In 1858 Hugh Wallace , undertaker and cabinet maker, moved from the Assembly Rooms at the corner of Gipps street, and opened his new Bank Hotel in Sackville street, next door to the grand Bank of Australasia. The hotel seems to have been the favourite meeting place for many of the sporting organisations of the time , including the Football, Rowing, Athletic and Gymnastics clubs . The second licensee was Thomas Pearson, who came to Belfast in 1855, working first for the Harbour master Capt. John Mills , then as the first Assistant Lighthouse keeper when it was built in 1859 . He was promoted to Lighthouse keeper 2 years later. The hotel continued in business with a further 8 licensees until it closed in 1918. Since which it has housed a diverse number of businesses, collecting a veranda along the way. It is still in use in Sackville street today. Quite a few of the Licensees of Belfast seem to have also had an interest in the Funeral business. Possibly, it was a good commercial undertaking, the same people providing them with a living selling spirituous liquor, and when they died of the effects , paid again for their burial. Early photograph Black and white photograph of Black and white photograph of double storied rendered detached building with doors at either end and two arched windows and door in centrehotel, building, sackville street, bank hotel, inn, business, commercial