We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the place now called Victoria, and all First Peoples living and working on this land. We celebrate the history and contemporary creativity of the world’s oldest living culture and pay respect to Elders — past, present and future.
Please be aware that this website may contain culturally sensitive material — images, voices and information provided by now deceased persons. Content also may include images and film of places that may cause sorrow.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this website may contain culturally sensitive material — images, voices and information provided by now deceased persons. Content also may include images and film of places that may cause sorrow.
Some material may contain terms that reflect authors’ views, or those of the period in which the item was written or recorded but may not be considered appropriate today. These views are not necessarily the views of Victorian Collections.
Users of this site should be aware that in many areas of Australia, reproduction of the names and photographs of deceased people is restricted during a period of mourning. The length of this time varies and is determined by the community.
Reuse of any Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander material on this site may require cultural clearances. Users are advised to contact the source organisation to discuss appropriate reuse.
Demolition of Royal Hotel
Can you reuse this media without permission? No (with exceptions, see below)
All rights reserved
This media item is licensed under "All rights reserved". You cannot share (i.e. copy, distribute, transmit) or rework (i.e. alter, transform, build upon) this item, or use it for commercial purposes without the permission of the copyright owner. However, an exception can be made if your intended use meets the "fair dealing" criteria. Uses that meet this criteria include research or study; criticism or review; parody or satire; reporting news; enabling a person with a disability to access material; or professional advice by a lawyer, patent attorney, or trademark attorney.
Please acknowledge the item’s source, creator and title (where known)
Have a question? Contact Sunbury Family History and Heritage Society Inc.
The building being demolished in the photograph is the Railway Hotel which was destroyed by fire in 1936. It was decided to demolish the old building and rebuild a more modern hotel on the Brook/Evans Street corner where the old building had stood for 61 years.
A non-digital black and white photograph with a cream border of a single storey building undergoing demolition. Two other buildings are visible on the site.
The two storey building under construction is the Royal Hotel. The larger building replaced the former single storey hotel which was built on the same site in 1861. The new building is a red brick structure.
A non-digital black and white photograph with a cream border of a two storey brick building under construction and surrounded by scaffolding.
royal hotel, evans street, brook street, hotels
In this image. the older Royal Hotel building which stood on the corner of Evans and Brook Streets has been demolished and surrounding buildings that were part of the former hotel's complex are left.
A non-digital black and white photograph with a cream border of a demolition site with some surrounding buildings.
royal hotel, evans street, brook street, hotels
The single storey Royal Hotel was built on the SE corner of Brook and Evans Street in 1861, two years after a rail service reached Sunbury. It occupied that site until July 1936 after a fire destroyed the building. It was decided to demolish the old hotel and replace it with a modern building. The first stages of the building's demolition have been captured in this image.
The Royal Hotel was one of the first hotels to be built in Evans Street when businesses moved from Macedon Street closer to the station after rail services came to Sunbury in 1859.
A non-digital black and white photograph of a single storey hotel building being demolished. The doors and windows have been removed as well a portion of the iron roofing. Three empty barrels are stacked by the doorway.
royal hotel, brook street, evans street, hotels
The building is in a section of Brook Street on the south side between O'Shanassy and Evans Street. The news office and the retail business were run by the Boardman family in Sunbury.
A non- digital black and white photograph with a cream border of a group of buildings comprising a double fronted weatherboard house, shop and news office with nine people standing in the street.
brook street, arthur boardman, newsagency
The building is the Sunbury News Office after the business moved to larger premises on the SW corner of Brook and O'Shanassy Street. In its new location, the Boardman family ran the news office and a general store in the adjacent shop.See entry P0868 for further information.
The building is the first Sunbury News Office that was owned by Arthur Boardman. In 1892 he began publishing the' Sunbury News' in this printing office which was on railway reserve near the station, which today is the bus terminal at Sunbury Station.
The 'Sunbury News' was distributed throughout the Shire of Bulla and surrounding areas for almost 7 decades.
A faded sepia non-digital photograph backed onto fawn coloured cardboard of a shop building with five people standing outside.
sunbury news, arthur boardman
The two storey building is the Royal Hotel which is sited on the corner of Brook and Evans Streets in Sunbury's main shopping strip.The photograph was taken sometime in 1939 after it was totally rebuilt. A fire had damaged the old single storey structure, which was built on the same site c1860 shortly after Sunbury had a rail service. The building still operates today on the same site.
The Royal Hotel is one of four hotels that were built in Evans Street Sunbury between Brook and Station Streets ion the 1860s shortly after the rail service arrived in the town. They were They were the Railway Hotel (Olive Tree), White Horse Hotel, Royal Hotel and the Rupertswood Hotel, opposite the Royal Hotel.
A non-digital black and white photograph with a cream border of a two storey brick hotel building with light concrete trimming around the windows and entrances sited on a corner. A large black sedan car is parked near the corner.
royal hotel, hotels
In 1916 a jumble sale took place in the Sunbury Common School building and afternoon tea was also available. Violet Boardman is the lady seated. The first Sunbury Common School No. 604 was built in 1871 in Macedon Street, between Barkly and O'Shanassy Streets, with 32 students enrolled. By 1910 the building was in a bad state of repair and was replaced with a new Federation style brick building, that opened on 2 May 1912 and was renamed Sunbury State School No. 1002.
An old non-digital black and white photograph of gathering of a gathering people outside a building that is displaying a tea rooms notice.
jumble sales, violet boardman, sunbury common school no. 604
A wheat silo was erected on railway land adjacent to the Sunbury Station in 1967. Frank Millett handled the operations. As bulk handling was the preferred way to transport wheat, the silo gave local cereal growers to deliver their grain to the railhead. Over the years of the operation 200 grain wagons delivered wheat annually to the silo. In 1984 the silo was dismantled and removed.
Cereal growing was one of the agricultural activities carried out in the Sunbury and surrounding areas for many years.
A non-digital coloured photograph of a metal wheat silo being dismantled. A crane is beside the silo and two men are suspended from the crane in a basket to ensure that the sheets of iron land safely on the truck.
wheat storage, silos, frank millett, cereal crops, sunbury railway station
The photograph was taken at one of the early Sunbury Shows. In April 1900 saw the establishment of the Sunbury Horticultural Society but it was in September 1915 that the first Sunbury Show was held at the Corporation Sale Yards in the form of a horse parade and sale. In 1917 the Show was held at the Old Reserve which was adjacent to the railway precinct. Today the Sunbury Show is held in October at the Clarke Oval.
Annual Agricultural Shows are important events in many towns throughout the country and in Sunbury, it still draws crowds.
A non-digital black and white photocopied photograph of a gathering of people at an agricultural show. Some people are on horseback while others are herding some cattle and a group are unloading barrels from a horse and dray.
sunbury show, agricultural shows
The property in the photograph is the winery building at Goonawarra Vineyard, which is situated on the east side of Jacksons Creek and on the north side of Macedon in Sunbury. The winery and homestead were established in 1858 by James Goodall Francis, who received a crown grant of land in Sunbury. From 1865 to the 1920s, the vineyard produced white wine grapes. James Goodall Francis died ion 1884 and the property was brought by M.P.Synott who ran merino sheep on the property. It wasn't until the early 1980s that Goonawarra reverted to be a vineyard after the property had been in the hands of a variety of owners.
Goonawarra was one of Sunbury's earliest wineries to be established in the area.
A coloured polaroid photograph with a white border, of a pathway leading to a double storey building
goonawarra winery, james goodall francis, wineries, jacksons creek
The two homesteads are Ben Eadie and Craiglee, which were two of Sunbury's earliest vineyards that were established in Sunbury. James Stewart Johnson designed and built his concrete home, Craiglee, in 1865 where the previous year he had planted out his vineyard on the surrounding 26 acres of land.The property was on the east side of Jacksons Creek on Macedon Road. He concentrated growing Riesling and Hermitage grapes. After his death in 1896, his son Wilfred continued to produce wines until the late 1920s, when he pulled out the vines and concentrated on raising sheep for wool and meat. The Carmody family purchased the property in 1961 and in 1976 decided to replant the vineyard. Ben Eadie was built some time in 1863 and settled by the Eadie family who also were millers. The winery was built into the side of a hill close to the house but the Eadie family tended to concentrate on milling and retailing.
In the earliest days of European settlement many wineries were established in the Sunbury area.
Two non-digital sepia photographs have been mounted on cardboard. They are photographs of two homesteads with bare hills in the background. They were built in Sunbury in the early days off European settlement
Ben Eadie Vic. Craiglee Sunbury 1903
john eadie, ben eadie winery, james stewart johnson, craiglee, wineries, vineyards
Scottish miller and immigrant, John Eadie established his water-driven flour mill on Jacksons Creek in Sunbury in 1861.To make of a sufficient water supply to operate the mill, he built a weir and a water-race to drive it. Some of these can be seen today. The machinery for the mill was bought from Scotland and transported here. The mill continued to operate until 1914. At that time the 20 ton metal wheel and the iron roofing removed to aid the war effort.
This mill is one of a number that were built along the water courses in the Sunbury-Bulla area to process the wheat grown in the area.
A non-digital black and white photograph in post card format of a an old bluestone mill building sited on the bank of a watercourse in a deep valley with bare hills in the background. The remains of the water wheel are at the rear of the building. A New Year greeting dated 24th Dec. 1907 has been written on the back from H.H in Bulla to his aunt, Miss M.A.Ripon who was staying with Mrs. Tricks in Canterbury at the time.
The Old Mill Sunbury
john eadie, the old mill, milling, jacksons creek
The building in the photograph is a present day view of the former Lochton Mill which was built on a bend of Deep Creek in Bulla on 1856 on property owned by Captain William Morrison Hunter.
Lochton Mill was one of a few mills that were set-up on the banks of Deep Creek in Bulla and Jacksons Creek in Sunbury.
A non-digital coloured photograph of the ruins of a bluestone mill that was built on a bend of a river. It is an elevated view and clearly shows the river's course in the deep valley as well as the surrounding hilly countryside.
lochton mill, bulla, deep creek, captain william morrison hunter, milling
The post card with its greeting was sent by a person called Edwin to his brother.
A non-digital sepia photograph in post card format of the administrative building at the Sunbury Asylum, with a New Year's greeting hand written on the back.
post cards, sunbury asylum
The administrative building along with four other buildings were part of the former Sunbury Asylum complex that operated in Sunbury on Jacksons Hill from 1876 to 1992. The white fence in the front of the photo was the boundary for The Pines golf club where patients, staff and Sunbury residents played before the Goonawarra Golf Club was established.
The Sunbury Asylum was an important institution in the town and many of the townspeople worked there over the 120 years of its operation.
A non-digital sepia photograph in post card format with a white border across the bottom, of the administrative building and other brick Victorian style buildings that were part of the Sunbury Asylum complex. A white post and rail fence is in the foreground.
sunbury asylum, caloola, the pines golf club
Sunbury United Soccer Club was established in 1973 by a group of expatriate Europeans who wanted to play the game they grew up with. Their first games were played on the recreation reserve in Evans Street on the ground designed for AFL football. (Now the site of a shopping complex). In August 1975, Sunbury United moved to its present home on seven and a half acres of sporting ground at Langama Park in Mitchells Lane . Over the years that area has developed and there are now three senior, and two junior soccer pitches with two cricket pitches and practice nets. Although there is still room for improvement to the floodlighting on the main pitch, the night games have proven successful.
The Sunbury United Soccer Club has played an important roll in district competition and is one of the many sporting clubs in Sunbury.
A non-digital black and white photograph of a soccer ground showing a set of goal posts with the clubrooms and change rooms in the background.
soccer, sunbury united soccer club, football, langama park, mitchells lane
The Sunbury Cycling Club was formed in September 1897 although prior to that date cycling was popular in the district. A popular place to cycle in those times was at Diggers Rest. In 1897 the Sunbury Cycle Club organised a race around the township. After that local bike races were organised on a weekly basis. According to the caption, the race in the photograph took place some time in 1895.
A non-digital sepia photograph backed onto board of a line of men on bicycles in a main street preparing to set off for a cycling race.
cycling, cycling races, plumpton avenue, sports clubs
The people in the photograph were enjoying a day out at a Sunbury race meeting some time in the early 1900s. Races at Sunbury began in 1886 with the establishment of the Sunbury Racecourse that was located along Racecourse Road on a section of the Rupertswood Estate on land consisting of six furlongs and two straights. The site included a patron’s stand, saddling paddock, bookmakers’ enclosure, two bars, a committee room, judges box, stables, toilets, six entrance gates and ticket boxes. Special trains from Melbourne brought patrons and horses to the Sunbury race meetings. A report in the Melbourne Argus newspaper in 1922, stated that city taxi drivers came out to Sunbury to drive patrons to the racecourse, which was located about 3 kms from the Sunbury station. Some time however, between 1886 and 1901, there was a period when the racing club had been inactive. A meeting was called in 1901 to restore the club’s activities. With a substantial loan from Mr. Clarke the committee was able to organise the installation of a turnstile, perimeter fencing and irrigation of the course by a windmill that pumped water from a recently constructed dam that was on the estate. The club continued to function until 1942, during World War 2, and did not resume activities after the end of the war. The land was eventually sold for housing development.
The Sunbury Race meetings were popular with the racing fraternity not only in the district but further afield and were deemed sufficiently important to run special trains from Melbourne to Sunbury on Race days.
A non-digital sepia photograph with a strong cardboard backing of a crowd of people dressed smartly for a day out at the races. Most of the spectators are seated in a long marquee. Three men on the RHS are looking at a horse that is lying on the ground.On the back of the card there are scribbled notes and numbers which seem to indicate the photograph has been used for a publication at some time.
sunbury race meetings, sunbury race course, racecourse road
The photograph was taken at a Sunbury Race meeting, when a sudden shower of rain caused the spectators to run for cover. Sunbury Race Course was situated along Racecourse Road about 2kms from the railway station. The land has been sold and it is now a housing estate.
The race meetings in Sunbury were well attended with special trains running from Melbourne on race days.
A noon-digital sepia photograph mounted on cardboard of a crowd of people caught in a sudden shower of rain and running for shelter at a race meeting.
sunbury race meetings, racecourse road, races, stud farms
The mural of an impression of Macedon Street in Sunbury 100 years ago was painted by Frank Breen, on the brick garage wall of the Catholic Presbytery and it faced the garden in front of the former Sunbury Courthouse. Before the railway arrived in Sunbury in 1859, Macedon Street was the town's business centre. Early local businesses and and institutions that the artist included in the mural include on the LHS former courthouse, Out Lady of Mt. Carmel and the Sir John Franklin Hotel. On the RHS are some shops and the Ballcourt Hotel.
The mural gives an impression of Sunbury's first business centre before it shifted closer to the railway station which arrived in Sunbury in 1859.
A non-digital coloured photograph of an artist's impression of a street in Sunbury 100 years ago. The photograph has been encased in a cream card with an inscription on the back.
'MACEDON STREET 100 YEARS AGO'/ARTIST: FRANK BREEN/OLD SUNBURY COURTHOUSE/ SUNBURY, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA
murals, macedon street, frank breen, sunbury courthouse, our lady of mount carmel, hotels
The building was the residence of the engineer who was responsible of managing the early electric supply that was installed in Sunbury in 1909. The town's power supply put an end to gas lighting that had been used and homes had the benefit of having electricity connected to their homes. In 1926 the State Electricity Commission took over supplying electrical power to Sunbury. The cottage is now a private home and the power house building has been demolished. he complex occupied land on the corner of Jackson and Shields Street.
At the time the electric supply was installed in Sunbury in 1909, few small country towns had electric power connected.
A non-digital scanned coloured photograph with a narrow white border of a small double fronted wooden cottage with a corrugated iron roof with trees growing behind the building.
electricity, engineer's corrage, jackson street, shields street, power supplies
There is very little information about this historic home .which is thought to be somewhere within the former Shire of Bulla and/or the Shire of Broadmeadows.
A non-digital sepia photograph in post card format of a two storey Georgian style home with a single storey extension at the rear of the house.
mansions, homesteads
The Sunbury Post Office with a residence pictured in the image was the first official post office building in the town. It opened on the corner of Brook and Evans Streets in 1892. Prior to that time postal services were conducted in an office at Sunbury Railway Station. Although the present day post office is still on the Brook-Evans Streets corner, the building has undergone many changes in services and appearances over the years.
Like many country towns, the post office offered many services to the residents over the years.
short message has been written on the back to a person in Stirling WA.
sunbury post office, sunbury railway station, brook street, evans street, post offices
The Male Hospital in Sunbury was one of the buildings that was within the grounds of the Sunbury Mental Hospital, later known as the Sunbury Asylum, that opened on 1st December 1879 on She-oak Hill ( Jacksons Hill). Patients and staff from the Ballarat Asylum were transferred there. Prior to the establishment of the Asylum, the Sunbury Industrial School occupied the site from 1865. The Sunbury Asylum, later known as Caloola, continued to operate until the 1992.
The Sunbury Mental Hospital was an important institution and was the main source of employment for Sunbury residents for 120 years. It was also one of a number of similar institutions that were established around Melbourne's outer rural centres.
A sepia non- digital photo in post card format of a hospital building with verandahs along a section of the front and down the side. Two nurses are standing in front. There are circular garden beds in from of the building. A message dated 23/11.09 from Gregor to Cookie has been written on the back of the card.
MALE HOSPITAL/SUNBURY
sunbury mental hospital, sunbury asylum, caloola, the hill
The church in the image is the former St. Michaels Catholic Church that was on Sunbury Road in the small Bulla township. After holding religious services at the Daniel property 'Narbonne' at Oaklands Junction until 1876, the permanent church building opened 0n 19th November 1876. Services were held there until the land was sold in the 1980s and the building was demolished despite undergoing renovations in 1978. Members of the Catholic faith then worshipped at the Sunbury Catholic Church. The note on the flip side was written by a Sunbury resident to his sister.
A post card with a non-digital sepia photograph of a weatherboard church in an open grassed area. A short note has been written on the flip side of the card.
st. michaels church, bulla, catholic church
M.G. Gregor was staying at the Sunbury Presbytery when she wrote a message on the flip side of this postcard to her niece on 23rd June 1912. She may have been employed there as a housekeeper.The Catholic Presbytery was built at a cost of 1315 pounds and opened on 25th February 1912. Father Gallivan was the first priest to reside in the new Presbytery. The Presbytery is adjacent to Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Macedon Street.
A post card of a non-digital sepia photograph of an Edwardian style brick house with a tiled roof and a return verandah. The house has a picket front fence. A handwritten message dated June 23rd 1923 is written on the flip side of the card.
catholic presbytery, catholic church, our lady of mount carmel catholic church, father gallivan
Contextual information relating to St.Mary's Church is entered on P0877. This image was used for a newspaper article
An enlarged non-digital black and white photograph with a cream border of a blue stone church with white rendered columns around the windows and door and a pitched slate roof. Two men are standing beside the porch and the vestry is visible at the rear of the main building. A bare deciduous tree is on the LHS of the image
The first building which housed Sunbury State School No.1002 was built on the corner of Macedon and Stawell Streets in the early 1870s and functioned as the local State School until 1912 when a sturdier red brick structure replaced on the same site. In 1999 Sunbury State School was relocated in the former Industrial School heritage buildings in Jacksons Hill. The existing building in Macedon Street was incorporated into the Sunbury Community Health Centre.
The school in the photograph is the original Sunbury State School NO. 1002 building, where many early Sunbury residents attended.
A non-digital black and white photograph in post card format of a crowd of children outside a school building. Four teachers are standing on the RHS of the image.
sunbury state school no. 1002, stawell street, macedon street, schools
On 17th January 1856, two acres of land was granted for the building of a school and church on that site in Macedon Street. A small temporary building was erected on the site and on 13th December 1864 the foundation stone was laid for the new stone church which was known as 'Our Lady of Mount Carmel'
Is one of the oldest churches to be established in Sunbury.
A non-Digital post card photograph of the Roman Catholic Church in Sunbury
our lady of mount carmel catholic church, macedon street, sunbury
Victorian Collections acknowledges the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first inhabitants of the nation and the traditional custodians of the lands where we live, learn and work.
