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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The Aussie pub named after a French president: The Cropper family’s two bush pubs
By MICK ROBERTS © THE Cropper family had a tragic start as hoteliers in the New England region of NSW. The family helped establish the historic Marshal MacMahon Hotel at Wallabadah, about 18 kilometres south of Tamworth, when William Cropper… Read More ›
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Against all odds: Despite an abusive husband, hotelier Margaret Radestock became a successful business woman
By MICK ROBERTS © DEFYING the odds, Margaret Tabitha Radestock was a successful hotelier, who despite an abusive husband, and antiquated licensing laws, became a wealthy and respected South Australian businesswoman. The daughter of German winemakers, Margaret, after almost 20… Read More ›
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Fifth generation publican buys Newtown institution, Milton Hotel
SYDNEY publican William Ryan seems to have a penchant for historic, landmark inner-city hotels. Ryan has bought one of the oldest pubs in Newtown. He has taken the reins of the King Street institution, Kuleto’s Bar, sold by Donna Asensio late… Read More ›
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Notorious Austinmer coal miners’ pub became club before burning to the ground
By MICK ROBERTS © THERE are some pubs that even the bravest men would fear to tread. The North Illawarra Hotel at Austinmer, south of Sydney, had that reputation. A coal miners’ pub, it was one of the toughest in… Read More ›
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The mysterious Jim Cavill and his Surfers Paradise Hotel
By MICK ROBERTS © WHAT could be a more fitting story for Surfers Paradise then the rags-to-riches tale of a barber, who rose to become one of Queensland’s most successful businessmen through clever exaggeration, media manipulation and showmanship? James Freeman… Read More ›
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We’re entering our 10th year! Here’s the top 10 stories over the past decade
WE’RE entering our 10th year of publication! Who would have thought it’s been a decade since ‘Time Gents, Australian Pub Project’ began bringing you the colourful yarns, our road trips and stories about this country’s wonderful watering holes. To mark… Read More ›
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The White Horses of Newtown & St Peters: Three pubs with a rich & sometimes dark history
By MICK ROBERTS © WHITE Horse Inn owner and coach operator, Jimmy Richardson reportedly faked a gold strike at Newtown during 1852, attracting hundreds of fortune-seekers to the sparsely settled township less than six kilometres from Sydney. Richardson’s coaching company… Read More ›
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Changes afoot at one of Newtown’s oldest pubs: Looking back at the Milton Hotel
By MICK ROBERTS © WITH a few changes in the wind after the sale of Newtown’s Kuleto’s Bar to well-known Sydney publican, William Ryan, Time Gents takes a look back at the colourful history of one of the suburb’s oldest… Read More ›
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Long awaited re-opening of Sydney’s Abercrombie Hotel: A 180 year history continues
By MICK ROBERTS © ON the eve of the long-awaited reopening of the Abercrombie Hotel on Sydney’s Broadway, Time Gents takes a look at its history, spanning back over 180 years as a much-loved Sydney watering hole. The hotel, located… Read More ›