The Skinners Family Hotel is a heritage-listed former

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

and now retail optometrist shop, located at 296 George Street, in the

Sydney central business district The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or c ...

, in the

City of Sydney The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, th ...

local government area of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. It was added to the

New South Wales State Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...

on 2 April 1999.

History

The coastal

Aboriginal people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

around

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

are known as the

Eora The Eora (''Yura'') are an Aboriginal Australian people of New South Wales. Eora is the name given by the earliest European settlers to a group of Aboriginal people belonging to the clans along the coastal area of what is now known as the Sy ...

. Central Sydney is therefore often referred to as "Eora Country". Within the City of Sydney local government area, the

traditional owners Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...

are the

Cadigal The Cadigal, also spelled as Gadigal and Caddiegal, are a group of Indigenous people whose traditional lands are located in Gadi, on Eora country, the location of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Gadigal originally inhabited the area that ...

and

Wangal The Wangal people ( Wanegal or Won-gal,) are a clan of the Dharug ( ?) Aboriginal people whose heirs are custodians of the lands and waters of what is now the Inner West of Sydney, New South Wales, centred around the Municipality of Strathfield, ...

bands of the Eora. With the invasion of the Sydney region, the Cadigal and Wangal people were decimated but there are descendants still living in Sydney today. The site of the former Skinners Hotel was part of the original

grant Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom *Castle Grant United States * Grant, Alabama *Grant, Inyo County, C ...

to Edward Riley in 1823. The property was sold to Issac Simmons in 1845 and a hotel constructed in 1845-46, designed by architect Henry Robertson. There is no documentary evidence but it appears that this is the building standing today. The building was named the Clown Hotel and the publican for 1846-49 was George Skinner. Other occupants included Andrew Torning (1849–55); Jno. Turner (1855-58); and Ralph Tolants (1858–60). In 1860 it was named Turner's Hotel, and in 1866 became known as the Clarendon Hotel. Licensees at the time were Margaret Harris and Henry Barnett. The proprietor of the hotel in 1873 was Benjamin Fyffe. From this point the building ceased to function as a hotel and became a chemist shop until 1900. Walter and Herbert Shrimpton (hatters) leased part of the premises at this time. A. H. Phillips, Orwell Phillips, A. E. Phillips, Ernest Lawton Davis and Louis Morris Phillips were joint proprietors in 1931 with an additional proprietor, Rex Cullen-Ward. A number of changes in the joint tenants resulted in the transfer of the property to Albert and Hannar Edmunds, George Laird and R. G. Holdings in 1950. Hallam Limited were the proprietors in 1925 and the property was leased to Osbourne Henry Harding and Victor Read (mercers) for the first and second floor in 1923. Hallam sold the property to the Phillips partnership in 1927 who were in possession in 1935. In 1955 the building was transferred from John Fairfax to George Coultor, and to Advance Bank Australia Limited in 1987. Advance Bank restored the building to its 1849 appearance with the assistance of architect

Clive Lucas Clive Leslie Lucas (born 14 November 1943) is an Australian restoration architect and was once the principal and founding partner of the firm Clive Lucas, Stapleton & Partners – Architects and Heritage Consultants now known as Lucas Stapleton ...

, with the restoration completed in 1989. Prior to the restoration, there were concerns that the building may have been at risk of demolition. In 2018, the building is occupied by an outlet of optometrist chain Oscar Wylee.

Description

The former Skinner's Family Hotel is a three-storey building with cellar designed in the Old Colonial Regency style. The facade features narrow small pane windows with rendered frames and projecting hoods which appear original, grouped in singles and pairs while the main internal space on the first and second floor features a wide window of three sections topped by a pediment. All windows feature blocking under the projecting sills and decorative cast iron grilles. The main entrance at ground floor level features an attached ribbed pilaster with Ionic capital supporting an entablature and hood. The interior of the (former) banking chamber is fitted out with plasterboard ceilings and rendered walls, while some of the upper floors retain some original fabric such as fireplaces and pressed metal ceilings. The windows on the upper floors appear to be original but the ground floor windows have been replaced.

Heritage listing

The Skinners Family Hotel was listed on the

on 2 April 1999. The former Skinners Hotel, located at the corner of George and

Hunter Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

Streets is highly significant as one of the few Old Colonial Regency buildings remaining in the city. The former hotel has significance as one of only four buildings in the Old Colonial Regency style in the city although it no longer has the traditional hotel uses of bar and accommodation; the other buildings in the style are the

Lord Nelson Hotel The Lord Nelson Hotel & Suites, commonly referred to as the Lord Nelson Hotel, is a Canada's grand railway hotels, grand hotel in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is located on the corner of Spring Garden Road, Halifax, Spri ...

, the

Hero of Waterloo Hotel Hero of Waterloo Hotel is a heritage-listed pub located at 81-83 Lower Fort Street, in the inner city Sydney suburb of Millers Point in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1843 to 1844. Th ...

and a commercial terrace at 246 George Street. While the Lord Nelson is the finest example of the remaining buildings, this former hotel is also significant for its strong contribution to the character of the immediate area and as one of the few remaining buildings of this style in the heart of the city. It has significance as a rare surviving example of an early hotel and as part of the network of corner hotels which provided social / recreational venues and budget accommodation in the city. It has significance as a possible site for scientific investigation due to the age of the building and continuing use of the site since the early days of European settlement. The building now carries the name of the first licensee of the hotel.

References

Attribution

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External links