Woolloomooloo is a harbourside, inner-city eastern suburb of Sydney. It has always played a colourful part in Sydney's housing heritage. From the working class cottages of the 1850s, to the 'boom style' Victorian terraces of the 1880s, to the public housing developments of 1970s and now to the gentrification of the waterfront areas particularly the housing development on the Finger Wharf.
To servcie the thirst of the residents of the times, a large number of hotels were established. A walk through Woolloomooloo reveals a legacy of these hotels.
In its Hotel and Liquor Licenses Database, History Services NSW has details of the licensees of the various hotels in Woolloomooloo for the period from 1860 to 1900. We photographed the following establishments on our recent walk through the area:
95 Forbes Street (c 1865.) The first two storeys were built as the President Lincoln Hotel, now used as office space.
Details held on licensees for the President Lincoln Hotel for the period 1867 to 1900.
70 Forbes Street. Built around 1865 as Bottomley's Hotel and has now been converted to a house.
Details held on licensees for the Bottomley's Family Hotel for the period 1865 to 1884; and for
Bottomley's Hotel for the period 1885 to 1900
52-66 Forbes Street c 1885. This row is known as Bottomley's Terrace and was built on the site of the Royal Yacht Hotel.
Details held on licensees for the Yacht Hotel 1865-66, 1868 to 1873; and for the Royal Yacht Hotel 1867, 1864 to 1877, 1879 to 1880.
The houses are now used as the administration block for the Plunkett Street Public School and the Sydney Distance Education High School.
Frisco Hotel, 46 Dowling Street. Built on the site of the Dowling Street Wharf Hotel which dated back to the 1860's.
Details held on licensees for the Wharf Hotel for the period for the period 1862-1890; Dowling Wharf Hotel for the period 1891 to 1893; and for the Dowling Street Wharf Hotel 1886 (Billiard License only)
Revolving Battery Hotel, 123 Dowling Street. Built on the site of an earlier hotel of the same name.
Details held on licensees of the Royal Battery Hotel for the period 1865 to 1900.
The Tilbury Hotel. Formerly the Cowper Wharf Hotel built on the site of an inn dating back to 1860's.
Details held on the licensees for the Cowper Wharf Hotel for the period 1876 to 1900.
36 Forbes Street (1885). Built originally as the Eastern Market Hotel, now residential.
Details held on licensees for the Eastern Markets Hotel for the period 1872 to 1900.
98 Bourke Street. Originally the Dewdrop Hotel.Details held on licensees for the Dew Drop for the period 1865 to 1871.
Macquarie Hotel. Built on the site of the Nell Gwynne Hotel.
Details held on the licensees for the Nell Gwynne Hotel for the period 1873 to 1878.
Bell's Hotel. Licensed to the famous boxer Jimmy Carruthers in the 1950s.
If you are researching the history of hotels in the Wooloomooloo area or in New South Wales generally, you should go to the website at:
