Author Archives
A journalist, writer and historian, Mick Roberts specialises in Australian cultural history, particularly associated with the Australian hotel and liquor industry. Mick has had an interest in revealing the colourful story of Australian pubs and associated industries for over 30 years. He is working on a comprehensive history of the hotel and liquor industry in the Illawarra region of NSW. Besides writing a number of history books, Mick managed several community newspapers. He has been editor of the Wollongong Northern News, The Bulli Times, The Northern Times, The Northern Leader and The Local - all located in the Wollongong region. As a journalist he has worked for Rural Press, Cumberland (News Limited), the Sydney city newspaper, City News, and Torch Publications based in Canterbury Bankstown, NSW.
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Giant crocodile captivated visitors at Emu Park’s Pine Beach Hotel for decades
By MICK ROBERTS © THE unique north Queensland tendency of displaying stuffed crocodiles in pubs is said to have originated in Rockhampton, where the reptiles were once common, and fearless hunters were always on the ready to supply hotel hosts… Read More ›
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Broome’s Continental Hotel was established by Filipino pearler
By MICK ROBERTS © NOT many pubs could claim a ‘king’ as their ‘yardman’. Broome’s Continental Hotel in the Kimberley region of Western Australia has that distinction. Aboriginal elder, ‘King Mackie’ was the ‘boots’ or ‘roustabout’ at the Continental Hotel… Read More ›
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Emu Hotel was a favourite with the inmates of the Parramatta asylum
By MICK ROBERTS © LITTERALLY sitting on the banks of the Parramatta River, the quaintly named Emu Hotel had gained a reputation as a disorderly house during the 1890s. The pub was frequented by inmates from the nearby benevolent asylums and… Read More ›
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Quirindi’s Imperial Hotel lost its magnificent balcony – twice!
By MICK ROBERTS © WHEN Adam ‘Jack’ Swale walked into the police station confessing to swindling the Tamarang Council while shire clerk in 1912, it ended the career of one of Quirindi’s best known citizens and most successful businessmen. Swale… Read More ›
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Last drinks for 150-year-old Concord pub, hosted by three generations of the one family
By MICK ROBERTS © FOLLOWING hot on the heels of the demolition of Parramatta’s historic Royal Oak Hotel, the NSW Government is about to rase another of Sydney’s landmark pubs in the name of public transport infrastructure. With much controversy… Read More ›
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Wealthy Brisbane publican died penniless after she was hit by a tram
By MICK ROBERTS © A TRAGIC accident ended the life of Annie Teresa Cain, one of Brisbane’s most charismatic and generous publicans. Two days before Christmas, Annie jumped-off a tram at Bronte, in Sydney’s east, and was struck by another… Read More ›
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Dooen Hotel publican ‘pulls a swifty’ on local police
By MICK ROBERTS © ALTHOUGH briefly at the reins, some publicans leave an indelible mark on the history of a hotel. One such host was a bloke by the name of Albert McGee. McGee, who died back in 1956, held… Read More ›
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Blackbirder established the Queen’s Hotel on the Brisbane River wharves
By MICK ROBERTS © THE Queen’s Hotel, opposite the wharves on the Brisbane River, was a favourite haunt of sailors and the men working on the docks. And, no wonder. The pub sat opposite a small reserve dominated by a… Read More ›
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Road trip: The pubs of Queensland’s Cassowary Coast
By MICK ROBERTS © THERE were plenty of pleasurable pubs to visit and review on our 145km road trip south from Cairns to Feluga late last year. There’s the pub in the sugarcane-fields at Garradunga, said to be haunted by… Read More ›