It was with some surprise when members of Yass & District Historical Society recently learned the name of the iconic Royal Hotel is set to disappear from Comur St.
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President of the society Cheryl Mongan said, “The Royal Hotel is the longest continually licensed hotel in Yass. It would be a pity if its link to its rich history was lost and forgotten.”
Both the Royal Hotel and the original Yass Hotel were part of the beginning of the commercial history of Yass.
Early records show the Yass Hotel, a simple single-story building, was granted a publican’s licence on February 10, 1846.
Moses Moses was the owner and licencee of the hotel at the corner of Rossi and Comur Streets from the early 1840s, until his death in 1858 when his wife (and others) periodically held the licence until the late 1860s.
It continued as a hotel until approximately the early 1920s, when newspaper reports showed that it had become the Yass Hostel, run by Mrs Olive Davis.
In 1936, it was reported that Mr Bert Asprey had remodeled the building into a large and modern garage. By 1948, it was the Whalan & Bryson Garage and all vestiges of its history as a hotel were gone.
The story of the Royal Hotel began with the arrival of Henry Hart in Yass. Perhaps, Henry was encouraged to travel to Yass by uncle Moses Moses, proprietor of the White Hart Inn and Yass Hotel.
At first, Henry ran another inn, The Rose, at the lower end of Rossi Street, until he built the Royal Hotel, which opened in 1849. An early photograph shows the Royal Hotel with Henry’s name above its main entrance.
In contrast to the simple Yass Hotel, the Royal Hotel was a grand building. It boasted an elegant, iron-work balcony along its first floor. A ballroom resided on the first floor and a concert room on the ground floor.
Some thought Mr Hart had built on the outskirts of town, at the corner of Meehan and Comur Street, but with major floods later destroying buildings by the river the location proved an excellent choice and became the centre of town.
The Royal was the venue of choice for functions and celebrations, including the 1854 luncheon to celebrate the opening of Hume Bridge.
In 1868, the Chorale and Dramatic Society held their first performance in the Royal Hotel. The first telegraphic message from Sydney was received in a specially set-up room at the Royal Hotel on August 25, 1858. In 1874, the Yass Courier reported the departure of Henry Hart and his family from Yass.
Until now, despite many changes in ownership, management and facades, the Royal Hotel with its rich history has continued to be a part of life in Yass.
