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 ›
Victoria hotels
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 ›
Melbourne’s historic Mitre Tavern has served-up beer for over 150 years
LEGEND has it that Melbourne’s historic Mitre Tavern spawned the name of a well-known Australian hardware store. The story goes – well, according to the pub’s folklore – that two of the founding members of the hardware store, Mitre 10… Read More ›
Carlton’s United States Hotel publican charged with murder after shooting dead an intruder
THE publican of Carlton’s United States Hotel had endured four raids by thieves within nine months before shooting dead an intruder in May 1925. Publican John Maxwell O’Shea shot Henry ‘Pony’ Dodds while he was attempting to climb over the… Read More ›
Frightening tales from two wayside inns
The Midnight Prowler IT was dark when Burnett, and I pulled up at Sunder’s pub and asked the distance to Muralla. We had just finished a droving contract and were bound for that one-horse township to see if we could… Read More ›
Cloudy the pony enjoyed a beer at the bar
CLOUDY was a pony that made the news with his beer drinking antics in 1953. The 88cm (35 inch) pony, reported the World’s News on March 23, had raised around £800 by appearing at fairs, fetes and parades. Besides his… Read More ›
The flash bars of Melbourne’s Royal Mail Hotel
The Royal Mail, Bourke and Swanston Streets, Melbourne CHARLES LEECH, Proprietor. THIS famous hotel is a notable landmark of Melbourne, and is one of the most popular houses of call in the city. Under the energetic guidance of the present… Read More ›
Roast beef, crisp brown spuds and a few ‘long-uns’ at the Cecil Inn
By MICK ROBERTS © IN a secluded, heavily timbered valley in the Victorian Highlands, about 20 km north-east of Morwell, once traded a small timber inn, famous for serving-up to its guests mouth-watering roast beef, crisp brown potatoes, and ‘long-uns’… Read More ›
The story of Ann Jones, Ned Kelly and the Glenrowan Inn
By MICK ROBERTS © THE Glenrowan Inn where the bushranger Ned Kelly’s ‘last stand’ took place in 1880 is arguably Australia’s most infamous pub. While the history of bushranger Ned Kelly is well documented, the story of Glenrowan Inn host,… Read More ›