A living icon: The Court House Hotel,

Corryong
An article by David Swingler

A long time between drinks...

The multifaceted nature of Corryongs
Court House Hotel, a pub which has
played many various roles over the last
130 years, has enabled it to withstand the
tests of time in a changing world. From its
simple beginnings in 1882, through to the
years immediately prior to the Second
World War, this pub demonstrates both
the versatility and significance of a
country pub in rural Australia.

BACKGROUND
The Court House Hotel is located in the rural
Victorian town of Corryong, roughly 180km
east of Albury-Wodonga. Corryong is nestled
in the Snowy Mountains, in the Upper Murray
region of north-east Victoria. It is
approximately 10 minutes drive from the
town centre to the border of New South
Wales. As of the 2011 census, Corryong and
the immediate surrounds had 1,044
inhabitants1. Corryongs main claim to fame,
however, is the burial place of Jack Riley, the
inspiration for A.B. Banjo Pattersons
legendary poem, The Man from Snowy River.

Australian Bureau of Statistics, Towns in Time

Corryong (2011), <
https://www.data.vic.gov.au/data/dataset/townsin-time-corryong/resource/e78aaa4e-53a1-4014ad5b-2c3a0f81d01c>, 2, accessed 2 Oct. 2016,
5:47pm

Figure 1: A map of North-Eastern Victoria, showing the location

of Corryong (BP, North Eastern Victoria, Touring Atlas of
Australia, 1:6,000,000 (4th edn., Ringwood, Victoria: Penguin
Books Australia Ltd., 1990), p. 15).

The Court House Hotel itself was first

established in Corryong in 1882, having
previously been a bakery, a general store and
a place of accommodation

Figure 2: The town of Corryong in August 2016 (Carmel Swingler, Corryong From A Distance, Collection
of Corryong Photos from 15 August 2016, 2016. Photos reproduced courtesy of Carmel Swingler)

Figure 3: The Court House Hotel in 2016, Corryong (Marita Albert, Collection of Contemporary
Hanson St photos, 2016, Upper Murray Historical Society - housed in The Man from Snowy River
Museum Corryong. Photos reproduced courtesy of Marita Albert, UMHS)

in the mining boom-town of Thougla, in the

Upper Murray region2. The owner of the
bakery, a Mrs. Sarah Anne King, applied for a
publicans license for the building while in
Thougla, but was rejected3. When the gold in
the Thougla mines began to dry up, Mrs. King
had the slab building moved to Hanson Street,
Corryong, where she reapplied for a
publicans license in December 18824. This
time, she was successful, and the Court House
Hotel became the first licensed pub in
Corryong on December 28th 18825. The Court
House Hotel has since changed hands and
names numerous times. The original slab hut
building was replaced with brick structures
and extended over the years, and remains a

focal point of business and social life in

Corryong to this day. During the 1880s
through to the late 1930s and beyond,
Corryong and its immediate surrounds were
home to hubs of industry. These included, but
were not limited to, dairy and butter
factories6, beef cattle farms7 and a flour mill8.
In addition to these, according to the 1947
report by the Department of National
Development, the Murray Valley Highway, at
that time, ended in Corryong, having run
along the Murray River from Hattah, near
Mildura. This major highway ensured that the
Court House Hotel was vital to the economic,
social and cultural survival of Corryong in
those early days.

Figure 4: Hanson Street, Corryong: Pipes bound for the Upper Thougla Gold Mines. C. 1898. (Arnold Playle,
Playle Collection, 1880-1930, Upper Murray Historical Society housed in The Man From Snowy River Museum,
Corryong. Photo reproduced courtesy of John Whitehead, UMHS
6

Jean Carmody, Early Days of the Upper Murray

nd
(2 edn., Wangaratta: Shoestring Press, 2013), p.
64.
3
John Murphy, Re: Top pub *email to Marita
Albert, forwarded to David Swingler], 29
September 2016, 5:18pm, para. 3.
4
VPRS 1449/P000, 1, Register of Applications for
Licenses; 02.12.1882-10.12.1901
5
Ibid.

W. Lewis Jones and Peggy Jones, The Flour Mills

of Victoria 1840-1990: an historical record
(Melbourne: Flour Millers Council of Victoria,
1990), p. 329.
7
Department of National Development, Report of
the Murray Valley Resources Survey Committee on
Resources and Development of the Murray Valley,
Vol. I, (Canberra, ACT: Department of National
Development, 1947), pp. 164-245.
8
W. Lewis Jones and Peggy Jones, Flour Mills of
Victoria, p. 329.

COURTHOUSE

license), white collar crimes (frauds, debts,

forgeries), and, in the period after the
introduction of conscription to Australia
during the First World War, applications for
exemption from military service11. The Court
House Hotel also heard applications for
various licenses by members of the public,
such as hawkers licenses, carriers licenses,
miners licenses, timber licenses and
publicans licenses, and also the oral crossexamination of witnesses by lawyers in
criminal cases12.

Figure 5: Anon., Corryong Court House 2001, in

Michael Challinger, Historic Court Houses of Victoria
(Ringwood: Palisade Press, 2001), p. 69.

The Court House Hotel operated as a site for

legal cases to be heard and considered by
visiting magistrates and justices of the peace
from its establishment in 1882. This continued
until 1912, when Corryong constructed a
purpose-built court house for 6519.
During the initial 30 years of settling legal
matters, the various cases were heard, on
average, once a month, though there were
several recorded occasions of cases being
settled over two or more days in a given
month10. The use of a pub for deliberating and
settling legal matters of varying degrees of
severity is where both the original and current
names of the Court House Hotel originate.
Cases considered at the Hotel included violent
crimes (assaults, resisting police, even
attempted murder), behavioural crimes
(obscene language, insulting behaviour, drunk
and disorderly, larceny of various goods and
items), agricultural crimes (black market
trading of livestock, illegal wood cutting,
introducing livestock into Victoria without a

Figure 6: Court Records for September, 1905

(PROV, VPRS 1449/P000, 1)

The cases heard at the Court House Hotel

were not usually from the realm of family law.
While it is true that there were cases involving
marriages and dowry settlements, these are
somewhat of a rarity in the court records. The
most common crimes listed appear to be
behavioural, such as obscene language,
insulting language, insulting behaviour and
drunk and disorderly13; however, violent
crimes and white collar crimes, predominantly
debts that had to be settled, number closely
behind14.

Michael Challinger, Historic Court Houses of

Victoria (Ringwood, Victoria: Palisade Press, 2001),
p. 69.
10
VPRS 1449/P000, 5, (i) Fines and forfeitures
for period:, 18.07.1882 19.07.1884; (ii) Summary
record of Petty Sessions Cases:, Sep 1905 Jan
1915

11

VPRS 1449/P000, 4, Register of Applications for

Exemption from Military Service:, 1916
12
VPRS 1449/P000, 5, (i) Fines and forfeitures
13
Ibid.
14
VPRS 1449/P000, 5, (i) Fines and forfeitures.

ACCOMODATION
When Mrs. King first moved the old bakery
from Thougla to Corryong in 1882, the
building itself was a slab hut, the staple
building style of the inhabitants of the frontier
and the goldfields in Australia during the
colonial and gold-rush periods15. This wooden
building was eventually replaced with a more
sturdy brick structure in the late 1880s, when
Alfred Masters and Alfred Lukins took over
ownership of the Court House Hotel from
Mrs. King16. The Hotel, built in brick circa
1898, can be seen in Figure 4, with the sign of
A. Masters on the side of the awning facing
the street.

building. However the application was

rejected by the Licensing Board, so the Coffee
Palace was run by two Masters girls as an
adjunct to the hotel. Accommodation was
provided upstairs for regular boarders as well
as hotel guests, while the ground floor
contained some offices which were rented
out18.

Figure 8: Corryong Coffee Palace: Hanson Street,

Corryong, (Arnold Playle, Playle Collection, 1880-1930,
Upper Murray Historical Society housed in The Man
From Snowy River Museum, Corryong. Photo
reproduced courtesy of John Whitehead, Upper Murray
Historical Society).

Figure 7: Court-House Hotel: Established 1882. Rearresidential section built 1910/11 (Arnold Playle,
Playle Collection, 1880-1930, Upper Murray
Historical Society housed in The Man From Snowy
River Museum, Corryong. Photo reproduced
courtesy of John Whitehead

By 1910, the Hotel was a major component of

social and business life in Corryong, to the
extent that a brick two storey rear section was
constructed, providing accommodation to the
plethora of travellers and patrons at the
Hotel17. According to Jean Carmody, After
the turn of the century, Lukins and Masters
erected a Coffee Palace... the intention being
to transfer the hotel license to the new

BUSINESS USE
Since its establishment, the Court House Hotel
has been host to a multitude of different uses
and businesses. From 1882 to 1911, the Court
House Hotel was utilized as a makeshift
church for the Catholic community in
Corryong19. At this time, the Catholic priest
travelled around the Upper Murray area to
perform church services roughly every
fortnight. A lack of a permanent Catholic
church in Corryong until 1911 saw the Court
House Hotel used as a place of worship20.
During the 1930s, a hairdresser and
tobacconist, a Mr. Sid Mackie, was operating

15

John Murphy, Re: Top pub, para. 3.

VPRS 1449/P000, 1, Register of Applications for
Licenses
17
Jean Carmody, Early Days of the Upper Murray,
p. 72.
16

18

Jean Carmody, Early Days of the Upper Murray,

p. 72.
19
Ibid. p. 88.
20
Ibid. p. 88.

out of the Court House Hotel21. Mr. Mackie

did not just sell tobacco-related goods and cut
hair, though. In his advertisement in the
edition of The Corryong Courier, published on
11 February 1931, Mr. Mackie states that he
sells xylonite goods, novelties, perfume
compacts, [and] presentation sets, at city
prices22.

during the 1920s and 1930s, a car hire

agency! The car hire agency was run by a Mr.
A. A. Stephenson, also known as Stevo, and
used a 7-seater Dodge Car23.

Figure 10: Mr. A. A. Stephenson's advertisement in the

Corryong Courier, 26 March 1925.

Figure 9: Sid Mackie's advertisement in the Corryong

Courier. 11 February 1931.

Mr. V. M. Cross, dentist, placed an

advertisement in the Corryong Courier on 4th
August 1927, which stated that his surgery
was based in Wodonga, but he would visit
Corryong on the last Friday of the month, as in
the past24. Mr. Cross advertisement goes on
to state that consultation *was+ at *the+ Court
House Hotel, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.25.
Business activity for the Corryong community
from 1882 to 1937 appears to have a
continuing link with the Court House Hotel.

The Court House Hotel was home to the

offices of a visiting dentist, a tailor, and,
23
21

Advertisement, Hairdressing: Sid Mackie,

Corryong Courier, 30 Jan. 1930
22
Advertisement, Runners!, Corryong Courier, 11
Feb. 1931.

Advertisement, Car For Hire, Corryong Courier,

26 March 1925
24
Advertisement, Mr. V. M. Cross, Corryong
Courier, 4 Aug. 1927
25
Ibid.

OTHER USES

From 1882 to 1937, the Court House Hotel

was a vital source of entertainment for the
Corryong community. In its first 55 years of
operation, the pub was essential to the local
community as a source of fun, entertainment,
and obviously, food and alcohol.

Figure 11: Anon., Back to The Upper Murray March

19th to 28th, 1936 (Melbourne: Lady Publishing
Company, 1936), p. 2 part of the Neil Private Family
History Collection, reproduced courtesy of Rosemary
Neil, Corryong.

The social and cultural value placed on the

Court House Hotel by the Corryong
community can be seen in the article in The
Corryong Courier from Friday, 1st July, 1887.
This piece of writing, found on page 2 of the
issue in question, reports the various
celebrations carried out in Corryong on the
occasion of Queen Victorias Diamond Jubilee.
In this article, the reporter writes that Thanks

are due to Mr A. Playle for his untiring energy

in connection with the affair, to Mrs Palmer
for her musical contributions and
accompaniments, and to Mrs Hughes, of the
Court-house Hotel, for her kindness in lending
her splendid piano26. This demonstrates that
not only was there a piano in the Court House
Hotel, there was also a piano player of some
skill in Corryong at that time. This further
suggests that there may have been live music
in the Hotel. At some point there was also a
billiard room; however, it was later removed
at an unknown date.

The Court House Hotel has enjoyed a rich and

varied history in its 134 years of operation in
Corryong. At any given time in its lifespan, it
has been alternatively a licensed pub; a site of
entertainment and a major node of social
interaction within the local community; a
court of law; a stopping point where travellers
could get a meal, a drink, and sometimes a
place to rest before continuing onwards; a
centre of business and commerce; and even a
place of worship. Throughout all of its 134
years of history, the Court House Hotel has
stood strong, and deserves to stand for many
years to come, as a legacy to the people who
carved their lives out of the wilderness, their
descendants, and their way of life,
immortalised in Banjo Pattersons The Man
from Snowy River.

26

Corryong, Wodonga and Towong Sentinel, 1

July 1887, 2, in Trove [online database], accessed
11 August 2016, 4:12pm

Figure 12: Cars parked out the front of the Court House Hotel, circa 1936 (part of the Neil Private Family History
Collection). Reproduced courtesy of Rosemary Neil, Corryong.

Figure 12: Carkeeks Bus run Corryong to Jingellic: In front of Court House Hotel, C. 1938. (Arnold Playle, Playle
Collection, 1880-1930, Upper Murray Historical Society housed in The Man From Snowy River Museum, Corryong.
Photo reproduced courtesy of John Whitehead, Upper Murray Historical Society)

Figure 13: Cars parked out the front of the Court House Hotel, circa 1936 (part of the Neil Private Family
History Collection). Reproduced courtesy of Rosemary Neil, Corryong.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Sources

Documents
Advertisement, Hairdressing: Sid Mackie, Corryong Courier, 30 Jan. 1930
Advertisement, Mr. V. M. Cross, Corryong Courier, 4 Aug. 1927
Advertisement, Runners!, Corryong Courier, 11 Feb. 1931.
Advertisement, Car For Hire, Corryong Courier, 26 March 1925.
Corryong, Wodonga and Towong Sentinel, 1 July 1887, 2, in Trove [online database], accessed 11
August 2016, 4:12pm.
Department of National Development, Report of the Murray Valley Resources Survey Committee on
Resources and Development of the Murray Valley, Vol. I. (Canberra, ACT: Department of National
Development, 1947.
PROV, VA311 Trustees of the National Gallery of Victoria, VPRS 1449/P000 Court of Petty Sessions
Records, Unit 1, Register of Applications for Licenses; 02.12.1882 10.12.1901
PROV, VA311 Trustees of the National Gallery of Victoria, VPRS 1449/P000 Court of Petty Sessions
Records, Unit 4, Register of Applications for Exemption from Military Service: 1916
PROV, VA311 Trustees of the National Gallery of Victoria, VPRS 1449/P000 Court of Petty Sessions
Records, Unit 5, (i) "Fines and forfeitures" for period: 18.07.1882 - 19.07.1884; (ii) Summary record
of Petty Sessions Cases: Sep 1905 - Jan 1915

Images
Figure 1: BP, North Eastern Victoria, Touring Atlas of Australia, 1:6,000,000 (4th edn., Ringwood,
Victoria: Penguin Books Australia Ltd., 1990), p. 15.
Figure 2: Carmel Swingler, Corryong From A Distance, Collection of Corryong Photos from 15 August
2016, 2016. Photos reproduced courtesy of Carmel Swingler.
Figure 3: Albert, Marita, The Court House Hotel in 2016, Collection of Contemporary Hanson St
photos, 2016, Upper Murray Historical Society - housed in The Man from Snowy River Museum
Corryong. Photos reproduced courtesy of Marita Albert, Upper Murray Historical Society.
Figure 4: Playle, Arnold, Hanson Street, Corryong: Pipes bound for the Upper Thougla Gold Mines. C.
1898., Playle Collection, 1880-1930, 115x160mm half-plate negatives (glass), Upper Murray
Historical Society housed in The Man From Snowy River Museum, Corryong. Photos reproduced
courtesy of John Whitehead, Upper Murray Historical Society.

Figure 5: Anon., Corryong Court House 2001, in Michael Challinger, Historic Court Houses of Victoria
(Ringwood: Palisade Press, 2001), p. 69.
Figure 6: Court Records for September 1905, PROV, VA311 Trustees of the National Gallery of
Victoria, VPRS 1449/P000 Court of Petty Sessions Records, Unit 1, Register of Applications for
Licenses; 02.12.1882 10.12.1901
Figure 7: Playle, Arnold, Court-House Hotel: Established 1882. Rear-residential section built
1910/11, Playle Collection, 1880-1930, 115x160mm half-plate negatives (glass), Upper Murray
Historical Society housed in The Man From Snowy River Museum, Corryong. Photos reproduced
courtesy of John Whitehead, Upper Murray Historical Society.
Figure 8: Playle, Arnold, Corryong Coffee Palace (Ordishs): Hanson Street, Corryong (Now Roger C.
Brown Machinery), Playle Collection, 1880-1930, 115x160mm half-plate negatives (glass), Upper
Murray Historical Society housed in The Man From Snowy River Museum, Corryong. Photos
reproduced courtesy of John Whitehead, Upper Murray Historical Society.
Figure 9: Mackie, Sid, Runners! *Advertisement+, Corryong Courier, 11 Feb. 1931
Figure 10: Stephenson, A. A., Car For Hire *Advertisement], Corryong Courier, 26 March 1925
Figure 11: Anon., Back to The Upper Murray March 19th to 28th, 1936 (Melbourne: Lady Publishing
Company, 1936), p. 2 part of the Neil Private Family History Collection. Pamphlet reproduced
courtesy of Rosemary Neil, Corryong.
Figure 12: Playle, Arnold, Carkeeks Bus run Corryong to Jingellic: In front of Court House Hotel, C.
1938, Playle Collection, 1880-1930, Upper Murray Historical Society housed in The Man From
Snowy River Museum, Corryong. Photo reproduced courtesy of John Whitehead, Upper Murray
Historical Society.
Figure 13: Anon., Cars parked out the front of the Court House Hotel, c. 1936 part of the Neil
Private Family History Collection. Photo reproduced courtesy of Rosemary Neil, Corryong.

Secondary Sources
Carmody, Jean, Early Days of the Upper Murray (2nd edn., Wangaratta: Shoestring Press, 2013), pp.
64-151.
Challinger, Michael, Historic Court Houses of Victoria (Ringwood, Victoria: Palisade Press, 2001), p.
69.
Jones, W. Lewis, and Jones, Peggy, The Flour Mills of Victoria 1840-1990: an historical record
(Melbourne: Flour Millers Council of Victoria, 1990), p. 329.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In researching and writing this essay, I owe a huge amount of thanks to the people of Corryong, and
in particular, to the members of the Upper Murray Historical Society and the staff of The Man from
Snowy River Museum. I cannot list every person who helped me research this essay, but here are the
major figures:
John Whitehead and Stewart Ross, from the Upper Murray Historical Society, for their knowledge
and wisdom on the history of Corryong, for their granting me access to The Man from Snowy River
Museums archives, and for their permission to use the photos in the Playle Collection;
Rosemary Neil, current owner of the Court House Hotel, for her donating some of the photos from
her own familys personal family history collection for use in the essay;
And finally, last but most definitely not least, Marita Albert, for her tireless enthusiasm for this
project and her help in referencing the various sources needed.