Windsor and Richmond Gazette (NSW : 1888 - 1965), Friday 26 August 1927, page 14


'THE ROSE AMD CROWH INN'

ROMANCE OF FAMOUS CORNER

^y One© again attention is focused upon (the ?south-eastern ; corner of' King and Castlereagh streets, Sydney. In all great cities there are parts where the romance of ^history lingers; such a corner is 'The Daily Telegraph' corner, for with it is associated a pioneer whose extraordinary history provides one of our most interesting romance's. During 1806 all the land from King-street to Market- street, along the east side of Cha

pel Row, since called Castlereagh-street, was granted for 14 years to Thomas Rose, at a 'peppercorn' rental, and on the: corner of King-street he opened the, Rose and Crown Inn, one of the most notable houses in early Sydney. I Who was this Thomas Rose, arid what were his antecedents? People asked that over 100 years ago; and to-day people are spending considerable time and money trying to solve the same . problem, for behind his history, it is thought, are millions of pounds sterling. Thomas Rose was 25 years of age when 5he arrived in Sydney in 1798; ten. 'years afterwards he opened the Rose and Crown. An educated, much travelled, and aristocratic type of man was 'mine host,' and his house soon became a popular resort of the military officers and young bloods about town. Rose 'was a puzzle to all his ,: customers. It was said that lie. had come to the colony in bondage. Tradition associated him with an early morning affair on Hamstead Heath, in which pistols and hot coffee were involved, and it was said there was a. lady in the case. Rose, however, denied this, and sa'id he paid his passage :out and arrived with gold in his pockets. Now, well over 100 years after, a high authority, in England states that no one named Rose was exiled in 1798. ; , But the custoruers of the Rose and Crown troubled their heads very little over such :Pne points, for were not some of the ' weal-thiect men in town true patriots? 'For be it understood, they left their country for their Country's good.' : : ..: , The 'Rose and Crown' was' 'a sporting, house, and Host Rose leased the /present Hyde Park, and had a racecourse there, where he ran his own horses, and, fortune smiled' upon the snug little house on the corner, whose owner amassed wealth; and, turning his thoughts to those pursuits more becoming a gentleman of rank and means, he acquired considerable acreage, and employed much labor, both bond and free, and the' 'Rose and Crown' knew him no longer. Rose became a country squire; acquired a fine estate, known as Mt. Gilead, where he erected a windmill. He drove in his own' carriage, 'emblazoned with his crest; he became quite a picturesque personage in old Parramatta, where his carriage was subsequently sold, and where his heavy gold watch, embellished with rare and precious

gems — a wedding gift from England — is still rerhembered. Time has wrought many changes— play-ing havoc with old ^Sydney— since the' 'Rose and Crown' hung out its sign on the corner of King and Castlereagh streets. Thomas Rose sleeps his last long sleep .in Campbelltown Churchyard— he died during 1873, but the fragrance of an old romance lingers around the corner, a romance, if tradition be true, ? greater than most imagine. —WILLIAM FREAME. A VISITOR to the Hawkesbury last week ?^ was Mr. Lou. Berrfcelman, brother of Mr. A. J. Berckelman, the genial secretary of the District Hospital. Mr. L. Berckelman spent his halycon days in Windsor, and in renewing acquaintances with many old pals recalled : some arriusing incidents of his youth. He came up specially to attend the annual Hospital Ball at St. Albans, a locality which he had not seen for over 30 years. .Whilst at the pretty Mac -donald River centre, the visitor recalled the occasion, ,much to the delight of the inhabitants, when a team of cricketers from Windsor visited that centre about 35 years ago, Among the Windsor 'flannel fools' were Messrs R. B. Walker, M.L. A., Archie Walker, J. T. ? Tebbutt, -J. C L. Fitzpatrick, M.L.A., F. W. Collison, Halse Paine, R. Collins, Fred .. Ross and S. MeMahon . They were known in those days as 'The Gussies,' but St. Albans was too good for them at cricket. . Windsor only got 15 runs, and they cOuVdn't get the river team out! At that time Mrs. Delandre kept the hotel at St . Albans, and Archie Walker delighted the populace at nights with the rendering of 'Where did you , get' that hat?'' Later a cruel joke was played on Jack Fitzpatrick, when he was induced to give a lecture on the Queensland Kanaka Question!