Court Hotel

Court Hotel

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History
Town	Ballarat
Street	Cnr. Eyre and Armstrong Streets, 1 Eyre Street.
Closed	31 December 1915
Known dates	1868-1915
Other names	Court House Hotel
Evidence	Building still standing

The Court Hotel was a hotel in Ballarat, Victoria, <1868-1915.

Site

The Court Hotel was on the corner of Eyre Street and Armstrong Street South, Ballarat. The 2016 address is 206 Armstrong Street South, Ballarat 3350. In 2016 the former Court Hotel building was used as a shop for 'Elliot's United Tools,' 206 Armstrong Street South, Ballarat 3350.

Background

Originally known as the Court House Hotel, the name was renamed the Court Hotel around 1869. However newspaper reports in 1894 refer to the hotel as the Court House Hotel.

History

In April 1894 a contractor was killed when he fell from the roof of the hotel:

Mr. John Barnes, slater and contractor, was killed this morning by a fall from a ladder while working at the Court House Hotel, corner of Eyre and Armstrong streets, Ballarat West. It appears that Mr. Barnes, who was 76 years of age, was seized with a dizziness, and, toppling over, he first struck some scaffolding, and then fell to the footpath below, a distance of between 35 and 40 feet. Death was instantaneous, the fall breaking the neck and legs of the unfortunate man. The deceased, who was father of Mr. J. Barnes, of the City Rowing Club, was an old resident of Ballarat, and, owing to his powerful physique, was familiarly known as "Big Jack." For a long while he was associated in business with Mr. W. Coulson. About seven years ago Mr. Barnes, while engaged covering the roof the Lydiard-street Wesleyan Church for Mr. Monsborough, his employer, fell from a ladder and narrowly escaped with his life. Mrs. Barnes, the widow, is at present an inmate of the Ballarat Hospital, where she is under treatment for a broken thigh, caused by a fall. She is, however, not aware of what has happened to her husband, whose dead body awaits an inquest in the mortuary at the institution.

On 22 March 1915, the hotel was included on a list of hotels to be deprived of their licenses. This list was complied by the Licenses Reduction Board in Melbourne. The Ballarat West licensing district hearings on this list were to be held on 27 April.

COURT HOTEL This hotel, situated in Armstrong street south, it was shown was in the hands of the executors of the late Chas. Summers. Mr Speed, of Geelong, intimated there would be no opposition to the deprivation of the licence, and that a new tenant would be put in to carry on until the end of the year. Decision, reserved.

The hotel was one of about 40 hotels closed by the License Reduction Board and ceased trading at 9.30pm on 31 December 1915. The court paid £750 compensation.

After closure

The property was purchased by Danny Elliot in 1958, and he established a tool retail and repair shop. Over the years he purchased adjacent properties in both Eyre and Armstrong Streets. The retail business closed c2015, but the repair business continued in Armstrong Street, while the former hotel building stood empty. All the properties were offered for sale in May 2024 and expected to sell for between $2.5-3.5 million.

The People

• The first licensee was F. Browne who held the license from approx August 1868 until February 1869 when the hotel was renamed the Court and the licensee was E. Tonkin.
• E. Tonkin renamed the Court House Hotel to the Court Hotel in 1869.
• In October 1870 Miss A. Everitt transferred her license to the City Arms Hotel in Drummond Street.
• Frederick Smith was granted the license of the Court Hotel in December 1873 and 1874.
• In February 1882 the publican, Mr. Tresize, was elected as a member of the Ballarat Licensed Victuallers' Association.
• In March 1913 the youngest daughter of the publican, William Ryan, died.