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 croc hunter and the Imperial Hotel, Innisfail
THE Imperial Hotel at Innisfail sat across the road from the Johnstone River, a notorious waterway known for crocodiles. The large timber two-storey hotel was the preferred accommodation for game hunters visiting north Queensland to snag themselves a giant trophy… Read More ›
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The pubs of the old Western Australian gold mining town of Menzies
WHITE HOUSE HOTEL. The White House Hotel in Menzies was built by Mr F. Devas in 1895, and he conducted it for a short period. Mr Devas contracted a severe attack of typhoid, and to the extreme regret of his… Read More ›
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Poppa’s Place, aka the Hotel Corones, Charleville
EAST MEETS WEST AT HARRY’S By ELGIN REID CHARLEVILLE, Wednesday. — Out here they call it Poppa’s Place or Harry’s place. Its official name, however, is the Hotel Corones. It is named after its proprietor, Harry Corones, one of the… Read More ›
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Gipsy Point Hotel, Mallacoota
Joe the bounder in the pub Strangers think they’ve had one too many, but the pub regulars are no longer jumpy when a kangaroo they call Joe breasts the bar By BILL WELLS Joe’s no lounge lizard, but he is… Read More ›
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The pub piano
THERE was nothing unusual to hear the boisterous voices of men bellowing from the bars of Australian pubs during the war years and beyond. Pubs were the principle venues of entertainment for men during the war years, which continued in… Read More ›
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Strange death link, two years apart: Both were barmaids at the same pub
TWO barmaids who once pulled beers from the same two pubs in the mid 1890s, tragically took their own lives – two years apart – over broken relationships. Nellie Willis shot her estranged fiancé, Ernest McFadden in the throat at Auburn, in… Read More ›
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Car runs into the bar of Adelaide’s Selborne Hotel
A MISBEHAVED MOTOR RUNS INTO HOTEL BAR. ADELAIDE. Tuesday. The unexplained vagaries of a motor car caused some excitement in Pirie-street today. After capsizing a buggy, it swung across the road, knocked down a cyclist, missed a row of verandah posts by fractions of… Read More ›
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How Sydney beat a heatwave at Bondi Beach’s Astra Hotel
As Sydney sweltered in yesterday’s heat-wave hotels were popular. This was the scene at 1 pm in the Astra Hotel, Bondi. Average success of thirsty drinkers in the crowded bar was two drinks per hour. – The Sydney Sun Sunday 4 November 1945…. Read More ›
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Barrels of fun: Two week beer drought ends in Canberra
‘Roll out the barrel’ — and the beer drought is on the run. Mr B. Kelly, of Braddon (pictured), cellarman at a city hotel, unloads draught beer yesterday. The drought ended for some Canberra hotels and all clubs when the… Read More ›
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Australian Eleven Hotel, Redfern
By MICK ROBERTS © AUSTRALIAN sportsmen have a long tradition of donning the publican apron. In fact, history is littered with famous sporting publicans, who have taken advantage of their athletic fame to earn them a living behind the bar…. Read More ›