Time Gents: Australian Pub Project
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Australian pub history, trivia and news
THE first pub in the western Sydney suburb of Merrylands traded for less than 25 years before the license was removed to a location closer to the railway station.
The two storey Victorian style corner pub, with balcony, was opened by Sydney hotelier, Henry Qualmer in 1897. Story Time Gents website:
The two storey Victorian style corner pub, with balcony, was opened by Sydney hotelier, Henry Qualmer in 1897. Story Time Gents website:
Evolution of an old Merrylands’ pub into the Billabong Hotel
The old Merrylands Hotel, corner of Sherwood and Merrylands Roads, Merrylands, 1964. Picture: Tony Maston Collection, Cumberland Council Library Service THE first pub in the western Sydney suburb o…
timegents.com
May 15, 2025 at 12:19 AM
THE first pub in the western Sydney suburb of Merrylands traded for less than 25 years before the license was removed to a location closer to the railway station.
The two storey Victorian style corner pub, with balcony, was opened by Sydney hotelier, Henry Qualmer in 1897. Story Time Gents website:
The two storey Victorian style corner pub, with balcony, was opened by Sydney hotelier, Henry Qualmer in 1897. Story Time Gents website:
LEGEND has it that at one time you couldn’t throw a stone in the Western Australian goldfield towns of Kalgoorlie and Boulder without hitting a hotel. Story and pictures at The Time Gents website:
Thirsty gold mining district of Kalgoorlie had almost 100 pubs last century
Foundry Hotel, Maritana-street Kalgoorlie, Western Australia 1935. Picture: State Library of Western Australia LEGEND has it that at one time you couldn’t throw a stone in the Western Australian go…
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April 26, 2025 at 12:19 PM
LEGEND has it that at one time you couldn’t throw a stone in the Western Australian goldfield towns of Kalgoorlie and Boulder without hitting a hotel. Story and pictures at The Time Gents website:
THE five Hill brothers made their fortune through beer, wine and spirits. The ‘currency lads’ – a name given to native born colonist – George, William, David, and Richard were Sydney publicans, who besides pumping ale, were also accomplished butchers. Story at Time Gents:
Brothers, butchering and beer
By MICK ROBERTS © THE five Hill brothers made their fortune through beer, wine and spirits. The ‘currency lads’ – a name given to native born colonist – George, William, David, and Rich…
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April 22, 2025 at 2:26 AM
THE five Hill brothers made their fortune through beer, wine and spirits. The ‘currency lads’ – a name given to native born colonist – George, William, David, and Richard were Sydney publicans, who besides pumping ale, were also accomplished butchers. Story at Time Gents:
THE year before Olive Kathleen Cummins 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. She would go in to run a number of Victorian "Petticoat Pubs", entirely run by women... story Time Gents:
Olive’s three ‘petticoat pubs’ were run entirely by women
Olive Edgar (right) with her all women staff at the Gippsland Hotel, St Kilda. Picture: Melbourne Herald, June 20, 1946. THE year before Olive Kathleen Cummins married she became the licensee of So…
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April 20, 2025 at 6:06 AM
THE year before Olive Kathleen Cummins 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. She would go in to run a number of Victorian "Petticoat Pubs", entirely run by women... story Time Gents:
WHEN Jack Ahern took the reins of his first pub at Hamilton, in what is today an affluent riverside suburb in the City of Brisbane, he quickly put his stamp on the popular drinking hole. Story and pictures at The Time Gents website:
The war years at Jack Ahern’s Hamilton Hotel
The Hamilton Hotel, Hamilton, C1930. This is how the pub looked when Jack Ahern took the license in 1931. Picture: State Library of Qld By MICK ROBERTS © WHEN Jack Ahern took the reins of his first…
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April 18, 2025 at 12:17 PM
WHEN Jack Ahern took the reins of his first pub at Hamilton, in what is today an affluent riverside suburb in the City of Brisbane, he quickly put his stamp on the popular drinking hole. Story and pictures at The Time Gents website:
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. Story at The Time Gents website:
Berrima’s Surveyor General license lapsed in 1895: Title to Australia’s oldest ‘continuously licensed’ pub challenged
The Surveyor General Inn, Berrima, about 1870. Picture: State Library of NSW By MICK ROBERTS © THERE’S no doubt, Berrima’s Surveyor General Inn, on the NSW Southern Highlands, is one of Australia’s…
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April 14, 2025 at 12:11 AM
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. Story at The Time Gents website:
PUBLICAN Roy Ferguson (pictured inset) 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. Story and pictures at The Time Gents website:
Publican unlucky in love: Wealthy hotelier murdered by cheating wife
Roy Ferguson. Picture: Brisbane Truth September 27, 1953. Roy’s first pub, the Clarendon Hotel, Newcastle, 1930. Picture: Tooth & Co Collection, Noel Butlin Archives Centre, Australian Na…
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April 13, 2025 at 3:28 AM
PUBLICAN Roy Ferguson (pictured inset) 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. Story and pictures at The Time Gents website:
BESIDES boasting a large and profitable pub portfolio, the Plasto family were the darlings of Sydney’s social-set for over 40 years. Story and pictures at The Time Gents website:
The Plasto pubs: Four Sydney publican brothers, Frank, Bob, Reg and Len
The Plasto flagship pub, The Ship Inn Hotel, Circular Quay, Sydney, 1949. Picture: Noel Butlin Archives, Australian National University. By MICK ROBERTS © BESIDES boasting a large and profitable pu…
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April 10, 2025 at 10:17 AM
BESIDES boasting a large and profitable pub portfolio, the Plasto family were the darlings of Sydney’s social-set for over 40 years. Story and pictures at The Time Gents website:
BY the 1870s Australian pubs were largely going by unimaginative names like the Royal or the Commercial. However, in Newcastle, NSW, there was a pub that bucked the trend, and was given the tantalising sign of the Hidden Treasure Hotel. Story at Time Gents website:
How the Hidden Treasure Hotel got its name: A history of a Newcastle pub
The former Hidden Treasure Hotel after the 1989 Newcastle earthquake. Picture: Newcastle Region Library By MICK ROBERTS © BY the 1870s most Australian pubs were going by unimaginative names like th…
timegents.com
April 8, 2025 at 10:58 PM
BY the 1870s Australian pubs were largely going by unimaginative names like the Royal or the Commercial. However, in Newcastle, NSW, there was a pub that bucked the trend, and was given the tantalising sign of the Hidden Treasure Hotel. Story at Time Gents website:
John McManaway (pictured inset) was a famed Western Australian publican, who hosted pubs to the miners of the Murchison goldfields. Known far and wide as ‘Bold McManaway’, the Irishman was said to have feared nothing and was a practical joker. Story at The Time Gents website:
Publican to the miners: ‘Bold Mac’, of the Murchison goldfields
John McManaway’s Excelsior Hotel, Cue, Western Australia. John McManaway was a famed Western Australian publican, who hosted three pubs to the heavy drinking miners of the Murchison gold…
timegents.com
April 6, 2025 at 4:18 AM
John McManaway (pictured inset) was a famed Western Australian publican, who hosted pubs to the miners of the Murchison goldfields. Known far and wide as ‘Bold McManaway’, the Irishman was said to have feared nothing and was a practical joker. Story at The Time Gents website:
IN a secluded, heavily timbered valley in the Victorian High Country, 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’ of beer. Story and pictures at The Time Gents website:
Roast beef, crisp brown spuds and a few ‘long-uns’ at the Cecil Inn
The Tyers River Inn, with a coach and a wagon outside, situated on the Moe to Walhalla coach road C1890. This is before the large dining room was added. Picture: Museums Victoria By MICK ROBERTS © …
timegents.com
April 2, 2025 at 2:00 AM
IN a secluded, heavily timbered valley in the Victorian High Country, 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’ of beer. Story and pictures at The Time Gents website:
A HUGE crowd gathered at Billy O’Connell’s remote pub in the Victorian highlands waiting for its official opening – and free beer. They were to be disappointed. Story and pictures at The Time Gents website:
Opposition publican ‘cut the grass’ on the Blue Duck’s grand opening
By MICK ROBERTS © A HUGE crowd gathered at Billy O’Connell’s remote pub in the Victorian highlands waiting for its official opening – and free beer. They were to be disappointed. The Melbourne Hera…
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March 31, 2025 at 1:23 AM
A HUGE crowd gathered at Billy O’Connell’s remote pub in the Victorian highlands waiting for its official opening – and free beer. They were to be disappointed. Story and pictures at The Time Gents website:
THE life of one of Sydney’s most successful publicans, a man who hosted some of the harbour city’s grandest tourist hotels, ended tragically in 1935 after he murdered his wife while she slept, and then turned the revolver on himself. Story at The Time Gents website:
Kiwi publican hosted Sydney’s grandest hotels before murdering his wife and taking his own life
Duncan made a name for himself as manager of Warners Hotel (circled), Christchurch, New Zealand. Picture: Supplied. Inset: James Alfred Duncan. Picture: Sydney Truth January 23 1921 By MICK ROBERTS…
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March 28, 2025 at 11:13 PM
THE life of one of Sydney’s most successful publicans, a man who hosted some of the harbour city’s grandest tourist hotels, ended tragically in 1935 after he murdered his wife while she slept, and then turned the revolver on himself. Story at The Time Gents website:
PATRICK Trainer built a coaching inn that would later become famous for a white timber horse that sat over the doorway of its public bar. The White Horse Hotel, a two-storey brick building, was a change-over for coaches on the Corduroy Road from Melbourne to Lilydale. story at Time Gents:
White Horse effigy and the Box Hill pub
The replacement White Horse Hotel, Box Hill, C1933. This single storey hotel was built in 1895 to replace the original, two storey White Horse, constructed in 1852. Picture: State Library of Victor…
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March 28, 2025 at 2:22 PM
PATRICK Trainer built a coaching inn that would later become famous for a white timber horse that sat over the doorway of its public bar. The White Horse Hotel, a two-storey brick building, was a change-over for coaches on the Corduroy Road from Melbourne to Lilydale. story at Time Gents:
FOR over 80 years the Dog and Duck was a landmark pub on George Street Sydney. When the pub was demolished in 1896 it had been closed for five years, and divided into three shops. It was one of the last of the quaintly English named inns. Story Time Gents website:
The Dog and Duck, Haymarket, Sydney: 1815-1891
George Street South today, showing the location of the Dog and Duck. The large high rise building to the left is where the inn once traded. Picture: Mick Roberts Collection A 1888 map of Sydney, sh…
timegents.com
March 26, 2025 at 11:25 AM
FOR over 80 years the Dog and Duck was a landmark pub on George Street Sydney. When the pub was demolished in 1896 it had been closed for five years, and divided into three shops. It was one of the last of the quaintly English named inns. Story Time Gents website:
JIM Manning had been missing for over 24 hours when his son discovered his body in bushland in Sydney’s west in 1927. Jim’s death was a tragic end to the life of a pioneering publican, who, in 1880, established the Royal Cricketers Arms Hotel at Prospect. Story at The Time Gents website:
Tragic death of the founder of Prospect’s Royal Cricketers’ Arms
Royal Cricketers Arms, Prospect. Picture: Royal Cricketers Arms Facebook Page FORMER publican, Jim Manning had been missing for over 24 hours when his son discovered his blood saturated body in bus…
timegents.com
March 23, 2025 at 5:52 AM
JIM Manning had been missing for over 24 hours when his son discovered his body in bushland in Sydney’s west in 1927. Jim’s death was a tragic end to the life of a pioneering publican, who, in 1880, established the Royal Cricketers Arms Hotel at Prospect. Story at The Time Gents website:
The Leap Hotel, located on the Bruce Highway, about 20 kilometres north-west of Mackay in north Queensland, was named after a nearby geographical feature with a dark past. Story and more pictures at The Time Gents website:
Queensland pub recalls the tragic death of an Aboriginal woman
Leap Hotel near Mackay. Picture: Julie R Roughan I SUPPOSE it should be expected that a pub named after a tragic event in Australian history, should harbour a few stories of misery alongside tales …
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March 22, 2025 at 8:41 AM
The Leap Hotel, located on the Bruce Highway, about 20 kilometres north-west of Mackay in north Queensland, was named after a nearby geographical feature with a dark past. Story and more pictures at The Time Gents website:
THERE’S a feeling of longevity, a sense of durability at the Glenroy Hotel. The Alexandria pub, in Sydney’ inner-south, has been quenching thirsts for as long as anybody cares to remember, in what was once the industrial heartland of Sydney. Story, pictures and history at The Time Gents website:
Road trip: Glenroy Hotel, Alexandria
The Glenroy Hotel, Alexandria, 2019. Picture: Mick Roberts Collection. The Glenroy Hotel, Alexandria, 1930. Picture: Noel Butlin Archives, Australian National University. By MICK ROBERTS © THERE’S …
timegents.com
March 20, 2025 at 3:04 AM
THERE’S a feeling of longevity, a sense of durability at the Glenroy Hotel. The Alexandria pub, in Sydney’ inner-south, has been quenching thirsts for as long as anybody cares to remember, in what was once the industrial heartland of Sydney. Story, pictures and history at The Time Gents website:
The Bald Faced Stag Hotel at Leichardt, in Sydney's west, has served up beer under several names and in various buildings from its busy corner site since the early 1833. Today it is primarily a live music venue, known by the name of The Crow bar. Story Time Gents website:
Parramatta Road’s Bald Faced Stag
Bald Faced Stag Hotel, Leichardt 2015. Picture: Mick Roberts Collection The original Bald Faced Stag Hotel, C1880. Picture: State Library of NSW By MICK ROBERTS © SEVEN kilometres from the heart of…
timegents.com
March 17, 2025 at 1:30 AM
The Bald Faced Stag Hotel at Leichardt, in Sydney's west, has served up beer under several names and in various buildings from its busy corner site since the early 1833. Today it is primarily a live music venue, known by the name of The Crow bar. Story Time Gents website:
COLONIAL Hobart was home to some of Tasmania's most notorious pubs. With odd names, like the Good Woman, Lame Horse and and Help Me Through The World, Hobart’s pubs were plagued by drunken crime, prostitution, and adulterated liquor. Story at The Time Gents website:
Hobart’s Liverpool Street was ‘infested with prostitutes’ and pubs that were the ‘worst dens of infamy’
Liverpool-street Hobart was “a nest of pubs from top to bottom” and was where “whalers painted the town red and demoiselles of the pave took charge of Liverpool-street under the gaslight”. By MICK …
timegents.com
March 16, 2025 at 12:04 AM
COLONIAL Hobart was home to some of Tasmania's most notorious pubs. With odd names, like the Good Woman, Lame Horse and and Help Me Through The World, Hobart’s pubs were plagued by drunken crime, prostitution, and adulterated liquor. Story at The Time Gents website:
HAVE you visited The Time Gents website? We have hundreds of Australian pub stories, reviews, road trips, histories, trivia, and much more. Visit Time Gents to subscribe to our latest stories:
TIME GENTS
Time Gents, the Australian Pub Project, is a collection of histories, stories, legends, images and traditions, by Sydney journalist and blogger, Mick Roberts.
timegents.com
March 15, 2025 at 7:06 AM
HAVE you visited The Time Gents website? We have hundreds of Australian pub stories, reviews, road trips, histories, trivia, and much more. Visit Time Gents to subscribe to our latest stories:
HAVE you wondered about that old weather beaten bloke standing at the bar in those Carlton and United Brewery posters? You know, the one proclaiming ‘I allus has wan at eleven’? His name was Sam Knott, an Englishman who had arrived in Australia about 1890. Story at The Time Gents website:
‘I allus has wan at eleven’: The story of Sam Knott who enjoyed his beer at 11
Visit the post for more.
timegents.com
March 15, 2025 at 6:49 AM
HAVE you wondered about that old weather beaten bloke standing at the bar in those Carlton and United Brewery posters? You know, the one proclaiming ‘I allus has wan at eleven’? His name was Sam Knott, an Englishman who had arrived in Australia about 1890. Story at The Time Gents website:
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. Story at The Time Gents website:
Dooen Hotel publican ‘pulls a swifty’ on local police
Dooen Hotel, 1955. Picture: Horsham Historical Society. 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 …
timegents.com
March 11, 2025 at 9:56 AM
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. Story at The Time Gents website:
Johanna Ryan kept an umbrella or shillelagh behind the bar of the Bulli Pass Hotel to keep patrons in line. Story at The Time Gents website:
www.timegents.com/2013/05/08/johanna-ryan-the-untold-story/
www.timegents.com/2013/05/08/johanna-ryan-the-untold-story/
March 9, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Johanna Ryan kept an umbrella or shillelagh behind the bar of the Bulli Pass Hotel to keep patrons in line. Story at The Time Gents website:
www.timegents.com/2013/05/08/johanna-ryan-the-untold-story/
www.timegents.com/2013/05/08/johanna-ryan-the-untold-story/
THE introduction of stainless steel beer kegs into Australian pubs and clubs during the early 1950s, meant the demise the craft of the cooper. The newspaper Fairfield Biz reported on an industry that was in its “death throes” on March 13, 1963. Story at The Time Gents website:
Farewell to the wooden beer barrel as steel kegs are rolled-out across Sydney
ERIC ROONEY, a floorman at Tooheys brewery, rolling one of the new stainless steel 18-gallons beer kegs from the filling syphons yesterday. The new kegs will be used in Sydney hotels tomorrow. A br…
timegents.com
March 8, 2025 at 2:48 AM
THE introduction of stainless steel beer kegs into Australian pubs and clubs during the early 1950s, meant the demise the craft of the cooper. The newspaper Fairfield Biz reported on an industry that was in its “death throes” on March 13, 1963. Story at The Time Gents website: