OUR old photo this week shows the two sections of Walter Butler’s Victoria Hotel.
It was located over from the Bathurst Railway Station on the corner of Keppel and Havannah streets. The photo was taken around 1912. Walter Butler was licensee from 1910 to 1920, in a decade that saw the world at war. Walter was a keen supporter of the ladies who were raising comfort funds for those young volunteers serving overseas at the front during World War One.
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The first section of the Victoria Hotel was built in 1875. Joseph Backhouse was the architect for Henry Butler. At this time, Andrew Whiteford’s Raglan Hotel was located on the corner block and had been incorporated as part of the Victoria Hotel. It was a single-storey timber and weatherboard establishment with a corrugated iron roof which had been transported from Raglan on bullock wagons and re-erected by builders. When Mr Whiteford died, his wife carried on until 1878.
Charles H. Inch was licensee of the Victoria Hotel from 1879 to 1885, during which time he carried out extensive additions. With his establishment over from the Bathurst Railway Yards, which boasted a large workforce, many workmen would rent a room for the days they worked and went home by train for their days off.
Many railwaymen were heavy drinkers and would spend time partaking in refreshments at the bars. At this time, the hotel boasted 40 bedrooms and sitting rooms. There was a splendid hall attached which was hired out for public meetings, dances, dinners, amusements and entertainment and could be adapted for almost any function.
They also boasted that their hall had superior acoustic properties.
Every comfort and convenience was supplied for travellers and Mr Inch ensured that the arrangements could be found in every way complete. Hot and cold water was laid on. The hotel had a night porter in constant attendance and persons wishing to catch early trains could rely upon being called in time.
At Mr Inch’s Victoria Hotel on Saturday, February 14, 1885, champagne and refreshments were provided on the balcony for an evening of presentations for the Department of Railways. The Bathurst Daily Times informed Bathurst residents that Inspector Hornidge was voted to the chair before various letters were read from the acting traffic inspector Mr D. Kirkaldie and various station masters before the recipient Robert Simpson, station master at Goulburn, was given an illustrated address of esteem from the employees on the Western Line. Mr Simpson had been acting as the NSW Government Railways traffic inspector of the Western Line. A handsome marble clock in a glass dome was given to Mr Simpson to be handed on to Mrs Simpson.
The Victoria Hotel was also the booking office for the mail coach to Sofala and Hill End. The coach started from the hotel on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays after the daily mail train arrived at Bathurst Railway Station.
Before taking over the hotel in April 1910, Walter Butler, who was 48, fell from the Denison Bridge while crossing the Macquarie River in the morning and sustained a compound fracture of the right leg below the knee as well as shock and bruises about the body. He was admitted to Bathurst District Hospital for treatment. At the Bathurst Licencing Court on October 24, 1913, Walter Butler was granted a music permit for Saturday nights.
The Victoria Hotel had a mouse plague in April 1918 brought on by the wheat stored nearby at Tremain’s flour mill. Traps were deployed and, at the peak, there was a day’s catch of more than 100. Walter Butler donated prizes for the forthcoming Bathurst Show after a two-year spell due to the occupation of the showground by the military authorities. The show was due to be held from April 17-19.
Alan McRae is with the Bathurst District Historical Society
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