Camp Hotel’s curious history
• The Camp Hotel. Photo supplied by Dorset Tasmania History Society.
By Daisy Baker
April 01, 2020
It’s hard to believe that the now overgrown and derelict property at the foot of the Billycock was once a bustling watering hole for workers in the late 1800s, known as the Camp Hotel.
The hotel opened in 1877 as a horse-changing station and rest stop on the road to further east.
It was established primarily to service the traffic from the Branxholm, Ringarooma and Derby mines.
The property had been a camp prior to becoming a hotel, hence its name.
The exact details of the Camp Hotel’s sale history are not known but it was listed for sale in 1879, available for sale or rent in 1880 and then again in 1883.
In 1884, the Hotel was taken over by William Henry Webb, who was known as Henry.
According to A W Loone, Webb was a “well-known man on this Coast from the earliest pioneer days”.
In his early life, he was a keeper of sheep and while he was the proprietor of the Camp Hotel, he was known as a grower of “good onions”.
“Webb was quite an interesting character in himself, and could always see the comical side of life,” Loone wrote.
It’s believed Webb may have taken over the Camp Hotel for his daughter Rhoda, aged 23, who was married to Thomas Alfred Charles (Charles) Crocker.
When Crocker died in 1893, Rhoda continued to live at The Camp with their five children.
She remarried in 1895 to Isaac Reeves/Reeve who is believed to have taken over the license of the Hotel in 1896.
In the same year, Webb was granted the license for the Commercial Hotel at Ringarooma.
When the Scottsdale-Branxholm railway extension opened in 1911, the Camp Hotel’s trade died down, so the Reeve family converted it into a family home.
Rhoda was the postmistress at Tulendeena for a number of years until 1941, operating a post and telegraph office in the building known as the Old Camp Hotel.
She passed away while still living at the Camp in 1946, aged 85.
It is not known when the site ceased being an occupied house.
The Dorset Tasmania History Society have kindly shared their archival information about the Camp Hotel for this story.
Over the coming months, we will be collaborating with them for more stories about historical figures and buildings throughout the North-East.
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