Victoria Hotel in Barraba

Victoria Hotel

The Victoria Hotel was built in the early 1890s. The building was initially used by the Commercial Bank. In 1894 it was robbed. At the time the manager was having lunch with his wife and six children in the dining room. Hearing a noise he entered the banking section to find two masked men. Ordered to bail up he refused and made a break for the dining room. Prevented by a gunshot he grappled with one of the culprits for the gun, in the course of which he was shot in the head. When his wife screamed the robbers fired two shots through the door leading into the dining room. The bullet holes can still be seen in the door that divides the lounge and bar of the hotel. The culprits were caught and hanged. The building became a hotel in 1899. The second storey was added in 1909. Courtesy of Walkabout Australia.