Located at 37 Gardiner Street
Portion 205 was purchased on 14 August 1860 by Harry Moxham, son-in-law and former employee of Susannah Brown and the late William Brown. Harry then engaged James Markey to construct a hotel. The Black Swan Hotel was officially opened on 30 June the following year. The population in Wagga Wagga at that time was just 627 but it was growing rapidly (it was 1858 in 1871) and the punt was still used for crossing the river. In the following year the first bridge over the Murrumbidgee River at Wagga Wagga was constructed by a private company. Moxham remained the proprietor of the Black Swan until 1876.
In 1882, the hotel was purchased by John Remington Pratt. By this time, it was the only hotel left in Gardiner Street as the North Wagga Hotel and the Ferry Hotel had closed, not coming up to the requirements of the new act. John Pratt himself was the licensee until 1891 and then again from 1895 to 1900.
When John Pratt died at the hotel on 9 April 1904, his widow Ann (nee Hurst) held the license. When she died at the hotel on 15 May 1915, her daughter-in-law, Angelina (known as ‘Jean’) Pratt took over the management of the hotel. She transferred the license to Alfred Lysaught, who was previously the publican at Prince Alfred Hotel at Alfredtown (near Wagga Wagga), in May 1921.
In 1921 there was a move to reduce the number of Publican Licenses. Nineteen local hotels including the Black Swan had to show why their licenses should not be taken away. A. Lysaught testified that the Black Swan was a one-storey brick building with seven bedrooms including five or six of these available to the public, plus two parlours and one bar. It catered mainly for farmers and farm labourers and travelers and therefore not available for boarders. There was a big stock and camping reserve nearby and a good grazing paddock attached. On average thirty head of horses were depastured. Several men gave evidence that the hotel was necessary for men coming to town with their wheat and chaff.
After the Black Swan was damaged in the 1925 flood, it was auctioned in February 1926. It was on 13 acres of land, and it was fully furnished and equipped with a license, goodwill and early occupancy. The new owner, James Hurst Granleesa, obtained permission from the Licensing Court, Wagga Wagga, to effect additions and material alterations and building.
In 1947 the Black Swan Hotel was sold to a syndicate from the Blue Mountains and the license of the Black Swan was transferred to Leslie Eric Quinn, former manager in the Woodburn area and he had been the Acting Manager of the Blue Mountains Hotels Pty Ltd. He died suddenly at the Wagga Wagga Base Hospital in October 1950 aged 58.
By 1951 the Black Swan had become one of the hotels in which the Whelan family of Maroubra had interests. The family was the biggest hotel empire in NSW outside of the Tooths or Tooheys hotels. It had interests in a total of thirty-five NSW city and suburban hotels. Francis Noel (‘Frank’) Thomas was the manager.
For a full history of the Black Swan hotel go to - "https://www.wwdhs.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/black-swan-hotel-as-published_amendment-20191127.pdf"
