The Travellers’ Rest Hotel closed for the last time in 1917. The publican David Greeves relocated to Bourke and took over the running of the Union Hotel.
In 1870, a small newspaper report appeared telling of a tragic death on the Darling near “Cumbedore.”
“A man named Williams in building a public house and a store, living meantime in a tent and bough gunya. It is supposed that a whirlwind or strong gust carried the ashes from their fire among the leaves, and the whole place was at once a blaze. Mrs Williams had barely time to rush out with one of her children, the other perished in the flames.”
In 1876, Elizabeth Wilson obtains a licence for a four-room establishment at “Compadore.” Whether or not this is Williams’ half-built store and hotel is unclear, but it is possible that Elizabeth was his widow. She remained attached to the hotel until her death in 1897. A small obituary in the Sydney Morning Herald says that she was 65 years old when died and had been a resident on the Darling since 1867.
The last publican of the Travellers’ Rest was David Greeves, formerly of the Telegraph Hotel at Weelong. The hotel closed for the last time in 1917 and Greeves relocated to Bourke where he took over the running of the Union Hotel.
“Mr Greeves has been on the river for many years,” says the writer of Bourke’s Western Herald in February 1917, welcoming the publican to town. “And during that time he kept the Compadore hostelry made himself very popular with all classes. In the Union, he should do well, as he has a thorough grasp of public business, and we wish him success.”
