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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The beer drinking moths of Derby
LIFE is tough, mighty tough in Derby, in the far north-west of Western Australia. There the moths not only invade the bar and hamper people drinking, but also mop up the beer themselves. There’s not much to do in Derby… Read More ›
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Botany’s Waterworks Hotel joined Sydney’s ‘150 club’ in 2018
THE Waterworks Hotel at Botany reached a significant milestone in 2018 when it joined a select number of Sydney pubs that have marked 150 years of trade. Named after the nearby Sydney Waterworks, which was established in 1858, the little… Read More ›
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Like old times: Royal Hotel, Lismore
LIKE OLD TIMES – At about midday on Thursday, a young man drove up to the front of the Royal Hotel, in Molesworth Street, Lismore, got out of the sulky, took the horse out and tied him up to the… Read More ›
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Sydney’s stolen beer glass epidemic: Over 180,000 glasses a week disappeared from the city’s 600 pubs in 1944
DURING the 1940s, Sydney’s pubs was suffering a persisting problem with customers stealing beer glasses. The problem had been around for decades, but the curious practice of ‘souveniring’ beer glasses from Sydney’s pubs had become a major headache for publicans… Read More ›
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Goomeri’s Grand Hotel fire claimed the lives of eight people
THE classic art deco Grand Hotel at Goomeri in Queensland was re-built in 1943 after the original pub was destroyed in a tragic fire that killed the publican and his wife, a barmaid, and five guests on December 23 1939…. Read More ›
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In the shadow of the Sydney Harbour Bridge pylon: Imperial Hotel, Milson’s Point
By MICK ROBERTS © THE Imperial Hotel at Milson’s Point started life as the Cornish Arms when John Whitford was granted a license in April 1844. Thirty-five-year old Dind, his wife, Eliza, 34, and their 12-year-old son, William Jnr, moved… Read More ›
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Road trip: Morpeth’s Commercial Hotel was operated by four sisters for 15 years
By MICK ROBERTS © OUR 2018 road trip to the Hunter Valley, included a visit to the grand old Commercial Hotel at Morpeth. There seems to have been two Commercial Hotels trading in Morpeth, the first licensed by Moses Murphy in… Read More ›
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Thirsty gold mining district of Kalgoorlie had almost 100 pubs last century
LEGEND has it that at one time you couldn’t throw a stone in the Western Australian goldfield towns of Kalgoorlie and Boulder without hitting a hotel. After the discovery of gold in 1893, pubs began springing-up all over the frontier… Read More ›
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How Casino’s Charcoal Inn got its name
THERE’S a pub in the Northern Rivers region of NSW that has an intriguing sign. The Charcoal Inn at Casino, about 30kms from Lismore, was built in the middle of last century. But like many Australian pubs, she’s been rebuilt… Read More ›
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Pub has traded on the corner for 160 years: Covent Gardens Hotel, Haymarket
There’s been a pub trading at the corner of Hay and Dixon Streets in Sydney’s Haymarket for well over 150 years. Way before the Covent Gardens Hotel was established on the site, a pub by the name of the Miller’s… Read More ›