The Armidale Express of August 16, 1889 announced the completion of building works for the new Apsley Hotel saying: “The new premises are now finished and the lessee, Mr J.M. Hamilton, intends going into them at once.
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“The gentleman named showed your correspondent over the house a few days ago.
“There are 16 bedrooms, four parlours, a large dining room, a large reading room, bathroom, kitchen and other rooms and offices that are required in connection with a large hotel.
“The whole is finished in first-class style, and reflects great credit on the contractors, Messrs Harper Bros. of Armidale.
“The balcony is guarded by a fancy iron palisade, which was prepared by Mr Goddard of Uralla.”
The balcony was a popular place from which visiting dignitaries and politicians gave public addresses to people gathered on the footpath and roadway below while the shade of the large willow tree on the left-hand side of the photo was also a much sought-after location for public functions.
The new Apsley hotel, while still in the course of construction, was the backdrop for a demonstration of civil disobedience at Walcha during the shearing troubles of November and December 1888.
Four union shearers were charged at the Walcha Police Court with obstructing non-union shearers from “exercising their lawful occupation” at several sheds in the district.
Three of the men were sentenced to six months hard labour at Armidale jail while the fourth man was given a fine.
A demonstration by an estimated 130 shearers on Monday, November 26 culminated in the burning of an effigy of one of the judges in the then open tract of land between the Court House and the hotel building site.
A second demonstration took place on the following Friday with the centrepiece being a coffin accompanied by an undertaker wearing a hat with black streamers.
A mock funeral service was held outside the hotel, with the coffin then buried in disturbed soil on the hotel site.
The balcony was closed in over the years, as was most of the ground level veranda.
This was a common enough practice for both domestic and commercial buildings during the hard times before and after World War II.
The Harvey family undertook extensive refurbishment of the hotel in 2004, which restored much of the building's original appearance, at least in so far as liquor licensing laws would permit.
Building contractor Malcolm Ballard recalls a few remnants of the old cast iron balustrade were still in position behind the cladding on the building.
