Record series
Index to Defunct Hotel Licences
VPRS 8159
1907 - 1977
Open
North Melbourne
Agencies
This record series was created by:
Licences Reduction Board ( VA2906 ): 1907 - 1968
Liquor Control Commission ( VA1110 ): 1968 - 1977
Agencies responsible for this record series: Liquor Licensing Commission ( VA 2869 ): 1988 - 1998
Date Range
Series date range: 1907 - 1977
Series in custody:
1907 - 2011
Contents in custody:
1850 - 1977
Function / Content
This series consists of an index to metropolitan and country hotels whose licences have ceased. Hotel licences could become defunct in a number of ways; through the deprivation/surrender process established in 1907, through being abandoned, or lapsing through non-renewal, and after 1968 through being cancelled by the Liquor Control Commission.Over a period of time, while the primary function of this series has been to document the cessation of licences, the emphasis and function of the record has varied according to the needs of the successive recording agencies.
Deprivation and Surrender: A systematic and orderly process for the reduction of hotel licences in Victoria was first instituted in 1907 under the provisions of the Licences Amendment Act 1906 (No.2068) which established the Licences Reduction Board to carry out this function.
The Board was to reduce the number of victuallers' licences in Victoria by:
*assessing the maximum compensation allowable for loss of licence to owner and licensee
*determining which premises in each district should be closed
*determining the actual compensation payable to the owner and licensee
A general survey of all hotels licensed before 1886 was conducted to determine the maximum compensation payable in the event of a licence being deprived.
This series would appear to have been created in conjunction with this initial survey as a record of the process and determinations of the Board in regard to the deprivation/surrender of liquor licences.
The cards record:
*Hotel name, location, licensing district, (licensing) Group Centre
*Ownership details at 1907, and often, previous owners and brief details of transfer of ownership
*Licensee's name, address and date, often with licensees for the previous few years listed
Other entries on the cards are often blank. These include:
*Municipal value (of the premises)
*The date the valuation notice sent
*Show Cause Summons issued (court procedure to institute determination proceedings)
*Compensation (amount paid)
*Determination Notice
*Date First Sitting
*Claim received
More often than not the cards just record the date the licence was deprived or surrendered and the amount of compensation paid. Every card in this series created by the Licences Reduction Board relates to a hotel which received a valuation notice as part of the initial survey conducted by the Board.
Later Use of the Record: However, not all the licences surveyed by the Board became defunct as a result of this initial survey. Well into the 1970's, the index continued to be used as a record of licences which had ceased. Licences which ceased in the later period have had various other index cards pertaining to that licence stapled to them. It would appear that whenever a licence became defunct all other index cards used in the agency for that licence including cards recording Inspector's Orders, plans, alterations, and details of sale/lease, were removed from their normal sequence and placed together in this index. The core of these other index sequences from which these cards were culled were known to be not extant at the time of transfer of this series. It is not known whether a subsequent index to defunct licences was produced as an output of the computerised licensing system established in 1979.
The top-most card attached to the original Licences Reduction Board card would record the date of deprivation or cancellation diagonally across the card. These later cards were created by the central licensing administration, from 1917-1953 VA 2955 the Licensing Court of Victoria, and from 1953-1968 VA 2905 Victorian Licensing Court. From 1968 the Liquor Control Commission VA 1110 had responsibility for both general licensing and licence deprivation.
Pre 1907 Licenses: Another set of smaller white cards relating to each licence represented in the main body of the index appears to have been created and attached to the back of the original cards in the early 1970's. These cards would appear to record the names of the licensees of each hotel prior to 1907. This information would seem to have been collected from a source such as the licence case files. This series of case files, transferred to the PRO as VPRS 7712 contains very few records of 19th century licences. One theory which could explain the non-existence of the early files and the presence of these cards is that the information was compiled from files of licences which were defunct, the files were then destroyed and the cards attached as a summary record. These cards give the name of successive licensees and the dates the licence changed hands, and record information dating from the 1850's.
In the last unit of this series there is another sequence of these small white cards which appear to relate to hotel licences which no longer exist but for which no original LRB card existed for them to be attached to perhaps because they became defunct before 1907. These cards record a minimum of information about the licensee and are arranged alphabetically by hotel name.
How to use the records
The records are arranged in alphabetical order by name of hotel. Refer to Consignment Details to identify the unit in which you are interested.Recordkeeping system
Cards were arranged alphabetically by hotel name.Range of Control Symbols:
Series: A - Z
Contents: Abbotsford - Zanoni; Admiral Napier - Yarra Flats
