Recent Posts - page 2
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The ubiquitous pub bookie
MOSTLY out of pubs, Illegal SP (Starting Price) bookmakers operated for much of the 20th century, particularly from the 1930s until the introduction of the Totalizator Agency Board (TAB) in the 1960s. An SP Bookie (Starting Price Bookmaker) refers to a bookmaker who… Read More ›
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Celebrating 100 Years of Khartoum Hotel in Hunter Valley
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 ›
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Bulong’s Court Hotel: From bustling pub to abandoned ghost town
THE Court Hotel was a jerry-built corrugated iron pub established in what is now an abandoned gold mining town in Western Australia. Bulong was a bustling settlement located 580kms east of Perth in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia. In… Read More ›
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Perth’s old and new Imperials
The Imperial Hotel on Wellington Street, Perth (WA) was a prominent, multi-storey building first completed in 1898. Located opposite Perth’s central railway station, it was described in 1889 as a “handsome ornament” to the area during the Gold Boom era. The… Read More ›
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The opening of Kalgoorlie’s iconic York Hotel
Built in 1900–1901 by John Crothers for proprietor Henry Edward Laslett, the York Hotel in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, is a historic landmark located on Hannan Street. Designed by architect Daniel T. Edmunds in the Federation Anglo-Dutch style, it remains a… Read More ›
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The Bulli bullocky: Politics in the pub
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 ›
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Dicey Riley’s: Wollongong’s iconic Irish pub story
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 ›
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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 ›
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Discover the Royal Hotel Singleton: A historic family pub
LOCATED in the NSW Hunter Valley, the Royal Hotel at Singleton, is one of the region’s oldest pubs, established in 1859, and offering hospitality for over 165 years. Today the pub provides bistro dining, a large beer garden, motel rooms,… Read More ›
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Fred Klauer, musician, digger, raconteur and publican
The following first-hand account from a famous, well-known Adelaide publican, Frederick William Augustus Klauer, was published in the South Australian publication, Quiz and the Lantern, on 17 February 1898. It’s a fascination look into the life of a German immigrant,… 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