Australasian Hotel

Australasian Hotel

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History
Town	Creswick
Street	Albert Street
Closed	1908
Known dates	1886-1908
Demolished	Destroyed by fire, 1908

The Australasian Hotel was a hotel in Creswick, Victoria, <1886-1908.

Site

The hotel was in Albert Street, Creswick.

History

In June 1888 the police claimed to have found two men drunk in the dining room, but the case was dismissed when the publican and other people said they weren't drunk:

At the Police Court to-day, Richard Lucas and William Paynter were charged with having been found drunk on licensed premises. It appeared that Constables Curtin and M'Sweeney found the accused and four other young men in the diningroom at the Australasian hotel at 1 o’clock on the morning of Sunday, the 3rd inst. The police said that the defendants were drunk, but the landlord (Mr Toohey) and the other young men who were present said that Lucas and Paynter were not drunk, and both cases were dismissed. One of the witnesses for the defence admitted that the accused were not perfectly sober, and Constables Curtin, M'Sweeney, and Edwards stated that Paynter had admitted to them that he was drunk, and that he was afraid to come out of the hotel for fear of falling down and being arrested.

There was an accident at the hotel in December 1902:

A painter named Benjamin Gluyas, of Ballarat, engaged doing some painting at the Australasian hotel, had the misfortune to fall from the signboard, causing injuries to his back. Gluyas was attended by Dr Lindsay.

In June 1905 the publican, Francis Williams, was fined £5 for having his bar open after prohibited hours.

In April 1908 the hotel was totally destroyed by fire.

BIG FIRE AT CRESWICK. AUSTRALASIAN HOTEL BURNT. CRESWICK, Friday. One of the biggest fires experienced in the town for the past 20 years occurred early this morning, when the well-known Australasian Hotel, Albert street, was burnt to the ground. Within a few minutes after the outbreak had been noticed the premises were a seething mass of flames, and all hope of saving the building and its contents were abandoned. The firemen, under Captain Pasco, however, promptly got to work, but their efforts were mainly confined to preventing the spread of the fire to Mr Wade’s saddlery shop on the north side, which stood in great danger, as the flames were being carried in that direction by a very strong northerly breeze. In this the brigadiers were successful, though nothing remained of the hotel but blackened ruins and the standing chimneys. The licensee, Mr Williams, is a very heavy loser, as £70 in bank notes, gold, and silver, representing a month’s takings, was lost. The furniture, including a piano valued at £50, was insured in the Liverpool, London, and Globe Co. for £100. Messrs J. J. Goller and Company had a small insurance of £50 on a portion of the property, and the premises (which were owned by the Ballarat Brewing Company) were insuredfor £500: The fire is thought to have started in the front part of the building.

In May 1908 the hotel was included on a list of 47 hotels to be delicensed by the License Reduction Board. The owner was paid £180 compensation and the licensee £102. The hotel had recently been burnt down.

The License Reduction Board hearings gave a good picture of the hotel and its business:

William Drew said the hotel was a one-storey wooden building containing six bedrooms, kitchen, two parlors and out-buildings. In March 1905, he sold the business to Mr Williams for £110, including furniture, valued at £50. The rental at that time was £52 a year. He would value the property at £700, but without a licence £70, stable £35, land £50. He thought it was worth more than £52 a year for rental: £60 to £65 would be more reasonable. Without a license he would ask for a rental of 7s 6d per week. The prospects of Creswick had been improved by the placing of the dredges there, and he therefore did not think the rentals were likely to decrease. Frank Besemeres said he inspected the property about two months ago and placed a capital value of £650 upon it, upon the land £l00, and stabling £30; delicensed, £230. He considered £52 a year rental and the payment of rates by the tenant was reasonable. If the license was taken away the property might let at 7s a week. It was not situated in the best part of the town. James Millington said his company owned the hotel. It was burned on the 24th April. There was an insurance of £350 on the building. He thought 25s a week for rental was reasonable. An architect estimated that it would cost £520 to rebuild a similar hotel. His company based their rentals at about 6 per cent of the trade. The Chairman—Would you base the rent on the capital value of the building or on the business that was done? —It all, depends upon the construction of the building. Witness thought his company’s rents were cheaper than other people's. William Drew, agent for the licensee, gave evidence regarding the returns from the hotel. Francis Williams said Mr Drew’s’ evidence was substantially correct. He stated that the takings averaged £12 a week. The trade had decreased mainly on account of the closing up of some of the mines.

The People

• From at least December 1886 to March 1888 the publican was Thomas Clarke.
• In March 1888 the license was transferred from Thomas Clarke to Bryan Toohey.
• From at least 1905 to April 1908, at the time the hotel was destroyed, the publican was Francis Williams.