Travellers Rest Inn Group

Did the walls of the Travellers Rest Inn Group whisper secrets?  I think they did. Let’s uncover those secrets together, right here at 12, 14, and 16 O’Connell Street in Parramatta. The Travellers Rest Inn Group isn’t just a building. It’s a time capsule, a former inn, residence, and now office space. It holds echoes of Parramatta’s past. Officially recognized for its historical significance, the Travellers Rest Inn Group was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on April 2, 1999. The story begins long before 1999, though. Picture Parramatta in 1823. Patrick Kirk and Samuel Larkin resided here. An 1823 map shows a building on Kirk’s portion of the land. By 1844, buildings lined O’Connell Street, mirroring the current structures. The Travellers Rest Inn Group witnessed Parramatta’s transformation. Land ownership was a tangled affair back then. Surveys were scarce and legal occupation unclear until the 1840s. Twenty-one-year leases, issued in 1823, offered a path to ownership. Kirk leased his corner, transferred it to William H. Bennett, who secured the grant. Bennett eventually held title to the entire O’Connell Street frontage between Hunter and Macquarie Streets. By the 1860s, John Champley Rutter owned three cottages here. The Sands Directories from the late 19th century reveal a revolving door of tenants. Dressmakers, contractors, stonemasons, plasterers, photographers, bakers, gardeners, and blacksmiths all called this place home. In 1898, the corner of O’Connell and Hunter Streets became the Travellers Rest, managed by D. Watsford. Next door, Miss Mary Brown ran The Wardley Home. With the advent of the aged pension in 1901, the Travellers Rest’s role as a hostel diminished.  The service became seasonal, operating only in winter months. A neighboring cottage housed widows and charity workers until 1910. Two elderly women then occupied the inn. Upon one woman’s death in 1955, it was discovered that the Benevolent Society still owned the property. Kevin Orchard purchased it in 1955, using it for storage, offices, and a 1960s two-story commercial space facing Hunter Street. Sadly, a fire damaged the house in 1986. The Travellers Rest Inn Group bears its history proudly. The original single-story brick inn and two cottages stand on a stone base. Hipped iron roofs cover the original shingles of numbers 12 and 14, while a modern roof shelters number 16. Original brick chimneys grace number 14. The original verandah and front rooms of number 14 still exist under a hip roof facing O’Connell Street. The Travellers Rest Inn Group is more than just bricks and mortar. It is the story of Parramatta, whispered through the ages.