Recent Posts - page 4
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Bushrangers and desperadoes gathered at the Mahogany Creek inn
By MICK ROBERTS © FOR just over 40 years, bushrangers and desperadoes sheltered under the first incarnation of Mahogany Creek inn’s roof. There they gathered, drinking and yarning around its taproom fire place, joining with stockmen, timber-getters, bullockies, and more… Read More ›
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Early inns and taverns of Adelaide and South Australia
THE number of South Australian pubs – particularly those in its capital, Adelaide – was on the decline at the beginning of the 20th century. The old inns and taverns of early European settlement had steadily grown from when the… Read More ›
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Publican unlucky in love: Wealthy hotelier murdered by cheating wife
By MICK ROBERTS © PUBLICAN Roy Ferguson could be said to have been unlucky in love. The wealthy hotelier had at least three failed relationships with women who would eventually betray him – one fatally. Roy was no saint. In… Read More ›
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Berrima’s Surveyor General license lapsed in 1895: Title to Australia’s oldest ‘continuously licensed’ pub challenged
By MICK ROBERTS © THERE’S no doubt, Berrima’s Surveyor General Inn, on the NSW Southern Highlands, is one of Australia’s oldest trading pubs. Claims though that the pub is Australia’s oldest continuously licensed pub has come under a shadow with… Read More ›
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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 ›
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The sad demise of publican and courtesan the ‘Eulo Queen’
By MICK ROBERTS © AN attractive, wealthy woman in her youth, the desire of many of her customers, publican, Isabel Gray, in her twilight years lived a pitiful life in squalor, struggling to make ends meet and battling mental health… Read More ›
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Queensland hotels of long ago
THE old pubs of Queensland were recalled by William Lees in an entertaining feature story published in ‘The Queenslander’ newspaper on September 5 1935. In his story, he tells of the shanties and inns of outback Queensland and the legendary… Read More ›
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Historic Mount Garnet pub calls last drinks
By MICK ROBERTS © THE Mount Garnet Hotel, located 163km south-west of Cairns, has called last drinks. Sadly the historic pub – the town’s last – will close on October 29 2023. The Mount Garnet Hotel posted to its Facebook… Read More ›
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Tragic tale of Edward killalea and his death at Wollongong’s Commercial Hotel
By MICK ROBERTS © WHEN an Illawarra civic leader died on the sofa of Wollongong’s Commercial Hotel in 1872 the news caused a sensation. Edward Killalea was elected to the Shellharbour Municipal Council just two years before his death in 1872… Read More ›
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Mine’s a ‘Lady Blamey’: Beer served-up in cut-off beer bottles
By MICK ROBERTS © WALKING the mine-field of the various names of beer glass-sizes in Australia can be tricky – especially when you’re from inter-state. There’s the butcher, the handle, a pot, middy, and, of course, the schooner. While many… 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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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
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Surry Hills’ notorious bloodhouse, the Sunbeam Hotel
August 1, 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