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The Union Inn was a cottage
style building situated on the corner of Hunter and Bolton Streets,
Newcastle.
Former constable John Butler
Hewson who arrived on the
Mangles in 1820 held the license for the Union Inn in
1840. He advertised good stabling and a selection of wine and spirits.
Robert Tighe who had
been a soldier of the 28th regiment was
employed as chief constable at Newcastle in 1839. He took over
the licence of the Union Inn after John Butler Hewson moved to the
Woolpack Inn
in 1844.
Robert
Tighe was involved in the Friendly Society and The Union Inn was the venue for the
establishment of the first Friendly Society in the
area in May 1842. He died in
March 1844 leaving a large family
(24) At his funeral members of
the Odd Fellow's Society intended to follow the
procession to the cemetery. It was thought that as
Tighe was held in very high respect by all classes in the town that the
attendance at his funeral would be unusually large
(59)
In 1845 the licence for the Inn was
transferred by Robert's widow Sarah to
William Latham
(25)
By 1846, William
Latham was undergoing insolvency proceedings.
(26)
The licence for
the Union Inn was transferred by John Butler Hewson to a new Inn built
on land purchased in 1853 from the Australian Agricultural Company.
Later Mackie's furniture store was built on the site. (See photos below)
The old building
of the original Union Inn on the corner of Hunter and Bolton Streets was
then demolished
(53)
and a new two
story building was erected and named the The Prince of Wales.
Lewis Jones was the innkeeper of the Prince of Wales from the mid 1850s
until 1870. Some years later the building was occupied by the Bank of
New Zealand the then passed into the hands of the Commercial Banking
company of Sydney.
Sarah Tighe, wife of
Robert, the original owner of the Union Inn, died
15 January 1858 and was buried in Christ Church
Burial ground, Newcastle
(24)MM 2 March 1844
(25)MM
28 June 1845
(59) MM 9 March 1844
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