Commercial Hotel
139 Thompson Street HAMILTON, Southern Grampians Shire
Gray St Commercial Precinct Hamilton
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Statement of Significance
This building has regional historic and architectural significance because of its early date as a hotel and as one of a group of 1860s buildings in that section of Thompson Street owned in the late 1860s by Edmund Wadley, gentleman. The earliest section of the hotel dates from 1860 (i) the property being rated in the first surviving 1866 Hamilton Rate Book as hotel and stables owned by Wadley and occupied by John William Fisher, publican. (ii) Its form and detailing were simple and conventional for the time but of particular note is the glazing in the windows. In 1867 Wadley's six Thompson Street properties included the hotel and stables, a butcher's shop, a bootmaker's shop and house, a shop owned and occupied by Wadley, a fancy goods shop and a baker's shop and bakery. (iii)
By 1869 the Commercial Hotel was owned and occupied by Charles Pilven, hotel keeper. (iv) In 1877 Pilven sold the hotel to Mrs Hutcheson, widow of John Hutcheson who operated the Hamilton Flour Mill until his death in 1870. (v) In 1919 the Licence Reduction Board threatened to close the Commercial Hotel because of its delapidated state and the concentration of hotels in the area. (vi) It may be that this triggered the substantial remodelling of the original timber verandah and facade in the early twenties.
The building remains significantly intact (from the 1920s) and is in good condition. It is a key building in the streetscape and is critical for its scale and location on the corner. It is also associated with the Eucalyptus globulus subsp. bicostata, Eurabbie in the street outside which was possibly planted by or under the direction of Ferdinand von Mueller.
SIGNIFICANCE: One of the oldest hotels in Hamilton, associated with key early figures and a key building in the streetscape.
FOOTNOTES
i Hamilton Spectator, 16 June 1860, 23 June 1860; Garden, Don, Hamilton, pp 81, 83.
ii Hamilton Rate Book 1866, No. 123 (NAV 330 pounds).
iii Ibid., 1867 Nos. 123 (NAV 260 pounds); 124 (NAV 20 pounds); 125 (NAV 54 pounds); 126 (NAV 35 pounds); 127 (NAV 28 pounds); 128 (NAV 45 pounds).
iv Ibid, 1869, No. 125.
v Garden, Don, Hamilton, p 81.
vi Ibid., p 197.
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Commercial Hotel - Physical Description 1
MATERIALS:
Roof: corrugated iron
Walls: bluestone
Dressings: stone
Plinth: bluestone
Windows: timber dhs
Paving: concrete
Other: rough cast brick
verandahNOTABLE FEATURES: glazing in original windows, 1920s verandah, parapet
Commercial Hotel - Historical Australian Themes
ASSOCIATED HISTORIC THEMES
Tertiary Industry: Hotels
Evolution of the Town: 1860sCommercial Hotel - Integrity
INTEGRITY: E
Commercial Hotel - Physical Conditions
CONDITION: E
Heritage Study and Grading
Southern Grampians - City of Hamilton Conservation Study
Author: Timothy Hubbard with Carlotta Kellaway & Michael Looker (plus Francis Punch)
Year: 1991
Grading: B
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MECHANICS INSTITUTEVictorian Heritage Register H2171
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HAMILTON BOTANIC GARDENSVictorian Heritage Register H2185
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HAMILTON GAS HOLDERVictorian Heritage Register H1086
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'CARINYA' LADSONS STOREVictorian Heritage Register H0568
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