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Benjamin Cox held the
license for the Rose Inn in
1832. In this year he
was enlarging the premises. Two years later in 1834 he
left the Rose Inn and started business at the
Albion and the
license for the 'Rose' was taken out by
Solomon Levien.
Mr. Levien also
ran the Post office from the premises.
In 1834 the Rose Inn
and
Tavern was advertised for sale along with other property in Maitland. It
contained eight bedrooms and three sitting rooms, hall, pantry, two
store rooms, a tap, bar, and sitting room, coach and chaise house and a
nine stall stable. It was let on a repairing lease for 7 years to Mr. Levien at the rent of £150 per annum.
In
consequence of the numerous improvements made by the enterprising
Mr. Levein, whose extreme civility was so well known by all who put up
the Rose, it had become the favorite house of the district and it was
thought it could become the 'Pulteney of Maitland'. It was bounded at
the back by the navigable part of Hunter's river
In 1835 Sol Levien
announced he was retiring from 'Rose Inn' to take
possession of 'Pulteney Hotel ' in Sydney
Phillip Joseph Cohen who had
owned the first soap factory in Maitland was
publican at the 'Rose' in the 1840's. He had been
granted 10 acres of land in Maitland township in
1834 and was appointed Postmaster
in 1835. P.J. Cohen suffered in the
depression of the 1840's and underwent insolvency
proceedings. His debts were over £300 however
at a meeting held in Sydney in September 1843 it was
decided that he be permitted to retain his wearing
apparel and household furniture and that Mrs. Cohen
be allowed to keep her 'trinkets'.
Soon after he provided supper for a Bachelor's Ball held at George
Yeomans'
Northumberland Hotel. Although he was granted a licence for the
Rose in April 1844, in June 1844 Cohen announced he was leaving
Maitland to take over the 'Saracen's Head Inn in Sydney, and the
Rose
Inn was advertised to be let.
Perhaps one of the
last festivities that Mr. Cohen organised at the
Rose was the Masonic ball. He had fitted up the
billiard room elegantly for the occasion with
Masonic emblems and an orchestra was engaged. Thirty
to forty people attended who all enjoyed themselves
very much 'on the light fantastic toe'. The supper
was said to be in Mr. Cohen's usual style; every
thing plentiful, good, and tastefully arranged. The
concluding dance was ushered in by the morning's
light and the sound of the mail horn accompanied the
parties to their homes. A public
dinner was held by the townsmen of Maitland as a
testimonial of the respect they felt for Mr. Cohen
who had been in the district for over 12 years. It
was said that he had distinguished himself as an
active and useful public man and that the value of
his services in creating and keeping alive public
opinion in the town and neighbourhood could not be
over estimated. He was considered to be always
willing to devote his ability and time to the
promotion of measures tending to advance the
prosperity of the district. In 1847 his
14month old daughter Phoebe died at his residence in
Pitt Street, Sydney.
In 1845 it was
announced that considerable alterations were to be
made to the 'Rose Inn' by a gentleman from Sydney who
had taken over. The centre building was to be taken down
and rebuilt with an additional story and to be brought
forward. (85) In March 1845
John Pettit
was innkeeper at the Rose. He was fined 20/- for a
breach of the 35th section of the Licensing Act
when it was found he had not kept his lamps outside
his house burning from evening till daylight. John Pownall was a servant at
Rose
Inn at this time. Also fined on this day was
William James Slack, innkeeper at the
Union Inn
at the time but shortly to move the the Rose.
William Slack was publican at the Rose by 1846. He had
previously held the license for the
Shamrock Inn at
Black Creek
and underwent
insolvency proceedings in 1843. In
1844/45 he held the license for the Union Inn in
Maitland. William's wife gave birth to a daughter in
March 1846 at the Rose Inn and he was granted a
license for the Rose in April 1846
In June 1846
William Slack was fined £5 for a breach of the
licensing act when a constable was refused
admittance to his house. He was absent from the
'Rose' for the evening when this took place. When
Constable Rushton had occasion to call with a
warrant for apprehension of W. Sumner in his hand,
the door of the 'Rose' was not opened to him for several minutes
although he identified himself as a constable. He cold hear a great
noise of people inside and glasses moving about. When the door was at
last opened he found a number of drunken men and prostitutes within.
William Slack testified that the offence had been committed entirely
without his knowledge or concurrence as was also the admission of people
to drink on the Sabbath especially bad characters. He assured the bench
that the like should not occur again and that the tap keeper should be
immediately discharged for his misconduct. The chief constable mentioned
here that there was another information against Slack for a similar
offence. The Bench then informed William Slack that another charge would
incur the full penalty of £20 with the possible loss of his
license.
Six months later the
license for the Rose was transferred to James Richard Muir. James McGee
was cook at the Rose Inn in September 1846 when he rescued a drowning
girl. She had fallen into the river at the rear of the Rose Inn and her
companion's cries brought several townsfolk to the spot. McGee
immediately plunged into the river bringing her safely out despite her
having disappeared twice.
James
Richard Muir
also owned land at Hexham. In July 1847 he was fined
for selling liquor after hours at the Rose Inn and in November
1847 applied to transfer the license of the Rose Inn to a house at
Morpeth. This was refused by the Bench however in
November he transferred the license for the Rose Inn,
West Maitland to the Rose Inn, East Maitland. This
was a house formerly occupied by C. Cooper. He was granted a publican's
license for the
Rose Inn at East Maitland in 1848. Neal McNeal was granted a license for
the Rose Inn, East Maitland in 1849.
The Rose Inn in
West Maitland was taken over by
William James McDonald. He was granted a publican's license in
April 1848. He employed John Smith as a cook at the
hotel at 8/- per week, however when Smith was
absent over the Christmas period William McDonald
refused to pay his wages. John Smith then refused to
do any further work, although McDonald
requested him to finish cooking the dinner, he
refused. McDonald charged John Smith under the
Masters & Servants act after this and John Smith was
sentenced to 14 days imprisonment. He became
one of the first inmates of the new
Maitland gaol
The Rose Inn in
High Street West Maitland (still occupied by William
James McDonald) was offered for sale by auction in
July 1849 |
