The Commercial Hotel Aberdeen on the New England Highway began as the early Aberdeen Inn, constructed in 1837–1838 with hand-made bricks fired in a local kiln. Officially opened in April 1839 with Ralph George Martin as its first licensee, it… Read More ›
By MICK ROBERTS © I’VE been researching pubs for almost 40 years, and am amazed at how sometimes the simplest detail can slip you by! This is a story about the Bulli Family Hotel in the Illawarra region of NSW,… Read More ›
ANGLEDOOL’S Exchange Hotel served the bustling 19th-century pastoral and opal-mining communities for just over half a century before its sudden demise. Angledool is a remote rural locality and historical village in north-western NSW. Located on the Narran River, the village… Read More ›
By MICK ROBERTS © ALL within a short walk from Sydney Harbour’s docks, during the 19th century, once traded four pubs known as the Whalers Arms. Rubbing shoulders in the cramped, crowded bars and taprooms of the inns and public… Read More ›
By MICK ROBERTS © THE war-veteran who established Parramatta’s Rose and Crown in 1841, Robert “One-Armed” Green, was appropriately laid to rest near his pub in the graveyard of the All Saints Church. Next time you visit this historic pub… Read More ›
By MICK ROBERTS © Often mispronounced, there’s a pub in Sydney’s west with an unusual name. The Keighery Hotel in Auburn is named after one of Australia’s best-known racing identities of the first half of the 20th century. The Keighery… Read More ›
THERE’S a pub in the Hunter Valley of NSW preparing for a special milestone. A pub centenary is always an opportunity to celebrate, reflect and to look forward. And that’s exactly what the current custodians of the Khartoum Hotel at… Read More ›
By MICK ROBERTS © BREAKING that unwritten rule of never discussing politics and religion at the pub can have dire consequence. Some people learn the hard way: like, Bulli bullocky James Robinson. Robinson was a new arrival to the little… Read More ›
By MICK ROBERTS © THE history of Wollongong’s last main street pub, Dicey Riley’s can be traced-back to when James Cosgrove was granted a publican’s license for the site almost 165 year ago. Like all good pub yarns, the colourful… Read More ›
By MICK ROBERTS © FATE dealt an elderly pensioner a cruel and fatal blow outside a Sydney pub just three days before Christmas, 1948. Like today, Surry Hills at the corner of Crown and Cleveland Streets, outside the Crown Hotel,… Read More ›