Scandinavian Hotel (Main Street)

From Hotels of Ballarat
For other hotels with the same, or similar names, see Scandinavian Hotel.
Scandinavian Hotel
Picture needed
History
Town Ballarat
Street Main Road
Known dates 1857-1873
Other names Fassert's Hotel

The Scandinavian Hotel was in Ballarat, Victoria, 1857-1871>

Site[edit | edit source]

The Scandinavian Hotel was in Main Street, Ballarat[1], near the junction of Bakery Hill Road.[2]

Background[edit | edit source]

The hotel had previously been known as Fassert's Hotel.


History[edit | edit source]

Advertisement from the Star, December 1857

The hotel opened in December 1857.[2]

The hotel was offered for sale in December 1859:

FRIDAY, 30th DECEMBER. CHAS. DYTE has received instructions from Mr Thomas Asche, who is leaving the district, to sell by public auction, on the premises, Scandinavian Hotel, Main Road, on Friday, 30th December, at twelve o'clock sharp (without reserve). The whole of the Household Furniture, Stock-in-Trade, Fittings, &c., &c. Full particulars in future advertisements.[3]

In May 1860 the hotel was receiving tenders for the construction of a shaft on the west Scandinavian Reef at Frenchmans.[4]

The hotel freehold was offered for sale in June 1861:

SALE BY AUCTION OF The Scandinavian Hotel and Store, MAIN STREET, BALLARAT EAST. JAMES ODDIE & CO. have received instructions from the proprietors to sell by auction, at their rooms, corner of Armstrong and Dana street, on Thursday the 6th of June, at one o'clock. All that piece or parcel of land, being Allotment 5, Section K, Containing 15 perches, having a frontage to Main street 12 feet, by 99 feet deep. Together with The BUILDINGS, consisting of the Scandinavian Hotel and Corn Store. The Hotel comprises a convenient and well arranged bar, dining room, parlors, and bedrooms, and the necessary adjuncts for carrying on a respectable family business. The Store is roomy and commodiously arranged, and is used as a hay and corn store; and is one of the choicest stands in the Eastern municipality. The whole property is leased to a good tenant (Mr Nott) at £156 per annum - a rental that pays an excellent interest on the investment; and at the rapid rate at which property is increasing, the rent will at an early day admit of being considerably increased. Thursday, 6th June, At one o'clock.[5]

The hotel was destroyed by a large fire on 27 April 1862 which destroyed two hotels and seven other buildings:

"The Main-road escaped, but a life has been lost. In the empty space, where so shortly before houses had been, but where then only tall chimneys and burning ends of uprights appeared above the charred and smoking fragments, some person noticed remains resembling those of a man. The suspicion formed was but too true. A Mr Eastwood, a young man who had only left England to join his brother and friends on Ballarat, had gone to bed on Saturday night, at the Scandinavian Hotel, and not being awoke by the alarm of fire, was burnt in his bed. So quick had been the fire, that it destroyed little more than the skin and outer covering of flesh. All the muscles were laid as bare as they are seen in an anatomical model, only blackened with fire, and the head was a mere skull. The poor fellow must apparently have died in great agony, judging from the disposition of the limbs. Strange to say, his watch, which remained on his person, though scorched, had not stopped. Mr Eastwood was quite a young man, and possessed a reversionary interest to considerable property in the mother country.[6]

An inquest was held into the death of Joseph Eastwood who died in the fire:

The inquest upon the body of Mr. Joseph Eastwood, who was burned in the fire which took place at Ballarat on Sunday morning last, was held at the Rock of Cashel Hotel, Main-road, on Saturday, by the district coroner, Dr. Glendinning. The evidence adduced contained no new facts, nor threw any light upon the origin of the fire. Almost all that was required of the witnesses was their opinion as to the identification of the body, and such statements as simply showed that the deceased met his death by accident. It was elicited that Mr. Eastwood, who had carried on business on Specimen Hill, with a Mr. Scratcherd, as an ale and porter bottler, had entered the Scandinavian Hotel, after midnight, obtained a glass of brandy, and then went to bed in a room next to the bar. When the alarm of fire came the landlord knocked at every bedroom door, but the deceased, it would seem, did not hear the summons till too late. Dr. Sutherland described the state of the body, and his evidence showed that death was caused by fire and smoke. The jury returned a verdict finding that the human body before them was that of the late Joseph Eastwood, and that he met his death in the Scandinavian Hotel, on April 27th, by burning.[7]

The hotel must have been rebuilt, as George Nott still held the license in 1871.

In April 1863 the publican was assaulted:

John H. Smith, the keeper of a boarding-house in the Main road, was fined £5, or 14 days' imprisonment by the magistrates at the Eastern Police Court on Monday, for violently assaulting Mr Nott, of the Scandinavian Hotel, by striking him on the forehead with a loaded whip.[8]

Community Involvement[edit | edit source]

The People[edit | edit source]

  • The hotel opened in December 1857 with the publican Thomas Asche.[2]
    • In June 1858 his application for a renewal of the license was postponed for one week as he failed to appear at the court.[9] He attended the next court session and his license was renewed.[10]
    • In July 1858, Asche was refused a night license on the grounds that it was not a first class hotel.[11] The license was granted a week later, and Asche was cautioned to keep the hotel lamp properly lit on Sunday nights.[12]
    • Asche's license was renewed in July 1859.[13]
  • In June 1861 the publican was named as George Nott.[5]
    • His license was renewed in June 1862, December 1871 and 1873.[1][14][15]
  • In December 1866 the publican was Marie Whelan.[16]

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Licencing Court for Publicans," The Star, Thursday 19 June 1862, pg. 4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66324943, (accessed January 19, 2014)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 1857 'Advertising', The Star (Ballarat, Vic. : 1855 - 1864), 21 December, p. 3. , viewed 12 Aug 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66045730
  3. 1859 'Advertising', The Star (Ballarat, Vic. : 1855 - 1864), 23 December, p. 3. , viewed 20 Mar 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article72463953
  4. 1860 'Advertising', The Star (Ballarat, Vic. : 1855 - 1864), 29 May, p. 3. , viewed 20 Dec 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article72467049
  5. 5.0 5.1 1861 'Advertising', The Star (Ballarat, Vic. : 1855 - 1864), 5 June, p. 3. , viewed 05 May 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66339682
  6. 1862 'GREAT FIRE AT BALLARAT.', Mount Alexander Mail (Vic. : 1854 - 1917), 30 April, p. 2. , viewed 12 Jan 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article197099215
  7. 1862 'MONDAY, MAY 5, 1862.', The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), 5 May, p. 4. , viewed 12 Jan 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5714305
  8. 1863 'NEWS AND NOTES.', The Star (Ballarat, Vic. : 1855 - 1864), 14 April, p. 2. , viewed 12 Jul 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article72557518
  9. 1858 'EASTERN POLICE COURT.', The Star (Ballarat, Vic. : 1855 - 1864), 16 June, p. 2. , viewed 01 Dec 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66048685
  10. 1858 'EASTERN POLICE COURT.', The Star (Ballarat, Vic. : 1855 - 1864), 23 June, p. 2. , viewed 06 Dec 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66048810
  11. 1858 'EASTERN POLICE COURT.', The Star (Ballarat, Vic. : 1855 - 1864), 15 July, p. 2. , viewed 05 Nov 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66049185
  12. 1858 'SPECIAL LICENSING MEETING.', The Star (Ballarat, Vic. : 1855 - 1864), 24 July, p. 2. , viewed 20 Nov 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66049342
  13. 1859 'AFTERNOON SITTINGS.', The Star (Ballarat, Vic. : 1855 - 1864), 14 June, p. 3. , viewed 25 Aug 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66053609
  14. 1871 'BALLARAT EAST,LICENSING BENCH.', The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), 28 December, p. 3. , viewed 12 Jan 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article197575203
  15. 1873 'LICENSING BENCH.', The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), 23 December, p. 2. , viewed 27 May 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article201608881
  16. 1866 'POLICE.', The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), 29 December, p. 2. , viewed 21 May 2022, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article112860387


Further Reading[edit | edit source]

External Links[edit | edit source]