Williams' inn

Tuckfield (1971):
The first Guildford rendezvous of this [Agricultural] society was at George Williams' inn which is thought to [have been] at the Woodbridge farm (later occupied by Walter Jones and Jonathon Jecks as a hotel and later by J. Seabrook) but I have never been sure of the exact location of this farm house. (Tuckfield 1971: 75 [See Bourke below for updated information about the location.])

Carter (1986):
The meetings had been held at George Williams’ inn, possibly situated close to where the Woodbridge Hotel is now, but at the beginning of 1834, Williams moved to Perth and opened the Perth Hotel.
Previous to this, the Cleikum was the gathering point for the grandly styled Guildford Kangaroo Hunt whose members, most of them also in the Agricultural Society, boasted many of the colony’s leading gentlemen - among them George Fletcher Moore, William Locke Brockman, who was its secretary, and Peter Broun. (Carter 1986: 43-44 [See Bourke below for a different identification of the location.])

Bourke (1987):
The Agricultural Society of Western Australia founded in 1831 came to be of increasing importance in the affairs of the colony. In the absence of elected representatives to the Legislative Council it came to function as a kind of alternative, unofficial house of Parliament, and discussed matters of general interest only indirectly connected with agriculture. It held four quarterly meetings at Guildford every year, and at the end of each year compiled an annual report on the agricultural progress of the colony which it presented to its patron, the Governor. The meetings were held throughout 1833 at Mr George Williams’ inn at ‘Garden Hill’, situated on the riverside near the centre of Guildford. After each meeting, which was held on a Friday afternoon, a dinner was held for fhe members at the inn. (Bourke 1987: 89) ...
In the year 1833 there were two inns in Guildford. These were George Williams’ inn at ‘Garden Hill’ above the town’s public boat-landing place, and the ‘Cleikum Inn’, kept by James Dodds, situated above the ferry landing at West Guildford. In January 1833 the members of the Kangaroo Hunt Club of Western Australia held a dinner at the ‘Cleikum Inn’. George Williams’ inn was used for meetings and dinners of the Agricultural Society until the end of 1833, when the venue was changed to the ‘Cleikum Inn’. (Bourke 1987: 114; emphasis added)

References and Links

Bourke, Michael J. 1987, On the Swan: a History of Swan District, Western Australia, UWAP for the Swan Shire Council.

Carter, Jennie 1986, Bassendean: A Social History 1829-1979, Bassendean Town Council.

Tuckfield, Trevor 1971, 'Early colonial inns and taverns', Part 1, Early Days: Journal and proceedings of the Royal Western Australian Historical Society, 7, 3: 65-82; Part 2, Early Days, 7, 7: 98-106.

Freotopia

This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 22 August, 2020 and hosted at freotopia.org/hotels/williams.html (it was last updated on 30 November, 2023), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.