In researching the history of New Lambton’s hotels, I found that the Commonwealth Hall that was associated with the Sportsman’s Arms Hotel got moved to Belmont. In 1912 John Sperring, licensee of the Belmont Hotel, purchased the hall, had it dismantled, and then re-erected it on a site adjoining his hotel.

Mr. Sperring, licensee of the Belmont Hotel, has erected a large hall adjoining the hotel grounds. The building is 70 feet long by 30 feet wide, and will seat comfortably about 500 persons. It has a large stage capable of mounting big acts. and the floor is well adapted for dancing. The building was previously the Commonwealth Hall at New Lambton, which Mr. Sperring purchased, and had re-erected, strengthened, and generally improved in its interior decorations. The hall is frequently used by moonlight excursion parties.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 25 December 1913.

In the photograph below, the building to the left of the hotel is probably the re-erected Commonwealth Hall. John Sperring became licensee of the hotel in February 1912 and died in August 1917 while still licensee, placing the photograph below in the range 1912 to 1917.

Note that Sperring’s “Belmont Hotel” was a different establishment to the modern Belmont Hotel situated in Hitchcock Avenue. Another photograph from the Lake Macquarie History site suggests that the original Belmont Hotel was situated on the west side of Newcastle Rd (Pacific Hwy) near George St.

Confirmation of this location is found in the map on page 2 of land title Vol-Fol 1470-168, which shows opposite George St the outline of a building that matches the Belmont Hotel’s distinctive shape of protruding wings on either side, with a verandah between. The map also shows that the alignment of the property is slightly skewed to the modern subdivision boundary. This is an indication that the property and building pre-dates the DP585 subdivision, which matches the fact that the Belmont Hotel was established quite early in Belmont’s history.

The Belmont Hotel operated until 1925. In 1924 Tooth and Company purchased the historic “Gunyah” bungalow residence on the main road near Ada St, and upgraded the bungalow residence for hotel accommodation. In 1925 they built a new two storey brick building at the corner of the main road for the hotel bars and lounges. In July 1925 the licence of the old Belmont Hotel was transferred to the new building, and the name changed to “Hotel Gunyah”.

The original Belmont Hotel building near George St was referred to in August 1943 as having been “demolished a number of years ago”.

Another low resolution photograph from the Lake Macquarie History site shows the building with signage “…LLINGTONS BELMONT HOTEL”. Presumably this refers to the William Billington who was licensee between 1894 and 1898.

Licensees

Some of the licensees of the Belmont Hotel were …

• Samuel Recknan (???? to February 1888)
• George McLeod (February 1888 to January 1892)
• Samuel Fisher (January 1892 to c. December 1893)
• William Billington [Bellington] (1894 to June 1898)
• James Anderson (June 1898 to ????)
• J. H. Yardley (???? to February 1912)
• John H Sperring (February 1912 to August 1917)
• Comfort Sperring (November 1917 to 1923)
• A. G. Jewell (March 1923 to September 1924)
• Leonard Gabriel (September 1924 to July 1925)