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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Norm Kelly and the White Horse Hotel, Charters Towers
NORM Kelly (pictured) knew there was tin in that hill; he knew it deep in his heart. But he was out prospecting with his uncle, who was the boss, and he said, “No.” So they went fossicking somewhere else.Then two… Read More ›
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Belmore Hotel, Belmore: Canterbury mayor’s controversial £50 gift for favourable evidence in application for Sydney pub license
THE Belmore Hotel, in Sydney’s south-west, began business controversially in 1928. Parramatta publican, Harry Gadd transferred his license of the Park Gate Hotel to the corner of Burwood Road and Tobruk Avenue, Belmore on August 14 1928. The 51-year-old publican… Read More ›
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Tattersalls Hotel, Barringun
BY John Larkins* IN the good old days when the shearing shed at Tinnenburra was the biggest in the world, Annie Lack’s arms grew tired just opening beer bottles. But the shed is disused, silent now. The shearers have gone… Read More ›
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Founded on gold: Bridge Hotel, Forest Lodge
LIKE Melbourne, Sydney too had its gold-rush pubs. The former Bridge Hotel at Forest Lodge, in Sydney’s inner-west, was established in August 1877 by Irishman Tom McInerney. A pioneering member of the Irish National League in Sydney, Tom built an… Read More ›
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You’re terrible Muriel: The Hotel Hamilton
By John Larkins* The wind howled its lament across the drought country, through the gasping trees beside the track, and raised a flurry of dust from a road cracked like the lips of a man lost in the blazing desert…. Read More ›
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Hoppy Tom and the Warialda pub
HOPPY Tom had to drink alone. Oh, his mate had been with him earlier, but suddenly the door of the Warialda pub (NSW) burst open, and in stormed his chum’s wife. A giant of a woman, six axe handles… Read More ›
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Forest Lodge Hotel, Forest Lodge
TUCKED away in a quiet back-street off busy Parramatta Road in the tiny inner-west suburb of Forest Lodge, 4km from the Sydney CBD, can be found an interesting pub, named after the suburb in which it trades. The Forest Lodge… Read More ›
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Quigley family hosted Paddington’s Bellevue Hotel for almost 60 years
By MICK ROBERTS © UNEXPECTEDLY in a Paddington street trades a rejuvenated relict from Sydney’s past – the Bellevue Hotel. Originally licensed by James Quigley in July 1878 as the Elphin Hotel, the pub is a survivor of a much… Read More ›
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Sydney’s notorious Belfields Hotel and its publicans
WHILE Sydney has plenty of colourful pub stories, there’s one watering hole that traded at the corner of King and George Streets in the CBD for over 80 years that’s hard to pass for notoriety. In fact, the corner pub… Read More ›
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Bellevue Hotel, Redfern
HERE’S another blast from Sydney’s past; this time from Redfern. The Bellevue Hotel sat on the north-west corner of Redfern and Regent Streets until last drinks were called on February 1 1972 and the business closed for good. There… Read More ›