HAWKESBURY HISTORY
with Michelle Nichols & Jonathan Auld
The Historic Black Horse Hotel , Richmond
Black Horse Hotel , Richmond 1924 . Courtesy Tooth & Company Ltd records , Noel Butlin Archives Centre ( ANU ).
During the early days , New South Wales was teeming with hotels that provided meals , drinks and accommodation for travellers . The Hawkesbury had its fair share of hotels dotted around the district with the earliest established in Windsor and Richmond .
Rum , followed later by beer , was the main drink in the colony . Operating hours varied and the hostelries had big wooden signs identifying the hotel , hanging on hinges outside . A light burning outside was kept on until a late hour and a lamplighter went around and lit the lamps and kept them burning . Prices ranged from 6d for a glass of rum and 3d for beer . Shouting a drink or round , popular these days , was pretty much unheard of . Entertainment was also scarce ; sometimes dances were held in the tap room , someone would play a fiddle and on occasion , boxing matches entertained the crowds .
One of the most talked about hotels
Black Horse Hotel , Richmond circa 1900 . Courtesy Mitchell Library , State Library of NSW . in Richmond was located on the corner of Windsor and Bosworth Streets , at 340 Windsor Street . The first official license was issued in 1819 to ex-convict Paul Randall for the ‘ Black Horse Prince ’ – later called the ‘ Black Horse Hotel ’. It is quite probable Randall was selling liquor before the hotel was licensed as Randall was caught with his servant , distilling spirituous liquors , which at the time , was against the law .
Paul Randall and his wife , Mary , were both convicts , indicted separately for their crimes , who eventually established themselves in Richmond . Paul arrived in 1791 and Mary in 1793 . Their daughter Margaret , born in 1799 , assisted her parents with the running of the Black Horse from an early age and as her parents aged , she took more responsibility . By the late 1820s , she was leading the hotel into its heyday . Although only a young woman , Margaret married in 1820 to Dr Henry Seymour , a convict who arrived in NSW in 1817 .
Following the death of Margaret ’ s parents , Mary in 1832 and Paul two years later , she inherited the inn . The original hotel was a modest building , housing the Randall family and their staff . During the 1830s , Margaret had constructed , a two-story building ; it is thought that the original single-storey residence remained adjoining the new structure and certainly surviving photographs correspond with this theory . Margaret went on to run the Black Horse , for forty years .
Accounts are told of the thrilling horse races that were held in the first half of the 19th century in the main street
of Richmond with the Black Horse , the finishing post . The hotel had a good name and remained a focal point of the town . Margaret “ knew how to deal with the roystering cavaliers of the road whenever they waxed merry or vicious .”
During her time , the hotel became famous and known as the ‘ Honeymoon Hotel ’ - a popular place to celebrate a marriage or holiday . The register , dating from the 1850s , existed in the 20th century , recording those who stayed at the hotel and many eminent people are listed . Margaret was very supportive of the community and was known for her good management skills .
As Henry and Margaret did not have any children they adopted Sophia Westbrook who was a daughter of James Westbrook and Eliza Phipps . Sophia married in Richmond in 1844 , to William Sly , a convict who arrived in 1836 .
After devoting her life to the success of the Black Horse , Margaret died at her residence in 1875 . Her husband , the popular Dr Seymour , had predeceased her in 1858 .
Sophia Sly inherited the Black Horse from Margaret and the Slys operated it for many years . The hotel was popular with people involved in the horse racing industry and William and his son were well-known trainers . Many prominent horses were stabled in the Black Horse stables .
Sophia was known for her “ liberality and kind heartedness ”; she died in 1900 and her husband , William , died in 1874 . Her son William Jnr , the next licensee ,
The wooden sign from the Black Horse on display at the Hawkesbury Regional Museum . Photo : M Nichols , 2024 .
operated the hotel for about 30 years . He also leased the hotel to a number of individuals including Sportsman O ’ Keefe , a champion cross country rider . William disposed of the hotel in the late 1900s .
Ownership changed hands several times until 1923 when ownership was transferred to Mr Shiloh Wrate Standing of North Sydney who had already built a modern hotel at Kurrajong Heights to capture the tourist traffic . In 1928 Mr Sinclair , the last licensee of the Black Horse Hotel , poured final drinks then closed its doors . The Black Horse license was transferred to Kurrajong Heights .
In 1930 the site on the corner of Windsor and Bosworth Streets , was purchased by Mr Grimwood and was operated as a garage for many years . Later the old building was modernised , and the contemporary alterations hid the significant historic hub . It functioned as a service station until the 1960s . In the 1970s the service station business ceased and a false façade was constructed and eventually divided into commercial premises . These days , only the roof and part of the upper storey can be glimpsed from Windsor Street , hidden behind the modern buildings on the corner , the Black Horse Centre .
The stables from the hotel were transferred to the Australiana Pioneer Village in Wilberforce in 1970 . The wooden sign that hung out the front of the hotel is now part of the collection of the Hawkesbury Historical Society and can be viewed at the Hawkesbury Regional Museum in Windsor .
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