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The Hotel Homebush

The Hotel Homebush, photographed by Milton Kent, c.1929. Courtesy Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (Powerhouse Museum) Photographs of Homebush Hotel exterior, Homebush by Milton Kent – MAAS Collection

For 75 years the Hotel Homebush stood on the corner of Parramatta and Underwood Roads. Built in 1928, it was designed by Sidney Warden, the architect responsible for the design and alterations of hundreds of NSW pubs.

Sidney Warden c.1936. Courtesy Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (Powerhouse Museum)

Homebush Council was not in favour of the new pub as there were already two hotels – the Horse and Jockey and Wentworth Hotels – serving the needs of Homebush’s 3500 residents. At a Council meeting on 14 September 1927 the aldermen protested, noting that the entire area of Homebush was just one square mile and ‘that we consider the good order of the municipality will be disturbed.’ [1]

Council’s protest to the Inspectors of Police at Burwood and Parramatta was unsuccessful in swaying the Licensing Board however, and the liquor license was eventually transferred from the White Hart Hotel in Parramatta to the new hotel in Homebush.

Plans of the hotel were published in the Construction and Local Government Journal during May and August of 1928. The builder was W.M. Martin of Drummoyne who had previously worked with Sidney Warden on hotels in Mortlake [2] and North Sydney [3]. The public bar would be entered from Parramatta Road, where there was ample room, while the entry to the dining room would be from Underwood Road. The upper storey of the hotel boasted 15 bedrooms and ‘… the general arrangement bears out the old saying that if the licensee wants good “attendance” he must make convenient and agreeable arrangements for his “attendants.” [4]

Construction and Local Government Journal 8 August 1928 p.15

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/109728326

This first licensee was Joseph Michael Monaghan, originally from Cowra, for whom the hotel had been built. He had previously been the licensee of a number of other Sydney hotels, including the New Brighton Hotel at Manly and the Royal Hotel, Bondi and had become quite a wealthy man.[5] In 1923 he had applied to transfer the license of the General Bourke Hotel at Parramatta to a new hotel he intended to build in Campsie. This application, and its subsequent appeal, were rejected.[6]

In April 1930 the Hotel Homebush was robbed when two thieves managed to sneak into the pub before it closed and hide themselves in the wine cellar. At about 3 am the next morning a lorry pulled up and the thieves escaped with liquor, tobacco and cigarettes to the value of £150.[7] It was Depression era and robberies were sadly common.

Joseph Monaghan’s tenure in Homebush was relatively short-lived as he died, aged 51, in November 1930, just six months after the robbery. He was unmarried and, after his death, his brother, James and his family carried on for several years as licensees of the Hotel Homebush.

Strathfield Council’s valuation books for 1931 show that Joseph Monaghan had also owned the three cottages next door to the pub on Parramatta Road. Two of these cottages are just visible in the early photo of the hotel above. The cottage on the far left at number 117 was named Anclave, while number 119, just out of shot, was named Cardross.

In May 1933 a country visitor to Homebush recommended the hotel in the Narromine News and Trangie Advocate.

Narromine News and Trangie Advocate 26 May 1933 p.5

26 May 1933 – City Crumbs. – Trove (nla.gov.au)

In November 1934 the hotel was purchased by Tooth and Co. and by 1935, Jack Cotterell and his wife Jessie were running the pub. From 1942 wartime rationing affected the supply of beer to all hotels and trading on the black market was rife, [8] but Jack Cotterell prided himself on his hotel management and was not tempted to make a quick buck. He obviously had a regular clientele and was well-regarded, giving his customers free beer to celebrate both VE and VP Days during 1945. He himself had served with the AIF during World War I. At Christmas in 1949 he gave each customer a free bottle of beer as they left the hotel – 380 bottles in total.[9]

Jack Cotterell was featured in The Sun during March 1951, when the supply of beer was still limited. Again, he shared his philosophy saying ‘I am quite satisfied with what I can make legitimately. I won’t touch the black market. Quite a good living can be made out of the hotel business without indulging in any sharp practices.’[10]

Jack Cotterell’s daughter, June sells bottled beer to customers, W.H. Roberts and W.M. MacQueen

The Sun 9 March 1951 p.10

09 Mar 1951 – This publican passed up a fortune – Trove (nla.gov.au)

It hadn’t always been smooth sailing, however. Jack recalled that: ‘When I came here first there were terrific fights among customers almost every night … In the first six months I had to warn at least 40 people off the premises. I just wouldn’t have them here. There were some tense moments when I had to separate burly blokes fighting, get them on to the footpath and then tell them not to come back.’[11]

The six o’clock swill was an ugly feature of most working men’s pubs for many years. A referendum in 1916 had forced pubs to close their doors at 6 pm. This law had been introduced, temporarily, in response to the growing temperance movement and wartime austerity measures, but remained in place for almost 40 years. The hour between 5 and 6 pm became one of crowded bars filled with workers desperate to drink their fill before closing time.[12]

Jack Cotterell died in August 1953 and his widow, Jessie carried on running the hotel for a few more years. In 1954 she was interviewed in the lead up to the referendum on liquor trading hours [13] and on 1 February 1955 NSW hotels were finally permitted to stay open until 10 pm. The six o’clock swill was over.

The license of the Hotel Homebush changed hands again a number of times during the late 1950s and 1960s. Licensees included Clive Carver, Louis Liddle, Leah Estell, James Reading, Elizabeth Gough, Francis Green, footballer William Bede (Speedy) Goff and Robert Hubbard. Tooth and Co.’s archives provide further details about the hotel and its publicans over the years and are now in the collection of the Australian National University at: Open Research: Homebush Hotel, Parramatta Road, Homebush (anu.edu.au)

The Hotel Homebush was demolished in 2003 and apartments are now on this site.

 

by J.J. MacRitchie

Local Studies Advisor

 

References

[1] Homebush Council minutes 14 September 1927

 

[2] The Sun 2 June 1924 p.2 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/223395720

 

[3] The Sun 28 June 1926 p.2 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/224200364

 

[4] Construction and Local Government Journal 8 August 1928 p.14 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/109728324

 

[5] Cowra Free Press 18 November 1930 p.3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/262022436

 

[6] Daily Telegraph 11 May 1923 p.4 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/245817129

 

[7] Sydney Morning Herald 5 April 1930 p.19 05 Apr 1930 – DARING ROBBERY. – Trove (nla.gov.au)

 

[8] Beer and war in Australia – Brews News

 

[9] Daily Telegraph 24 December 1949 p.3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/248164739

 

[10] The Sun 9 March 1951 p.10 09 Mar 1951 – This publican passed up a fortune – Trove (nla.gov.au)

 

[11] ibid

 

[12] Six o’clock swill – Wikipedia

 

[13] Daily Telegraph 21 November 1954 p.3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/248950093

 

 

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