Licensee
1855-1876 – James Armstrong, with license numbers given1Museum of History New South Wales. https://mhnsw.au/indexes/publicans-hoteliers-innkeepers/publicans-licenses-index. Accessed 14 February 2023 as 1856-479 NRS 14403 [7/1507]; Reel 1239 , -1856, 1857-221 NRS 14403 [7/1508]; Reel 1239 -1857, 1858-806 NRS 14403 [7/1510]; Reel 1240-1858, 1860-525 NRS 14403 [7/1513]; Reel 1242-1860
Location
Richard Kennedy, 2Braidwood Dispatch and Mining Journal (NSW : 1888-1954), Friday 1 June 1923, page 2 details from 1852 ‘and then Armstrong opened a pub and later boarding houses and a store, just under the graveyard hill,’ and later writes ‘in Upper Araluen where Armstrong’s and Taylors were’.
An advertisement in the Braidwood Observer Wednesday 27 June 1860 shows the Peace and Plenty Inn was then located at the foot of Armstrong’s Mountain Road. By September 1863 the Araluen Star shows the Peace and Plenty Inn was located at Redbank.
Historical Maps3NSW Land Registry Service, Parish and Historical Maps. Historical Land Records Viewer https://www.nswlrs.com.au/Parish-and-Historical-Maps. Accessed 17 February 2023 shows lands purchased by James as follows:
| Name | Date | Por | Plan | Loc | Vol | Fol |
| Armstrong James | 13 Jun 1865 | 18 | 389 | NW | 19 | 151 |
| Armstrong James | 13 Jun 1865 | 19 | 389 | NE | 19 | 150 |
In the News
Kennedy writes “In ’54 the first marriage that I saw in the Valley took place between Mr. Armstrong’s eldest daughter Mary and Peter Sweeney, and not long after Mr. Armstrong’s second daughter Jemima married Johnny Sweeney. Then later in the seventies his youngest daughter Jennie married Adrian Doyle,” 4THE BRAIDWOOD GOLD FIELDS IN THE 50s AND 60s, Braidwood Dispatch and Mining Journal (NSW : 1888 – 1954), Saturday 5 October 1907, page 2
James Armstrong (1811 – 1881) 5FindaGrave.com. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/174288384/james-armstrong. Accessed 27 Sep 2023 married Agnes McTaggart (1811 – 1866) in Scotland and had eight children. Their daughter Janet was born and died in Scotland in 1836. They immigrated, as assisted migrants to Australia, on the ship Herald in 1841 from Scotland, with Agnes, Mary (1834-1908), George (1839 – 1920) and daughter Jemima (born on board 1841- 1867). They settled in Araluen about 1852, after spending time in Goulburn, and Jervis Bay. Their children Agnes (1843 – 1852), James (1845 – 1857) Jane (1848 – 1892) and Duncan (1851 – 1852) born in those locations. In 1854, their daughter Mary married James Patrick Sweeney Mahoney (commonly called Sweeney), who was the licensee of the Cornstalks Inn. Their daughter Jemima in 1863 married John Moore Sweeney in Broulee, and daughter Jane who died in 1892 in Araluen, married Aiden Doyle in 1869.
A most destructive fire which took place March 1857 which totally destroyed Mr Armstrong’s [Peace and Plenty] hotel and outbuildings.6Richard Kennedy. Braidwood Goldfields. 1850’s – 1860’s. Compiled by Roslyn Maddrell. 4th Reprint. Bayprint, Batemans Bay, NSW. 2010. p 18 ‘When the fire burnt through the wood and touched the spirits, the hogsheads exploded, which reportedly were seen at Bells Creek, and Majors Creek, and in Lower Araluen, opposite Crown Flat.’ Unfortunately the place was uninsured, however with the generous support of the community, Armstrong had the business going again in about two months.
Kennedy 7Braidwood Dispatch and Mining Journal (NSW : 1888 – 1954), Saturday 12 October 1907, page 2 adds Mr Armstrong“ had 1200 sovereigns in the place at the time hidden away in different parts of the house, most of which were found when the fire was cool enough to search for the money. Some of them were melted into all shapes and forms, whilst others were only blackened and were alright only for colour and were in circulation on the field for long after and known as Armstrong’s black sovereigns.”
In 1916, a Braidwood District newspaper article8The Braidwood District Newspaper, Araluen Past and Present, October 1916 p 2 titled ‘Araluen Past and Present an old-timer recollects’ … ‘Unfortunately Daddy Armstrong’s Hotel caught fire one evening, and in a very short time, nothing was left. With plenty of willing hands to help and an abundance of suitable bush timber, and sheets of stringy bark and green hide right on the spot – these being the principal articles required for house building in those primitive times – a new house was built in a few days. And Daddy was in full swing again.’
The Goulburn Advertiser in September 1857 advised of the accidental death of a son James, of Mr. Armstrong, innkeeper, of Araluen, as while “He was riding on a dray, fell off, and the wheel passed over his body.” 9Goulburn Herald and County of Argyle Advertiser (NSW: 1848 – 1859), Wednesday 30 September 1857, page 2
The Goulburn Herald reports on auctioneers in 1858 stating “Mr. W Sharpe held a sale at the ” Peace and Plenty Tavern,” (Armstrong’s,) Araluen, on Saturday, the 3rd instant, with the following result :cheese, 8d. per lb.; black tea, 2s. 3d. per lb.; Hyson skin ditto, 1s. Id. per lb.; ginger, 2s. per lb.; Guernseys, 60s. per dozen; regatta shirts, 33s per dozen; Wellington boots, 12s. per pair; Turkey slippers, 4s. 6d. per pair; American clocks, 23s. each; blankets, 20s. 26s. and 34s. pes pair; dressing tables, 15s. and 22s. each; kitchen tables, 30s. each; lot pictures, 9s. each; cedar chairs, 7s. each; hardwood bedstead and mattress, £5; chest drawers, £12 10s.; side saddle, 44s.; flock bed, 26s.; writing desks, 10s. each”. 10Goulburn Herald and County of Argyle Advertiser (NSW : 1848 – 1859), Saturday 10 July 1858, page 3
In reporting on the floods of February 1860 the Empire details 11Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 – 1875), Monday 20 February 1860, page 3“At Upper Araluen a portion of Mr. Armstrong’s store fell in, owing to the bank of the Creek having given way. The goods fortunately, had previously been removed.” By September 1860, the Empire was reporting “Under the range above Mr. Armstrong’s new house at Upper Araluen, there are a good many at work,’ and as complaints are few it may be taken for granted that the fickle goddess has become more lavish of her smiles than she was at the early part of the year”. 12Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 – 1875), Tuesday 4 September 1860, page 2
An advertisement was placed in the Braidwood Observer 13Braidwood Observer Wednesday 27 June 1860 for the opening Ball and Supper for the revived Peace and Plenty on the 2 and 3 July 1860, at the foot of Armstrong’s Mountain Road. Reporting in March in 1860 the Braidwood Despatch gives the location as in Upper Araluen 14The Northern Times (Newcastle, NSW : 1857 – 1918), Wednesday 14 March 1860, page 4 “Mr Armstrong is building a public-house at the foot of the Dirty Butter Track”. It was further described in the Empire in June 1860 “At the bottom of the Araluen bridle track, our old friend Armstrong has built a first-rate hostelry, which, from the well-known popularity of its proprietor amongst the diggers, will sure to be extensively patronised.” 15Empire (Sydney, NSW: 1850 – 1875), Tuesday 5 June 1860, page 3
The Araluen Star 16Araluen Star and Miners’ Right (NSW : 1863 – 1864), Saturday 26 September 1863, page 5 has an advertisement for the Grand Ball and Supper for the Peace and Plenty Redbank, on the 6 Oct 1863, for the first day of the Araluen Races. This issue also has an advertisement for Dr Beer, 17Araluen Star and Miners’ Right (NSW: 1863 – 1864), Saturday 26 September 1863, page 4 who can be consulted at Mrs Sweeney’s Redbank.
The Araluen Spring Race meeting was scheduled to be held 6, 7, and 8 October 1863, and advertised in the Araluen Star 18Araluen Star and Miners Right (1863- 1964), Supplement, Saturday 26 September 1863, page 2, which details the “The Stewards for the race – Messrs John Hogan [Free Section Inn], James Armstrong [Peace and Plenty], Frederick Scantlebury [Rose and Crown], Henry Cummins, Dennis Kennedy[Sapling Point], Alexander Waddell, Patrick Egan [Poor Man’s Inn], Mr [James] Munro [Emu Inn] and James Singer[Criterion]”. Bells adds when reporting on the Court case in November of that year “The whole of the stewards, with two exceptions, are innkeepers at Araluen. Seven out of nine are innkeepers”. 19Bell’s Life in Sydney and Sporting Chronicle (NSW : 1860 – 1870), Saturday 28 November 1863, page 4
In what became known as the Araluen Race Case in 1863, the Echuca and Moama Chronicle 20Pastoral Times and Echuca and Moama Chronicle (Deniliquin, NSW : 1863 – 1866), Saturday 28 November 1863, page 3 summarised that “An action was brought last week by Miss Dickson nominally against … stewards of the Araluen races, to recover the sum of £30, the amount of the Consolation Stakes, won by her horse Kildare, on the third day of the meeting, but Mr. F. A. Cooper, lately Gold Commissioner at Araluen, and Dr. Wilson’s opponent at the last election, was regarded as virtually the defendant. “The jury had retired for a very short time when they came in with a verdict for the plaintiff for the amount claimed.” detailed the Empire, adding 21Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 – 1875), Tuesday 24 November 1863, page 3 upon the verdict being announced , the crowded court “required all the exertion’s of the police and the remonstrance’s of his Honor to keep down the manifestations of satisfaction therewith”.
![An advertisement for Dr Beer at Mrs Sweeneys, [Peace and Plenty] in the Araluen Star 26 September 1863.](https://araluenvalley-history.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Armstrong-Sweeney-medical-1863-248x300.png)
In November 1863, the Araluen Star 22Araluen Star and Miners’ Right (NSW : 1863 – 1864), Saturday 7 November September 1863, page 2 reported that “James Armstrong, landlord of the Peace and Plenty Sunday appeared to addresses charges that on 20 September 1863, he allowed a number of persons in his public house between the hours of twelve and one am. Sergeant Walsh deposed “told Mrs Sweeney she must clear her house, but she replied she could not… requesting the Sergeant to help her clear the house”. The defendant was not there at the time of the offence with the case resulting in a fine.
A ‘For Sale’ notice for the Peace and Plenty Inn was placed in the Araluen Star Newspaper on 2 April 1864.23Araluen Star and Miners Right (1863-1964), Saturday 2 April 1864, p 1
The Araluen Star reports in July 1864 ‘a fire at Redbank, at the Peace and Plenty Inn’24Araluen Star and Miners Right (1863-1964), Saturday 2 July 1864, p 2, stating ‘the canvas in the children’s bedroom had caught alight. The children were moved to safety and the fire was extinguished, after the canvas had been pulled from the walls without doing more damage. It was considered most providential that the canvas was limed and the roofing was in a very damp state after the recent rains, saving the premises from total destruction.’
In reporting on the Araluen Races in November 1865, the Goulburn Herald notes 25Goulburn Herald and Chronicle (NSW: 1864 – 1881), Wednesday 22 November 1865, page 3 “The lemonade manufacturers, Messrs. Armstrong and Pritchard [Old House at Home] are making great preparations for the supply of their customers, and expect an enormous consumption of their palatable fluids”.
In 1866, two armed men (possibly Tommy Clarke and Pat Connell)26Peter C. Smith. The Clarke Gang. Outlawed, Outcast and Forgotten. Rosenberg Publishing Pty Ltd, NSW. 2018 p 305 stuck up Mr Armstrong, publican, on the top of Araluen Mountain, who was returning from Braidwood where his wife [Agnes McTaggart (1811 – 1866)] and two daughters were lying ill. ‘They rifled everything in his cart, and took £4 from him. They were going to take the horse, only he was not good enough.’ 27Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842-1954), Thursday 24 May 1866, p 5
In October 1867 the New South Wales Government Gazette 28New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 – 1900), Friday 18 October 1867 (No.185), page 2792 advertised an intention to “open and make a Parish Road (to be maintained at the expense of the parishes through which it passes), being a deviation in the road from Braidwood to Araluen, in lieu of a portion of the original line, confirmed by Gazette notice of the 18th September, 1863, folio 2049, and opened by Gazette notice of the 8th March, 1867, running through the lands supposed to be the property of James Armstrong and the Crown.”
New South Wales Police Gazette and Weekly Record of Crime reported ‘Stolen, between the hours of 1 and 5 a.m. the 5th (5 July 1872),
- from the house of James Armstrong, Newtown, Araluen — A silver lever hunting watch, maker’s name and number unknown, glass deficient, dark streak on dial, hinge of front, case out of repair and opens freely, the property of James Armstrong, and
- a semi-oval purse with clasp, containing six sovereigns a weigh-bill for 7 ozs. 14 dwts. of gold, issued by the Union Bank, West Coast, Now Zealand, the property of George Armstrong, Property identifiable, except money.’29New South Wales Police Gazette and Weekly Record of Crime (Sydney : 1860-1930), Wednesday 17 July 1872 (No.29), p 193
James Armstrong, Innkeeper is noted in the 1875–76 Greville’s Official Post Office Directory30Greville’s Official Post Office Directory for 1875–1876 https://www.ihr.com.au/secure/html/greville75.html. Accessed 18 February 2023 (pp 17 and 20) in Araluen Upper, at Newtown.