landing in strife with the law, Tommy had worked as a station hand at Barrington Tops. In ‘A Pioneer’s Reminiscences’ by Donald McIntyre, published in the Glen Innes Examiner on January 24 1921, Tommy was described as “jocular”. He often rubbed people up the wrong way.

At a time when indigenous folk were not permitted to be served liquor, he often tied up his horse out front of pubs in the Glen Innes district. He confidently strolled through the bar-room to the parlour. There, he would ring the bell and order and pay for a drink. Out of fear, he was often served without question.

McIntyre, in his reminiscences, recalled that Tommy was “the most intelligent black” he had ever met. And he had met quite a few. Still, Tommy had spent a few years behind bars for stealing, McIntyre recalled in his story:

Tommy knocked about the camp, always able to get tucker at the station, when one day who should ride up to where the rest of us were working but Sergt. Peer and a trooper – (Peer was in charge of Glen Innes district at that time) – and asked my father was there a blackfellow here named Tommy McPherson, and before my dad had time to speak Tommy himself said, “Yes, sir; he is over at the camp”. There may have been some eye telegraphy between the dad and the Sergeant, for the latter replied: “I think you’ll do for him”. They handcuffed him there and then, and he made no resistance. The Sergeant arrested him on a warrant charging him with the larceny of one brown gelding, also one saddle and bridle, the property of John McInnes, on the Barrington River. That was the last I saw of Tommy for years; but I heard he escaped from custody before he reached the Barrington. At a halt he asked permission to go behind a tree, which permission was granted. The troopers, however thinking him rather long, looked round behind the tree, when, behold there was nothing but an old pair of boots. He had walked backwards, keeping the tree behind him and his keepers. He was again caught at a pit sawyer’s camp, where he ventured one night and asked the sawyers to take the handcuffs off his wrist. They consented, but told him that they would have to put them in a vice to facilitate the job of filing. Tommy, with the greatest simplicity, allowed them to screw the handcuffs off the vice, one of them holding a file all ready in his hand; but alas for the misplaced confidence, Tommy found himself again a prisoner. The men naturally concluded that he did not have the handcuffs on for the good of his health, and decided that he had evaded the vigilance of the police, and perhaps, was a murderer. So one of them set out for the nearest police station and told police, and Tommy was again marched off to quod. I think he got somewhere about three years…”

Tommy’s life of crime escalated. He became a fugitive, hiding out in the rugged bushland. This area covered the steep mountains of the Great Dividing Range between Grafton and Glen Innes. The Armidale Express reported on February 14 1879 that for “some considerable time” the settlers around Glen Innes “have been held in a state of dread, mingled with feelings of disgust, in consequence of the frequent visits, nocturnal and otherwise paid them by a black desperado named Yarrow Creek Tommy”.

Tommy reportedly shot and killed One-eyed Billy, later “striking and ill-using” his victim’s wife before inhabiting “the mountains and wilds of Yarrow Creek, Glen Elgin, and the Junction” for over a year.

Tommy always managed to evade the law. In the dead of night, he would leave his almost impenetrable haunts in search of food.

Shortly after Bart McCormack took over the Junction Hotel, Tommy had become more daring, and often visited Yarrow Creek and other stations in broad daylight, where he would demand or steal food.

The McCormacks, now with two children, were becoming increasingly worried that the fugitive, who was known to love a drink, may one day call at their remote pub. That nightmare was realised in December 1879.

A few hours before sunset, Tommy called at the McCormack’s hotel, at Bald Nob, in company with a number of white men, and ordered drinks.

McCormack, who was in Glen Innes, was informed that Black Tommy was at his pub, and immediately returned to Bald Nob. Despite Tommy being armed with a single-barrelled gun, and two tomahawks, the publican bravely ordered the fugitive off his premises.

A customer by the name of Schofield ended up in an argument with Tommy and his mates in the bar. Schofield was challenged to a fight before one of the ‘white men’ threatened to shoot him.

Schofield avoided the confrontation, and made his way by foot to Glen Innes to raise the alarm. When he arrived in town, he found that two constables were already on their way to the pub, after McCormack had secretly sent a messenger by horse into Glen Innes.

A NSW Roads Department employee, who was staying at the hotel, was asked by McCormack to ride into town to inform the police constables. However, when the constables arrived at the pub, Tommy had again vanished into the wilderness.

McCormack explained to the constables the direction in which Tommy had taken, and about 6pm several gun shots were heard about half a mile from the pub.

The mounted officers had found Tommy lying beside a camp fire. Constable Wainwright demanded he surrender his gun, to which he responded by throwing a tomahawk at the officers.

One of the constables fired his revolver, hitting Tommy. But he didn’t fall. The fugitive stumbled, running towards the constables with gun in hand.

A second shot was fired by Constable Wainwright, and Constable Goodhew also discharged his revolver. This time Tommy never got up. He fell to the ground, mortally wounded.

Constable Wainwright sent for a dray and Tommy was taken to the Junction Hotel. A messenger was sent to town for a doctor, but Tommy died at the pub a few hours later.

Tommy was said to have had in his possession at the camp site, a single-barrelled gun, powder, a flask containing some brandy, and a few miscellaneous items.

Interestingly, Bart McCormick’s older brother, Patrick also had a few run-ins with bushrangers. Pat McCormick was also a publican, hosting a number of bush pubs, including the Royal Hotel at Binda, in the Goulburn district of NSW, and the Travellers Rest, about 40km from Inverell, near the Queensland border, during the 1870s. It was here he claimed to have become “acquainted” with two bushrangers — Ben Hall and Thunderbolt. He told the story of how he was travelling in a coach in the Lachlan district when Hall and his gang robbed him and his passengers. Later he got to know the bushrangers. He knew Thunderbolt in the New England district, and was said to have admired him.

Pat McCormick took over the license of the Tattersall’s Hotel at Glen Innes in 1881 and hosted the landmark pub for over a decade, before retiring at the age of 60 in 1894. He lived to the ripe old age of 94 and was buried in the Woronora Cemetery, south of Sydney, in 1929.

Meanwhile, Bart and Elizabeth McCormack persevered at the remote Bald Nob pub after their encounter with their bushranger, Black Tommy.

Agitation for a Bald Nob post office paid-off in 1879, the petitioners claiming that there was some growth occurring in the district, particularly at Skeleton Creek, near Bald Nob, where many Chinese were working in the tin mines.

The mail route between Glen Innes and Grafton passed through Bald Nob, so it was decided to open a receiving office at the Junction Hotel in April 1879. In December, 1884, a post office was established at the hotel and Bart McCormack was appointed postmaster.

For almost 20 years the McCormacks hosted the Bald Nob pub and post office, where they would go on to raise their eight girls – all born at the Junction Hotel. However, as mentioned earlier in the story, the inn also was to harbour tragic stories as its history progressed.

The couple’s only son, John, died at the pub. He was aged four. He succumbed to diphtheria, which was reportedly rife among children in the district in August 1883.

Beside the eight McCormack girls, the hosts also had the help of their extended family to run the wayside inn, with Elizabeth’s brother, Michael Connolly and his wife and children reportedly living at the hotel during the late 1880s and early 1890s. During this time the mail coach, run by Bart’s older brother, Pat also regularly called by the hotel.

McCormack’s inn was the first stop after leaving Glen Innes. The Daily Telegraph, reported on November 17 1888 that the road to Grafton, although hard going, boasted spectacular scenery.

The coach is very fairly horsed, but it is hard enough for the driver to make up his time on such a road, and as the stage are very long ones (over 20 miles before changing) the horses have to spell at one of the stopping places. The first of these is McCormack’s inn at Bald Nob, about 20 miles from Glen Innes. Seven or eight miles after leaving McCormack’s, one reaches the edge of the tableland, and from here a magnificent vista spreads itself before the eye… 

The Junction Hotel would have been a welcome sight for travellers on the 200km trip over the Great Diving Range from Grafton. The Australian Town and Country Journal reported on October 1 1887 how a traveller became bogged in their buggy along the road. The traveller described how they were forced to trudge with their luggage, through mud and water up to their knees, before setting their sights on McCormack’s inn.

After half an hour’s trudging in this fashion, we reached a roadside public house, the Bald Nob and, if ever Host McCormack had a pair of miserable half-drowned wretches walk into his bar, he had them that night. And if ever a man was thankful for a glass of whisky and the sight of a blazing fire, I was the person on that same occasion. With our arrival at the Bald Nob, the troubles of the journey were well nigh over. We sent back for our buggy next morning, and went on to Glen Innes…

As mentioned earlier, there was more tragedy in stall for the McCormacks. Bart McCormack died at the pub at the age of 56 on May 12 1897.

The Irish born publican had been suffering dropsy and “some derangement of the liver” before reportedly passing peacefully with his wife, Elizabeth and five daughters at his bedside.

Now a widow, Elizabeth, now aged just 39, had a pub and post office to run, with eight girls aged between one and 19!

• Jessie aged 1
• Lucy aged 2
• Annie aged 8
• Elizabeth aged 11
• Ellen aged 13
• Mary aged 15
• Margaret aged 19
• Catherine aged 21

There’s little surprise then that the 39-year-old widowed hostess of the Junction Hotel would be on the lookout for a new husband. And she found one – and a young one at that.

There were undoubtedly tongues wagging around the Tablelands when 41-year-old Elizabeth married 26-year-old local drover, George Larkin in 1899.

A son of James and Sarah Larkin, early pioneers of the district, George was born at Shannon Vale in 1872. In his youth, he travelled with his father, who was a carrier on the Grafton-Glen Innes Road, and subsequently drove a team of his own on the mountain road for many years. With the advent of the railway, George Larkin followed droving, and in this occupation he reportedly won the goodwill of both his employers and brother-drovers, which put him in good stead when he became licensee of the Junction Hotel in 1900.

Despite finding a new husband, there was still more tragedy ahead for Elizabeth. The Sydney Evening News reported on April 10, 1900 that the Junction Hotel at Bald Nob “was partially destroyed by fire”.

With the exception of two or three small compartments, one of which was used as a post office, the premises were completely rased.

Yet, Elizabeth and George Larkin, and their girls, were not a family to give up easily. They had been through a lot. The property was insured for £500. A new pub and post office was rebuilt on the site. It was trading before the end of the year.

George and Elizabeth Larkin would have two daughters together, Irene (born 1900), and Dorothy (born 1902).

The two eldest girls were married-off by 1903. As a result, the ‘new’ Junction Hotel became what was commonly called at the time a ‘petticoat pub’. Besides 46-year-old Elizabeth, the pub was operated by seven girls, all aged between one and 17!

The beginning of the end for the Bald Nob Hotel came in 1913. After more than 40 years, its days as a coaching inn abruptly ended.

The last Royal Mail Coach made its final journey over the Great Dividing Range in April 1913. It changed horses at the Bald Nob Inn. The days of the coaching inn had ended, and the day of the motor car was born. The next excellent story reveals the last day the coach visited the Junction Hotel at Bald Nob. The Clarence and Richmond Examiner, reported on Tuesday 18 March 1913:

THE LAST STAGE.

THE PASSING OF THE COACH AND FOUR, AND THE COMING OF THE MOTOR.

The accompanying illustration shows the Glen Innes – Grafton mail coach on completion of “the last stage” – that is, the final journey before retiring from the road in favour of the new motor service, which is shown as just about to make a commencement.

This is an age of progress. Every year leaves some “cast-off shells on the shores of time,” shells, to continue the metaphor, that it has outgrown, and for which it has no further use. One rejoices at every step that progress takes, and yet, at the same time, the streak of sentiment that is latent in every one of us makes us just a little bit sorry for the shells. They have served their useful part in the general evolution of things; but Progress, swift-footed, eager, relentless, came and thrust them to one side, and left them there, to swell the limbo of forgotten things.

So are the old mail coaches gradually disappearing from the face of the land. One by one they are becoming sup-planted, and the whistle of the iron horse is being, heard where, formerly, the crack of the coachman’s whip and the rattle of the swingle-bars signalised the only means of communication with the outside world. On other routes the still more up-to-date motor is issuing a shrill ultimatum to the coach to quit, and the coach has no option, but to obey.

The Grafton-Glen Innes mail route is a case in point, as regards the latter. For very many years the mails for Grafton and other towns on the Clarence have been conveyed from the New England tableland to the capital of the Clarence, by coach, the vehicle on its trip to the coast descending about 3500ft. Over 80 horses have been used daily in the conveyance of the mails between the two towns. Every morning (Sundays exceptcd ) at 7 p.m. promptly, the coach, piled high with mail, parcels, packages, the cargo of inanimate objects, generally supplemented with passengers, left Grafton for Glen Innes. The driver cracked his whip, swung his leaders round, and headed for the punt. There, was a brief halt at South Grafton, and then a settling down in dead earnest to the long, up-hill climb to Glen Innes; broken now and again to pick up mails, or to change horses. One can fancy the driver; sitting up on his high box seat, silent and meditative, or yarning with a congenial passenger who has elected to share it with him, but always watchful, always with a firm hand on the reins, always with a thorough, if unconscious sense of his heavy responsibilities. And the four horses, perhaps they realised it too. “The beggars, they know a hull lot more’n we give ’em credit for,” a coachman once said to a passenger, at the same time giving the near-side leader an affectionate flip with his long, green-hide, and many will be found to agree with that driver.

Sometimes, of course, there must have been untoward incidents, unrehearsed affects. The night may have been wet and squally, with a westerly that would nearly, nip the nose off the driver. The horses may have been possessed of evil spirits (as horses, as well as people, sometimes are), inciting them to “play up,” and strain the nerves, as well as the sinews, of the driver to snapping point. And once, at least, the dark hand of tragedy touched the coach, when a young driver was killed at the foot of Buccarumbi range some years ago. It is supposed that he fell asleep, and the horses, running slightly off the road struck a stump and capsized the coach. He was found dead under the vehicle and brought to Grafton, the body being interred in the local cemetery. And then there was the painful time of the big drought, when great trouble was experience in getting the coach through.

Horses had to be assisted up the approaches to the punt, and could then just crawl along Victoria-street. It was heart-breaking to see the poor, suffering, spent animals, gallantly struggling to fulfil their duties; heart-breaking to see the drivers too, who suffered with their horses: Sometimes the coach would be late-ten to twenty hours at times.

What scenes and struggles and brave endeavours – what pluck to still keep going through that black time of stress and famine! Even, with the aid of the most vivid imagination, hall its horrors can be no more than dimly realised.

However, considering the long run of the coach and four, the proportion of accidents, and obstacles was “beautifully less.” We must judge the coach-drivers, those old-time “Kings of the Road,” as statesmen are judged by their results and the results achieved were excellent.

The coach – except in that time of stress just mentioned, or any similar reason – reached its destination punctually, and delivered its freight, human and otherwise, at Glen Innes at 7 p.m. the day after leaving Grafton. At 9.30 daily, Mondays excepted, the coach left Glen Innes for Grafton, a down-hill journey this time, involving a descent of some 3500ft. The scenery, for the most part of the route is charming and picturesque, but after travelling it day after day for years, it must have palled, and the undoubted romance of the road must have been as if it was not to those who for long periods drove the coach. Just here may be mentioned some of the drivers, who have left behind them fine records of the way in which they discharged the duties for which they had made themselves responsible. The driver, whose picture appears above, standing beside his “team” – Sam Rediger – was on the road for a period of over 30 years. A big slice out of a man’s life-time, that. First he was a driver only, later on he became also a contractor. He was always a capable and conscientious driver, and was a great favourite with all who met him along the route. He has in his possession a very fine presentation watch from the residents along the line, as a recognition of his unfailing courtesy, his sterling worth; and many favours kindly granted. Another driver for a lengthy period was William Pinkerton. For 20 years he handled the ribbons carefully, and well, and is now a ganger in the Copmanhurst Shire. Rediger is now employed at the Experiment Farm. Other well-known drivers along the line, included Alex. McLennan, W. A. Tomlinson, J. Henderson, and many others.

But now the line knows the rattle of the coach no longer. All is changed. Instead of the driver in his old corduroys, shirt-sleeves, and with his long handled whip drooping over the horses’ backs, a motor-coated driver gives his car a “wind-up,” springs in, and away the car flies in a whirl of dust and glory. The swift-running, machine skims along through the daylight, and reaches Glen Innes as quickly as the coach would have done with a night’s start. It leaves Glen Innes at 9.30, and the mails reach Grafton some twelve hours earlier than under the old regime. People get their mail the same night, instead of, as in the days of the coach, waiting until next morning. It is a great saving of time, a great convenience; one is most grateful to a progressive Government that makes use of a new and rapid mode of transit such as it is. And yet one has a sneaking sympathy with the coach that has had to make way for it. Maybe ’tis the streak, of sentiment aforementioned; maybe ’tis the keen love of the Australian-born for the horse –

“We are heathen who worship an idol, We keep for our pleasure and pride;

We are slaves of the saddle and bridle,

But Kings of the Earth when we ride!”

Or drive, perhaps; as long as it is a good horse that tugs at the ribbons, and it is May-time with the world.

The Junction Hotel continued to trade at Bald Nob with George and Elizabeth Larkin at the helm. Nonetheless, there was another tragedy around the corner for the couple.

After the advent of the motor car, another 20^th century innovation also would change how the Junction Hotel would function. The telephone was connected to Bald Nob for the first time in May 1914.

The phone was connected between Glen Innes and the Bald Nob Post Office, adjoining the hotel, and was under the charge of hostess, and postmistress Elizabeth Larkin.

During December 1924 Elizabeth Larkin fell seriously ill. She was admitted to the district hospital where she would remain for many months. Elizabeth was well enough to attend the wedding of her daughter, Dorrie at the pub in April, 1925. George gave his daughter away at the hotel ceremony.

Dorothy Cecelia was the youngest daughter of George and Elizabeth Larkin. She married William Henry of Dundee at the Junction Hotel in April 1925. However, it would be the last joyous occasion celebrated at the old weatherboard pub.

The next month, Elizabeth had returned to hospital, and her health was failing fast. George’s health was also poor, and he too had a spell in the district hospital suffering bronchitis.

The Larkins health forced the couple to sell the pub in May 1925. The Glen Innes Examiner reported on 18 May 1925:

HOTEL CHANGES HANDS

Mr. G. Larkin recently disposed of his hotel, land, and all stock at a satisfactory figure. Mr. Clem Sturtridge, who is the purchaser, takes over on June 1. The hotel is a land mark of earlier days and Mrs. Larkin has been an owner and assisted in running the business for the last 47 years. We regret the departure of the Larkin family. Undoubtedly they will be very much missed after such a long term of residence. Mr. Marc Condon was the selling agent. 

Tragically George Larkin would be dead before the end of the month. He took his own life at the age of 53 on May 25 1925 in the pub’s outhouse. The publican had been suffering depression for sometime.

The Glen Innes Examiner reported on Thursday 28 May 1925:

CORONIAL INQUIRY

At the Police Court yesterday morning, the District Coroner, Mr. W. I. Perry, P.M., inquired into the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr. Geo. Larkin.

Mr. Crossman represented deceased’s relatives. Constable Schrader stated that at about 4 p.m. on Monday last, on receipt of instructions, he proceeded to Bald Nob Hotel, of which deceased was the licensee.

From information given him he went to a lavatory adjacent to the hotel. The door of the lavatory was closed. There was a board missing from the side of the building, and through the opening he could see the body of deceased lying in the door.

Witness gained access to the building, where he found deceased lying on top of a double barrelled shot gun. The trigger of the gun was tied to a lace of one of deceased’s boots. On examination of the gun witness found a discharged cartridge in one barrel, the other barrel was empty. Deceased had apparently been dead for some hours. He was fully clothed, part of deceased’s head was completely blown off.

Alfred John Giles, laborer, residing at the Bald Nob Hotel, said he knew the deceased, by whom he was employed to look after stock. He last saw deceased alive at 6 o’clock on Monday morning. Deceased had been very sick for some time past. On Sunday night he seemed peculiar and restless. Witness was away mustering all day, and returned to the hotel about 3 o’clock.

On returning to the hotel he was told that the deceased was missing and that the lavatory door could not be opened. Witness went to the lavatory, where he saw blood under the door. Witness returned to the hotel, and then he investigated. They saw the body of deceased lying on the floor. Deceased had not had a drink for about 18 months. In reply to Mr. Crossman witness said that deceased had been at Bald Nob for many years. He had recently sold out. He was a quiet, mild-mannered man, and it was only since his illness that he showed signs of despondency.

Devina McArthur, school teacher at Bald Nob, residing at Bald Nob for the past nine months stated that on Sunday last she observed deceased was queer in his actions. On one occasion witness was muttering to himself and witness spoke to him. He did not at first speak to her, but eventually he said, “You must excuse me, I have a lot of worry, and I’m not strong enough to bear it.” That evening deceased was very restless, continually walking up and down. He was not in a normal condition. Witness last saw deceased alive at 9 o’clock on Monday morning, when they were all saying good-bye to Mrs. Chappell. When deceased did not come to his morning tea at 10.30, witness made a search for deceased. She did not communicate her suspicions to the daughters, as she did not wish to cause them any unnecessary alarm. When, however, deceased did not arrive for lunch, witness made another search, and subsequently saw blood under the door of the lavatory at the back of the hotel. Witness waited until Mr. Giles returned, and then got him to investigate what had occurred in the lavatory. No one in the house saw deceased after 9 o’clock on Monday morning. In reply to Mr. Crossman, witness said she had known deceased for nine months, during which period he had experienced ill-health. When in normal state he was a quiet, good tempered man. He was on affectionate terms with all the members of the family. His wife was seriously ill in the hospital. On Sunday last he was packing-up preparatory to leaving Bald Nob, having sold the property.

In returning a finding of suicide, the Coroner said that, from the evidence it was very probable that deceased was suffering from despondency brought about by his own and his wife’s illness.

Less than three months later, his widow, Elizabeth finally succumbed to her illness and died at the age of 67. Her death was reported in the Brisbane Courier on Friday 24 July 1925:

The death of Mrs. George Larkin, at Glen Innes has removed one of the most widely-known figures in that community. The late Mrs. Larkin, who was born at Kiama 67 years ago, was the eldest daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Connelly, of Tenterfield. Her girlhood days were spent at Maitland, and as a young woman she went to Emmaville, where she married the late Mr. Bartholomew McCormack. They subsequently acquired a grazing property and the Junction Inn at Bald Nob, and the deceased lady resided there practically up till the time of her death. The late Mrs. Larkin enjoyed a wide popularity, not only with those of her own generation, but also the younger members of the community. For 43 years the late Mrs. Larkin lived at Bald Nob, and through the Tableland-Const traffic she enjoyed a popularity which extended far. She was twice married, and her second husband, the late Mr. G. Larkin, predeceased her some weeks ago. The following are the surviving children of the first family:- Mesdames P. J. Timbs, F. A. Small. P. M’Cannn, Reg. Watson (Glen Innes), T. Murray (Newcastle), W. A. Hartmann (Cottesbrook, Sandy Flat). O. F. Sleman (Dundee) and Miss Mary M’Cormack, Mrs. William Chappell (Banshaw) and Miss Irene Larkin are daughters of the second marriage. Mrs Rash, of Bronte, and Sister Mary Austin of Morse Convent, are sisters of the deceased.

George and Elizabeth were buried together in the Catholic section of the Glen Innes General cemetery.

The last hosts of the Junction Hotel were Clement Julius and Jessie Sturtridge.

Clem Sturtridge was 26-years of age when he and his wife purchased over 500 acres, including the roadside pub at Bald Nob from the Larkins in 1925.

The writing was likely on the wall for the pub when the Sturtridges took the reins of the pub in 1925.

The Armidale Express reported on 21 December 1926 that the NSW Licensing Reduction Board was visiting Glen Innes on January 13 1927. The Board reportedly dealt with “an inquiry into the efficiency of repairs to the Bald Nob Hotel”.

The Licensing Inspector told the Glen Innes Licensing Court in June 1927 that the Junction Hotel, though well conducted, was not required.

A notice had been served on Clem Sturtridge, the owner, to spend £400 on the building, but he had postponed spending the money until the Licensing Reduction Board made a decision on the pub’s future. It seems, Sturtridge had already resigned to the fact that the pub would be forced to close – and he was right not to spend the money.

The Glen Innes Examiner reported on Thursday 14 July 1927:

HOTELS TO CLOSE

TWO IN EMMAVILLE

Bald Nob To Go

In the Water Police Court on Monday it was announced that 16 hotels and one wine saloon in the Northern Tablelands Electorate are to be deprived of their licenses from June 30, 1928, by the Licensing Reduction Board.

Premises affected are : — Rockvale Hotel, Rockvale; Tattersall’s Hotel, Metz; Half-way House Hotel, Wandsworth; International Hotel, Armidale; Langham Hotel, Armidale; Royal Hotel, Emmaville; Imperial Hotel, Emmaville; Junction Inn Hotel, Bald Nob; Half Way House Hotel, Swan Vale ; Belmore Arms Hotel, Elsmore; Dinton Vale Hotel, Dinton Vale; Conrad Hotel, Howell; McIntyre Hotel, Wallangarra; Federal Hotel, Inverell; Railway Hotel, Inverell; Tattersall’s Hotel, Warialda. Australian-wine license: Glen Innes Road, Inverell.

The Glen Innes Examiner reported on the pub’s closure on Saturday 15 October 1927:

RELIC OF THE OLD COACH DAYS

JUNCTION INN TO CLOSE

Cattle Boom Recalled

Assessing the Compensation

For close on half-a-century travellers on the Grafton-Glen Innes road have recognised the Junction Inn at Bald Nob as a landmark on the link between the tableland and coast. Its day has run, however, and within twelve months the doors will close in consequence of the edict of the Licensing Reduction Board.

Messrs. F. G. Odrain (chairman) and W. S. Arnott (member) of the Licenses Reduction Board sat in Glen Innes on Thursday as a Compensation Court to deal with the claims of the owner-licensee in respect to compensation for the loss of business by the closing of the hotel. Col. Abbott appeared for the owner-licensee, Clement Sturtridge. Donald McIntyre Cower McGregor, stock and station agent, Glen Innes in evidence, stated : I am an agent and have carried on business, in Glen Innes for the past 40 years (with a short interruption). I have made many valuations throughout New England and have in the course of my business valued many hotels and ho-tel properties. I have known the Junction Inn Hotel intimately for the past 40 years, and lately for purposes of this inquiry made a special inspection.

OFFERS MADE FOR LICENSE

In 1912 for the then suggested Glen Innes Club I offered Mrs. Larkin £1, 250 for her license. This was refused, and then again in 1921 I made the same offer for a syndicate who proposed transferring the license, and building a new hotel in Glen Innes ; this was also refused. The above offers were for the license only and did not include any buildings. I remember the years 1917, 1918 and 1919. Those years were boom prices for cattle. The Junction Hotel was doing an excellent roadside business. The hotel is situated in the heart of cattle country. At this time also Glen Elgin had been thrown open for closer settlement, which meant over 20 new settlers who carried out considerable improvement and a good deal of the wages were diverted to the Junction Hotel. During these years there was big cattle traffic be-tween the Clarence and Glen Innes, all of which had to pass right in front of the hotel. The hotel supplied a night paddock for drovers and they invariably stayed at the hotel. In addition to this tin mining developments were taking place on the Sev-ern River and Skeleton Creek in the locality and there was a considerable influx of miners and a larger amount of money than usual in circulation. I cannot speak of the actual takings of George Larkin during those years, but I was in his conficence and he said to me then “I am doing wonderfully well.” The house comprised some ten or 11 rooms and was built on such a plan that it was more suitable for hotel purposes than that of a small grazing property, being unnecessar-ily large for the latter purpose, and requires too much upkeep for a pri-vate residence. During the years 1917, 1918 and 1919 there was a good deal of horse and coach vehicular traffic; the mail coaches calling at the hotel. A good deal of profit was derived from stab-ing. During the years mentioned the goodwill of a lease for eight years with furniture, could have been sold for £1000 at a rental of £2/10 per week. That offer, was made by me about that time on behalf of a man named Kennedy, a Queenslander. That offer was refused by the owner. In my opinion if Mr. Larkin had shown any disposition to meet Mr. Kennedy the latter would have closed for an eight years lease for £1000 at a rental of £3 per week. Kennedy af-terwards bought an hotel in Sydney.

QUESTION OF VALUE

Delicened, the buildings would have a lettable value of not more than 10/- a week. It is not conveniently situated for the working of a grazing property. The owner would probably pull the building down and remove to a more convenient position. , The value of improvements (delicensed) would be not more than £200. If Mr. Larkin had leased the hotel for eight years in 1917, 1918 or 1919 for £3 per week and £1000 bonus he would have got i as : Rent, £1, 248 ; bonus £1 ,000. Total £2248. Dis-tributing the £2,248 over eight years (bonus being rent in advance) the rental return to the owner in 1917 1918 and 1919 would have been : per year £281; delicensed per year £26. Loss per year £255.

ERECTED 45 YEARS AGO

In reply to the chairman, witness said the great part of the premises were erected 45 years ago, since when additions had been made. Clement Sturtridge, licensee and owner of the Junction Inn, Bald Nob. stated that he purchased the hotel, together with a grazing property in June, 1925, and for two years had carried on the hotel business. For 1926 the income from the hotel, according to income tax returns was £208, and for the year ending June, 1927, the income was £344. The hotel was conducted claimant’s wife, who also acted as postmistress at Bald Nob, for which she received £48 a year. Most of claimant’s time was spent in the grazing business. He was a married man, without children. He would have to have a residence when the hotel closed, and it might be possible to shift part of the existing hotel building. As situated right on the road, the premises were not suitable for a private residence. John Ernest Hayes, overseer in the employ of claimant, stated that at times he assisted Mrs Sturtridge in the running of the hotel.

The takings for liquor for the last two years totalled £807, and income from lodgers, and stabling, £600. Wages paid for the two years totalled £89. This concluded the evidence, the chairman stating that the Board’s decision in regard to compensation for the whole of the hotels closed in the north would be announced on the one day, at the Water Police Court, Sydney. The Chairman intimated that the licensee-owner could close the hotel at any time before the expiration of 12 months.

The Grafton Daily Examiner reported on Friday 13 January 1928:

OLD HOSTELRY CLOSING

About 15 years ago there, was a good chance that the Junction Inn at Bald Nob would fade out and in its place would spring up an up-to-date club in Glen Innes, says the Glen Innes “Examiner.”

Negotiations broke down, however, and when the Liquor Licenses Reduction Board set out to reduce the number of licenses in the Northern Tablelands electorate, the Junction Inn was cited and ultimately marked to “go out.” In con-sequence of that decision the old hostelry — after over half a century’s existence — will definitely close at 6 p.m. on Monday next. Portion of the hotel building — the newer portion, erected after a fire had partially destroyed the old hotel — will be pulled down and used in a new building which Mr. Sturtrige is erecting on his grazing property, which he purchased together with the hotel about three years ago. The old bar, however which is lined with cedar, will remain intact. It will be a “dry” bar.

Sturtridge, as owner of the property was awarded compensation of £570, and as licensee an additional £460 from the NSW Government. In total he was awarded £1,030 for the pub’s closure.

The Sturtridges eventually sold their large farming properties and former pub at Bald Nob in 1946 to Michael F. Donnelly.

The last publican of the Junction Hotel, Clement Julius Sturtridge, died on 12 December 1951. He was 55 years old. He was buried in Mount Thompson Memorial Gardens and Crematorium, Holland Park West, Queensland.

The crumbling remains of the former Junction Hotel stubbornly sit on the roadside at Bald Nob. The eerie ruins harbour the stories of where a brutal bushranger took his last breath. They are where a depressed publican violently ended his life. It’s the despairing sanctuary of where young life’s ended prematurely from sickness. It’s a sad place.

These haunting tales, from The Junction’s colourful past, linger like its defiant ruins.

_{© Copyright Mick Roberts 2025}

Bald Nob, NSW

Licensees: 1873 – 1928

Bald Nob Inn

Newton Boyd Road, Bald Nob

January 1873 – 1875: John Rae

Bald Nob Hotel

Newton Boyd Road, Bald Nob

1875 – 1878: Henry Green

Junction Hotel

Newton Boyd Road, Bald Nob

1878 – 1897: Bartholomew McCormack

1897 – 1900: Elizabeth McCormack

1900 – 1925: George Larkin

1925 – 1928: Clement Julius Sturtridge

Hotel closed for business January 10 1928

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Categories: Australian Hotels, NSW hotels

Tags: Bald Nob, Junction Hotel Bald Nob