LOCAL author and president and research officer of the Harden-Murrumburrah Historical Society Inc Robyn Atherton will launch her latest book, a history of hotels and the people involved with them in the Harden Shire, at this year’s Australia Day Awards ceremony in Newson Park on January 26.
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The book is called Pubs, Publicans & People and is a catalogue of hotels in the history of the Harden Shire.
As the cover notes of her book state: hotels have proved to be a barometer of society with the building, demolition and closing of public houses, such as hotels, inns and taverns, being synonymous with the movement of people and the changing culture of the society that they house.
The cessation of convict transportation, the gold rush, the Robertson Land Act, the coming of the railway providing passenger and freight transport, the automobile and World Wars all played a part in the history of hotels in what is now the Harden Shire.
She says the aim of the book is to record the fact that many hotels were erected to serve the needs of travellers and residents alike and to note the publicans and proprietors who took opportunity or the gamble on running a hotel.