Grand old pub’s still Dayboro’s Crown

Much has changed since the original Crown Hotel opened its doors, but some things remain the same more than a century later. Take a walk down memory lane.

Sam Heathwood's bullock team carting timber through Dayboro, early 1920s. The team is passing in front of the Crown Hotel.

FOR more than a century, the Crown Hotel has been part of the Dayboro community — if only those walls could talk.

The grand old lady perched on the hill at the end of Dayboro’s main street has seen it all since she was built in 1913-14.

According to Dayboro and District Historical Society president Carmel Bond, her story started long before that time, in April 1888 when James Berry applied for a provisional licence for a hotel.

He built the first store in the township in January 1887, using bricks from the old sugar mill. Mr Berry’s application for a provisional hotel licence was refused, and after several more attempts it was granted on July 6, 1892. He named it the Crown Hotel.

Carmel says he had to submit specifications for improvements soon after and this was possibly when a timber store was attached to the brick building.

1909 Lacey's store and Crown Hotel. Photo: courtesy of Dayboro and District Historical Society.

Lieutenant James Berry went to South Africa with the 4th Contingent Imperial Bushmen, Queensland, in May, 1900 and in September that year his wife Mary Ann leased the hotel to James Cowan. She died the following month, in childbirth.

The hotel was on a block of 62 acres, 2 roods and 10 perches. In June 1913, ownership of the hotel block was transferred to Francis James Thomson Hepburn.

Mr Hepburn had a new two-storey timber hotel built adjacent to the original hotel, although the date of completion is unknown.

Carmel says the original hotel building did not burn down.

“At some stage, the timber store building was removed but the original hotel building can still be seen in photographs from the early 1920s,” she explains.

A watercolour painting of the Crown Hotel in the late 1920s by F. Knorr. Photo: courtesy of Dayboro and District Historical Society.

The property was bought by TJ & JT Delaney in 1921 and subdivided with blocks in the Delaney’s Hotel Estate being offered for sale by auction on May 21, 1921.

Thomas Joseph Delaney had married Teresa Josephine Cruice, daughter of Rody Cruice, in 1914. The Delaneys retained ownership of the hotel, then on a 2 acre block, but the hotel business was conducted by lessees, one of them being Joseph Terence Cruice, brother of Teresa Delaney.

In February 1928, the Delaneys leased the property to The Castlemaine Brewery and Quinlan Gray & Co. for a term of 10 years at a rental of £12 per week. On March 10, 1937 ownership of the property was transferred to Castlemaine Perkins Limited.

The Crown Hotel has had a several owners since then, but has always remained an active part of the community.

1976 Crown Hotel at Dayboro. Photo: courtesy of Dayboro and District Historical Society.

Hotel manager Mantina Walker says locals appreciate it’s part of the area’s history.

Mantina says as you drive up the street, it’s there with two beautiful fig trees out the front. “You can sit out on the veranda under these trees. They are an iconic part of the hotel,” she says.

So has she seen any ghosts late at night?

“I’ve seen a figure of a woman in her 30s in the early hours of the morning. It was a peaceful figure,” she explains.

“Considering the age of the pub, there’s a few people that would have stories (of what they’ve seen), especially late at night.”