By MICK ROBERTS © THERE are some publicans who truly earn a legendary status. As a bush publican, shearer, colt-breaker, mail coach driver, boundary rider, noted athlete, scalper, and successful racehorse owner and trainer, Hermann Schmidt, was one of those… Read More ›
Publicans
Darwin’s ravenous termites devoured 80 barrels of beer
BEFORE the days of steel kegs, Northern Territory publicans had an ongoing battle with termites attacking their timber beer barrels. With nests rising like skyscrapers to heights of three metres or more, there are some weird and wonderful stories told… Read More ›
Notorious Austinmer coal miners’ pub became club before burning to the ground
By MICK ROBERTS © THERE are some pubs that even the bravest men would fear to tread. The North Illawarra Hotel at Austinmer, south of Sydney, had that reputation. A coal miners’ pub, it was one of the toughest in… Read More ›
The Plasto pubs: Four Sydney publican brothers, Frank, Bob, Reg and Len
By MICK ROBERTS © BESIDES boasting a large and profitable pub portfolio, the Plasto family were the darlings of Sydney’s social-set for over 40 years. During the 1930s through to the 1960s, the family were rarely out of the newspapers’… Read More ›
Wealthy Brisbane publican died penniless after she was hit by a tram
By MICK ROBERTS © A TRAGIC accident ended the life of Annie Teresa Cain, one of Brisbane’s most charismatic and generous publicans. Two days before Christmas, Annie jumped-off a tram at Bronte, in Sydney’s east, and was struck by another… Read More ›
Dooen Hotel publican ‘pulls a swifty’ on local police
By MICK ROBERTS © ALTHOUGH briefly at the reins, some publicans leave an indelible mark on the history of a hotel. One such host was a bloke by the name of Albert McGee. McGee, who died back in 1956, held… Read More ›
Olive’s three ‘petticoat pubs’ were run entirely by women
THE year before Olive Kathleen Cummins married she became the licensee of South Melbourne’s Caledonian Hotel at the age of 25. Olive was granted the license of her first pub, the Caledonian in 1919, and had a short stay after… Read More ›
Regents Park Hotel: The Publican verse the Salvationist
By MICK ROBERTS © One of the more notorious incidents in almost a century of trading at the Regents Park Hotel in Sydney’s west was when the publican booted out a Salvation Army officer, who was collecting donations and selling… Read More ›
Hides Hotel: How the O’Haras lost their Cairns Hotel legacy
By MICK ROBERTS © THE O’Hara family just couldn’t shake the legacy of their predecessors. Despite the Hides not building or hosting the landmark hotel at the corner of Lake and Shields Streets, in the far northern Queensland city of… Read More ›