Railway Hotel Tambaroora

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Data was last added to this page on the
28 January 2026

HISTORY OF THE RAILWAY HOTEL and RAILWAY STORE
Also known locally as Beards Hotel and Beards Store
Later known as the Hargraves Hotel
(Information to be added when found)

Located on Lot 1 Section 4A, it shared the Lot with the Railway Store, the complex in fact occupied all of Section 4A.


Railway (Beards) Store Image courtesy of the Holtermann Collection Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW	Railway (Beards) Hotel Image courtesy of the Holtermann Collection Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW

The first Publicans Licences issued for the Railway Hotel were:

18^th Apr 1854	Publican Licence Issued: ⁽⁰⁸¹⁾ Location: Tambaroora Proprietor: James FITZPATRICK Publican: William BARRY Sureties: William Henry OAKS of Bathurst and Matthew GILLESPIE of Tambaroora Recognizance: Fifty pounds from each party. Notes: Distance from the nearest Licenced Houses was 300 yards. Hotel consisted of two sitting rooms and two bedrooms besides those required for the use of the family ⁽⁰⁸¹⁾
24^th Apr 1855	Publican Licence Issued: ⁽⁰⁸¹⁾ Publican: William BARRY Sureties: John BEARD Butcher of Tambaroora and James GAIN Apothecary of Tambaroora Recognizance: Fifty pounds from each party. Notes: Hotel consisted of two sitting rooms and two bedrooms besides those required for the use of the family ⁽⁰⁸¹⁾
22 Apr 1856	Publican Licence Issued: ⁽⁰⁸¹⁾ Proprietor: James Fitzpatrick Publican: John BEARD Sureties: William WADE Gardener of Tambaroora and Edward LONG Storekeeper of Tambaroora Recognizance: Fifty pounds from each party.
27^th Apr 1858	Publican Licence Issued: ⁽⁰⁸¹⁾ Proprietor: Publican: John BEARD Sureties: James JOHNSON of Tambaroora and Redmond FARRINGTON of Tambaroora Recognizance: Fifty pounds from each party.
20^th Apr 1860	Publican Licence Issued: ⁽⁰⁸¹⁾ Proprietor: Publican: John BEARD Sureties: James JOHNSON of Tambaroora and William HUDSON of Tambaroora and John WALLACE of Tambaroora Recognizance: Fifty pounds from each party.
1 Jul 1865	Publican Licence Issued to Harriet BEARD Return of Publicans Licence Issued Effective 1st Jul 1865 to 30th Jun 1866
1872-3	Publican Licence Issued: Publican: Harriet BEARD from 1 July 1872 to 30^th Jun 1873 ⁽⁴⁸⁾
1 Jun 1872	Sale of the Railway Stores and Railway Hotel Also known as Mrs.Beards Stores and Hotel, later known as the Hargraves Hotel

The big mystery to date is when the Hargraves Hotel relocated from Lot 1 Section 9 to Lot 1 Section 4A previously occupied by the Railway Hotel of Harriet Beard, it is interesting to note that no Publican Licenses were issued for the Railway Hotel after 1872. The only dealing was with the new owner in August 1873 advertising the Railway Hotel for lease. The lease was taken up in the same month and the lessee1 applied for a billard license in 1873.

Up until 1873 at least both the Hargraves Hotel at Lot 1 Section 9 and the Railway Hotel at Section 4A were still operating as James DAGGER was also issued a billards license for the Hargraves Hotel ⁽²⁶⁰⁾.

1875 saw Lewis Clarke become the proprietor of Section 4A, the certificate of title for his purchase was dated 31 May 1875 ⁽²⁷¹⁾. Clarke must have renamed the Railway Hotel between his purchase date in 1875 and when the advertisement for the sale of the Hargraves Hotel appeared in 1884 noting its location at Section 4A and that it was leased to James Dagger, so the relocation must have taken place within this time frame.

1 July 1875 - James Dagger was issued a publican license for the Hotel ⁽²⁶²⁾

1876 - James Dagger was issued a publican license for the Hotel ⁽²⁶³⁾

1877 - James Dagger was issued a publican license for the Hotel ⁽²⁶⁴⁾

1878 - James Dagger was issued a publican license for the Hotel ⁽²⁶⁵⁾

1 July 1879 - James Dagger was issued a publican license for the Hotel ⁽²⁶⁶⁾

1 July 1880 - James Dagger was issued a publican license for the Hotel ⁽²⁶⁷⁾

After the death of Lewis Clarke in 1882 an Application by Transmission dated 3 October 1883 was made transferring the title to his ex wife Anna Maria CANNELL ⁽²⁷¹⁾

The hotel was put up for sale in 1884, an advertisement appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald dated 29 March 1884, which also noted its location as being within Section 4A.

- Adjust for viewing

Hargraves Hotel Tambaroora For Sale 1884

Source:⁽⁰⁰²⁾ dtd 29 Mar 1884 Pg.16)
Extracted from the digitised newspaper articles found in Trove, reproduced courtesy of the National Library of Australia.

James Dagger of Tambaroora, a Licensed Victualler purchased the premises from Anna Maria Cannell on the 14 June 1884. ⁽²⁷¹⁾.

Hargraves Hotel at Lot 1 Section 4A
Source: From the Collection of the State Library of NSW

The hotel closed its doors for the last time in August 1902 due to slackness of trade.

Source: ^{(269) Page 2, 9 Aug 1902}
Extracted from the digitised newspaper articles found in Trove, reproduced courtesy of the National Library of Australia.

Following the death of James Dagger in 1900 an Application by Transmission was made and the Certificate of Title was transferred on the 4 December 1903 to Alfred Thomas DAGGER of Tambaroora, a gold miner ⁽²⁷¹⁾

The Dreaded Chimney

As for the Hargraves Hotel chimney, it is in fact the chimney that was positioned on the southern end of the Railway Stores building located next to the Railway Hotel on Lot 1 Section 4A when owned by Harriet Beard. Measurements taken from existing images of the Hargraves Hotel frontage leaves the chimney nearly fifty feet away from the southern end of the Hargraves Hotel building. In a bRd sense it could be said that it was a chimney which formed part of the Hargaves Hotel complex but not a chimney from the Hargraves Hotel.

The End