Rising Sun Hotel

The original Rising Sun Hotel was on the Toowoomba Road, kept by Michael O’Brien from 1857. It was located on what is now called McGeary's paddock at the end of School Street and on the opposite side of the road to the school. Coaches used to stop here prior to the railway coming. O'Brien held the license until 1867 when it became the property of Cribb & Foote. A portion of the building was used as a provisional school in 1872. This burnt down in 1888.

James Ryan built a new Rising Sun Hotel closer to the railway. It was advertised for sale in July 1878 but burned down later that year. It was immediately rebuilt. It had a few owners before the the Sloane family took over in 1881, and three generations ran the hotel until the 1960s.

The current two-storey hotel was designed in 1908 by Ipswich architect Will Haenke and was built by C. Risdale who probably started work around December 1908.

The plans show four large and two smaller rooms on the upper floor and a large bar room and a billiard room on the ground floor. The curved bar is shown with elaborate pedimented shelving against the wall. As no kitchens etc. are shown, the older hotel building probably remained in use on the site.

A newspaper report on the progress of the new building mentions that the older hotel building was bodily moved aside from the corner to allow construction of the new Haenke building.

Rosewood Races

Newspapers record that the Rosewood Races were held in a paddock behind the Rising Sun Hotel in 1877, 1879 and 1880. Between 200 and 300 people would attend and, whilst there were no ‘crack’ horses according to the Queensland Times, 1879, local horses with names such as Floss, Lunatic, Centipede, Cannon-ball, Begger lad, Badger and Queen Bee to name a few, were strong contenders.

Prizes ranged from £3 for first place in the Handicap Hurdle Race, £2 10s for the Publican’s Purse for horses the bona fide property of persons living within five miles of Rosewood Gate, through to the £1 10s for the Hurry Scurry Race in which 4 horses started and The Consolation Stakes for losers with 2 horses and the grand prize of £1 5s.

There was mention of a delicious luncheon provided by the proprietor after the second race inside the Rising Sun Hotel and ‘a little gambling of a mild form’ at the billing shop on the verandah throughout the day.

Prizes were awarded at the end of the day in the hotel, and a ball was often held on the same evening.

1939 Diggers Reunion

The sub-branch of the R.S.S.I.L.A. held a Diggers Reunion in September 1939 for returned men and the townspeople. The Qld Times claimed, ‘Prominent in the decorations were the large Australian Flag and Union Jack, recently acquired by the League’ and that the table centres featured red, white and blue with poinsettias.

Following a minute’s silence for fallen comrades, there were toasts to the king, while the League, the Ladies Auxiliary, nursing sisters and the Rosewood Defence Committee were honoured with musical tributes. For instance, the nursing sisters were revered by the singing of ‘She’s the Rose of No Man’s Land’.

1906 Court Case

Percy Harry Adams was charged with having used abusive language to James O’Shea (a grazier) on 27 August 1906 and thus breaching the peace. The offensive language used included the words ‘coward’, ‘cow’ and ‘cur’ levelled at O’Shea who was refusing to fight Billy Domrow whom Adams had brought to the pub to fight his battle.

1908 Murder

Two men brutally bashed and stabbed to death the chef of the hotel in an upstairs room. Raymond John Bound and Lochlan-Lee Brett Belford were found guilty of the murder of Wayne Williams aged 28 and were sentenced to life behind bars.

For more extensive information on the hotel, follow the link below: https://rosewoodpasttimes.com/hotels/the-two-rising-sun-hotels