History of the Williams Family and the Club Hotel, Glen Innes

An Irish Thomas Williams came to Australia in the 1820s and settled in the Snowy Mountains area. His name was published in the New South Wales Governement Gazette, 18 January, 1837 as one of the first men in the Colony to obtain an official Pasturage Licences. His licence Number was Number 79 and was part of the Lachlan Land Division of 1840. The name of the land was the Bogalong Run and was 32,000 acres in size. He appears to have sold the Occupation Licence to two men who gazetted runs in 1848. He then took up another run on the Murrumbidgee River. Thomas later served in the police force and was stationed at Dennison Bridge near Bathurst. After resigning from the force he took up an hotel in Forbes, and then the Traveller's Rest. He built the Pig and Whistle at Marsden. In 1883 he built another hotel at Williams Crossing which was a place of rest for Teamsters seeking gold at Wyalong No. 3 Run.

He married Anne Green (from Orange) who died in 1882 during childbirth leaving behind a number of small children the two youngest, Josephine and John, were raised by Thomas' sister Mrs Ross in Glen Innes. Thomas Williams died in 1892 aged 82 years leaving behind a son with the same name.

The young Thomas Williams was born at Dennison Bridge near Bathurst, where his father had been stationed. Thomas left home at thirteen, and commenced work on the property Oakhurst in west Wyalong. He later settled east Wyalong, but rabbits and drought drove him out.

Thomas had a dramatic rise from station hand to hotel magnate. He married Bridget MacNamara of Wyalong; eight children were born of this marriage. The McNamara's claim Clancy of the Overflow as one of their own; Thomas Clancy McNamara of the property The Overflow.

The MacNamara's came from County Clare In Ireland. In the Eighteenth century Count MacNamara resided at Ennestymond. His three sons were noted duelliests. The eldest son Thomas "Fireball" MacNamara returned from France to find the Red Coats walking on his native soil, he turned rebel, and was eventually caught and executed on the Scaffold about 1770. Count MacNamara was assassinated in 1790. His third son, Donough led a wild life, but became one of the best known of the Gaelic Poets - he died in 1814.

The second son Michael made it to the Colony with his wife, and went west with a wagon, some provisions, a few stock, and his sword. Michael and his wife settled north of the Murrumbidgee. They called their run the Overflow. When the children were young Michael and his wife both died within a week of each other. The children buried their parents and were taken in by natives. With the aid of native stockmen, the Run was kept together. After growing up in the bush Michael's son Michael ventured to Sydney with a mob of cattle, on his return journey he met and married Ellen Noonan of Yass. In 1848 their eldest son Thomas was born. Young Thomas became known as Clancy to distinguish him from his Uncle Thomas. Michael and Ellen had 7 boys and 5 girls. Bridget was their fourth daugther, she was born in 1868.

After a brief sojourn in New Zealand Thomas and Bridget decided to settle in Glen Innes; an area well known as drought resistant.

In the late 1800's Thomas Williams swapped a bullock team and some cash for the Mount Pleasant Hotel in Glen Innes. This hotel was situated on Seven acres of land near the modern New England highway between what is now Thomas and William Streets. Thomas ran this hotel for several years before a frequent house guest Sir Henry Parkes told him of recent legislation allowing hotel licences to be transferred within four-miles of the original. Henry Parkes took a particular interest in relocating the licence to a more central location in the Township.

The transfer of the licence from the Mount Pleasant to the recently built Club Hotel in 1906 was the first liquor licence transfer in the state of NSW. The Club Hotel was very modern having both hot and cold running water available in the guest rooms.

The Club Hotel brought early success and Thomas acquired both the New Brighton Hotel at Manly and the Hotel Prospect at Prospect. Thomas went from strength to strength acquiring hotels in Grafton, Nambucca Heads, Macksville, Nowra, Wisemans Ferry. Thomas died 26th March 1949. At that time of his death he owned 16 hotels.

Thomas and Bridget's third son, Stanislaus, who happened to be born during the return journey from New Zealand in 1900 continued in the hotel business, and purchased the Club Hotel from his father in 1934. He married Ella Smith and had 8 children: 5 boys and 3 girls. During the war years Stanislaus was licensee at the Bull and Bush Hotel, Baulkam Hills, when it was a bustling haven for GIs and locals alike.

Stan's third son Patrick James Williams was born in Glen Innes in 1929. He purchased the Club Hotel from his father in April 1956 and married Fay Turner in 1957. Patrick represented the third generation in residence at the Club Hotel and held the licence for 48 years. Pat and Fay had five children; Anthony James, Mary-Anne, Thomas Patrick, Julianne, and John Francis.

In the late fifties the council demanded that the verandah of the Club Hotel be removed using fashion and modernization as the justification. This trend lead to the dismantling of hotel verandas around the country. Many verandas were lost in country in New South Wales in particular. The bull-nosed verandah at the Club Hotel was saved by the historical society in 1958 at the behest of the Williams Family.

In fact the Club Hotel is steeped in history and has been owned by an Australian family that has contributed to the Glen Innes community for more than 100 years in a wide range of areas. For example, Stanislaus' brother Cyril represented Australia in Rugby League in the 1920's; Patrick was the foundation President of the School Carnivals from 1962 - 1985.

The hotel has always been run with a flair for innovation from the early days of being the first hotel in the town with hot and cold running water to each guest room to the invention of the banked keg method in the 60's which was later adopted by the breweries and its now the Industry standard.

References

Beyond the Early Maps, V. G. McNamara, published by A.H. Scarr and Co, Orange, Australia, 1974.

McNamara and MacNamara 1797 - 1988: A History of the Families of Michael and Ellen, Lutheran Publishing House, Adelaide, Australia, 1988.

A 1934 Wedding Set which has four of Stan's children and the present publican Patrick as a Page boy (sitting second from left) long before he became the Licensee in 1956.