A short history of Australian Hotels
(The Aussie Pub)
Part One

The Australian pub owes much of its origin to the 18th and 19th century English and Irish public houses (pubs) that were familiar to our early settlers and although similar in many ways the Australian pub has evolved in the past two centuries to have its own distinct character. However to properly trace the ancestry of the humble Aussie pub we firstly should briefly look at the history of English pubs to see how it all began.
It was actually the Romans who gave England its first 'pubs' almost two thousand years ago. In Roman towns tabernae served food and wine (and probably the local ale too),In the Mediterranean countries it was custom to display vine leaves outside the tabernae to advertise their trade however as vines didn't grow that well in England it became a tradition to display a small evergreen bush instead, some also advertised facilities for playing chess by painting a chequer board on their door post, giving rise to probably the two oldest Inn sign of all: "The Chequers" and the Bush as in "The Old Bull and Bush"
When the Romans left England the tabernae disappeared and over the next few centuries invaders came and went, and some occasionally settled. One thing all the invaders had in common was their fondness for drinking. After a hard day of looting and pillaging they all enjoyed a long cool drink. in particular they had a thirst for ale, which was brewed using malted barley, water and yeast. It was sweet and often powerful, but was easily soured, did not keep and needed skill to brew
The Saxons especially, loved their ale and most villages would have at least one skilled brewer who made good ale and sold it within their village and beyond. The ale was sometimes consumed at the brewer's house and thus, the informal ale house was born. This would have been just a large room in the front of the house where locals would gather to drink and exchange news from around the village and the Saxon ale house would have assumed the role of the Roman tabernae and became the meeting point of the community.
We know that as early as the seventh century the number of ale-sellers was restricted by Ethelbert, the King of Kent, so perhaps the population was becoming a little too skillful at brewing.

In the late tenth century following the arrival of St. Augustine on his mission to reestablish Christianity, came a stream of Christian missionaries and a program of monastic building throughout the land. These monasteries were obliged to offer hospitality to travelers and, gradually, separate buildings evolved to provide food, drink and shelter. As the abbeys and monasteries established their own pilgrims houses, entrepreneurs set up wayside Inns between the religious houses to cater for the pilgrim trade. Inns also became a feature in the market towns and commercial centres where merchants and traders congregated to do business, many being built right in the market square. At this time the vast majority of the population were illiterate and signs were used to provide an easily recognisable advertisement to the public. Eventually, Richard II was to command that all Inns should carry such signs, these signs are now the hallmarks of English Pubs.
Also during the 14th and 15 century, under the influence of German and Dutch brewers, hops were added to ale as a preservative and to give a more refreshing taste - this was the birth of Beer
In 1534 King Henry VIII's dissolution of the Church and the Monasteries had dire consequences for the Inn's prosperity, indeed, in some areas the loss of the pilgrims' trade was catastrophic. But as in the past recovery was soon under way, in no small measure due to the growth of central government. Royal messengers, officials and administrators travelling the King's Highway on royal business required the usual lodging and provisioning and their custom was welcomed.
By this time the typical Inn - as opposed to the private dwelling - offered rough home-brewed-ale and straw on the floor and would have stabling, a kitchen for the provision of hot meals and comfortable shared bedrooms. The Inns were also a popular meeting place for locals where they could hear local news as well as news from other towns

It was the eighteenth century which saw the heyday of the Inn. It was during this period that the great coach services expanded and flourished, with better roads came the development of state of the art coaches and the introduction of timetables. With stabling for teams of horses and the necessary facilities for travellers the Coaching Inn was of major importance to English life.
The stables were usually found in an enclosed cobbled yard with a high arch allowing entrance for the coaches turning off the main road. The Inns themselves were extended, taking over neighbouring houses and adding another story, and becoming quite imposing buildings on the main street of every city and market town.
The eighteenth century also saw the introduction of distilled spirits to England - in the form of Gin - initially the distilling of gin was encouraged by the government as a means of disposing of excess grain production. but as consumption rose, the social problems increased and in 1736,
in an attempt to curb the problem, the government introduced "The Gin Act " which made gin prohibitively expensive. The Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, and Dr. Samuel Johnson were among those who opposed the Act since they considered it could not be enforced against the will of the common people. They were right., Riots broke out and the law was widely and openly flaunted. The Gin Act was finally recognised as unenforceable, was repealed in 1742.
About this time, 11 million gallons of gin were distilled in London, which was estimated to be the equivalent of 14 gallons for each adult male. But within six years of the Gin Act being introduced production rose by another fifty per cent. By 1750 London had over 9,000 shops that sold only spirits. In certain areas, spirits were sold on average from one private house in four.
Lord Hervey declared: "Drunkenness of the common people was universal, the whole town of London swarmed with drunken people from morning till night."
So by the time Capt James Cook first stepped ashore in Australia in 1770, the streets of London were literally awash with Gin, petty crime abounded and the prisons were overflowing to a point where the prison system was unable to cope with the numbers of people being locked up.
So in effect Gin probably played an important role in the establishment of the new colony in Australia.
This situation continued to deteriorate and the government made several attempts to control the production and consumption of Gin and by 1820 had eventually enacted the 'Beerhouse Act', where beer and ale were sold free of licensing control and spirit retailers required costly licences.
This free licensing lead to the creation the Beer Shop which only sold beer and ale as distinct from Inns who also offered accommodation, and by 1838 there were over 45,000 beer shops in London - some only sold beer ( the predecessor to the very English "off licence" ) and others provided a warm hospitable venue to sit and enjoy a refreshing ale - thus was born the Public House "The Pub"