Recent Posts - page 18
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Bellambi pub had its own private passenger train to take guests to beach
NOT many pubs can boast of their own private passenger train. Well, Bellambi Hotel on the NSW South Coast, can… The pub had its own train, which took guests to the beach. William Wilson, manager of the South Bulli Colliery… Read More ›
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The Prince of Wales and the Tyrone Hotel
THERE’S nothing to suggest, along a lonely stretch of highway about 35km north of Coonamble on the central-western plains of NSW, that a future King of England once called into a bush pub and shouted the bar. There’s nothing remaining… Read More ›
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Boxing champ cut his teeth on Singleton’s Terminus Hotel
FORMER world bantamweight champion, Jimmy Carruthers, claimed that serving beer in a crowded bar was harder than a day’s gymnasium work. Carruthers, after his retirement from the ring, spent a few weeks working at the Terminus Hotel, Singleton (NSW) during… Read More ›
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Book reveals the colourful tales of Bellambi and Bulli pubs
THE barmaids serving-up the beer in what is today’s Heritage Hotel at Bulli, south of Sydney, must have looked on in sheer horror as thousands of thirsty drinkers began filling the public bar on Christmas Eve 1940. To help celebrate… Read More ›
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Before pokies and tellies, talented pets were popular pub attractions
WAY before pokies and television screens, pubs had to find other means to attract and entertain customers to their bars. Pets of various descriptions were often used to draw custom, and occasionally the talented animals and the the pubs they… Read More ›
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Sydney’s blind publican, John Wall had no problem tapping his own kegs
By MICK ROBERTS © WHEN returned serviceman John William Wall applied to become a publican, the Licensing Magistrate had some misgivings, doubting his ability to manage a hotel. Wall, 42, was legally blind, and the magistrate was unsure the AIF… Read More ›
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Sister Pubs, A history of the Bellambi Hotel, Bellambi & Heritage Hotel, Bulli
TO help celebrate the 130th anniversaries of the Heritage Hotel, Bulli and the Bellambi Hotel, Bellambi, ‘Time Gents’ presents the history book, ‘Sister Pubs’, featuring stories of their colourful characters, a list of all the publicans, amusing yarns, and plenty… Read More ›
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Walbundrie publican’s tragic ‘last shot’
By MICK ROBERTS © JIMMY and Ada Mitchell’s is a tale of what could have been. A tragic story of a newly married couple’s life journey, cut short. Jimmy survived the battle fields of World War One, only to be… Read More ›
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Publican feared his hotel would be torched if he offered beds to ‘scab’ labourers during great shearers strike
By MICK ROBERTS © A QUEENSLAND publican who refused accommodation to ‘scab’ labourers, out of fear that his pub would be burnt to the ground, during the height of the great shearers’ strike, was shown no mercy by a magistrate…. Read More ›
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Fremantle’s Cleopatra Hotel: Began trading as a seafarer’s inn
By MICK ROBERTS © CURRENTLY used as student accommodation, the former Cleopatra Hotel in the port city of Fremantle has a history stretching back almost to Western Australia’s foundations. The pub was founded in 1836, when Elizabeth Pace, the wife… Read More ›
Featured Categories
Hobart hotels ›
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Hobart’s Liverpool Street was ‘infested with prostitutes’ and pubs that were the ‘worst dens of infamy’
June 11, 2023
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Hobart’s hoteliers founded Australia’s first industry advocacy group
June 7, 2023
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Beer drums on trial
August 26, 2019
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The pubs and brothels of Hobart’s Watchorn Street
June 17, 2019
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Hadley’s Orient Hotel, Hobart
August 17, 2017
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Pugnacious publican
February 25, 2017
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Early pubs of Hobart: The romance of Tasmania’s hostelries
June 11, 2016
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Publican painter
May 4, 2015
Darwin hotels ›
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Publican unlucky in love: Wealthy hotelier murdered by cheating wife
January 14, 2024
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Darwin’s ravenous termites devoured 80 barrels of beer
May 20, 2023
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Hotel Darwin
August 17, 2017
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The 1948 crocodile encounter at Hotel Darwin
March 15, 2017
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Darwin beer supply ‘white-anted’
March 9, 2017
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The Vic survived three cyclones…
December 24, 2016
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Darwin hotel explosion
October 19, 2016
Perth Hotels ›
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Perth’s old and new Imperials
February 12, 2026
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Road Trip: Pubs of Western Australia’s South-West and Wheatbelt Country
May 18, 2025
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Bushrangers and desperadoes gathered at the Mahogany Creek inn
April 3, 2024
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Policeman shot dead in bar of Perth’s Brisbane Hotel
August 1, 2020
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Perth publican ‘Old Penn’ was a colourful character: A history of the Woodbridge Hotel
June 7, 2020
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Three Western Australian publicans from the past
March 28, 2020
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Zandra the pub nude made Chloe look like ‘an elderly spinster in a red flannel negligee’
March 9, 2020
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Perth newspaper vendor, Jimmy could make beer run up hill
January 14, 2020
Melbourne Hotels ›
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Marion ‘Bill’ Edwards was Australia’s first known transgender barman
October 10, 2024
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Melbourne’s Apollo Inn traded for over eight decades
June 1, 2023
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Olive’s three ‘petticoat pubs’ were run entirely by women
October 4, 2021
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Melbourne’s historic Mitre Tavern has served-up beer for over 150 years
January 29, 2021
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Carlton’s United States Hotel publican charged with murder after shooting dead an intruder
September 3, 2020
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The flash bars of Melbourne’s Royal Mail Hotel
February 29, 2020
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Melbourne hotelier, Jimmy Richardson
November 12, 2019
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Naked woman takes a dip in pub’s water trough
August 18, 2019
Sydney hotels ›
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Chamberlain Hotel: Tales of Folklore and Thieves in Sydney
August 18, 2026
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History of The Whalers Arms Pubs in Sydney
April 25, 2026
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History of Parramatta’s Oldest Pub: The Rose and Crown
April 14, 2026
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Discover the Keighery Hotel: A Piece of Sydney’s History
April 8, 2026
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Crown Hotel gas explosion killed Surry Hills’ newspaper vendor
January 14, 2026
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The mystery of E. Wells: A HMAS Sydney survivor?
September 19, 2025
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Opening of Granville’s Vauxhall Inn was celebrated with ‘buckets of rum’
December 1, 2023
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Identity of man found dead at North Sydney hotel remains mystery almost 60 years later
August 2, 2023
Adelaide hotels ›
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Fred Klauer, musician, digger, raconteur and publican
January 1, 2026
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Adelaide pub drinkers’ response to plastic bib proposal – 1954
September 10, 2024
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Early inns and taverns of Adelaide and South Australia
January 20, 2024
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Mine’s a ‘Lady Blamey’: Beer served-up in cut-off beer bottles
September 15, 2023
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Against all odds: Despite an abusive husband, hotelier Margaret Radestock became a successful business woman
February 17, 2023
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How a thatched tavern in Adelaide’s south-west doubled as a church: The Brighton Metro Hotel
November 16, 2020
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Adelaide’s last barmaid: When women were barred from behind the bar
December 31, 2019
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Commercial Hotel is Port Adelaide’s oldest licensed pub
June 5, 2019
Brisbane hotels ›
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The Tragic Tale of Brisbane Publican Ann Witham and the Dunmore Arms
May 22, 2026
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Update on historic Brisbane landmark, the Lord Stanley Hotel and its $15m overhaul
November 28, 2024
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The war years at Jack Ahern’s Hamilton Hotel
April 14, 2024
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Queensland hotels of long ago
November 4, 2023
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Wealthy Brisbane publican died penniless after she was hit by a tram
December 25, 2021
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Blackbirder established the Queen’s Hotel on the Brisbane River wharves
December 5, 2021
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Royal Hotel, Queen Street, Brisbane: 1862-1970
May 31, 2020
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Drinkers join the Salvos in Christmas carols outside South Brisbane pub
December 24, 2019