inns
public houses
pubs
taverns
INNS OF LITTLE HARTLEY
Collitts Family
THE RISING SUN
THE BRIDGE INN
THE GOLDEN FLEECE
THE KINGS ARMS
The Inn that was recorded as being The Rising Sun built in 1835 and run by John Skeen and Amelia (Collits) then The Bridge Inn built in 1836 and run by Thomas Rawsthorne and Sophie (Collits) which changed its name to the Kings Arms in 1837. Billesdene Grange was also owned by the Collits Family. . Rose inn was first licensed to Joseph Collits in 1846. According to the topography of the land, once the Victoria Pass was opened it is possible to assume that there was an Inn directly at the base of the Pass which is near both Rosedale and Nioka and one on the first bend in the vicinity of Billesdene Grange which is also stated to have remnants from the 1830’s
During the construction of the Pass for 2 years from 1830 to 1832 the access to the convicts and their overseers was still down the road from Coxes Road Area or Lawsons Long Alley and the road skirted around the base of the mountain escarpment.
There is evidence of footings from around 1830 at the site of Nioka which once was The Farrier Arms ran by James Bergin from 1856 till 1866 when Robert Kirk took over for a year then James resumed from 1868 till 1870.
Both Farriers Arms Site and Billesdene Grange Site on a painting of the stockade would have been used for good observation positions.
There was a stockade from 1830 till around 1845
John Skeen was appointed as overseer at the Mt Victoria Stockade and he was responsible for over 100 men to clear away the trees to make way for the construction of the road. Engineers were then bought in to create the two bridges from sandstone cut from the blasted rock of the mountainside. Stonemasons as well as laborers numbers would have swelled to around 300 and up to 500 men would have been utlized over the two year period to construct this great Pass. In early 1833 the stockade was disbanded and moved on further towards Bathurst, but a smaller infrastructure was left in place to undertake the completion of the road. This continued well after 1839.
Mitchell laid out the plan for the Administrative Centre Town of Hartley and so the next stockade at Hassan Walls closure to this location was more military in its structure.
The hive of activity that was evident at “little Hartley” then moved on to “Big Hartley” as was both locations called.
It was probable that there were two Inns on the Bottom of the pass for the travelers moving out to Bathurst and the left hand side of the road two more Inns.
FARRIERS ARMS - JAMES BERGEN
James Bergen arrived in the colony in 1815 aged 32 from Queen County, Ireland. He was married at Hartley on the 13th Nov 1848 to Sarah Calgan, of Elfin, County Roscommen, Ireland and they had seven children Mary in 1850, James in 1851, John in 1853, Bernard in 1855, Patrick in 1858, William in 1860 and Thomas in 1863.
He ran the Farriers Arms Inn as a coaching inn at Little Hartley on the Bathurst Road, next door to the Mt Victoria Inn, until it was closed in 1868. It is currently known as Nioka.
To be question is the report the following: Between 1857 and 1877 Nioka was Licensed to the Delaneys of Rosedale.
It is thought that Nioka is built on footings of an Inn from the 1830's . The current Nioka is thought to be built in the years 1876-1877
Nioka in the 1960's when the road went straight pas the front door.
KEROSENE INN - HUGH BEATTIE
Hugh Beattie married and Mary Rolston
and lived at Windsor, NSW where he was a farmer. Three of their
children were born in this area before they moved to Hill End near
Bathurst as the lure of riches enticed them to the gold fields. They
must have acquired some rewards for then they moved to Hartley and
acquired 100 acres of land on the Bathurst Road in 1857 where they
built 2 small cottages one for their house and the other as a small
inn, (Alfred was born was they were living there). They sold the land
and the cottages to George & Elizabeth Jarvis who then enlarged the
cottage and this became known as the Kerosene Inn run by John Meade.
Today it is run as Mead’s Farm.
Photos: Kerosene Cottage in 1872 and Kerosene Inn
Rosedale Inn / Mt Victoria Inn/Coach & Horses
The village/township of Hartley in the 1870's
The road appears to come from the Royal Hotel down to the Court house then off towards Glenroy Crossing. (Any further information would be appreciated.)