The early days of the Berwick Inn and BFC

This week we announced our new sponsorship partnership with the Berwick Inn. So, to celebrate this new deal I thought I would share a little bit about the earliest records I can find that connect the Berwick Inn with the Berwick Football Club.

The Berwick Inn was opened in 1857 by Robert Hudson Bain, it was then called the Border Hotel but is also sometimes referred to as the Bains Hotel. Robert married his wife Susan two years later. You can read more about the Bain’s and the Border Hotel here.

Berwick 1887 Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria photograph album, State Library of Victoria Image H2012.114/2

The Border Hotel hosted many meetings for local organisations such as the Berwick Road Board, the Police Court, Berwick Mechanic’s Institution. Importantly for us, it was the location of the general/annual meeting of the Berwick Football Club for at least 1888, 1894, 1899, 1900, and 1902. The hotel was likely the obvious location for these meetings are there were limited options around Berwick in the 1880s and 1890s.

Another reason why the Bain’s Hotel might have been picked as the location was the family’s existing relationship with the club. At least two sons played for the side, and their eldest son James was captain for some time until 1886. Later in 1892, R R Bains is mentioned as the secretary of the Berwick Football Club, which I presume is the couple’s second son Robert, as Robert Srn had passed by this point. In 1899 the youngest of the eleven children, Donald, broke his finger during a match against Dandenong.

The Bain family taken in the 1880s. Berwick Mechanics' Institute and Free Library by Richard Meyers

After her husband’s death, Susan Bain continued to run the Border Hotel herself. She is thanked in 1892 for putting on both lunch and dinner for the Berwick Football Club and their visiting opposition who were from the Telegraph Department. The visiting side arrived on the mid-day train and immediately went to the Border Hotel for lunch, before going to the ground to play the football match at 3pm. Berwick managed to win the match despite being low on players and having to have some “youngsters” fill in. They returned to the hotel after the match and it is remarked that “the Telegraphs, who are a jolly lot of fellows, spent a happy time. They expressed themselves gratified with their visit, and at the arrangements made by Mrs Bain for their entertainment.”

Similarly, in 1901 Berwick played a game against Brunswick who had a bye in the VFA. A dressing room was erected at the Border Hotel for the visitors to change before the game. Brunswick’s committee treated their players and trainers to dinner at the hotel after the game where they were very satisfied by their meal. They spent the rest of the evening enjoying an impromptu smoke concert. For those wondering what on earth that is, a smoke concert or smoke night was basically the name for a ‘boys night’ in the late 18^th and early 19^th century. It usually involved drinking, smoking, chatting, and entertainment, and it was men only.

A few months later, Berwick played Pakenham at home and the two sides agreed that the losers had to entertain the winners at dinner. Berwick managed to win by 8 points and therefore Pakenham was responsible for the entertainment at the dinner at the Border Hotel that night. Unfortunately, we don’t know what they came up with. The dinner, attended by around 50 players and their friends, “was laid out in Mrs Bain’s unsurpassed style” which included a great variety of food and “efficient staff”. Both teams expressed that they were “highly pleased with the ‘last act’ in the day’s proceedings.”

After Susan Bains died in 1908, the Border Hotel was taken over by another woman, Helen Struth. At this stage the Berwick Football Club was in a league for the first time, which was called the Berwick District League. This league held meetings at the Border Hotel in 1914, 1915, and 1916.

So next time you see some of our players down at the Berwick Inn, just know that they are continuing on a tradition that is over 130 years old!

We are looking forward to creating a new chapter between the Berwick Football Club and the Berwick Inn.

Sources:

BERWICK FOOTBALL CLUB. (1899, April 19). South Bourke and Mornington Journal (Richmond, Vic. : 1877 - 1920; 1926 - 1927), p. 3 (WEEKLY.). Retrieved July 6, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70021558

BERWICK FOOTBALL CONCERT. (1892, October 5). South Bourke and Mornington Journal (Richmond, Vic. : 1877 - 1920; 1926 - 1927), p. 3 (WEEKLY.). Retrieved July 16, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70014737

Berwick. (1899, May 24). South Bourke and Mornington Journal (Richmond, Vic. : 1877 - 1920; 1926 - 1927), p. 2 (WEEKLY.). Retrieved July 8, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70021702

DISTRICT NEWS. (1914, September 17). South Bourke and Mornington Journal (Richmond, Vic. : 1877 - 1920; 1926 - 1927), p. 2 (WEEKLY.). Retrieved January 8, 2021, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66186129

FOOTBALL NOTES. (1901, June 22). The Coburg Leader (Vic. : 1890 - 1913), p. 4. Retrieved July 25, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66821120

Football. (1888, April 25). South Bourke and Mornington Journal (Richmond, Vic. : 1877 - 1920; 1926 - 1927), p. 3 (WEEKLY.). Retrieved July 13, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70030942

FOOTBALL. (1892, August 10). South Bourke and Mornington Journal (Richmond, Vic. : 1877 - 1920; 1926 - 1927), p. 3 (WEEKLY.). Retrieved July 16, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70014550

FOOTBALL. (1894, April 18). South Bourke and Mornington Journal (Richmond, Vic. : 1877 - 1920; 1926 - 1927), p. 3 (WEEKLY.). Retrieved July 18, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70033163

Football. (1900, April 11). South Bourke and Mornington Journal (Richmond, Vic. : 1877 - 1920; 1926 - 1927), p. 2 (WEEKLY.). Retrieved July 6, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70045595

Football. (1900, April 11). South Bourke and Mornington Journal (Richmond, Vic. : 1877 - 1920; 1926 - 1927), p. 2 (WEEKLY.). Retrieved July 6, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70045595

Football. (1914, August 20). South Bourke and Mornington Journal (Richmond, Vic. : 1877 - 1920; 1926 - 1927), p. 3 (WEEKLY.). Retrieved July 11, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66185932

Football. (1914, August 6). South Bourke and Mornington Journal (Richmond, Vic. : 1877 - 1920; 1926 - 1927), p. 2 (WEEKLY.). Retrieved January 8, 2021, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66185851

Football. (1915, April 15). South Bourke and Mornington Journal (Richmond, Vic. : 1877 - 1920; 1926 - 1927), p. 2 (WEEKLY.). Retrieved January 9, 2021, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66187463

Football. (1915, July 8). South Bourke and Mornington Journal (Richmond, Vic. : 1877 - 1920; 1926 - 1927), p. 2 (WEEKLY.). Retrieved January 9, 2021, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66188047

Football. (1916, March 16). South Bourke and Mornington Journal (Richmond, Vic. : 1877 - 1920; 1926 - 1927), p. 3 (WEEKLY.). Retrieved January 11, 2021, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66189525

THE WORLD OF SPORT. (1901, September 18). South Bourke and Mornington Journal (Richmond, Vic. : 1877 - 1920; 1926 - 1927), p. 2 (WEEKLY.). Retrieved July 25, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70047754

THE WORLD OF SPORT. (1902, April 30). South Bourke and Mornington Journal (Richmond, Vic. : 1877 - 1920; 1926 - 1927), p. 3 (WEEKLY.). Retrieved July 6, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70048582