The Orient Hotel is a heritage-listed pub located at 87–89 George Street, in the inner city Sydney suburb of The Rocks in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1843 to 1844. The property is owned by Property NSW, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 10 May 2002.
History This site was in the original grounds of Sydney's first hospital complex and later was enclosed by fencing to become a part of the Surgeon General's residence. In June 1828, the allotment was part of a land grant made to Captain John Piper.
Ownership by Frederick Unwin The Orient Hotel site was classified in the general surveys of the town undertaken in the 1830s, ostensibly to formalise land boundaries and entitlements, as Lot 1 of City Section 85. By the time of the survey the allotment was in the ownership of the merchant Frederick Wright Unwin. Unwin had acquired the property from Mary Reibey in November 1828. Reibey's interest in the property lasted a matter of five months, over which time its value had increased from in June 1828 to on its sale in November. Reibey's intentions had been more long term however for she proposed to erect three houses along the George Street frontage. Owing to a problem with the land title (it not been issued and the extent of the George Street frontage was in dispute) Reibey evidently decided not to proceed further.
Unwin retained ownership over the boom years of the 1830s, only selling when the inevitable crash came in the early 1840s with total debts mounting to . Unwin was a solicitor and had come to the colony in 1827. Over the 1820s and 1830s he invested heavily in property in both the town and country. The George Street property was one of his earliest investments. Unwin's purchase in 1828 was inclusive of a stone building in the course of construction. Then construction of this building had in fact commenced during Piper's ownership and was described as "a building of great extent and expense". It was reported in the Sydney Gazette in 1826 that Piper had engaged 30–40 mechanics (carpenters, stonemasons, etc.) in its construction. It seems unlikely that this building was on the Orient Hotel site, and the exact use of the site during Unwin's ownership is not known. It would seem the building on the site may have been required to be demolished for the widening of George Street for which Unwin was compensated . Prior to the sale of the property in 1841, Unwin subdivided the land to form a number of allotments of which Lots 1 and 2 are historically associated with the Orient Hotel site.
Ownership by James Chapman and family The pair of allotments were bought by the carcass butcher James Chapman in February 1842 for . It was Chapman who erected, probably in 1842, a three-storey residence of ten rooms and a neighbouring single storey shop, which were the first stage of what evolved over the nineteenth century into the Orient Hotel. The residence was one of the most valuable on George Street North on its completion and fitted, according to the council assessor, with every convenience on its first entry in the rate book for Gipps Ward in 1845.
Chapman by the 1840s had arguably some standing in the local community for he was a foundation councillor of the City Corporation (Council) in its first term of 1842–1845; he represented Gipps Ward that took in The Rocks. His business was evidently quite extensive in maintaining slaughter yards at Blackwattle Bay and was a large cattle buyer at Smithfield market. Over the mid-1840s Chapman had developed his land holding on George Street to benefit his business with the 1848 rate assessment noting the rear yard area with a brick stable and wooden shed. Chapman died in 1856 but for some years after his estate was contested by the property developer Andrew Hardie McCulloch. Henry Milford was subsequently appointed by the Supreme Court in June 1858 as trustee of Chapman' estate.
Conversion to a licensed premises The Chapman family continued to own the property until his estate was settled in 1858. The shop at 87 George Street was retained by James' widow, Esther, but the family residence at 89 George Street was sold to James Kelly in April 1859; the purchase price was (inclusive of other neighbouring properties). By this time the building had been converted to licensed premises trading under the sign of the Marine Hotel since 1853 under the management of the following licensees:
1853William Chapman 1854Richard Chapman 1856Samuel Miller 1858James G. Chapman or Christopher Chapman
The impetus for Chapman's move into the licensed hotel trade undoubtedly was associated with the discovery of gold and the wealth generated in the southern and western goldfields of NSW. In the gold rush decades of the 1850s and 1860s, businesses in the City readily met the demands for accommodation and other services and goods generated by the influx of gold seeking migrants. The association between The Rocks and the sea and seafarers is also clearly demonstrated in the name of the hotel. This association is also demonstrated in the establishment of the Sydney Sailors' Home in 1865 and the Bethel Chapel (Mariners' Church) in 1859, both fronting George Street and near the Orient Hotel.
Ownership by James Kelly While James Kelly continued to own the hotel until 1876 the hotel was managed by a succession of publicans, inclusive of:
1860Henry S. Green 1859, 1861–1867William Jonathan Green 1868Vacant 1869–1871Catherine Brown 1873Samuel Reeve 1875–1876Mrs Delia Reeve
Ownership by Gustave Buckham Kelly sold the hotel to Gustave Buckham in March 1876 for . Buckham then renamed it Buckham's Hotel. Buckham evidently arranged for alterations to the hotel increasing the number of rooms to 21 from the 10 under Kelly's ownership. As with the previous ownership, Buckham managed the hotel through a succession of publicans. This practice resulted in the frequent renaming of the hotel, evidently to entice trade on the good reputation of the publican. Over 1877-79 it was known as Buckham's, and then May's Family Hotel under publican James H. May until 1881, Pries' Family Hotel between 1882 and 1883, and Brown's Family Hotel under Peter Brown. These publicans had long standing associations with Sydney's hotel trade. John H. P. Pries for example had started in the trade at the now demolished Woolpack Inn in Haymarket. He then opened the Pries' Family Hotel and afterwards moved back to southern end of the town to manage the Golden Gate on Brickfield Hill.
In 1885 the hotel was renamed the Orient under the new licensee Walter McCombie. The name change reflects the broader changes occurring in the wharf area relating to the development of Campbell's Wharf, which had been sold in 1876 to the Australasian Steam Navigation Company. (ASN Co.). The ASN Co. rebuilt the wharf and moved its operations from Darling Harbour and also it to international shipping companies. From 1877 the steamers of the Orient Steam Navigation Line berthed here, hence, evidently, the name of the hotel. The licensees after McCombie were:
1886–1887John Hennessy 1888–1893Peter Brown (the same Peter Brown as above) 1894Arthur H. Lack 1895D. Davies 1896Peter Roseby 1897George Gardiner 1898–1899Jane Jones 1900–01J. De Mery 1902–03Berkley Dawson 1904Leonard C. Kennan 1905–1917John Bolsdon 1918–1919Robert C. West 1920–1921Michael Ryan
Ownership and use of 87 George Street The residential nature of The Rocks area is demonstrated at the Orient Hotel site in the shop/store (now removed) at 87 George Street. The Chapmans retained this property until November 1861 when the trustee for the late James Chapman sold it to Thomas Andrew Drysdale of Melbourne for . Drysdale retained ownership until the resumption in 1900. Over this period the premises housed a diverse range of uses that in many instances used the rear yard area to undertake light manufacturing. The uses were inclusive of the following:
1858James Chapman, butcher 1861E. Chapman 1863Thomas Hunter, poultry dealer 1864Henry Harris, fruiterer 1865–1868Law & Tinsley, hay & corn dealer 1869George Law, produce store 1870George Walburn, hay and corn dealer 1871Vacant 1873Daniel Cahill 1875–1876Charles Banern, boarding house 1877–1880Mrs Mary Boddy, fruiterer 1882William House, butcher 1883Vacant 1884–97Alexander McLeod, brass founder, plumber, blacksmith. The Canonside Foundry 1898No listing 1899Jim Lee, laundry 1900William Schneider, bootmaker 1901No listing 1902–03C. Gaudron, laundry 1904No Listing 1905Joseph Thiering, yachtsmith 1906–07Janitzky & Fletcher, assayers and analysts 1908–1914J. R. Reid, boot polish manufacturer 1915–1918John E. Hunt, electrical engineer 1919–1924R. M. Crabbe, oil brokers, oil and varnish manufacturer 1925–1930Graham and Pinder, carpenters and joiners
Acquisition of head lease by Tooth & Co
A longstanding use of note here is Alexander McLeod's Canonside Foundry that operated for most of the 1880s and 1890s as it relates to the provision of marine engineering services. Initially the commercial licensed operation continued under the management of the publicans listed above. Around 1920 Resch's Limited entered into a head-lease with the Housing Board over the property. Associated with the coming of Resch's was the completion in 1922 of major additions to the hotel. This work was undertaken for the Housing Board, William Henry Foggitt being its architect at the time. This was the first of a number of alterations undertaken over the following years in 1929, in 1940 and 1961. The role of the hotel in this era continued as both licensed premises and as a place of accommodation. In 1930 the head lease was acquired by Tooth and Co. and then in 1948 it was taken on by British Breweries Pty Ltd. Over this period and up to the 1970s the licensees were held by:
1922–1934Frances Cooper 1935–1942J. Rohan 1942G. E. Edworthy 1943–1945A. Walker 1945(Mrs) A. N. Carey 1945P. J. O'Gorman 1946–1948(Mrs) J. Overall 1948H. C. Erickson 1948–1950E. J. Ward 1950E. G. Black 1951–1957J. Myerson 1957H. O. Hall 1957R. Martin 1958–1960J. T. A. Moon 1960Mr Gibbs 1960K. D. Foster 1960J. A. Gibson 1961W. J. C. Luscombe 1962Mrs Debus 1962A. L. & T. A. Cawood 1963–1969J. H. Button 1969M. J. Hicks 1969(Mrs) M. M. Hutchings
Resumption by the NSW Government While The Rocks was administered parsimoniously by the government, the potential of West Circular Quay for international shipping and for its administration headquarters was actively pursued. In the decades following the World War II the Maritime Services Board built a new international passenger terminal in 1961 and new administrative offices in the mid-1950s. Coincidental with the shipping terminal development was a change in the management of the Orient Hotel with the head-lease being taken on by Miller's Brewery Pty. Ltd. in 1960. Miller's were formerly British Breweries Ltd. with the new company being founded by Robert W. Miller around 1951. Over the 1950s and 1960s the brewery provided serious competition to Tooths and Tooheys who traditionally dominated the Sydney market. Their former brewery still stands atop Taverners Hill on the Parramatta Road at Petersham. Miller's ownership would seem to have had only a marginal impact on the building with only the bar area being altered in 1961.