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 ›
Sydney hotels
History of Parramatta’s Oldest Pub: The Rose and Crown
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 ›
Discover the Keighery Hotel: A Piece of Sydney’s History
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 ›
Crown Hotel gas explosion killed Surry Hills’ newspaper vendor
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 ›
The mystery of E. Wells: A HMAS Sydney survivor?
ABLE seaman E. Wells was featured in this fantastic image published in the Sydney Daily Telegraph on 11 February 1941. The previous day, Wells had disembarked the HMAS Sydney and was enjoying “a long drink of Sydney beer – his… Read More ›
Opening of Granville’s Vauxhall Inn was celebrated with ‘buckets of rum’
By MICK ROBERTS © WHEN the first public railway in NSW was opened from Redfern to Parramatta in 1855, publican William Stone, to celebrate the occasion, advertised the sale of “buckets of rum for a penny”. Stone had recently opened… Read More ›
Identity of man found dead at North Sydney hotel remains mystery almost 60 years later
THE identity of a man found dead at North Sydney’s long-gone Rest Hotel has remained a mystery for almost 60 years. The man, who was staying at the hotel under the name of ‘K. Cox’, was found dead in the… Read More ›
Surry Hills’ notorious bloodhouse, the Sunbeam Hotel
By MICK ROBERTS © ALTHOUGH today you would be hard pressed to believe it, prior to gentrification, Surry Hills was home to some of Sydney’s toughest pubs. The pubs of the inner-Sydney suburb were haunts of the city’s shadiest characters… Read More ›
Against all odds: Despite an abusive husband, hotelier Margaret Radestock became a successful business woman
By MICK ROBERTS © DEFYING the odds, Margaret Tabitha Radestock was a successful hotelier, who despite an abusive husband, and antiquated licensing laws, became a wealthy and respected South Australian businesswoman. The daughter of German winemakers, Margaret, after almost 20… Read More ›
Fifth generation publican buys Newtown institution, Milton Hotel
UPDATE: The sale of the pub did not proceed. SYDNEY publican William Ryan seems to have a penchant for historic, landmark inner-city hotels. Ryan has bought one of the oldest pubs in Newtown. He has taken the reins of the King… Read More ›