Licensees
1861 –1862 – Wm. Bruce
1862-1869 – William Morris
Location
Mudmelong
In the news
Following his insolvency, Thomas Shoebridge’s Pack Saddle Store was sold and converted into the Commercial Hotel.1Peter C. Smith. The Clarke Gang. Outlawed, Outcast and Forgotten. Rosenberg Publishing Pty Ltd, NSW. 2018 p 114
In 1861, the Freeman’s Journal2Freeman’s Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850-1932), Wednesday 17 April 1861, p 7 reported ‘Mudmelong is as likely as ever, and I understand Mr. Bruce is making arrangements to open a first rate house under the name of the Commercial.’
The Braidwood Observer re-reported an article which originally appeared in the Empire3Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850-1875), Saturday 1 February 1862, p 2 on 1 February 1862, stating that ‘Shoebridge’s Track will be completed in a fortnight. The portion of the new road nearly finished commences at Mudmelong, near the Commercial Inn, and ends at Shoebridge’s half-way hut. The roadway is perfectly passible, and at intervals of 300 yards proper passing places are constructed, sufficiently wide to allow a dozen or more horses to effect a transit without coming into contact — the width at these points being 10 feet, and the length 30 yards.’
In June 1862, William Morris placed an advertisement in the Braidwood Observer 4Braidwood Observer and Miner’s Advocate (NSW: 1862), Wednesday 20 August 1862, page 4 to inform that ‘he has purchased …premises …occupied by Mr. Wm. Bruce and having obtained a transfer of the license… hopes to gain a fair share of the patronage going. Parties going to Moruya will find every convenience at the Commercial Inn’.
In 1865, the Empire reported ‘a most cold-blooded and deliberate murder was committed between six and half-past six o’clock, of Ah Fow, employed in one of the claims at Mudmelong. The scene of the murder was a small hill or mount on the road from German’s Flat to the Commercial Hotel, Mudmelong,5Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850-1875), Monday 23 October 1865, p 5 Araluen, a spot which is unusually exposed through there being only two or three large trees. The murder was committed on the top of the descent leading into Mudmelong; about the time of its committal two or three shots, it is alleged, being heard at the Chinaman’s store, at the base of one side of the hill, and also at the Commercial Hotel, at the base of the other.’
In February 1866, the Yass Courier6Yass Courier (NSW : 1857-1929), Wednesday 28 February 1866, p 3 reported ‘A telegram to the Empire, dated Saturday, states : — Five bushrangers stuck-up Eaton’s store, Crown Flat, Araluen, last night, and took £21. Subsequently the police apprehended one of the bushrangers at Morris’ public-house, Mudmelong, two miles from Eaton’s, with the amount of money stolen. The other four bushrangers afterwards stuck-up the police and rescued the prisoner, and also took the fire-arms from them’.
‘In February [1866] the gang entered Hoskins Public House at Lower Araluen. … They then rode to Mudemelong. The police had word of their coming and were waiting in ambush at Morris’ hotel. Tom came in, was arrested, his hands were tied, and he was relieved of £21. The rest of the gang then arrived and knocked to enter. They were told it was closed and retaliated with a bullet through the door. The police returned the fire. The flimsy door started to disintegrate. The gang indicated they would set fire to the place, and so the police surrendered’. 7Judy Lawson. The Clarke Bushrangers. Innocent until proven Guilty. Second Edition. Top Shot, Photographic and Prints, Goulburn NSW. 2019 p 103
On Monday 16 July 1866, four bushrangers, including Tommy Clarke, turned up again at Morris’ hotel and held sway for two hours.8Peter C. Smith. The Clarke Gang. p 328 ‘These visits had cost Morris whose wife was still under medical treatment from the visit in February, and who had six children to support, dearly. His cumulative losses amounted to £260/10/0 in cash as well as a large quantity of store goods.’
A sad accident happened at Mudmelong, near Araluen in October 1866, as reported in the Sydney Morning Herald,9Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842-1954), Thursday 1 November 1866, p 2 when ‘Sergeant Stafford’s rifle exploded, killing John Morris, the brother of Mr William Morris, the publican. At the magisterial inquiry the evidence showed that Morris was holding a horse, when it suddenly shied, due to a pig running in between the horse’s fore legs, 10Sydney Mail (NSW : 1860-1871), Saturday 20 October 1866, p 2 causing a movement of the gun, which went off.’
The Sydney Morning Herald reported on the NSW Legislative Assembly in December 1866,11Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842-1954), Monday 17 December 1866, p 2 regarding the William Morris case. The motion was seeking, to be placed on the Supplementary Estimates for 1867, a sum not exceeding £200, as compensation to William Morris, of Mudmelong in the district of Braidwood, for losses sustained by him from the repeated robberies by the outlaw, Clarke, and his gang.
- Mr. RODD, in moving the resolution in committee, said that the man, Morris, was a most respectable person residing in the district of Braidwood. His house had been entered by Clarke and his gang in September 1865, and £250 and a quantity of store goods stolen. Mrs Morris, then near her confinement, had been much alarmed, and in running away from the place in her fright had injured herself severely. In this year the robbers had twice visited him, stealing on one occasion £1 10s., and on the other £12, in addition to a lot of store goods. His brother [John Morris] was also accidentally shot by the discharge of a carbine by one of the police force. He hoped the Government would see the propriety of agreeing to the motion.
- Mr. PARKES was really sorry to be compelled to resist the motion. The case was one of great hardship, although the Hon. Member had not stated it correctly. Morris had been robbed in the first instance not by Clarke’s gang, but by men of colour, one of whom Richard Daniels was treated, but got off by proving an alibi. The amount stolen was £180 worth of gold and £10 in cash. The other two robberies were correctly described by the Hon. Member. ‘If the Government were to assent to this motion, they would affirm the principle that if a man were robbed on the highway his loss would have to be made good by the Government. This was an entirely new principle to introduce. We had never been free from highwaymen and burglars, but this was the first time that the Government had been called upon to give compensation for losses.’