Although now reduced to a single pub town, over the years Eden
has been able to boast at least seventeen hotels at various times in its
lengthy history.
It was in 1843 with the construction of Benjamin Boyd's
Seahorse Hotel that the Eden
district got its first hotel. After arriving in Colonial NSW the previous year,
Boyd & his entourage left Sydney
in his paddle steamer Seahorse in
December 1842, stopping in to inspect Twofold
Bay along the way. Young artist
Oswald Brierly, a member of the group, recorded his impressions of the then
rudimentary settlement, noting in his diary that "Twofold Bay & the
surrounding country was nearly as primitive in its appearance at this time as
when Bass first visited in his whale boat in 1797...Our first business upon
landing was to make a Large tent with some old sails, & to dig for water,
which we easily found within a few feet of the surface near the beach, &
having got our things on shore from the steamer, soon had everything very
comfortable."
![]() |
The Seahorse Inn, C. 1920s. |
Setting his sights on Twofold
Bay for his shipping port & as the
lynch pin of his envisaged maritime & pastoral empire, Boyd purchased 640
acres at Eden's first land sales in
March 1843. He quickly began developing his self named Boyd Town settlement,
establishing all the necessary conveniences for the private township.
Amongst the most prominent of the features was the Seahorse
Inn. A June 1843 report noted that Boyd was "...building a very extensive
hotel on the ground he purchased from the government at the late sale, & a
large number of mechanics are employed on the work, which is being progressed
with as rapidly as circumstances will admit."
![]() |
The Seahorse Inn as originally constructed. |
Built mainly of rubble construction, locally sourced
material used in the structure included stone, clay for bricks burnt on site
& hardwood pit sawn nearby, but in typical Boyd style, a range of supplies
were also imported from Sydney, including Pyrmont sandstone for the
foundations, cedar & oak for doors, mantles & panelling, & the scores
of tradesmen needed to complete the project.
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The Seahorse Inn's ruins featured in the 1912 edition of the Illawarra & South Coast Steam Navigation Company's handbook. |
March 1843 saw the an advertisement noting that "...for
the convenience of passengers going to & returning from Maneroo, this Hotel
will be conducted in a manner calculated to give satisfaction to the public,
& as nearly as possible at English Prices..." & ever the optimist,
Boyd began promoting the merits of the Seahorse Hotel before it had even been
completed. It was noted in April 1843 that “...this hotel will be completed in
a few weeks...”
Four months later, however, the building was still
unfinished, & materials & workmen continued to arrive throughout 1843
& 1844, while in December 1844, Mary Ann Ponsonby wrote that her husband
& father were engaged "plastering a large Hotell [sic]..." at
Boyd Town.
![]() |
The Seahorse Inn, C. 1930s. |
Finally, by 1845, the inn was a going concern & in June
that year Lawrence Corcoran transferred the license to John Abbot, who remained
but a short time, & when it was renewed in1846, John A. Kaye was noted as
the proprietor of the Sea Horse Hotel.
![]() |
The Seahorse Inn, C. 1930s. |
Mainly Elizabethan in style, with elements of Georgian &
Tudor architecture, the inn was apparently constructed from a sketch plan drawn
up by Boyd himself. Made up of two main structures totalling 22 rooms, running
parallel with each other & joined by a central hall way, the building was
surrounded by a brick wall broken by a number of gate ways. Taking its name
from Boyd's paddle steamer, the Seahorse Inn was able to boast a billiard
table, bars, tap room, kitchen, pantry, cellar, dining room, store area, bedrooms
& attics, & after Boyd Town became a regular port of call for the
vessels plying the coastline between Sydney, Melbourne & Hobart, it
provided first class accommodation for visitors & residents.
![]() |
Seahorse Inn, C. 1930s. |
Captain W. H. Saunders of Edgecumbe, near Sydney,
commented in 1846 that "...the hotel is now completed & is perhaps the
most commodious in the colony..." while in 1848, it was described as
"...a splendid hotel in the Elizabethan style (one of the most unique
establishments in the colony)..."
![]() |
Ben Baddeley (left) & friends visiting the Seahorse Inn, 1936. |
By 1847, Henry M. Rucker was listed as the Seahorse Inn's
licensee, transferring the business to Anthony Falkner mid-year & in 1848,
he advertised that "...Settlers of Maneroo & the surrounding district
will find superior accommodation...together with a choice selection of wines,
spirits, beers, &c..."
![]() |
The Seahorse Inn, C. 1940s. |
Falkner continued to operate the Seahorse Inn until, in the
wake of the collapse of Boyd's empire, the settlement went in to decline, so in
1850 he applied to transfer the license to the Shamrock Inn in the Government township
of Eden. The Boydtown settlement,
including the Seahorse, then gradually fell into disrepair until 1936 when the
Whiter family bought the property & set about restoring the building.
![]() |
The Seahorse Inn, C. 1960s. © The estate of A. C. ("Bubby") George. |
![]() |
The Seahorse Inn from Boydtown Beach, C. 1960s. © The estate of A. C. ("Bubby") George. |
© Angela George.
Bibliography:
- Balfe, R. R. (comp.), Shipping in Ports of the Bega Valley Shire Region 1803 - 1846, October 1995.
- Bega Gazette
- Bega Standard
- AONSW, Bench Books Eden Court of Petty Sessions
- AONSW Colonial Secretary's Publican's License Certificates
- Brierly, Oswald, Journal and Diaries, ML
- Candelo & Eden Union & South Auckland Advocate
- Clarke, Patricia, A Colonial Woman - The Life and Times of Mary Braidwood Mowle, Eden Killer Whale Museum, 3rd edition, 2000.
- Cornell, John Bernard (comp.) Local History Notes, n.p., n.d.
- Eden Magnet
- Frew Papers, ML
- Gardner, Lyndsay, Eden-Monaro to 1850 - A Regional History, unpublished thesis, University College, Canberra, ACT.
- Heaton, J. A. Australian Dictionary of Dates and Men of the Times, S. W. Silver and Co., 1879
- Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser
- Melbourne Argus
- McKenzie, J. A. S., The Twofold Bay Story, Eden Killer Whale Museum, 1991.
- NSW Births, Deaths and Marriage records.
- NSW Government Gazette
- Pambula Voice
- Perkins, J. A. Index to J. A. Perkins Papers, Monaro District Items 1823 - 1858, vols. 1, 2, Manly, NSW
- Perkins Papers, NLA
- Ponsonby, Mary Ann, Letter, December 6, 1844, Bega Valley Genealogy Society
- Port Phillip Patriot
- Ryan, Kenneth Bruce, Towns and Settlements of the South Coast, NSW, PhD, Australian National University, 1965.
- Shipping Gazette
- Sydney Mail
- Sydney Morning Herald
- Webster Pike, Douglas, (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Melbourne University Press, 1966 - 74
- Wellings, H. P. Benjamin Boyd in Australia (1842 - 1849)
- Wellings, H. P. Eden and Twofold Bay - Discovery, Early History and Points of Interest 1797 - 1965
- Wells, William Henry, A Geographic Dictionary or Gazeteer of the Australian Colonies, W. and F. Ford, Sydney, 1848
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