THE FIRST ROYAL HOTEL
The Royal Hotel, Gulgong 1872
Source: SLNSW
Source: SLNSW
The location of the original Royal Hotel was not on the site of the later brick hotel of that name. The original hotel was licensed to Thomas R. Smith at the corner of Herbert and Little Belmore Streets and next to the first Albion Hotel. The hotel was opened in November 1871 by William Hewson, who was the first licensee. Thomas Smith was the licensee from March 1872 until April 1873 when he took over Tuckerman's hotel in Mayne Street opposite the Prince of Wales Theatre. W.A. Smith became the licensee of the Royal for a short time until J.H. Cameron took over in October 1873 and remained as licensee until the hotel closed in late 1875.
Source: Information supplied by Baldwin & Davis, Research Gulgong (Sept 2006)
Source: HLRV
THE SECOND ROYAL HOTEL
The second Royal Hotel was located at the corner of Mayne and Medley Streets. Over the years it had the following names on its facade:
- Lynch's Royal Hotel
- Ryan's Royal Hotel
- Hughes Royal Hotel
- Carew Northcote's Royal Hotel
- Brook's Royal Hotel
- Royal Hotel
Later it became the Ten Dollar Town Motel.
1900 - Mr W Norris is going in for more improvements to his well-known hotel at the corner of Mayne and Medley Streets.
Source: Gulgong Advertiser, October 12 19001901 - Mr W Norris is going in for extensive improvements to his hotel at the corner of Mayne and Medley Streets. The whole of the premises have received an overhauling and a large verandah is now being
Source: Gulgong Advertiser, April 12 1901
The Royal Hotel, Gulgong, 1920
The Royal Hotel, Gulgong, June 1925
The Royal Hotel, Gulgong, August 1930
The Royal Hotel, Gulgong, April 1938
The Royal Hotel, Gulgong, August 1939
The Royal Hotel, Gulgong, August 1949
The Royal Hotel, Gulgong, August 1960s
Source: Barbara Gurney
The Royal Hotel, Gulgong 1966
Source: State Library of NSW
The Royal Hotel, Gulgong, August 1970s
Source: Barbara Gurney
Mr and Mrs Blanning (owners) standing at the bar.
Merle Allan (in the white top) with Moya Byfield and others.
Source: Bev Hasler
The following people held the licence:
- Arthur Koneman from 1952 to 1954;
- Ern Sargent from 1954 to 1955; and
- Enid McKenzie from 1955 to 1961.
The hotel closed on 30th June 1961 and the licence was transferred to Shellharbour.
Source: Pubs Past and Present by Roma Wallis
The following four-page feature in the Mudgee Guardian celebrated the opening of the Ten Dollar Town Motel and looked back at it's history as the Royal Hotel.
Source: Pubs Past and Present by Roma Wallis
THE TRANSITION
The Royal Hotel after closure
Source: Mudgee Guardian
The newly-created Ten Dollar Town Motel
Source: Mudgee Guardian
1975 - [NEW MOTEL]
The Ten Dollar Motel, Gulgong, providing 20 modern accommodation units, was officially opened by the former Deputy Premier of NSW, Sir Charles Cutler, on Friday, March 7, 1975.
Sir Charles was also the Minister for Local Government and the new Minister for Tourism. He performed the opening ceremony before a gathering of representatives of State and Local Government, members of the tourist industry and local people who have placed their faith in the development and future of the town of Gulgong and district.
Sir Charles was accompanied by the Minister for Burrendong, Mr Roger Wotton.
The new motel is centred around a restored colonial hotel built in 1904. Its history goes back to 1871, to Gulgong's Roaring Days when as "the Royal Oak" it was one of the sixty licensed hotels providing refreshments, accommodation and rest for the visitors to the boom town that was Gulgong.
ROYAL COLONIAL
The motel restoration of the old colonial style pub, known as "The Royal" was a $200,000 project that started about 12 months ago. The old bar has been given the "royal treatment" with an oak counter, marble fireplace, carpet and chandaliers.
TEN DOLLAR TOWN
The Ten Dollar Town Motel takes its name from the recognition received by Henry Lawson as The Australian Poet of the goldrush and the pioneers and the montage of goldrush scenes portrayed on "the Henry Lawson side" of the ten dollar note.
CROSS ROADS
The Motel is ideally sited at the corner of Mayne and Medley Streets, Gulgong.
It is as the crossroads, as it were, for tourists going north, south, east or west whether they are travelling to the Warrumbungles, Coonabarabran or Queensland, to Wellington or Orange and south to Canberra, and Melbourne, or to Sydney or Newcastle to Dubbo or Lightning Ridge and Back o'Bourke.
It would further provide modern accommodation required for the Tourists today, while not depriving services already given by The Gulgong Motel and hotels of the town.
Mr Rex Willing was contractor for building the new motel, as well as the restoration and interior decoration of the restored hotel building.
Source: Mudgee Guardian, 19751975 - [PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE]
As President of the Cudgegong Shire Council, I wish to offer congratulations and best wishes to the directors of Gulgong's new Ten Dollar Town Motel on the occasion of the official opening on Friday by Sir Charles Cutler, MLA, Deputy Premier.
Another part of Old Gulgong has been preserved in this project, while at the same time a very modern necessity has been provided.
In itself it has already become an additional Tourist attraction for the town.
I share the view of the directors that this new business will be a financial success, and commend their faith in the future.
The Cudgegong Shire is pleased to be able to honour Sir Charles on the occasion of his visit for the official opening of the Ten Dollar Town, with a luncheon at the Gulgong Coffee House.
Signed, Bill Hensley, Cudgegong Shire President.
Source: Mudgee Guardian, 1975
1975 - MOTEL HOSTESS
1975 - GULGONG THE PROGRESSIVE
1975 - MOTEL STORY IS A "ROYAL ROUTINE"
Motel Manager is Mrs Theresa Lane, one of six directors of the Mid-Western Investment Company owners of the new motel. Mrs Lane is highly esteemed in the town and district and had been a leading force in the development of tourism.
Mrs Lane conducts a property, "Broadfields" for many years. She sold her property two years ago, and was on a world tour, when she was invited to join the company of district people to build the motel. Having stayed at motels in all parts of the world, Mrs. Lane has the advantage of knowing from personal experience, the requirements of holiday makers and travellers.
Mrs Lane told the Guardian that just as the goldrush era of Australia's past was served by "the ten mils Inns", her company will be keen to see that the Ten Dollar Motel now continues this tradition of hospitality for the weary traveller.
"With the old Royal Hotel restored and updated and the 20 fine units providing the very best in accommodation and amenities, we, at the Ten Dollar Motel, will be able to give a high standard in tourist accommodation, providing visitors every opportunity to enjoy their visit to our town and district," Mrs Lane said.
Source: Mudgee Guardian, 1975
Source: Mudgee Guardian, 1975
Page 1
Gulgong is " a town of note".
In 1966 with Australia's change over to decimal currency, the recognition od Henry Lawson as Australia's national poet put Gulgong in the money. Henry Lawson and scenes of Gulgong's Roaring Days are depicted on the 10 Dollar Note.
With this change-over, the Ten Dollar Note has become a pocket-size picture folder of Gulgong and its history. From this time Gulgong became firmly established as "A Henry Lawson Town", "The Town of the Ten Dollar Bill".
With the opening of the 20-unit Ten Dollar Motel, the seal has now been set on the courage and faith of the local community, who believed in the potential of the district to attract more and more tourists, to give it a life-giving industry to the local economy.
However, this conviction was not always so.
About 20 years [1955] ago Gulgong appeared to be going the way of the many ghost towns that were once thriving centres linked with the discovery of gold. The faith of the Gulgong and District people refused to let thier town die. They literally built a fine War Memorial Hall, towns people bought brick by brick.
Then the realisation of the wealth that lay beneath the golden story of the district came to the fore about 16 years ago with another project to build an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
Gulgong found that the gold of its history, while it lay buried in the past, could be brought to life through the stories and verse of Henry Lawson, learned by every school child in Australia and with the discovery by Keast Burke of the identity of Holtermann photography.
This story was so well documented in book by Eileen Maxwell, "Written in Gold", and Keast Burke's lectures, and finally his own book "Gold and Silver" and history of the Prince of Wales Opera House, "Laughter, Tears and Nuggets".
This story was so well documented in book by Eileen Maxwell, "Written in Gold", and Keast Burke's lectures, and finally his own book "Gold and Silver" and history of the Prince of Wales Opera House, "Laughter, Tears and Nuggets".
In that space of about 20 years, Gulgong awoke from its dreaming, and with a fever associated with the discovery of gold, found new spirit to set it on the road to progress.
The Gulgong Memorial Hall, the Pioneers Olympic Pool, Swimming Club rooms, The Gulgong Community Centre, The Children's Ward at the Gulgong Hospital, The Gulgong Pioneers Museum and the Prince of Wales Opera House, and Henry Lawson Centre have all been projects completed in the short period.
Today more than 22,000 visitors see the Gulgong Pioneers Museum. There are tourist coaches coming and going almost with the excitement the Cobb & Co coaches did of old, as "the rush" starts anew to participate in the golden era of Australia.
One of the high spots of the "new discovery" of Gulgong was the centenary celebration in 1970, commemorating the first finding of gold on Red Hill by Tom Saunders on April 14, 1870, when more than 7,000 people came to the town in one day.
Now the Henry Lawson Centre presents for young and old the stories of these "palmy days of Gulgong".
Another factor was the explanation and colour provided by the re-opened Prince of Wales Opera House, spelling out the origins of the legend of "Waltzing Matilda". Ninety-two year old Val Taylor demonstrated how the "waltzing" past of the the legend began on the steps of the new Opera House in Sydney. Then five local people, aged from 17 to 79 years, enacted the "rush" to Gulgong that followed the historic gold find more than 100 years ago. They "waltzed Matilda" across the Blue Mountains in eight days and were met with a tumultuous welcome on their arrival to signal off the Goldrush Festival in 1973.
The notoriety Gulgong was receiving as a place of tourist interest reached such a level that Gulgong could not further continue to accommodate the coaches and travellers seeking to stay in the town. Despite many approaches by community organisations to interest motel chains. in proving this necessary accommodation nothing happened. It could have been that Gulgong would slip back once more while other centres were forging ahead with the new found gold of tourism.
The Royal Hotel is sited in a prominent position in the town as well as in the colourful story of Gulgong. While it has been closed for some years and fell into a dilapidated condition, now it has received rightful recognition.
The Guardian joins with the community in congratulating the directors of the Ten Dollar Town Motel for retaining the character of an historic building and providing essential accommodation for the growing tourist trade in the district.
Source: Mudgee Guardian, 1975
Page 2
The Ten Dollar Town Motel is rich in history from the "roaring days" of Gulgong's famous goldrush.
First of all it was known as Royal Oak, one of 60 hotels which catered for the rest, refreshmnets and entertainment of the gold diggers.
It later became The Royal, a family hotel with the erection of a substantial brick building succeeding the old weatherboard pub in 1904. The hotel now restored will serve as the service and reception centre for the modern hotel.
The Royal progress story begins in the Gulgong Mercantile Advertiser of September 28, 1871. A lengthy advertisement advises that Bernard Naughton (late of Green Swamp and Gulgong Road) has erected a large and commodious inn, "The Royal Oak Inn" corner of Queen (Mayne) and Medley Streets".
Other records show that the Royal Oak was licensed on August 23, 1871, by George William Whitton while a Royal Hotel was licensed in Herbert Street, by William Hewson, on December 20, 1871.
Records also show that Bernard Naughton returned his licence of a hotel on the Gulgong Road on June 30, 1872. However, by 1873, T. Nightingale was advertising The Royal Hotel, Mayne Street in the same paper.
A man associated with much of the story of Gulgong is Mr. Val Taylor, who celebrated his 92nd birthday on St. Valentine's Day, February 14.
Val worked as a young lad at the Cobb and Co. Stables, near the present site of the Ten Dollar Town Motel. He said the Cobb and Co. Coach House was opposite the stables.
Val remembers the arrivals of Cobb and Co. coaches, the loud trumpet, which heralded each coach's arrival, the police escort and loading of gold onto the coaches as well as the arrival of entertainers, businessmen and mine prospectors.
He tells the story of the day one colourful owner of The Royal, Ned Aldridge, had a win at the races. He had his stallion shod in gold and installed in the Bar of The Royal.
"Mine Host" was also noted for the bejewelled ladies, who served in the bar of The Royal, according to Val.
Mr Alf Brigden, Secretary of the Gulgong Re-union, who has been invited to the Motel opening was a Cordial Manfacturer in Gulgong for many years.
Mr "Springy" May, was for many years Licencee of the Wilde and May Post Office Hotel and then the Commercial Hotel, was a young lad at his uncle's Royal Hotel.
OWNED BY THE DAVIS FAMILY
It was "Springy" May's uncle, Jack Lynch, who had the Pub, when I first remember if. "I do know that it was in the hands of successive Davis families since old George Davis built or owned it.
SHOOTING TRAGEDY
A Mr. Frame Fletcher, a mining promoter or manager who was involved with a Mr Hilton, the then Municipal Clerk in the Old Salvation Hill Gold Mine, shot himself in the room facing Mayne Street back in the 1910s or thereabouts.
"I remember picking up some partly burnt old letter dated 1910 written from Kent in England, telling of the approaching death of King Edward, and others relating to financial matters regarding the gold mine, when I was a lad," Mr Brigden said
Part of the site on which the motel is erected provided a small frontage for a fancygoods store and for musical instruments by a George A Tissington, according to memoirs entitled, "Golden Gulgong" by C J Johnson 1870-1874 (in the Mitchell Library).
"My friend the late George A Tissington was an early bird on the field and in addition to getting shares in No 21 and 22 Black Lead snapped up several town allotments.
Source: Mudgee Guardian, 1975My first job in Gulgong was to put up a building for him suitable for a shop and portrait gallery. Later on I and others put up a shop dwelling for Tissington nearly opposite where he practised photography and sold fancy goods and musical instruments. But it only required the cry of "Rush O" to make "Tiss" lock up shop, saddle his Rosinate and gallop away in the direction where the cry came."
