In 1904 the Australian Town and Country Journal visited Canbelego and profiled the community and the nearby Mount Boppy Mine (sometimes Boppy Mount Mine), taking care to mention the three hotels in the town;
“Boppy Mount” wails a lonely-looking railway official as the train to Cobar – 30 miles or so further west – slows into a melancholy little station, about half-past 3 in the afternoon. At the rear of the station buildings rises an isolated and precipitous hill, against whose sombre face the brilliant scarlet railway water-tower stands out in bold relief. This is Mount Boppy. One looks around for the township and spies, on the opposite side of the line, a solitary ‘pub’.…One constantly hears the people of Canbelego remark that, although they have perhaps the premier gold mine in the State, their town is almost unknown to the outside world. Even its name, they aver, is rarely spelt correctly….. Canbelego appears as though having “come to stay.” The hessian and iron buildings, so common a feature in the above, are absent here, all the houses being neatly built of weatherboard. One of the proprietors of a sawmill in the out-skirts of the township informs me that they can-not, with their present appliances, cope with orders for timber. In the main street are three well-built hotels, six stores, two butchers’ shops, a baker’s, blacksmith’s, and billiard salloons, cool drink shops, and boarding-houses innumerable…. I give illustrations of the three hotels of the town, which are all situated in the main street; all doing well, and all hoping to do much better in the immediate future. They are as follow: The Commercial, kept, by Mr. William Hassett and the Miners’ Arms, by Mrs. E. Morris; and the Royal, by Mr. Fred. Cooper. This last-named was the first hotel established in Canbelego….”
Australian Town and Country Journal, 1 June 1904
With a poor and precious water supply, Canbelego was perpetually at risk of un-contained fires with the Western Age reporting in 1916 that “Fires seem to be quite fashionable in Canbelego at present“ and the following reports being submitted;
“At the Police Court on Friday, before Mr S. J. Hamblin, P. M. William McCarron, licensee of the Federal Hotel at Canbelego, was charged by Edward McLoughlin with unlawful assault. Defendant admitted the assault, and pleaded justification. Mr Duffy appeared for the defendant, and Mr. Bolton for the complainant.
Complainant stated that he was acting for his Mother, who was the owner of the new building erected instead of the old Federal Hotel which was burned down last February. The place had not yet been let to anyone, and was not ready to be licensed, but defendant who had no right to have any keys belonging to the building, burglarously entered it by some other keys, and started using it for an hotel. He entered to take possession of the place, when defendant caught him by the throat and got a strangling hold on him and nearly choked him, and would not desist till the police came and released him!
Mr. Duffy explained that defendant had the renewal of the licence of the Federal Hotel, and held a temporary permit, pending the erection of this now building, which was now completed and for which he held a lease, but could not get possession from the owner, so at his advice he took possession, and when the complainant refused to go off the premises after closing hours, he only used sufficient force to put him off, and even then he could not put him out till the police came and arrested him…
The Mount Boppy Hotel was burned down a fortnight ago, it is rumoured that the place is not to be rebuilt, and the Royal Hotel, which was destroyed by fire some time ago, is also said to be allowed to lapse, so there will be a vacancy for two new licences in Canbelego. But it is said that if application is made for them, they will lie opposed by the residents, who say they do not require any more new licences in Canbelego.”
The township now is perhaps a little less than what might have been envisioned in 1904, with only a few remaining dwellings and ruins, an old chimney and scattered remnants on the empty, expectant, house blocks. The population of the district in the 2021 Census was 54 residents, but only four of those claimed to live in the village. The mine, once the most productive gold mine in NSW, continues to operate as evidenced by the various signage around the locality. But there are few who remain to tell the stories of Canbelego, like the intrepid Susan Ricard, better known as Susan Ross, who held licences for Drysdale, Cobar and Canbelego for the better part of 30 years, and who made her way into the Cobar Herald in September 1910:
“…was charged before the P.M with selling beer on August 1st at Mount Boppy Hotel, at which time she was not the holder of a publican’s license.”
According to the report, Senior Constable Jeffery had visited the pub in June 1910, then licensed to a man named Kemp, where Susan Ricard, upon serving the constable, declared that Kemp was away for a few weeks. Upon returning seven weeks later, the policeman asked the woman (after she served him a beer and another man a schnapps) to go and fetch Kemp, and …
“…asked her if she was the agent or servant of Kemp, to which she replied “No, he is my f$@%ing servant.”
