The next licensee was George Killop. He had already been refused a conditional licence for a place being used as a boarding house very close to the station. When the opportunity for the Terminus came up, he must have been keen to seize the next best location. The licence then swapped backwards and forwards between various Killops with a brief stint back with Charles Thomas, a year with Arch McLaughlin (for so long the ‘Boniface’ of the Court House Hotel) before in 1911 it went to Patrick Bernard Daley.
Patrick Daley is one of the most fascinating characters in Cobar history. He arrived in the area from down Hillston way, along with his brother William and his wife Mary Josephine, née Kelly, and a troupe of his Kelly relatives. They held the Booroomugga Government Tank lease for a while, then the Kellys leased Booroomugga itself. The Daleys moved to Wrightville, just around the corner and within walking distance of Cobar. There they had the Family Hotel in Wrightville, the Royal Hotel at the tiny mining town of Illewong, and acquired a number of buildings that they leased out. As a prominent citizen and respectable property owner, Patrick became an Alderman of the Wrightville Municipal Council. Five of the buildings he owned were rented as dwellings and the sixth was leased as the Police Station.
This is perfect because you might be better acquainted with Patrick Daley under the name ‘Patsy’. As a wild young man, Patsy Daley joined Ben Hall’s gang of bushrangers. He had the great good fortune of being caught before he either shot anyone or was himself shot. After ten years in prison, he was released as a reformed character.
So, yes, the former bushranger owned the Police Station. It doesn’t get better than that, really.
Patrick Daley had the reputation of being a quiet and peaceful man who kept a good house. He suffered ill-health and went to Sydney in 1914 to seek medical treatment. While there, he died, and was buried in Rookwood cemetery. The Cobar Herald remembered him as a man of great physique, able to withstand the inroads of his illness for longer than a man less strong. He was of a retiring disposition but noted as a generous man. His widow and two daughters were mentioned in the newspaper, but nothing about his early life – although everyone certainly knew who he was.
After his death, the family continued to run the hotel, only leaving in the early 1920s, along with everyone else. Patrick’s widow, Mary, married his younger brother, William, definitely keeping everything in the family.
As Cobar faded, so did the Terminus become terminal. The last-known publican was Arch Mitchell, who held it briefly in 1922-23, and then every last living trace disappeared.
