Author Archives
A journalist, writer and historian, Mick Roberts specialises in Australian cultural history, particularly associated with Australian pubs. Mick has had an interest in revealing the colourful story of Australian hotels or pubs and associated industries for over 35 years. Besides writing a number of history books, Mick has managed several community newspapers. Editorially, he has managed 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 reported for Rural Press, Cumberland (News Limited), City Hub Sydney (City News), and Torch Publications (based in Canterbury Bankstown, Sydney).
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Resurrection of Clifton’s lost pub: return of the Imperial
By MICK ROBERTS © We were invited to a ‘meet and greet’ at a derelict looking pub at Clifton, on the NSW South Coast in 2015 to hear plans for its restoration and transformation into an eatery and function centre…. Read More ›
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Old Ted: The ghost of Bulli pub
By MICK ROBERTS © MISSING trays of glassware and boxes of spirits, mysteriously turning-up later, cutlery re-arranged in the dining room, locked doors found wide open, eerie taps on the shoulder, and weird sounds throughout the middle of the night,… Read More ›
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Bellambi’s ‘other hotel’ was a harbourside pub frequented by hard-drinking waterside workers and sailors
By MICK ROBERTS © WHILE many who call Bellambi home know of their historic watering hole by the railway station, some may be surprised to learn of their first pub, down by the sea. Today’s Bellambi Hotel – opened in… Read More ›
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Parramatta Road’s Bald Faced Stag
By MICK ROBERTS © SEVEN kilometres from the heart of Sydney, along the Parramatta Road at Leichhardt, is one of the city’s oldest trading pubs. Although built in 1926, the Bald Faced Stag Hotel has served up beer under several names… Read More ›
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Kent brewer, Henry Heathorne was called to save Jamberoo’s ailing Woodstock from failure
By MICK ROBERTS © WHEN 52-year-old Henry Heathorne arrived alone in Sydney from Portsmouth on the ship Candahar in the winter of 1842, he had a tough job ahead of him. A Kent brewer, Heathorne had been called upon by… Read More ›
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Barton’s bar: the flash Irish cabman and his Kiama pub
By MICK ROBERTS © DESCRIBED as a “flash looking little cab driver”, Irishman Jimmy Barton and his wife Elizabeth established what is today considered Kiama’s oldest operating business. Kiama is a coastal town, south of Sydney, NSW. Trading today as the… Read More ›
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Hidden behind a modern facade is one of Sydney’s oldest pubs: The Stonemasons’ Arms/Victoria Inn, Ultimo – 1834-1867
By MICK ROBERTS © RUBBING my hands over the damp, cold sandstone walls of what could be Sydney’s oldest pub cellar, I knew there was a story to be told. A brief tour around what remains of Edward Turner’s 1834… Read More ›
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Publican Hugh Kennedy and his brothers attempt at respectability
By MICK ROBERTS © THE Kennedy brothers’ attempts at respectability in Australia seemed to have started off on the right foot. The three Irishmen, Hugh, John and Richard, built a portfolio of properties, and established a profitable cattle trading business,… Read More ›
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Way before Sydney’s Hilton Hotel offered beds to travellers, there was the notorious Bull’s Head Inn
By MICK ROBERTS © SPEAKING at the officially opening of the Sydney Royal Arcade in 1882, a council alderman described the Bull’s Head Inn and surrounding shops as “massed filthy dens and cesspits”, and their demolition to make way for… Read More ›
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Johanna Ryan: The untold story of an Irish landlady and her pubs
By MICK ROBERTS © FIFTY five years after the death of her husband, Irish hotelier Johanna Ryan was finally reunited with her spouse Michael, laid to rest beside him in the Catholic section of Australia’s largest cemetery. The year was… Read More ›