Site 17 Hopetoun House Hotel

29 - 31 Roy Street

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Mr John Carrick shifted his premises from Goroke using Tom Mellington’s bullock wagon to this site in 1890 where it operated as a coffee palace until granted a wine license in early 1891. During a tour of the region Earl Hopetoun spent a night under its roof in April 1891 and when the hotel was granted a full license Carrick renamed his hotel the Hopetoun House and advertised it as being by “special appointment”.

In 1893 Mrs Gray took over the hotel and constructed ten additional rooms. Her four daughters soon found four eligible suitors and amongst them was Dr. F. Gawne, who practiced and dispensed at rooms in the hotel. Mrs Gray died in 1895 and her son Rube, carried on until Mr Ted Franklin, licensee of the Union Hotel in Lorquon, took possession early in 1896. He was succeeded in 1900 by the previous licensee of the Hindmarsh Hotel, George Shiell, who retained the ownership for nearly twenty years.

Shiell rebuilt the ten original accommodation rooms in concrete which thereby withstood the fire that destroyed the rest of the hotel in 1937. The original building featured a Billiard Room and a Commercial Room which was lavishly decorated. The original sale yards were at the rear together with a large stable that was the headquarters of Cobb & Co. who operated a service between Jeparit and Dimboola.

Disclaimer: All information contained on these pages has been prepared over years of research from a small local volunteer group. The information is correct to the best of our knowledge. We always welcome suggestions for corrections or further information to add to the heritage sites. Please forward any comments toinfo@hindmarsh.vic.gov.au.