There was an inn in Campbelltown, they called The Rising Sun. Not sure if it was the ruin of many a young boy, but the inn itself appears to have had a short life. Many of Campbelltown's early inns had a fleeting existence. Names such as the Sussex Arms, The Welcome Inn and the Hope Inn have disappeared into the mists of time with very few people now knowing their whereabouts. Often roughly built, many succumbed to fire or other natural disasters. Others endured a slow death, perhaps due to changing importance of previously main roads or thoroughfares or development of settlements away from the inn's location. Many, like The Rising Sun, have left little or no trace of their being.
What do we know about The Rising Sun? According to local historian of the early twentieth century J.P. McGuanne, the inn was located on the corner of George and Dumaresq Streets, on 36 and one quarter perches, and that Benjamin Davies/Davis held the licence in 1836. Dumaresq Street now ends at Hurley Park, well short of the intersection with George Street. It has been that way since the development of Hurley Park. Little else is known of the inn, apart from a valuable notice in Trove from the Sydney Gazette and NSW Advertiser of 3 June 1837. Under the heading of a "Valuable Freehold Property at Campbelltown" the notice continues" The Rising Sun public house, substantially brick-built with verandah front, containing nine rooms and spacious brick-built Stabling and Kitchen; a substantial brick-built House nearly finished, suitable for a wholesale and retail Store; and a substantial weather-boarded House, Verandah front, floored, glazed, and plastered, now occupied as a Butcher's Shop; the whole will be put up and sold in one lot by J. Blackman and Co., on Monday 5th day of June, 1837, at twelve o'clock precisely, on the Premises, at Campbelltown.
Licensee Benjamin Davies went through difficult times from 1836 to 1838. In 1836, he was forced to sell all his stock, mostly haberdashery, at an auction. A few months later he went into business with a man named James Lacy. However, all stock from this partnership was sold five months later again at auction. Then came the above notice of The Rising Sun and other blocks of surrounding land being sold. The next month saw a notice in the newspaper to Benjamin's creditors and then in 1838 a Supreme Court notice to sell all property known as Davies Premises.
However, according to McGuanne in 1920, the hotel was a successful venture. He wrote in his work "A Centenary of Campbelltown" that "Whoever was the last licensee has left so many thousands of empty bottles stowed away in bags on the verandah, that we have concordant evidence of a good business been done". Does this mean the hotel was still around in McGuanne's time or was this passed on from earlier days? The answer is unclear as no maps or photographs of it exist.
No other records can be found. I walked past the site of the inn a couple of days ago. The site is now located in Hurley Park and of course nothing remains. There is no indication that anything was ever there. I was puzzled about why it was here in the first place. To my knowledge, there was very little settlement at this part of the village in the 1830s and no major thoroughfare where traffic would pass through. Perhaps it was built with an idea to relieve the thirst of the weary builders of the newly proposed reservoir in Allman Street? The plot of ground for the reservoir was provided by Governor Bourke in 1833 and work started in 1838. One day more information might come to light.
Approximate site of The Rising Sun Hotel
Written by Andrew Allen
Sources:
McGuanne J.P. 1920
A Centenary of Campbelltown
The Australian 2 June 1837
The Sydney Gazette and NSW Advertiser, Thursday 1 June 1837
