Recent Posts - page 4
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Quirindi’s Imperial Hotel lost its magnificent balcony – twice!
By MICK ROBERTS © WHEN Adam ‘Jack’ Swale walked into the police station confessing to swindling the Tamarang Council while shire clerk in 1912, it ended the career of one of Quirindi’s best known citizens and most successful businessmen. Swale… Read More ›
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Last drinks for 150-year-old Concord pub, hosted by three generations of the one family
By MICK ROBERTS © FOLLOWING hot on the heels of the demolition of Parramatta’s historic Royal Oak Hotel, the NSW Government is about to rase another of Sydney’s landmark pubs in the name of public transport infrastructure. With much controversy… Read More ›
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Wealthy Brisbane publican died penniless after she was hit by a tram
By MICK ROBERTS © A TRAGIC accident ended the life of Annie Teresa Cain, one of Brisbane’s most charismatic and generous publicans. Two days before Christmas, Annie jumped-off a tram at Bronte, in Sydney’s east, and was struck by another… Read More ›
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Dooen Hotel publican ‘pulls a swifty’ on local police
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 ›
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Blackbirder established the Queen’s Hotel on the Brisbane River wharves
By MICK ROBERTS © THE Queen’s Hotel, opposite the wharves on the Brisbane River, was a favourite haunt of sailors and men working on the docks. And, no wonder. The pub sat opposite a small reserve dominated by a wide-spreading… Read More ›
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Road trip: The pubs of Queensland’s Cassowary Coast
By MICK ROBERTS © THERE were plenty of pleasurable pubs to visit and review on our 145km road trip south from Cairns to Feluga late last year. There’s the pub in the sugarcane-fields at Garradunga, said to be haunted by… Read More ›
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Time to reduce beer tax to help pubs recover from Covid lock downs
AS other countries cut their beer tax to help the hospitality industry recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, Australia’s tariff continues to rise twice a year. The UK Government has announced it will slash draught beer tax, whilst Australia surges up… Read More ›
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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 ›
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Thief found asleep in the bar of Camperdown pub after helping himself to a bottle of whiskey
A FEW hours after he broke into the cellar of the Grose Farm Hotel, Joseph Byrnes was found asleep in the bar after polishing of a bottle of whiskey and two bottles of wine. Byrnes, who was almost totally deaf… 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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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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Taxi driver bitten by crocodile in the bar of the 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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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
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The Battle for Beer
December 18, 2019
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Perth’s SP bookies were not only blokes
August 31, 2019
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Boxing champ behind the bar
August 4, 2019
Melbourne Hotels ›
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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
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They learnt Australian ways
June 30, 2019
Sydney hotels ›
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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
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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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Fifth generation publican buys Newtown institution, Milton Hotel
February 9, 2023
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The White Horses of Newtown & St Peters: Three pubs with a rich & sometimes dark history
December 23, 2022
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Changes afoot at one of Newtown’s oldest pubs: Looking back at the Milton Hotel
December 16, 2022
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Long awaited re-opening of Sydney’s Abercrombie Hotel: A 180 year history continues
December 6, 2022
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The Plasto pubs: Four Sydney publican brothers, Frank, Bob, Reg and Len
November 8, 2022
Adelaide hotels ›
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Mine’s a ‘Lady Blamey’: Beer served-up in cut-off beer bottles
September 15, 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
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Rebel Irish flag at Adelaide hotel
March 14, 2019
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Golfers tee-off with milk and rum before making a strategic beer break
October 6, 2018
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Walter sat at the same table in Adelaide’s Exchange Hotel for 42 years
August 8, 2018
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Car runs into the bar of Adelaide’s Selborne Hotel
November 9, 2017
Brisbane hotels ›
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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
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The Treasury Hotel, Brisbane
November 19, 2019
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Hen gets ‘clucky’ on beer
July 23, 2019
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Publican, Rose Rooney: Sydney’s Diamond Queen
June 4, 2019
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Treasury Hotel, Brisbane
April 15, 2019