SPEAKING at the officially opening of the Sydney Royal Arcade in 1882, a council alderman described the Bull's Head Inn and surrounding shops as "massed filthy dens and cesspits", and their demolition to make way for the new arcade, as a "great sanitary boon". Now occupied by the Hilton Hotel on George Street, Sydney the Bull's Head Inn was one of Sydney's most notorious watering holes. This is the story of a colourful spirit house that provided little more than a place to drink, and evolved into a two storey, stone and brick hotel, providing accommodation and entertainment to colonial Sydney. This is the first of a two part story of the evolution of the Bull's Head Inn and the interesting characters who added to Sydney's rich pub history. Click on the image to the right, showing the markets in George Street (now the site of the Queen Victoria building) opposite where the Bull's Head traded in the 1840s.

BESIDES running a popular and profitable bar, the pinnacle for a career publican must be hosting the likes of royalty - and the closest to Australian royalty is a governor general. Ellen Stokes hosted at least two Governors General during a long and distinguished career as a hotelier, which began with a "snug" inn at East Sydney during the 1860s, and ended in her hosting some of the colony's grandest tourist hotels during the 1890s and early 1900s. This is the story of Ellen Stokes, a landlady from Kent, who after arriving in Sydney in the 1850s, married three times and hosted at least seven pubs, (including the Bald Faced Stag at Leichhardt pictured left, four of which continue to trade to this day. Click on the Bald Faced Stag Hotel left for the story of career publican, Ellen Stokes.

ALTHOUGH the North Wollongong Hotel has changed considerably in appearance since German immigrant, Theodore Bode (pictured inset right) opened his little wayside inn on the site in 1878 its principal purpose of providing hospitality remains unchanged. Now a favourite haunt of university students, the North Gong - as it's affectionately known - originally opened as the Royal Victoria Hotel and was a popular watering hole for local farmers, travelers and tourists visiting the unspoiled scenic splendour of the Illawarra. The pub's history revolves chiefly around Australia's favourite pastimes of gambling and sport. Even the pub's founding was based on a gamble when Theodore Bode took a punt and traveled to the Victorian goldfields to seek his fortune.Click on the image of the Royal Victoria Hotel in 1915, to the right to read about the early history of the North Wollongong Hotel.

SAM Russell just wasn't cut out to be a businessman. To be fair, he had to struggle through the economic depression of the 1840s, but the fact remains Lady Luck just wasn't on the merchant's side when it came to running a business. Sam arrived in Tasmania from England as a single 30-year-old immigrant on the ship Hope in 1824. He eventually made his way to Sydney where he married and went about the task of setting himself up in business. Click on the image of the Royal Marine Hotel, Wollongong to read the tragic story of Sam Russell, who was found with his throat slashed near Camperdown after several failed business ventures.

WHEN 52-year-old Henry Heathorne arrived alone in Sydney from Portsmouth on the ship Candahar in the winter of 1842, he had a tough job in front of him. Heathorne, a Kent brewer, had been called upon by the owner of the Woodstock Mills at Jamberoo, HW Hart, to rescue his ailing business concerns. Heathorne, although confident the abundant supply of rainforest timber in the mountains and valleys surround the mills were sufficient to pull Hart's business out of ruin, for added insurance he also added a brewery to Woodstock in 1844. At its peak, the saw and flour mills at Woodstock employed 50 families, and many convict servants. There was a store open for a few hours twice a week, principally for the men. But the mills had been running at a loss and the financers were hovering. Click on the image to read about Heathorne and the Woodstock Brewery.

THE Newnhams were linked to arguably Australia's most famous brewery, so a drunken church warden making a scene at one of the three brothers' funeral in 1862, was a likely epitaph to the Kent sibling's largely untold story. Single and 20-something, the brothers Charles, Nicholas and William arrived in Sydney Town from London on the ship Lockerby on 28 March 1834. The young Englishmen were to play a fundamental role in the history of brewing in Australia and helped establish one of Australia's most famous breweries, the Kent Brewery in what is today Sydney's Broadway. Click on the 1840s image of Sydney's Kent Brewery, showing Charles (left) and Nicholas (right) insetted, to read all about the Newnham brothers and their adventures throughout the colonies of Australia, including NSW, Tasmania and South Australia.

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ALTHOUGH the formation year is recognised as 1905, Corrimal Bowling Club's first inter-club game against Woonona wasn't played for another two years due to problems finding suitable turf. An extract from the NSW Bowlers Annual 1906 reported the Corrimal Bowling and Tennis Club was formed in September 1905, "but owing to some preliminary difficulties in regard to the site of the club has not till now been able to make a fair start on the green. The present site has been leased to the club by one of the vice presidents (Mr Lancelot Riddle) at a nominal rent. It is principle owing to the generous terms upon which Mr Riddle has granted the site that the members have been able to start the club under such favourable auspices for the future�" Riddle, a local publican, first came to the Illawarra with his wife and two children from the Tweed River district in the early 1890s. Read about the difficulties in establishing Corrimal Bowling Club by clicking the picture of Corrimal Bowling Club to the right, showing the first game against Woonona in 1907 and an inset picture of the first president Evan Davies and Woonona's first club president John Kirton (third man standing from left).

Coal dust was said to be in James Cram's blood.
The larger than life pioneer was more than qualified to hold the title of Father of Balgownie - a village established on coal.
From a humble immigrant coal miner, Cram became one of the Illawarra's most powerful men - a civic leader, businessman, colliery under manager, property developer and landlord.�
Born in Newcastle-on-Tyne, Northumberland, England in 1826, Cram entered the coal mines at the tender age of 10.
He worked in the coal mines of Cramlington, Northumberland through his 20s until he decided to immigrate to the colony of NSW with his wife Sarah and three young boys in the late 1850s.
Cram first made his way to the northern coalfields in Newcastle - he was 34 - and by the end of the decade had set up home in Balgownie where he had purchased property.
His farm - on the north side of Lang Street, Balgownie - helped feed his large family, while he continued working under the nearby escarpment in the coal pits. He was one of the first employees of the newly re-opened Mt Keira Colliery in 1859. Click on the picture of Cram and his Wollongong general store for the full story...

THEY travelled the country preaching the evils of drink; colourful characters with the gift of the gab and usually with a tale of their remarkable transformation from drunkard to teetotaler - they were the temperance lecturers. Larger temperance societies, like the Independent Order of Good Templars and the Sons of Temperance, employed men and women to tour colonial settlements, recruiting new members, preaching their message of the demon drink, and persuading tipplers to sign a pledge to denounce alcohol. The teetotalling orators' efforts resulted in the reformation of many drunkards, with some becoming missionaries, and joining the lecturing circuits touring colonial Australia and New Zealand. Of all the temperance lecturers touring the colonies, the Good Templars' Richard Crabb was one of the most notorious. He was described in the New Zealand press in 1895 as the "versatile Sydney Domain stump orator", who was said to have a vicious tongue.Click on the 1890s cartoon of Crabb (featured in a New Zealand newspaper) to the left to read about the temperance lecturers.

The Looking Back website�is archived in PANDORA, Australia's growing web archive�collection of copies of Australian online publications, established initially by the National Library of Australia in 1996, and now built in collaboration with nine other Australian libraries and other cultural collecting organisations. The purpose of the PANDORA archive is to collect and provide long-term access to selected online publications and web sites that are about Australia, are by an Australian author on a subject of social, political, cultural, religious, scientific or economic significance and relevance to Australia, or are by an Australian author of recognised authority and make a contribution to international knowledge.

FIND out about the town bands that played such an important role in the entertainment of the coal mining villages of the Illawarra early last century. Looking Back talked with Doug Davies back in 2005 about his days as a musician with the Corrimal Town Band. AS a young man he would don his uniform, polish his boots and tuck his cornet under his arm for the hike from his home on Black Cutting Hill to practice his musical instrument under the Coral Trees in Railway Street Corrimal.

ONE time Royal Alfred Hotel hosts and murders, John and Sarah Makin of Wollongong adopted babies from unmarried mothers for either a one up fee or a small weekly payment. There was nothing unusual about this practice during the 1890s when unmarried mothers were ostracized. Click on the pointing finger below for the story of The babies Farmers...

RELIGIOUSLY every Saturday a steady stream of men crossed backwards and forwards from the bar of the Bulli Family Hotel to the billiard saloon opposite. They were not playing billiards, the men were making their way out the back of the saloon to have a punt on the horses. The region's blue collar workers devotedly visited their local billiard saloon for a bet on the races from the 1920s through to their demise in the 1960s. For more on this story click on the above pointing finger...

IN his twilight years a stalwart of local business sat in his invalid chair on the verandah, set back from the main road, watching the world go by cheerfully waving to friends as they passed. His name was Thomas Ball, a publican and cordial manufacturer.

PETER Chamberlain tells the story of his father George who risked encounters with sharks years repairing jetties and wharves early last century. His grandfather Arthur worked on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Circular Quay wharves. Read about his dangerous job repairing the Bulli Jetty after it collapsed in 1910.�

MISSING trays of glasses and boxes of spirits - mysteriously turning-up later - cutlery re-arranged in the dining room, locked doors found wide open, eerie taps on the shoulder, and weird sounds in the middle of the night are nothing out of the ordinary at Bulli's Heritage Hotel. Old Ted, a former publican who committed suicide in the pub has haunted the watering hole since the 1930s.