Licensees
Halfway House
1870-1889 – Thomas Cooper
Jubilee Hotel
1889-1903 – Thomas Cooper1New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832-1900), Friday 24 August 1894 (No.562 [SUPPLEMENT]), p 5355. 2Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901-2001), Friday 21 August 1903 (No.434 [SUPPLEMENT]), p 6174.
Location
Merricumbene, Deua River.
A farm and a half-way accommodation house at Deua River, which was a popular place of call in the old coaching days.3Braidwood Dispatch and Mining Journal (NSW : 1888-1954), Friday 7 July 1944, p 2. Historical maps 4NSW Land Registry Service, Parish and Historical Maps. Historical Land Records Viewer https://www.nswlrs.com.au/Parish-and-Historical-Maps Accessed 18 February 2023. indicates the lands purchased by Thomas Cooper were Portions 22, 25, 34, 37, 72, 92 and 93 in the parish of Buckenbowra, County of St Vincent, on the left bank of Deua River.
In the News
Thomas Cooper (1829-1907)5Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/231643509/thomas-cooper Accessed 20 November 2023. married Johanna Driscoll (1832-1907) on 28 March 1853 in Dunganstown, Wick, Ireland. They came to Australia, traveling as assisted immigrants on the ship ‘Telegraph‘ and arriving in Port Jackson, Sydney on 21 September 1853. Thomas and Johanna had nine children. Susan (1854-1923), Thomas (1856-1938), Catherine (1858-1864), Eliza Ann (1860-1865), Johanna (1862-1943), Maria (1864-1935), Elizabeth Jane (1867-1951), Catherine (1870-1952), and William (1872-1944).
The Goulburn Herald6Goulburn Herald and Chronicle (NSW : 1864-1881), Saturday 16 September 1871, p 6. listed land sales, as notified at the Police Office Moruya, on the 25 September 1871 as below:
- Lot I, 2 acres, county of St. Vincent, parish of Buckenbowra, on the left bank of Deua River, adjacent to the eastern boundary of Cooper’s (senior) 2 acres; Thomas Cooper, junior.
- Lot J, 2 acres, county of St. Vincent, parish of Buckenbowra, on the left bank of Deua River, adjoining the western boundary of Cooper’s (senior) 2 acres; Thomas Cooper.
- Lot K, 2 acres, county of St. Vincent, parish of Buckenbowra, near the left bank of Deua.River, adjacent to the western boundary of portion No. 70 of 2 acres; Thomas Cooper, junior.
![A picture of the 1/2 [i.e. half] way house, Araluen to Moruya, N.S.W.](https://araluenvalley-history.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Halfway-House-A-to-Moruya-c-1900-FL15736685-1024x817.jpg)
In 1889, the Moruya Times7Moruya Times and South Coast Journal (NSW : 1888-1915), Wednesday 19 June 1889, p 2. reported the ‘following renewals of licenses were granted … Thos. Cooper, Jubilee Hotel, Deua River. (The sign of this Hotel was changed from the “Half way House” to the Jubilee Hotel.)’.
The 1891, Census details Thomas Cooper as Household No: 7 with 4 males and 2 females, while Thomas Cooper Jnr is noted as Household No: 12 with 1 male and 5 females, at the Deua River.
An approval for dredging leases was reported in the Braidwood Dispatch8Braidwood Dispatch and Mining Journal (NSW : 1888-1954), Wednesday 5 December 1900, p 2. Portion No – SGL 6 and SGL 7. in 1900 for ‘T. Cooper, junr., 40 acres, part of Deua River.’ In the 1901 Census, Thomas Cooper is noted in Araluen, as Household No: 91 with 5 males and 6 females.
The Braidwood Dispatch9Braidwood Dispatch and Mining Journal (NSW : 1888-1954), Wednesday 7 August 1901, p 2. reported in August 1901, ‘On Saturday evening last the hospitable residents of Deua River entertained their Federal member, Mr. Austin Chapman, at a banquet at Cooper’s Jubilee Inn. There were between 30 and 40 present, including visitors from Moruya and Araluen. Mr. H. Mallon occupied the chair.’
The reporting on the bush fires on the Deua River in 1905 by the Goulburn Evening Post,10Goulburn Evening Penny Post (NSW : 1881-1940), Thursday 5 January 1905, p 4. detailed ‘the bush fires on the Deua River have proved disastrous to several of the residents. Patrick Flynn’s barn was burnt, with all contents, consisting of between 300 and 400 bushels of maize, a quantity of hay, a wagon belonging to his son, a corn sheller, besides a lot of farming implements. Mr. Cooper, of the Jubilee Hotel, lost all his fences about the homestead. The hotel caught fire several times and was only saved by strenuous efforts. The next sufferer is Mr. McIntosh. All the grass paddocks and fences were clean burned out. The fire came within 60 yards of the house. Mr. H. Mallon had great difficulty in saving his house. He is also a heavy sufferer by the loss of grass and fences. Three culverts were burnt clean out on the Moruya Road, thereby stopping all vehicular traffic. There is a big fire at the head of Oakey Creek, about half a mile from Mr. Blundell’s homestead.’
In 1944, the Braidwood Dispatch11Braidwood Dispatch and Mining Journal (NSW : 1888-1954), Friday 7 July 1944, p 2. reported the death in Bega of ‘Mr. William Cooper, aged 70. … He was born at Moruya, his people having had a farm and a half-way accommodation house at Deua River, which was a popular place of call in the old coaching days. Mr. Cooper was a mail contractor for some years in that locality, a grand type of man who enjoyed the respect of everyone he came in contact with. He was a popular figure at the Valley and along the route, his unfailing kindness and courtesy making him a host of friends.’
The obituary for Catherine Low (nee Cooper) was published in the Braidwood Review12Braidwood Review and District Advocate (NSW : 1914-1954), Tuesday 5 August 1952, p 2. in August 1952, and detailed ‘Born in 1870 at the “Old Half-way House”, on the Deua River, Catherine Low, second youngest of a family of nine born to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas and Johannah Cooper, … [died] at Moruya District Hospital on, July 1st last [1952], after a short illness. During her younger days Mrs. Low spent much of her time in Sydney but returned to the Deua River where in 1903 she married Mr. James Low at the “Old Half-way House”— the house where she was born. In her early married life she, with her husband, resided in the [Jembaicumbene] Braidwood district, where Mr. Low was a manager of a gold dredging plant. Later they purchased the North Araluen Hotel, [Perseverance Hotel] where they resided until Mr. Low purchased part of the Mungerarie property.’