Author Archives
A newspaper journalist, writer and local 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 pubs, inns and associated industries in the Sydney and Illawarra regions of NSW for over 30 years. He is currently working on a comprehensive history of the hotel and liquor industry in the Illawarra region of NSW. Besides authoring a number of history books, Mick has owned and operated several community newspapers. He was one time 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 Limted), Sydney based, City News, and is now with Torch Publications.
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Barton’s bar: the flash Irish cabman
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. Trading as the Kiama Hotel on the corner of Teralong and Shoalhaven Streets,… Read More ›
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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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The Kennedy brothers
By MICK ROBERTS © THE Kennedy brothers, Hugh, John and Richard attempts at respectability in Australia seemed to have started off on the right foot. The three Irishmen built a portfolio of properties, and established a profitable cattle trading business,… Read More ›
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Before Sydney’s Hilton Hotel was the 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
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 ›
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Red Bull Inn, Ultimo, Sydney: 1839-1861
By MICK ROBERTS © THERE was hardly a dull moment in the short but colourful history of Sydney’s Red Bull Inn, a little pub that traded for 20 years on today’s Broadway. Believed to be constructed of stone, the… Read More ›
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The Dog and Duck, Haymarket, Sydney: 1815-1891
By MICK ROBERTS© FOR over 80 years the Dog and Duck was a landmark pub on George Street Sydney. A coach terminus for travellers between country NSW and Sydney, and popular with teamsters bringing stock and trade from the country,… Read More ›
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Career publican: Ellen Stokes
By MICK ROBERTS © BESIDES running a popular and profitable bar, the pinnacle for a career publican must be hosting the likes of royalty – and the closest to Australian royalty is a governor general. Ellen Stokes hosted at least… Read More ›