British Hotel (Ballarat)

From Hotels of Ballarat
For other British Hotels, see British Hotel.
British Hotel
c.1874, NSW State Library
History
Town Ballarat
Street Cnr. Sturt and Doveton Streets
Known dates 1862-1908

The British Hotel was a hotel in Ballarat, Victoria, <1862-1908>.

Site[edit | edit source]

The British Hotel was on the south-east corner of Sturt Street and Doveton Street.[1] The hotel was mentioned in August 1862, in a newspaper report about a fatal house fire in Doveton Street.[2]

Later photographs place it further north in Doveton Street by 1874. More research needed to find out if this was two different hotels.

Background[edit | edit source]

History[edit | edit source]

In 1864 a boy was attacked by a cow outside the hotel:

On Saturday afternoon, a cow rushed out from the saleyards in Doveton street, and after making at several passers-by, knocked down a boy opposite the British Hotel, in Sturt street. The animal was about to repeat the attack upon the prostrate boy, and the consequences might have been very serious but at this juncture Constable John Murphy rushed up and, seizing the cow by the horns, succeeded in holding the animal until it was with some assistance driven into the yards. The constable deserves credit for the promptitude and energy he displayed.[3]

A woman died after suffering a stroke at the hotel in November 1908:

Mrs. Emily Barber, aged 47, a resident of Port Melbourne, was taken ill in an outhouse at the British Hotel, Doveton-street north, to-day, and on a doctor being called in he advised her removal to the hospital. She was being conveyed to the institution by her husband when she expired. Mrs. Barber was on a holiday visit to Ballarat with her husband and daughter. The husband, who is an advertising agent at Port Melbourne, conveyed his wife to the morgue when he found that she was dead. A post mortem examination showed that death was due to rupture of a blood vessel on the brain. An inquest will be held on Tuesday.[4]

The hotel license was reviewed by the Licenses Reduction Board in 1911:

BRITISH HOTEL. In connection with the British hotel Doveton street (owner and licensee, Bridget Tierney), Senior-Constable Patterson gave evidence that the place was an old two-story wooden building, with eight public bedrooms, and good furniture. The Bull and Mouth hotel was 46 yards south-east of the British.The British could be done without, as there were five or six hotels in the neighborhood. To Mr Ham (for the owner) —He was not prepared to contradict the licensee if she said she was unable to meet the demands on her premises, owing to the limited accommodation. Inspector Ryan—As a practical man, don’t you think that half the existing hotels in this neighbourhood would satisfy the wants of the public?—Perhaps that it so. Constable Hayes gave similar evidence. Mrs Tierney said she had a good general trade amongst both town and country people, and her takings during 1910 amounted to over £1300. Her accommodation was nearly always occupied. Patrick Fogarty, of Warrenheip, said the British Hotel, at which he often put up, had an extensive country connection. Timothy Foley, commission agent, said that Ballarat was depending upon the country people now; therefore the neighbourhood of the saleyards was the busiest part of the city.[5]

Community Involvement[edit | edit source]

The People[edit | edit source]

The court refused to grant a transfer of the license of the British hotel, Doveton street, from Alice Evans to Patrick M‘Cormack, on the ground that the transferee was not a fit and proper person to hold a license, owing to his drinking habits.[15]

See also[edit | edit source]


References[edit | edit source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1863 'BALLARAT WEST PUBLICANS' ANNUAL LICENSING MEETING.', The Star (Ballarat, Vic. : 1855 - 1864), 12 June, p. 4, viewed 10 February, 2014, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article72514938
  2. 1862 'A WOMAN BURNED TO DEATH.', The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), 7 August, p. 3. , viewed 21 Oct 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5719723
  3. 1864 'NEWS AND NOTES.', The Star (Ballarat, Vic. : 1855 - 1864), 15 August, p. 2. , viewed 15 Mar 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66347279
  4. 1908 'FATALITIES AND ACCIDENTS.', The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), 24 November, p. 6. , viewed 07 Jul 2020, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article202178121
  5. 5.0 5.1 1911 'LICENSES REDUCTION BOARD.', The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), 8 March, p. 4. , viewed 07 Jul 2020, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article216628856
  6. 1862 'DISTRICT POLICE COURT.', The Star (Ballarat, Vic. : 1855 - 1864), 25 June, p. 4, viewed 17 February, 2014, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66325055
  7. 1862 'DISTRICT POLICE COURT.', The Star (Ballarat, Vic. : 1855 - 1864), 4 July, p. 4. , viewed 03 Sep 2020, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66325281
  8. 1864 'DISTRICT PUBLICANS' LICENSING MEETING.', The Star (Ballarat, Vic. : 1855 - 1864), 2 July, p. 4. , viewed 10 Oct 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66346137
  9. 1873 'LICENSING BENCH.', The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), 24 December, p. 4. , viewed 26 Jun 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article201608890
  10. 1875 'POLICE.', The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), 22 December, p. 4. , viewed 19 Aug 2022, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article200186441
  11. 1876 'POLICE.', The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), 28 September, p. 4. , viewed 23 Dec 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article199831117
  12. 1882 'CITY LICENSING COURT.', The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), 23 December, p. 4. , viewed 29 Jan 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article202701446
  13. 1885 'No title', The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), 10 September, p. 2. , viewed 03 Sep 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article203311706
  14. 1885 'No title', The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), 22 December, p. 2. , viewed 29 Jan 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article206305310
  15. 1887 'No title', The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), 9 June, p. 2. , viewed 03 Aug 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article207769815
  16. 1887 'BALLARAT LICENSING COURT.', The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), 3 September, p. 2, viewed 25 October, 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article207774046
  17. 1898 'No title', The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), 17 November, p. 2. , viewed 25 Sep 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article215233831
  18. 1901 'BALLARAT LICENSING COURT.', The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), 4 July, p. 3. , viewed 05 Dec 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article207501292
  19. 1903 'THE LICENSING COURT.', The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), 7 May, p. 3. , viewed 07 Apr 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article208469685
  20. 1905 'TRANSFERRED LICENSES.', The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), 5 August, p. 8. , viewed 25 May 2022, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article209023932


External Links[edit | edit source]