More about the Barraba Hotel in Windsor

History Notes

A productive meeting last week with a number of topics discussed.  There will probably be two markets in October, one on the normal second Saturday in October and another book market the next week to coincide with the Motor Show.  The second one centered on books will have a stall or two from our usual stallholders as well – it is up to them.  The number of secondhand books has exploded so we are going to attempt to get rid of as many as possible on that day.  The Society will still have their usual stall at the first market – watch the advertisements to keep up with what is happening.

October is Annual General Meeting month, and it will be held on the second Tuesday in October, which is earlier than usual so keep an eye on the advertisements and remember everyone can attend an annual general meeting if they have an interest in the society.

The Taylor family tree is now in the museum collection and apart from the date of the original marriage being incorrect, all seems to be in order.  Edward Taylor married Elizabeth White in the Barraba district in 1853 – one of the earliest district weddings.

This week I found time to look up the early Bushell family in some of my history books and found that Paul Bushell arrived in Australia in 1790 – he was a native of Warwick in the UK.

On arrival he was among a large number of sick people on the Surprise but soon regained his health and set to work, making a living for himself.  He married Jane Sharp and daughter, Isabella, was born in 1800.  She was Isabella Bushell who was in charge of the Barraba Hotel.  We are grateful to the Ratliff family who donated a photo of the burnt hotel with a woman, who could be Isabella, standing in front of it.

Continuing the Bushell family – Paul’s wife, Jane, died leaving him with a young family of three children.  Eighteen months later, Paul married Isabella Brown and ten more children were born, including Alfred, born in 1827, who married Margaret Martin in 1848.  They were the parents of the Barraba Alfred Bushell family who were all born in the Barraba district.

It seems that one query about Windsor’s Barraba Hotel has produced a whole family history as well as the hotel’s history.