Early days
NB: The building hasn't been known by this name for a hundred years
As the gold rush opened up the territory the public inn at Goodiman was a place where travellers could rest and change their horses. The Inn was located on the mail route from Mendooran to Mudgee. It was known by various names including the Goodaman Hotel, Goodaman House and O'Connell's Wine shop.
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Historical - Scenes - Cobb and Co stage coach with approaching dust storm, near
Gulgong - photo taken 1871, NSW (Source: NAA)
In 1873, the Goodiman district made the news in Sydney, Newcastle and Goulburn when the Mudgee mailman was held up by a bushranger!
1873 - [BUSHRANGERS]"Sticking up the Mudgee Mailman. — The Times of Friday says : — After an immunity for a considerable time from highway robbery in this district, we have to record a case of bushranging that evidently had been well planned. On Wednesday last, when Brown, the mailman between Mundooran and Mudgee, was about five miles on the other side of Goodiman, a man masked with an old blue shirt sprang out of the bush, and, presenting a pistol at the mailman's head, led his horse into the scrub, and there deliberately emptied the mail bags."Source: The Newcastle Chronicle Sat 8 Feb 1873 Page 4
The mail coaches were often stopped by bushrangers. In 1874 the mail coach between Sydney and Mudgee was similarly held up.
Aside from these early reference, it is hard to pinpoint when the Inn at Goodiman was first established. Here are some clues about the early operators:
1866 - [INSOLVENCY]In the Supreme Court of New South Wales. Frazer and another v. Sheridan.BY virtue of the authority given by the Act of Council, 5th Vic., No, 9, the Sheriff will cause to be sold, by public auction, at noon, at Mr. Young's, "Goodiman Inn" near Guntawang, on Friday, the 13th day of April next, unless the writ of fievi facias herein fee previously satisfied, …1867 – [LAND PURCHASED]
Source: New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney) Thu 30 May 1867 [Issue No.84 (SUPPLEMENT)] Page 1305
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1870 - [FORMER INNKEEPER INSOLVENT]
In the Supreme Court of New South Wales.
IN INSOLVENCY.
In the Insolvent Estate of Daniel Sheridan, of Mudgee, out of business, lately residing at
Goodiman, licensed victualler.
SINGLE OR ONLY MEETING.WHEREAS the Estate of the abovenamed Insolvent was, on the 2nd day of September, 1870, placed under sequestration, by order under my hand: I hereby appoint a Single Meeting of the Creditors of the said Insolvent to be holden before the Commissioner of Insolvent Estates for the District of Mudgee at the Court House, Mudgee, on Monday the 10th day of October, 1870, to commence at 11 o'clock in the forenoon or as soon afterwards as the course of business will permit, for the proof of debts against the said Estate, and for the collection, administration, and distribution of the same; …________________________
1870 - [INSOLVENCIES OF THE MONTH.]
Daniel Sheridan, Mudgee, publican
From this we can loosely conclude that one or more Sheridans had associations with the Goodiman Inn.
Was the following unlucky chap drunk at an inn at Goodiman in 1875, or merely drink by the roadside?
An 1886 Parish of Puggoon map shows the Goodiman Inn block owned by Daniel Sheridan. At that time, Cobborah Road was the main district road and Lahey's Creek Road is the dashed line above it (seen exiting the right side of the map).
The book "Pubs Past and Present" written by Roma Wallis, states the following under the heading: Bushman s Arms/ Goodaman Hotel/O’Connell’s Wine Saloon:
"The hotel was situated nineteen miles from Gulgong [sic, 9 miles] on the banks of Goodaman Creek on the Cobborah Road on the coachline to Coonamble. It was started as the Bushman's Arms in November 1873 by James Weeks. Henry Brumler called it Goodaman Hotel in 1876.
James Fitzpatrick was licensee from 1877-78 and William Payne from 1878-80, after which the licence lapsed. It was taken up by the O'Connells, mother Margaret and sons Eugene and Patrick, as a wine saloon. Pat held the licence in 1885 [actually from 1883 to 1899]. Eugene and his mother ran the saloon while Pat managed the 1,280 acre Tarawang property which he had purchased in 1877 from Henry Cunningham.
...
The Irish O'Connells from County Meath had independent means. Father Terence apparently died before the family came to the [Gulgong] area. The saloon was a popular spot for cattle drovers. Eugene and Pat enjoyed a game of cards and a nip of rum. Pat and wife Mary left Tarawang in 1919. His mother had died in 1906 and Eugene died in 1930. It is not known how long the saloon traded."
Government Gazettes list confirm the above-named licencees for "The Goodaman Inn, Gulgong District, Goodaman Creek, Cobbora Road"
1876 - Henry Brumler
1878-79 - William Payne
A Visit to Coonabarabran....Crossing Reedy Creek, the which watercourse is filled with sand, and has never a reed to show; if the great god Pan called in perflon, and desired to repair his pipes therewith ; we take the road by Goodaman and "dust out" of our own neighbourhood at a very fair travelling pace. The ruts are deep, and, masked by the pulverised highway, occasionally startling; but the springs of our trap have stood many a mile of unfair weighting, rough ways, and headlong driving, They will scarce fail us now.For miles we pass through what should be the "merrie greenwood," but verdure is there none, save on the tree tops - all is black and bare - a desolate and ghostly landscape, now that mother earth has "taken up'' her natural carpeting. The water-holes certainly, are green, but foul of taste and smell; receptacles in many cases for the carcases of emaciated animals. Leagues upon leagues - yet there is no relief to the eye. The drought of 1876-7 is still "on" - dire melodrama deepening into tragedy that it is. How many nights it may yet have to run, no mortal wight may know.Source: Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1907) Saturday 10 March 1877
This article describes a trip in the opposite direction in August of the following year. It goes on to describe the state of Gulgong township as gold discoveries decline and the district transitions into farming country.
Until a place called Falconer's and another called Goodaman are reached there is very little to relieve the eye from dry and indifferently timbered country…Goodaman is another public-house near the crossing place over Goodaman Creek. In due time Gulgong was approached, and nearing Ready Creek, which forms one of the boundaries of the Gulgong municipality, indications of auriferous country were to be seen.To the uninitiated it is difficult to tell what suggests the idea of golden treasure beneath the ground, but the apple-tree flats and the creek with a peculiar sandy and pebbly bed were said to be indications of the presence of gold, and little heaps of dirt where diggers had been trying the ground were ample evidence of the idea that gold was to be found there, having been at one time or other, very strong.GULGONG AND THE GOLD-FIELDS.To describe Gulgong itself it is scarcely necessary to use more than the word incongruity, for it is at once one of the most charming and one of the most depressing places in the colony. Stretching away in the distance in every direction are ranges of mountains, which, flushed and brightened by sunlight, and flecked with the shade of the clouds that hang over them, present a picture of loveliness very seldom seen, while emerald spots, that represent the farmer's industry, peep out of every valley into which the glance can penetrate, most picturesquely; but in and about the town are innumerable heaps of red and yellow dirt, which indicate worked-out gold claims, unsightly bark and slab structures which, deserted by their gold-seeking occupants, have fallen into a state of ruin and decay, quantities of refuse lying about which indicate the boisterous living of former days, and all those worthless evidences of bygone wealth and riot which are common to gold-fields, when their days of prosperity and money-making are past. Within the small radius where the business of the town is carried on, there is, however, more compactness and more appearance of stability, but even here there are decaying theatres, rickety, and in one or two cases, deserted public-houses, and old rotting and tumbledown sheds which have the air of dissipated billiard or dancing saloons. And there is a depression over the place which makes property for the time valueless, and houses and land can be bought for a mere nothing compared with what they ought to bring. But notwithstanding those discouraging appearances there are evidences about the place which show that a time of more solid prosperity than that of the gold-fever will come. There are now in the streets of the town which are evenly formed through very narrow, some well-built and well-stocked shops and hotes, several of which are enjoying a fair business; the Borough Council is doing much to improve the place and put it into good order; and small farms on land taken up by free-selectors are becoming very numerous in the valleys not far from the town. Very little gold is now got at Gulgong, and there are not more than about 400 or 500 diggers in the district. Yet that the precious metal is so scarce is not to be wondered at when it is stated that as much as sixteen tons of gold have been taken from this gold-field since it opened. From this great yield of wealth it is needless to say that many men made large fortunes; and perhaps it is as needless to state that nearly all lost them again. A well-known publican in Gulgong has, during his experience on the gold-fields, made several fortunes, and spent them again in speculation; an alderman of the town, now possessed of just sufficient property to bring him in a rental large enough to keep him decently, was at one time the possessor of more than £30,000, which he lost in speculation and various other ways; and these are but types of numerous instances.
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) Thursday 1 August 1878 p 3 Article
1879 - [STABLE FIRE]On the 24th ultimo, a stable at Goodaman Creek, near Gulgong, the property of George Rouse, of Borangambil [sic Biraganbil], and a stack of hay and one of com, the property of William Payne, the lessee of the stables, were destroyed by fire, and at an inquest held on the 28th ultimo, before the District Coroner, the following verdict was returned:—That on Friday, the 24th January, the said stables, hay stack, and corn stack, were set on fire, but how or by whom there is not sufficient evidence before us (the Jurors), to show.” From inquiries made by the Police, the fire is believed to have been caused by the groom smoking.
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