THE liquor industry - particularly hotels - played a determining role in the history of Australia. This fact is no more evident than in the Illawarra region of NSW where public houses were meeting places, where both the rich and the poor, convict and the master, would socialise, meet, and gain accommodation. They were a welcoming sight to weary and exhausted travellers, and a place where the general public could rest, receive home cooked meals, refreshments and, prior to the coming of the telegraph, secure news from the outside world.

Public houses, for these reasons, were absorbing, vibrant establishments that tell a story of a way a community cultivated a culture. The history of Australia's hotel industry is one of intrigue and enlightenment, reflecting a pioneering past and tradition that has lingered, to some extent, to this day.

To advance their respective communities, pubs were often the venues for public and private meetings to progress their archaic surrounds. In those long gone days, they were the only public buildings where settlers were able to gather. It was common - and still is in some parts of the Illawarra - for the townsfolk to assemble at their local pub to formulate deputations and ideas to achieve community wants. Sporting groups and associations were formed at local hotels and many made them their base, often obtaining sponsorship from 'mine host'. This tradition is proudly continued by the hotel industry to this day.

Pubs were often lynching pins in the isolated communities of colonial Australia.
 
It is worth noting here how Australian hotels evolved and what was typical of an early colonial public house. They say 'where Englishmen go, they will have their beer', and this applied also to where they drank it.
 
Our predominantly British settlers brought with them their love of alcoholic beverages and, naturally, their style of drinking houses. However, Australian pubs soon evolved their own character, developing to suit Australian conditions. This is evident with the obligatory pub veranda, a feature of many of today's country pubs. The veranda provided shade and a place to have a refreshing drink away from the harsh Australian sun.
 
Australian public houses developed out of the taverns, alehouses and inns of early Sydney after Governor Macquarie issued the colony's first pub licenses in 1798. Basically the first pubs were scantily furnished 'public kitchens' with open hearths, dangling with pots, pans and pewter mugs. The proprietors' family bedrooms usually adjoined the public kitchens and the publicans' private parlours were often shared with wealthier customers to enjoy their refreshments, away from 'working class' drinkers. Pubs were simply an average home, where you could buy a drink.
 
Many Sydney pubs became exclusively for wealthier 'tipplers' and were basically private bars, offering no accommodation or liquor to the general public. Houses specialised either in spirits, beer or wine, with spirit houses being the most popular in the early 1800s.
 
As the 1800s progressed public houses transformed to meet growing demands through government legislation as alcohol abuse developed into a major problem. Sydney had 75 licensed houses and a population of 6,156 in 1815. Governor Macquarie managed to bring the trafficking of liquor under some control by increasing the amount of coinage, and vigorously attacking the high incidence of illicit stills, while targeting and closing licensed houses that traded simply as 'grog shops'.
 
The foundations of the Australian public house were laid in 1816 when Governor Macquarie declared people with spirit licenses must also take a beer license and "supply beer when called upon". This meant that all establishments with a liquor license had to provide a public room for drinkers. This was the beginning of the public house in Australia and seen the demise of the many private parlours that had opened in and around Sydney.
 
Magistrates or justices of the peace were permitted to issue liquor licenses to people within their district who could obtain a recommendation from a Church of England Minister, and put up a bond. This set the agenda for the liquor licensing system for the next 200 years.
 
The framework of the Australian pub appeared during the 1820s. A typical pub consisted of a taproom where liquor was stored and served, the public room or kitchen, the publican's quarters, and a 'private parlour' for wealthier customers. As stated previously, the private parlour, in most cases, was the publican's own living room, which he shared with the 'well to do'. Sometimes a room was provided for accommodation, but in the main lodgers were required to bunk down in the public room or were provided with no accommodation at all.
 
Another attempt at sophisticating the industry came with the 1825 Liquor Act. The government legislation was a genuine attempt to rid the colony of the many grog shanties that continued to spring-up despite Macquarie's earlier attempts to close them. It also introduced the publican to the complexities and red tape of the legal system for the first time. Under the Act a certificate for the issue of a license was granted by a justice of the peace or magistrate in the Court of Quarter Sessions. The Colonial Treasurer had the final say on whether the license was issued after the granting of the certificate by the local court. The legislation also compelled pubs to close on Sundays and to call last drinks before 9pm Monday to Saturday. A supplementary Act in 1826 permitted convicts to drink to 8pm and attempted to lift the standard of liquor sold by proclaiming that "death by intoxication shall void a license" in an effort to stop the sale of dangerous 'home brews'.
 
During these times notorious liquor outlets brewed their own concoctions, which were as offensive to the drinkers' taste buds, as they were to their health. To make colonial beer last longer some publicans added dubious ingredients to their casks. 'Lambing Down', as the practice became known, was infamous during these times. A disreputable brew, known as 'Blow-Me-Skull-Off', served around the Rocks in Sydney, consisted of spirits, opium, tobacco, cayenne pepper and whatever the brewer could lay his hands on to preserve the liquor for long periods. Blow-Me-Skull-Off drinkers were warned not to light up a pipe or cigarette while drinking as the flame could set their breath on fire. It is no wonder our early settlers preferred imported rum and brandy!
 
It was the 1830 Liquor Act that put the roof on the Australian hotel. The legislation forced all licensed houses to provide "at least two sitting rooms and two sleeping rooms for public accommodation independent of the apartments occupied by the family of the publican". The public house was born. The Act also required the licensees to display their names above the door (a license condition still in force today) and to have at least two lamps burning on the exterior of the house at night.
 
Through the 1820s servants or the innkeeper commonly brought the ale or liquor from the taproom to personally serve customers. However, from about 1830, for convenience sake, small openings were made in the wall between the taproom and the public room for direct service. These openings were just large enough to allow for the customer to collect the pewter or tin mug and pay their money. Eventually the openings grew in size forming what would later be known as the bar.