Maribyrnong River and Maribyrnong Street, Footscray, c.1875.
Maribyrnong River at Footscray, c. 1875. Photographer: American & Australasian Photographic Company.
State Library of New South Wales Image 63642. Click here for the original image.
I came across this photograph on the State Library of New South Wales website of the Maribyrnong River (also known as the Saltwater River) at Footscray. It's a great photo, taken c. 1875, and shows some of the buildings in Maribyrnong Street - the Bridge Hotel, on the right, then Pickett's house; the substantial bluestone building on the hill, is the premises of Samuel Henderson, Ham and Bacon Curers and further along is the double storey Ship Inn. Maribyrnong Street runs along the river between Hopkins and Youell Streets. We will have a look at these four buildings in a little more detail.
Close up of the four buildings, cropped from the photo above.
Photographer: American & Australasian Photographic Company. State Library of New South Wales Image 63642
The Bridge Hotel, on the corner of Wingfield and Maribyrnong Streets was built in 1854/55 by James Maher (1). It was originally known as the Punt Hotel, due to its proximity to the punt which crossed the river to Bunbury Street. James Maher was declared insolvent in November 1856, but still held the licence in 1859 (2). This Punt Hotel is not to be confused with an earlier hotel called the Punt Inn built in 1838 and destroyed by fire in January 1848 and called the Bush Inn between 1843 and 1847 (3). At the time of the fire it was owned by Charles Kellett. Kellett then sold his punt to Michael Lynch and his hotel licence to William Pickett (4) the husband of Michael's half-sister, Mary Dowd, more of whom later. Just to confuse matters even more Michael Lynch later established a Punt Hotel on Ballarat Road, near Lynch's bridge. This later became the Pioneer Hotel (5).
The opening of the bridge at Hopkins Street, viewed from the Punt Hotel, and the reason the name changed to the Bridge Hotel.
Opening of the draw-bridge, Salt Water River, from the Australian News for Home Readers March 23, 1863.
State Library of Victoria Image IAN25/03/63/9
Advertisement for a leaseholder for the Bridge Hotel. Perhaps the idea was for the landlord to supplement his income from fish sales.
The Argus April 17, 1866. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5787155
The Bridge Hotel had other licensees and this advertisement in 1866 (see above) said that the house should have a Waltonian landlord. That's rather interesting, a Waltonian being an angler or a follower of Izaak Walton (1593-1683) who wrote The Compleat Angler. In 1907, the Licences Reduction Board was established whose role was to reduce the number of hotel licences in Victoria to the statutory number which was based on the population of an area (10). The hotels which lost their licence would be given compensation based on the profit of the past three years (11). The Bridge Hotel and the Ship Inn along with eight other local Footscray hotels were the subject of a licence deprivation hearing at Licence Court in May 1918 (12). As we shall see later, the Ship Inn was ordered to close. The Bridge Hotel's licence was reviewed again in May 1926 (13) and it was delicenced by January 1927 (14). The building was demolished in 1966 (15).
Licence Court hearing into hotels in Footscray and Yarraville, including the Bridge Hotel.
The Age April 9, 1918 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article155089602
Interesting comparison to the c. 1875 photo at the top of the post, which shows the industralisation of the waterfront. Looking under the 1903 Hopetoun bridge, you can just see the Bridge Hotel, to the left of the Port Phillip Mills factory. They were a wool treatment business. In front of the hotel are Raisbeck & Campbell, Boat Builders (16).
Hopkins Street Bridge and Maribyrnong River, Footscray, dated 1920s-1954.
Photographer: Rose Stereograph Co. State Library of Victoria Image H32492/933
Bridge Hotel, c. 1953 This photograph was published in Early Melbourne Architecture 1840-1888: a photographic record (17). The caption in the book says Bracketed eaves and wide-banded arches, painted in red ochre against yellow walls, gave a foreign air to this old house on the west bank of the Maribyrnong River.
Facing Maribyrnong River, c. 1953. State Library of Victoria Image H2010.73/29
The Bridge Hotel, 1963, three years before demolition.
Footscray, corner Wingfield and Maribyrnong Streets, February 16, 1963.
Photographer: John T. Collins State Library of Victoria Image H96.210/214
In our original photo, along from the Bridge Hotel is Pickett's house. In 1840, 21 year old Margaret Dowd arrived in Victoria and the next year she married William Pickett. In March 1848, William took over the licences of the 'Salt Water Punt Inn' and also operated the punt. The road to Melbourne by way of Pickett's Punt, was well named "The Summer Road' for the journey was impossible in winter. (18). No wonder the community was happy when the bridge was opened in 1863. In 1853, Michael Lynch evicted them from the hotel and punt business, and gave it to his sister Ann to operate, but they had done well enough out of the business to purchase the land where they built their house in 1854 - Pickett's house, as shown in the photo. Sadly for the family, William died in April 1858 at only 35 years of age. Margaret was left with seven children from 16 years old to a baby born after William's death and had also given birth to three other children who had died young. Margaret lived in the house all her life and died in 1875, aged 55 (19). The house is demolished, I cannot tell you when, but it is not in the November 1926 photo below. The life of Margaret Dowd Pickett and her children is recorded in the book Pubs, Punts and Pastures: the story of Pioneer Irish Women of the Salt Water River (20).
This is the temporary railway bridge over the Maribyrnong and was replaced in 1928. It runs into the Bunbury Street rail tunnel and is same location as William and Margaret Pickett's punt. The Bridge Hotel is visible, perfectly framed by the second span of the bridge on the right. The Michaelis Hallenstein tannery is the edifice behind the hotel. The Pickett house is gone, but the Ship Inn can still be seen, centre of photo, behind the railway line supports.
South Kensington to West Footscray, temporary bridge over Maribyrnong River, looking upstream, November 8, 1926. Victorian Railways Photographer. State Library of Victoria Image H28682/11
The next building is the blue stone premises of Samuel Henderson, Ham and Bacon Curers, built around 1873. It included a house as well as the piggery. The slaughterhouse was 90 feet by 45 feet, and after they were killed and cleaned over 200 pigs could be hung on hook on a railing in one room and pushed along railings to the next stage. There is a detailed description of the process in the Illustrated Australian News for Home Readers of July 15, 1873, see here. The building had a number of later uses, and community action saved it from demolition (21). You can read the Victorian Heritage Database citation, here. The building is now the Footscray Community Arts Centre.
A pretty picture of Henderson's Piggery. The Bridge Hotel is in the background. What is missing is the smell and of course, the 1863 bridge.
Premises of Samuel Henderson, Ham and Bacon Curers, Saltwater River, Footscray, c. 1873.
Artist: S.T. Gill. State Library of Victoria Image H25128
Which brings us now to the Ship Inn, on the corner of Bunbury and Maribyrnong Streets. It was built around 1859 by Ann Dowd (22) who was Margaret Pickett's sister. Ann had arrived in Melbourne in 1850, with her husband Thomas Delaney and two children. Thomas died in May 1853, and she married Cuthbert Harrison in August 1854 - all up she had five children with Thomas Delaney and another six with Cuthbert Harrison (23). Ann was entrepreneurial and her husband took full advantage of this according to Footscray historian, John Lack - it was a fruitful economic partnership for Harrison. (24). The construction of the Ship Inn was technically organised by her husband, Cuthbert Harrison, but it was no doubt her money. You can also read about the life of Ann Dowd Delaney Harrison in Pubs, Punts and Pastures: the story of Pioneer Irish Women of the Salt Water River (25).
Does this tender refer to the Ship Inn?
The Argus February 26, 1858 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/7147168
Cuthbert Harrison also had the licence for the Rising Sun Hotel in Footscray. The Rising Sun Hotel appears to have been opened around 1857 and one of the first references I can find to it in the newspapers is the April 1857 report of a County of Bourke Hotel Licencing session where Michael Dowd was granted the licence of the Hotel. Michael Dowd, who died at the age of 99 in 1881, was the father of Ann and Margaret Dowd. In April 1858 the licence was granted to Cuthbert Harrison. (26)
Michael Dowd granted the licence of the Rising Sun Hotel in Footscray. Cut Paw Paw is name of the land administration Parish, which covers Footscray, Yarraville and Williamstown.
The Age April 22, 1857 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/154821016
An advertisement placed by Cuthbert Harrison letting some of his wife's blocks of land in Maribyrnong Street.
The Age, July 21, 1859. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5684855
As mentioned before, the Ship Inn lost its licence at a Licence Reduction Board hearing which began in May 1918. The hotel was demolished in 1970 or as John Lack wrote simply crumbled into pieces during demolition (27).
Report of the Licence Reduction Board, which resulted in the closure of the Ship Inn.
The Argus June 12, 1918 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1665434
This and the photo below are from a series of photos taken during the construction of the railway bridge over the Maribyrnong, March 1927. The Ship Inn is on the right, partly obscured by a wharf shed.
Pulling pile sheeting at Coffer dam, with steam hammer, March 17, 1923; South Kensington to West Footscray, bridge over the Maribyrnong River. Victorian Railways photographer. State Library of Victoria Image H28682/51
View down the Maribyrnong River, the Ship Inn can be seen on the right bank. March 1927.
View of north side of Maribyrnong River bridge March 19, 1927;South Kensington to West Footscray, bridge over the Maribyrnong River. Victorian Railways photographer. State Library of Victoria Image H28682/52
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Sources
- Lack, John A history of Footscray (Hargreen Publishing, 1991)
- Early Melbourne Architecture 1840-1888: a photographic record compiled and edited by Maie Casey et al (Oxford University Press, 1953, 3rd edition 1975)
- Footscray: a pictorial record of the Municipality from 1859 to 1988 (City of Footscray, 1989). Footscray & Yarraville: a pictorial record (Footscray Historical Society, 2005)
- Footscray's first 100 years: the story of a great Australian City (City of Footscray, 1959)
- Pubs, Punts and Pastures: the story of Pioneer Irish Women of the Salt Water River by Joan Carstairs and Maureen Lane (St Albans Historical Society, 1988)
Footnotes
(1) Lack, John A history of Footscray (Hargreen Publishing, 1991), p. 45
James Maher was granted a licence for his hotel at the Annual Licensing Meeting for the District of Bourke, held Tuesday April 17, 1855. Report was in The Argus, April 19, 1855, see here.
(3) Punt Inn - Footscray's first 100 years: the story of a great Australian City (City of Footscray, 1959), unpaginated and Lack, op. cit., p. 410.
(4) Lack, op. cit., p. 39
(5) Lack, op. cit., p. 46 and Footscray & Yarraville: a pictorial record (Footscray Historical Society, 2005) p. 46.
(6) The earliest newspaper reports on Trove using the search term Bridge Hotel Footscray date from 1863, the year the bridge opened. I have no other evidence.
(7) The Leader, March 7, 1863, see here.
(8) Footscray's first 100 years: the story of a great Australian City, op.cit. unpaginated.
(9) Living Museum of the West website https://www.livingmuseum.org.au/projects/stories_places/warves/FW_infrastructures_bridges.html
(10) The Herald, July 9, 1906, see here and The Herald June 13, 1912, see here.
(11) The Age April 26, 1907, see here.
(12) The Age April 9, 1918, see here.
(13) The Argus, May 5, 1926, see here.
(14) The Argus of January 22, 1927 reported that the licensee of the Bridge Hotel (now delicensed) was charged with having disposed of liquour in prohibited hours on December 11. See full report, here.
(15) Footscray & Yarraville: a pictorial record, op.cit., p. 46.
(16) Raisbeck and Campbell are listed in the 1950 Sands & McDougall Directory at the State Library of Victoria, but the 1945 edition. Access the Directories here https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/search-discover/popular-digitised-collections
(17) Early Melbourne Architecture 1840-1888: a photographic record compiled and edited by Maie Casey et al (Oxford University Press, 1953, 3rd edition 1975)
(18) Footscray's first 100 years: the story of a great Australian City, op.cit., unpaginated.
(19) The information about Margaret Dowd Pickett comes from Pubs, Punts and Pastures: the story of Pioneer Irish Women of the Salt Water River by Joan Carstairs and Maureen Lane (St Albans Historical Society, 1988)
(20) Pubs, Punts and Pastures: the story of Pioneer Irish Women of the Salt Water River by Joan Carstairs and Maureen Lane (St Albans Historical Society, 1988)
(21) Lack, op. cit., p.388.
(22) Lack, op. cit., p. 410. On page 52, John Lack writes Ann Dowd brought the Junction Hotel site [corner Bunbury and Whitehall Street] in 1854, and Lynch's Maribyrnong Street properties in the same year, selling the former to Robert Jones and building the Ship Inn on the latter.
(23) Ann Dowd's family information comes from Pubs, Punts and Pastures: the story of Pioneer Irish Women of the Salt Water River, op. cit.
(24) Lack, op. cit., p. 52.
