A Bucket of Rum & the Vauxhall Inn, Granville

 

An interesting souvenir of the opening of the first railway in New South Wales from Sydney to Parramatta Junction is a miniature bucket.

The first train arrives at Parramatta from Sydney in 1855

When the railway was opened on September 22nd, 1855 the proprietor of the Vauxhall Hotel, which still stands today, advertised that he would sell rum at a penny a bucket.  The buckets, however, were specially made for the occasion, and were solid wood, except for a small cavity in the top which contained about a teaspoonful of rum.

Men flocked to the hotel to take advantage of the offer, and it is said that they thoroughly enjoyed the joke. The little buckets were treasured as souvenirs of the historic event, and some of them are believed to be still in existence today.     (Voice (Hobart, Tas.), Saturday 3 October 1936)

https://timegents.com/2017/07/03/vauxhall-inn-granville/ (Printed with permission)

 

Similar Posts

  • The Great Depression

    Times were hard, but we survived, just as we will survive the current crisis. By 1931 30% of NSW unionists were unemployed.  By 1933 one in three Australian breadwinners was unemployed. Most public works came to a standstill during the Depression, forcing many men onto the unemployment pile.  Those who received the dole could be…

  • Who Stole Xmas Dinner

    The Barrier Miner (Broken Hill) published the following article on Wednesday, 7th January, 1953. Sydney-Early on Christmas morning an intruder entered the kitchen of the Dame Eadith Walker Hospital, Concord. The intruder put into a hospital patients’ Christmas sack:  a dressed turkey, a dressed fowl, two dressed rabbits, a leg of mutton, thirty-two mutton chops,…

  • Prince Alfred Park

    Bounded by Chalmers Street, Cleveland Street and Central Railway, Surry Hills, Prince Alfred Park played a major part in Sydney’s early history. Prior to the arrival of Europeans this area contained a tributary of Blackwattle Creek. It was known as Cleveland Paddocks after Cleveland House, built in the 1820’s and still standing at the corner…

  • Mortlake in the 1890s

    Mortlake was originally 30 hectares of land granted to John Miller, John Robertson and Benjamin Butcher in July 1795. This land was subsequently acquired by John Ward and then by his adopted heir, Alexander MacDonald. The area was originally called Bottle Point, the name used to designate the point at the head of the peninsula….

  • From Our Collection

    THIS SAMPLER was embroidered by Maria Darling in 1834.  It demonstrates her skill with embroidering letters and numbers as well as various designs within a border.  The verse reads: What is the world, all things hereTis but a bitter sweet.When I attempt a rose to pluck,A prickling thorn I meet. This is one of the…

One Comment

Mr.Peter Phelan

The Vauxhall Inn is one of my earliest memories of Sydney. Both my father and g’father had cars and I remember a day when we drove down what was Dog Trap Rd, the railway crossing was still there,