Walter’s role as a publican in Hobart:

Ship Inn/Hotel c. 1875-80

(Courtesy Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office)

Walter was advertising his abode, Newbury House, to let in 'The Mercury’ 25 January 1861 (p4 c3), which was the year that Walter moved to the 'Ship Hotel' as licensee. The 1861 Electoral Roll has Walter as the occupant of the 'Ship Inn' 47 Collins Street Hobart (Landlord named as Giblin). His property at New Town had a tenant named as Nesbitt. Walter was still listed at the 'Ship Inn' in the 1866, 1867 and 1869 Electoral Rolls for Hobart, and he continued to be listed as a freeholder, owning a house and premises in New Town Road, which was let.

Advertisement for the Ship Hotel

The following Newspaper extracts from 'The Mercury’ on Licensing Renewals give us some information:

The Mercury Wed 27 February, 1861 p2
CITY ASSESSMENT
Special Sessions for Appeals against the City Assessment
WALTER BUTLER, Ship Inn and Premises reduced from £310 to £250

The Mercury August 6, 1861

LICENSING MEETING

The third quarterly meeting of the justices was held yesterday at the Court of Requests Room, for the consideration of applications for certificates of approval of persons receiving public house and packet licenses, and of applications for the transfer of existing licenses, &c.

There were present- Alderman Kennerley. chairman, Messrs Bateman, Power, Miller, Doughty, Aldermen Crisp and Lewis.

On the application of Mr Walter Butler, Mr W. Moxham was granted permission to occupy the Ship Tap.

The Mercury December 3, 1861

LICENSING RENEWAL

Walter Butler, Ship Hotel, Collins-street, and William Moxham, Separate Tap, Elizabeth Street.

From the above, it would appear that Walter was running the Hotel section of the 'Ship Hotel', not the 'Ship Tap'.

In one of the previous newspaper articles on the cattle lung disease, he indicated that some of the gentlemen who visited his hotel had refused to order beef. This confirms that he was involved in the running of the accommodation and dining part of the Hotel.

The Mercury Tuesday 14 January 1868 p3
BILLIARD TABLES
Alderman Lewis presented a petition from WALTER BUTLER, Mary Ann Watkins, John Webb, and Ann Newman, praying that the license fee on billiard tables be reduced from £10 to £5. The matter was referred to the Committee of Ways and Means

David Bryce in his book “Pubs in Hobart: from 1807” has the following information on the 'Ship Inn' [1]:

The Ship Inn and Family Hotel- Elizabeth and Collins Street, Hobart.

Licensees listed from 1821:

1821-Copeland, Peter; 1823- Johnson, Wm; 1824/26- Morris, Benjamin; 1827- Day, Chas; 1828- Wise, Geo. And Day, Chas; 1829/37- Wise, Geo; 1838/46- Lester, John; 1848/49- White, John; 1850/61- Anson, S and R; 1861- Butler, W; 1876- Trickland, W; 1882- Hadley, J C (Proprietor)

This hotel was listed in the ‘Hobart Town Gazette’ on 3/10/1818 as the ‘New Inn’.

This establishment was one of the first fifteen public houses to be licensed. In 1810/12, Lieut. Edward Lord owned a block of land with a weatherboard house on it, where the original ‘Ship Inn’ was built. The house was presented by Edward Lord to Mr. Ingles, who was his private secretary, as a reward for services rendered. He built a private residence there about 1817. Its original name was ‘Verandah House’. And Mr W. A. Broadribb, the first solicitor in Tasmania carried on with his business there (N.B. Bro(a)dribb would become the father-in-law of Walter Butler’s sister, Mary Ann.)

Mr Ingle let it to a man named Regan, who converted it into a hotel, and the license was granted about 1821. The ‘Tap’ was down a lane at the back of this inn and run by a lady named Gipsey Poll. Coaches ran from this hotel to the ‘Star and Garter Hotel’ at New Norfolk, as well as to Launceston. As early as 1829, the ‘Ship’ was noted for its dinners held by the Agricultural Society and other bodies. The old ‘Ship Inn’ was pulled down in 1883, when the new Bank of Van Diemen’s Land was built.’

1828 Advert for Ship Inn

Elizabeth Street Hobart c 1886- Ship Hotel, left centre

Ship Inn/Hotel c. 1875-80

Ship Hotel Elizabeth Street C. 1875

The Ship 'Tap' behind hotel facing Elizabeth St

(Tasmanian Photo Archives)

Bryce’s notes on the “Ship Hotel” in Collins Street had the following information::

Licensees 1893 Cundy, W. 1894 Barber, G W. 1915 Paice, J.

“The present street level bar of the “Ship Hotel” was once the billiard room of the original “Ship Inn” which was demolished to make way for the new Bank. When making alterations they tried to raise the floor with jacks, and unfortunately it shifted, killing a man and injuring several others.

In 1893, the licensee advertised: ‘First class accommodation; Charges 6s.6d. per day.’”

The bank building was demolished in 1960. Currently there is a café at the location (Central Café Bar) with the name “Ship Hotel” inscribed in the façade to remind us of the historic pub. [2]

The following advertisement appeared in various newspapers, including the Cornwall Chronicle Wed 16 July 1862 p.7; Wed 15 April 1863 p.1; Wed 21 June 1865 p.13; Sat 13 October 1866 p.1:

THE DEMISE OF THE SHIP HOTEL, HOBART, AS REPORTED IN 1882:

The Launceston Examiner, Mon 8 May, 1882, p3

OUR HOBART LETTER

(from our own Correspondent)

Saturday

The Ship Hotel is shortly to become a thing of the past, and a stately bank, the new premises of the Bank of Van Diemen’s Land Company Ltd, is to take its place. Mr J. C. Hadley, the last of the long line of proprietors who have commanded the old ship, has taken possession of Webb’s Hotel, now to be known as Hadley’s Hotel, which he has had renovated and re-decorated in such style as to hold the premier position among the hotels of the city. Last week the auctioneers entered the Ship, and a crowd of brokers, buyers, and curious people held possession for a day whilst the furniture and fittings were disposed of, and to-day the spoilers have set to work to dismantle it. In a few week’s time the house our grandfathers cracked jokes, talked politics or business, and drank their grog in, will be a confused heap of bricks and broken timber; and the old inhabitants will look at the vacant allotment and think of the innumerable associations connected with it, while the work en are busy carting away the bricks- those good old bricks of sixty years ago- and carving out the stone for the new bank. A much-patched and mongrel-looking building was this Ship, but withal there was always an air of respectability and comfort about it and for many years it has held a chief place among the houses of the city. It is a sort of place the future novelist of Tasmania could make one of the chief scenes of his story, and two of three hours spent with an old identity with a good memory would give other materials full of point and interest. Life had many romances and queer incidents in the days when the Ship was young, and many is the story told of So-and-so and So-and-so in the good old days, or bad days. The Ship was a famous nautical house, and thither resorted the old generation of whaling captains and other seafaring men “more potent in potting than your Dane, your German, or your snag-bellied Hollander.” Nor were politicians wanting in the good Ship’s company, and in days when political excitement ran high, much higher and warmer than now-a-days, many was the meeting held there to decide upon action. Sportsmen, too, would meet there and arrange those three-mile races, in three heats, which were fashionable in the good old days when horses were heavier and men wanted more excitement than is got out of a modern Cup race run in three thirty-five. Nearly all of these men are gone. Here and there you meet one whose sound constitution has survived the test of time and little longer than the rest; and when his memory gets brightened by recurrence to old association, snatches of old stories, old practical jokes, old quarrels, with here and there some reference to a man who was old when they were young, falls upon the listener and conveys the expression of a different age though the vices and virtues are those of all generations. These were the times when “the first gentleman in Europe” sat upon the throne of England and his gentlemanly instincts were much affected by all his loving subjects. Van Diemen’s Land was then attached to the Government of New South Wales, and his Honor Lieutenant-Governor Sorell was the lord of this little island. In these good old days the land upon which the Ship Hotel now stands belonged to Me Edward Lord and he have it to Mr Ingle. It originally had a cottage on it surrounded by a garden, a small weatherboard cottage similar to the one adjoining it belonging to Mr. John Edington, which with it vine-clad roof was only destroyed five years ago. Mr Ingle pulled this cottage down and built a fashionable brick residence which still remains the main portion of the present Ship Hotel. This was built as nearly as can be ascertained about the year 1818, and in the following year Mr Ingle let it to a Mr Began who first opened it as the Ship Hotel. At this time it had a tall mast in front from which a flag floated proudly. Mr Began did not retain possession long, for the Hobart Town Gazette and Van Diemen’s Land Advertiser of May 13^th 1821, contains the list of those who were licensed to sell wines and spirits for the year, and opposite to the Ship appears the name of Peter Copeland. There were thirteen people in Hobart then licensed to sell spirits, wine, and beer, and four to sell beer only. Amongst the former class only three exist at the present time- The Ship, the Hope and Anchor, and the Bird-in-Hand, the last house kept by the late Mr John Edington- an announcement of whose marriage with Mrs Edington, who is still living in Hobart appears in the same Gazette a month later. Of the latter class, those licensed to sell beer only, the White Horse, in Liverpool-street, is the only living representative, though it has enjoyed the more extended form of license for half a century since. Adjoining the Ship, in Elizabeth-street, a place was erected for the accommodation of the meaner class of customers, who were not considered fit for the quality of the day. This place was called the Ship Tap, and did a flourishing business, for both qualities could drink in the good old days. The road was then much lower down than it is now, and access was had to the Ship by a long flight of stone steps, though the reason for building so high above the level of the road is not at all clear, unless it was to give the quality a position of vantage in an elevated verandah, from which they could look down upon the passing crowd. The commoner sort of people entered the tap from the street level, and when the street was raised they had to go down tow steps into it, and duck their heads too, if they did not wish to hit the top of the shortened entrance. From this time the house changed hands frequently, and each new proprietor made some alteration to it. The following is a list of the proprietors in their order since Began’s time:

Allwright, Ben Morris, Day and Wise, Wise, Cox, White, John Providence Lester, Joshua Anson, Walter Butler, Charles Hartam, and J.C. Hadley. In 1861 the house had lost some of its ancient prestige, and Walter Butler, who took it, made an effort to revive its fame, but with little success. The Ship’s tap had been disconnected from the hotel, though it existed under a different proprietor, till the premises were taken by Mr Charles Hartam in 1867, when it was finally closed, and its sanded floor and pink and white barmaid Forgotten. Under the tenancy of Mr Charles Hartam, and the able management of the late Mrs Hartam, the house assumed its sway, and became again one of the chief hotels in the city, which it continued till now. In 1876, after the death of Mrs Hartam, Mr J.C. Hadley took it, and continued it on the same line, the old house following in the zenith of its fame.

Ship Hotel c. 1868

Contact email:butler1802 @hotmail.com (no spaces)

Link back to Introduction chapter:http://butlerfamilyhistoryaus.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/walter-butler-introduction.html

[1] David J. Bryce, Pubs in Hobart, Rosny Park Tasmania: Davidia Publishing 1997, pp 146-147

[2] Information supplied by Johannes May, Pub Tour Guide for Naturally Tasmania Tours 15 April 2003

Walter Butler (c.1807-1870)- the life of a 'currency' lad born in the colony of NSW

Friday 24 August 2012

Walter Butler- Ch. 22: The Ship Hotel, Hobart

Walter’s role as a publican in Hobart:

The following advertisement appeared in various newspapers, including the Cornwall Chronicle Wed 16 July 1862 p.7; Wed 15 April 1863 p.1; Wed 21 June 1865 p.13; Sat 13 October 1866 p.1:

THE DEMISE OF THE SHIP HOTEL, HOBART, AS REPORTED IN 1882: