Alfred Toogood resumed business at the Rainbow Tavern, on the north-western corner of Pitt and King Streets in 1843. Where brother William had staked his reputation on being a self-styled restaurateur, Alfred appears to have been more interested in the trade in wine and spirits. Announcing his return to the Rainbow he informed prospective patrons that he had just received some choice wines ‘of a very superior description, the merits of which can only be appreciated by tasting’. He hoped to continue to receive a share of the public patronage thanks to ‘his long standing in society, and his great outlay in taking possession of his present extensive premises, and increasing and improving his stock in trade from the first London and colonial houses’.[1]
It isn’t entirely clear whether, at this stage, Alfred was importing on his own behalf or simply buying his stock at auction in Sydney, or perhaps a mixture of the two. From quite early in the piece he was supplying both the retail and wholesale trade. For example, in May 1844, he advertised that he had ‘received the finest batch of English Ale he has ever imported into the colony and has made arrangements to have a regular supply every three months’. He also had available Martell’s brandy, Hollands and Old Tom gin, old Jamaica rum, of extra strength, was able to provide wines in bottle and wood ‘of superior quality and flavour’ and could supply the trade ‘in any quantity at small profit’.[2]
He was certainly a fan of catchy advertising. The following appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on 1 July 1844:
ALE! MORE ALE!!
The Glorious Sun, the Father of Light,
Illuminates the world so splendidly bright
Her rays she extends, all beauties to show,
None I think equals that of the “Rainbow”.
A Rainbow was built, not only of wood,
But of stone, bricks, and mortar and kept by TOOGOOD,
Stands at the corner of King street, where you can avail
Yourself, if you choose, of the best good Ale.
I don’t wish to boast – it is not my tact,
Call in and taste, one trial proves the fact;
But said I have, and will say again,
If not better, it equals the Sparkling Champagne.
Arrangements I’ve made for a regular supply
Of Spirits, Ale, and Wines, to be beat I defy;
Though a short time in the business, I’ve learnt what is what,
I have all my best Ales come through Lyall and Scott.
Some folks they PUFF of their prices so low,
The public not aware of the impositions, I know;
I could, if I like, a long tale unfold,
Of the TRASH that is brought, by the puffers is sold.
My motto’s “Industry,” and ever shall be,
I thank, with great pleasure, all my friends that I see;
Buy naught but the best, if better I would,
Spirits, Ales, and Wine, at the Rainbow’s TOOGOOD.[3]
Despite the difficult economic times, business prospered during the 1840s. By 1846 Alfred had established a new store in Pitt Street, adjacent to the Rainbow, where he sold his extensive stock of ales, wines and spirits and had fitted up a suite of rooms for the benefit of ‘professional and commercial men’ where they could find the leading newspapers, both local and imported, and private rooms at their disposal. In advertising he ventured to assert that the facilities he provided at the Rainbow could vie with those of ‘any similar establishment either in this or the sister colonies’. He also provided words of caution:
The high character which the “Rainbow” has secured for its wines, spirits, beers and ales and also in respect to the excellence of its cuisine, renders it nearly superfluous on the part of the proprietor to advert to these points …. But in as much as a very inferior article is now, owing to the state of the markets, surreptitiously being imposed, in too many instances, on the public, A.T. regrets the necessity of cautioning consumers against liquors etc sold as the genuine article, to which they have no more affinity than the Port Wine produced in Figueira has to the highest quality of the vineyards of the Alto Douro.[4]
Just as it seems reasonable to question what William Toogood could have known about restaurants, it is worth pondering whether Alfred himself knew the difference between the port wine of Figueira and that of the Alto Douro. These references to foreign notions of good taste gave William and Alfred kudos but also encouraged their clientele to see themselves as sophisticated and knowledgeable, whether they were or not, and acted to give the Rainbow status, setting it above the run of the mill public house.
Alfred’s absolute pardon was finally announced in the NSW Government Gazette in June 1847 and he immediately made it known that he was leaving the colony.[5] In January 1848 Alfred, his wife Ann and their two daughters, Sarah Ellen and Georgiana Catherine, sailed for home.[6]This trip was probably intended both as a chance to reconnect with family, but it also provided an opportunity to develop business relationships and contacts to further the liquor importation business (discussed below). While living in London in 1850, Ann gave birth to triplets, all boys.[7] In all the family were away for almost five years returning in October 1852.[8]
Back in town Alfred was busy. He had brought with him a consignment of billiard tables and accoutrements as well as 200 cases of gin, and a stock of wine which he now had to sell. He also called for tenders to paint and thoroughly clean the Rainbow Tavern ready to resume business.[9] In December he was granted the license for the Rainbow Tavern and then Ann Toogood dies.[10] It seems likely that Ann died in childbirth, the birth of Sydney Collins Toogood is registered in 1852. She was only 37 and left Alfred with at least four young children in need of someone to care for them. Alfred was quick to find another wife. In March 1853 he married his sister-in-law, Rachel Sarah Webber and in December came the death his brother William, who had established the Rainbow in its present location in 1842.[11]
Relying only on newspaper reports it is difficult to gain a picture of individuals and their relationships. Alfred and William may have been close, but they were not alike. William’s name rarely appeared in the press other than in association with his own advertising or in relation to his membership of the order of Oddfellows. The overall impression is that he was reserved and restrained. Albert on the other hand was frequently mentioned in reports of court cases which, taken together, suggest a quick temper, a high estimation of his own importance and an enthusiasm to address any and all perceived slights.
The weekly Bell’s Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer took a keen interest in Alfred’s antics and frequently made fun of him, in particular his short stature dubbing him ‘Alfred the Little’ and referring to him as ‘the great little man’.[12] Both William and Alfred were short, 5’ 3” (160 cm) and 5’ 1½” (156 cm) respectively, but it was only Alfred whose height did not measure up to his opinion of himself.
Some of Alfred’s disputes throw light on both his character and the nature of his business. While in London had made arrangements to import wine and spirits which were handled in Australia by the merchants and commissioning agents Smith, Campbell and Company. The agreement called for Smith, Campbell to import goods to the value of £3000 per annum or £750 per quarter at 12% commission, according to Alfred’s instructions. When Alfred refused to accept a shipment of goods, they were sold at several hundred pounds below their price according to the invoice and Alfred was required to make up the difference. Alfred argued that his instructions had been misinterpreted and he was not required accept any goods supplied beyond the amount originally agreed upon. The court found in favour of Smith, Campbell and Co. but Alfred was not content, and published a lengthy letter in the press vindicating his position. [13] The affair dragged on for two years.[14]
This experience did not halt his imports. He could claim to be ‘one of the largest importers of goods into this market in the wine and spirit trade’ and to have an ‘established reputation as an English buyer’ of liquor, he also continued to import billiard tables and warehouse a range of other comestibles for use in his hotel business.[15] The quantities involved and the amount of money changing hands confirms that his business speculations were highly lucrative. The auction of the contents of Alfred’s various stores by his executors revealed the extent of his importing business, all the goods having been ‘selected’ with his ‘great care and judgement.’[16]
One of his more entrepreneurial ventures was to open a room at the Rainbow for entertainment, – music and comic and sentimental singing.[17] In March 1858 he engaged the Buckingham family, a well-known troupe of entertainers in an attempt to make his saloon ‘one of the greatest attractions in the city’.[18] Relations between Alfred and the Buckinghams soured quickly, with the following notice appearing in the Sydney Morning Herald in July:
The Buckingham family respectfully request that gentlemen visiting [Toogood’s Grand Saloon] turn to the right as they come up the stairs, as they have no interest in the other concert room turning to the left. They merely say that they pay A. Toogood £4 per week having leased the room for 6 months from 24 April.[19]
George Buckingham subsequently accused Alfred of using threatening language, while Alfred accused Buckingham of assault. This ‘trumpery affair’ ended with Buckingham paying a penalty of 1s and withdrawing his complaint.[20] Bell’s Life in Sydney, with tongue firmly in cheek, took delight in describing the incident which prompted the court action, describing Alfred as ‘the much and justly-respected complainant’ of ‘minute proportions’.[21]
Doing business with Alfred was difficult, working for him was fraught. He was incensed when a former employee literally crossed the road to run the restaurant at a rival hotel. He described the action by George Watson, his former head waiter, as ‘an impudent and futile attempt’ to win over patrons of the Rainbow ‘by underhand means’.[22] Albert’s ‘pugnacious propensities’ found him charged with assault by another waiter, James Rath, and when Robert Prior, a cook, left his service without notice, Alfred felt duty bound to caution other employers not to engage him warning that ‘If this kind of conduct is not put a stop to employers are not safe from others tampering with their servants.’[23] Other disputes involved former workers trying to reclaim wages, refusal to pay tradesmen for work he considered inferior, quarrels over rental payments, the use of foul language and slander and arguments with neighbours over access, all indicating that Alfred saw himself as a force to be reckoned with.[24]
In 1857 he stood for election to the city council in the belief that as ‘an old colonist … I am quite aware of the wants and requirements of this city’. His bid was unsuccessful perhaps because of his own recommendation: ‘From my general business habits, and from the way in which I have conducted myself amongst you as a citizen for many years, you have the best guarantee of my future actions.’[25] Alfred was able to demonstrate his awareness of the requirements of the city when he was taken to court by the Mayor and Corporation of Sydney for refusal to pay sewerage rates in 1864. The amount in question was minimal but there was a principle at stake and this case became something of a cause célèbre, the rate payers rallying around to pay Alfred’s court costs.[26]
The Rainbow Tavern remained the central focus of Alfred’s activities but by no means his only source of income. He owned or at least had interests in a number of other hotels – The Globe Hotel at Parramatta, with attached cottages; the Exhibition Hotel at the corner of Pitt and Market streets; the Commercial Hotel, corner King and Castlereagh Streets; the Picnic Hotel at Coogee; the Robert Burns Tavern, corner Sussex and Bathurst Streets; the Oriental Hotel at Circular Quay, and his biggest investment, the Marine Hotel which he renamed the Greenwich Pier Hotel at Watson’s Bay.[27]
The hotel was advertised for sale in November 1857, and Albert was in occupation by February 1858.[28] In March he was making application to extend the wharf adjacent to the hotel and was advertising that the Marine Hotel, complete with furniture was to let.[29] At the same time he made the Rainbow Tavern available to let in whole or in part, perhaps to allow himself time to manage both establishments.[30] By September the pier at Watson’s Bay was almost complete and Alfred could claim that he had spent nearly £5000 on the grounds of the hotel to turn it into a popular resort.[31]
Originally built around 1837 and subsequently called Zandoliet by its then owner Pieter Laurentz Campbell, sometime Colonial Treasurer, the Marine Hotel was described as a very substantial dwelling house, built of the very best materials and comprising conveniently planned, large and lofty apartments, ‘providing ample and suitable accommodation for travellers, invalids, private families, pleasure parties and commercial men.’[32] Situated ‘on the banks of an enchanting river, and the crescent of the pretty picturesque bay’ and affording ‘a singular combination of maritime sublimity with rural beauty’, the hotel could hardly fail to be a success.
In March 1859 Alfred took over the license of the Marine Hotel himself, but not without some argy bargy with his previous tenant over unpaid rent, and left the Rainbow in the hands of James Simpson.[33] Alfred continued to make changes and improvements which brought him in to conflict with his neighbours but his own involvement with what was now called the Greenwich Pier Hotel did not last long.[34] In December the license passed to Henry Billing, who attracted business to the hotel by establishing a zoological garden in the grounds.[35] Accounts of the history of the Greenwich Pier Hotel fail to mention Alfred Toogood’s ownership but Billing was his tenant and the wharf Alfred had built remained in private hands.[36]
Alfred returned once again to the Rainbow.[37] There is a suggestion that his relationship with James Simpson had been uncomfortable. Given Alfred’s character perhaps he was unable to leave the Rainbow in the hands of another without interfering.[38] He thought Simpson ungrateful and when he put the Rainbow up for lease again in 1861 Alfred felt the need to publicly refute rumours about the agreement he had had with Simpson.[39] Why he wanted to lease his prize hotel, doing upwards of £700 per month is not stated.
Rachel Sarah had died at the end of 1860 and with the children from his first marriage still living at home Alfred married for a third time in 1862.[40] The Rainbow did not attract a tenant, perhaps because Alfred’s reputation as a difficult man to work with was by now too well known, and he was kept busy running his wholesale liquor business and his trade in billiard tables, keeping is eye on what was going on in Watson’s Bay, turning up for court appearances, and generally managing his real estate portfolio which included hotels and residential properties, all the time keeping the Rainbow on track.[41]
In February 1867 he advertised that due to ill health he was looking to let the coffee room department of the Rainbow, and this was taken over by Messrs. Mackel and Quinn.[42] And then suddenly, in May, Alfred was dead.[43] He left his considerable estate in trust, in the hands of his executors Robert Allen Hunt, his son William Alfred Toogood and his brother-in-law Thomas Wilton Eady.[44] How Alfred knew Hunt, who had had a long and distinguished career in the Post Office, is not known. The will stipulated the purchase of accommodation for his wife, the payment of allowances to his older children including a lump sum payment to Georgina Catherine on her marriage, provision to pay for his sons’ apprenticeships and a down payment for each of them should they wish to start a business.[45]
Immediately the Rainbow was to let. Advertising described it as in an unrivalled position, replete with every convenience. Indeed, a similar establishment would not be out of place in Sydney today with its metal bar, plate glass, cut glass chandeliers and polished cedar seats with stuffed cushions. The ground floor housed the bar, the bar parlour, the Commercial room, two lobbies, the coffee and dining rooms and the attached kitchen. On the first floor were the billiard room, a drawing room and a sitting room. Eight spacious bedrooms took up the second floor and on the third floor there were two bedrooms and a loft opening out onto a flat roof fitted with a large plunge bath! At the rear there were three store-rooms, a vatting room, connected by pipes to the bar, and underneath cellars lit by gas, arranged in four departments including a wine cellar with 50 wine bins. No wonder this was the jewel in Alfred’s crown.[46]
Thomas McGrath and James Punch, who already operated the City Wine Vaults, were quick to take up the lease and change the name to Punch’s Hotel.[47] McGrath died in 1869 but James Punch, from a family of publicans who owned numerous hotels in the city, retained the hotel, buying it from the Toogood estate in 1877. When James Punch died in 1880 it was purchased by his brother Francis.[48]
The ‘popular and well-conducted institution’ changed hands again in 1883 to become the Sydney headquarters of the Federal Bank of Australia ending 41 years of operation as a public house.[49] The bank was a victim of the financial crisis of the 1890s and ceased operation in 1893.[50] From then on the corner site was occupied by a variety of commercial interests including the aptly named William Fitwell who sold shoes and finally my A.A. Marks tobacconist. The building was bought by Proud’s Limited, a local jewellery business, and demolished in 1918.[51] There is nothing to remind anyone of the Rainbow Tavern and William and Alfred Toogood as they pass the corner of King and Pitt Streets today, despite their part in shaping the city.
This investigation of the Toogood brothers began with William Toogood’s declaration that he was now a ‘restaurateur’. While the story of the Toogoods and the Rainbow Tavern is part of a bigger project looking at the history and development of the eating and dining scene in Sydney it has also been worth following for what it reveals about the evolution of colonial society. Apart from the obvious story of ex-convicts made good and the money that could be made out of running hotels the asides have provided numerous insights into life in Sydney – the development of the suburban fringe, the interconnection of individuals in the growing city, the diversity of the population – Portuguese fishermen living at Watson’s Bay, foreign waiters serving at the Rainbow and Chinese cooks working in the kitchen - and, of course, how the convict past became subsumed in the hustle and bustle of commercial life and population growth.
[1] Sydney Morning Herald (SMH), 26 August 1843, p. 1.
[2] SMH, 21 May 1844, p. 3.
[3] For more of Alfred’s corny advertising see Bell’s Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer (Bell’s Life), 6 September 1845, p. 1; The Examiner, 13 September 1845, p. 47.
[4] New store in Pitt Street, SMH, 9 May 1846, p. 3. Commercial rooms, SMH, 26 August 1846, p. 1.
[5] NSW Government Gazette (Gov. Gaz), 22 June 1847, p. 672. Absolute Pardon Gazetted. In fact, Alfred announced his intention to leave the Colony in advance of the Gazette notice, see SMH, 14 June 1847, p. 2.
[6] Shipping Gazette, 22 January 1848, p. 18. Sarah Ellen birth registered 1845, Georgiana Catherine birth registered 1847. The NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (NSWBDM) also includes the birth of William Alfred Toogood registered in 1848 but there is no mention of an infant son leaving with the family.
[7] SMH, 1 April 1851, p. 3 records the birth of three sons on 29 October 1850 at 17 Murray Street, New North Road, London. It is not recorded but it appears that none of these sons survived. No deaths of males with the surname Toogood, parents Alfred and Ann, are registered in NSW other than William Alfred and Sydney Collins, whose birth is registered in 1852. Alfred’s will only lists his then wife and her children, Sarah Ellen, Catherine Georgiana, William Alfred and Sydney Collins.
[8] Mr and Mrs Toogood and family return SMH, 25 October 1852, p. 2.
[9] Alfred brings back billiard tables, staying at the Golden Fleece. SMH, 30 October 1852, p. 3. SMH, 8 November 1852, p. 2 calling for tenders for painting, colouring and thoroughly cleaning the Rainbow Tavern. SMH, 29 November 1852, p. 1 advertising auction of wines, see also SMH, 25 January 1853, p. 3 advertising a few hundred dozen Moet’s champagne for sale.
[10] Empire, 9 December 1852, p. 3. Granted license to Rainbow. Empire, 14 December 1852, p. 1 funeral of Ann Toogood leaves William Toogood’s, Erskineville, died on 13th in her 37th year (SMH 14 December 1852, p. 3)
[11] SMH, 2 March 1853, p. 2.
[12] See for example Bell’s Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer (Bell’s Life), 13 January 1855, p. 2; 5 June 1855, p. 3; 24 July 1858, p. 3.
[13] See SMH, 19 August 1856, p. 2; SMH 1 November 1856, p. 5. For Alfred’s letter see SMH 14 February 1857 p. 2; Empire, 24 October 1857, p. 3.
[14] SMH, 25 August 1858, p. 2; SMH, 6 September 1858, p. 2; SMH,16 September 1858, p. 3. Albert does not appear to have appealed the final decision.
[15] SMH, 20 December 1853, p. 6; Empire, 9 September 1857 p. 6. For a comprehensive list of the goods Alfred had in store see the inventory for the auction of his estate, SMH ,25 June 1867, p. 6.
[16] SMH, 6 June 1867, p. 7; SMH, 25 June 1867, p. 6.
[17] SMH, 28 March 1856, p. 1.
[18] Empire, 13 March 1858, p. 1.
[19] SMH, 7 July 1858, p. 1
[20] SMH, 23 July 1858, p. 2
[21] Bell’s Life, 24 July 1858, p. 3.
[22] Empire, 22 December 1856, p. 1.
[23] Bell’s Life in Sydney, 5 June 1858, p. 3; SMH, 28 February 1860, p. 1.
[24] Examples are numerous, SMH, 24 March 1860, p. 7; SMH, 12 April 1861, p. 8; Empire, 12 April 1865, p. 5; Sydney Mail, 24 March 1866, p. 5; SMH, 17 August 1866, p. 3.
[25] SMH, 21 April 1857, p. 1.
[26] Empire, 12 March 1864 p. 3; SMH, 8 August 1864, p. 2; SMH, 12 August 1864, p. 4; Freeman’s Journal, 19 August 1864, p. 4.
[27] It is not confirmed but possible that the Exhibition Hotel was formerly William Toogood’s Toogood’s Hotel and the Commercial Hotel was on the site of the original Rainbow started by William in 1838.
[28] Empire, 26 November 1857, p. 1. The licensee in May 1858 was Henry Clay, SMH, 19 May 1858, p. 6. Clay transferred the license to Mary Murphy in September, SMH, 15 September 1858, p. 3.
[29] Advertising for a cook, SMH, 9 February 1858, p. 1; application to extend wharf Gov. Gaz., 9 March 1858, p. 435; Marine Hotel to let SMH, 17 March 1858, p. 8.
[30] Rainbow to let SMH, 2 March 1858, p. 8.
[31] Bell’s Life, 18 September 1858, p. 2; SMH, 9 October 1858, p. 10.
[32] Empire, 19 January 1856, p. 12.
[33] For transfer of license see SMH, 9 March 1859, p. 3; case against Solomon, SMH, 11 November 1859, p. 2.
[34] More work SMH, 9 June 1859, p.8; dispute with neighbours, Empire, 3 December 1859, p. 5; SMH, 24 March 1860, p. 7; SMH,10 August 1860, p. 4.
[35] SMH, 29 December 1859. Henry Billing senior died in 1862 (Empire, 20 April 1862, p. 1). Alfred Toogood advertised the hotel to let (SMH, 10 October 1862, p. 1) but the license remained with the Billing family (see Gov. Gaz., 26 August 1868, p. 2880) until it was sold in February 1869 (SMH, 27 February 1869, p. 12). There is no evidence to date that the hotel was sold before the death of Alfred Toogood.
[36] For example https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/watsons_bay. See SMH, 9 October 1863, p. 3 re. Toogood’s ownership of the wharf.
[37] SMH, 29 December 1859 p. 4
[38] See SMH, 26 July 1860 p. 1 and SMH, 27 July 1860, p. 1 for suggestion that Alfred thought Simpson ungrateful.
[39] SMH, 12 April 1861, p. 8
[40] NSWBDM for marriage to Esther Carroll. No newspaper reports have been found. According to the NSWBDM data base this marriage produced three children, Alfred b. 1864; Hetty, b. 1865 and Josephine b/d 1866.
[41] For example, SMH, 6 February 1861, p. 2; SMH, 23 March 1861, p. 12; SMH, 10 May 1861, p. 1; SMH, 19 November 1864 p. 12; SMH, 23 May 1865, p. 8 among many.
[42] Empire, 9 February 1867, p. 8; SMH, 19 February 1867, p. 1.
[43] Empire, 29 May 1867, p. 8. Died on 28th at the Rainbow, aged 54. Buried Camperdown.
[44] Museums of History New South Wales – State Archives Collection: Supreme Court of New South Wales, Probate Division, NRS-13660-1[14/3406]-Series1_7226, Alfred Toogood, Date of death 28 May 1867, Granted on 18 June 1867. For Hunt see SMH, 13 November 1858, p. 6.
[45] The will refers to his wife as Hester, and to her three children although there is only a record of two surviving children fathered by Alfred according to the NSWBDM data base.
[46] SMH, 13 June 1867, p. 8.
[47] SMH, 25 July 1867, p. 8. Punch’s Hotel was sold to James Punch in 1877 for £18,000, see Evening News, 10 August 1877, p. 3. At the same time several of Alfred’s other properties were also sold.
[48] Death of Thomas McGrath Bell’s Life, 12 June 1869, p. 3; death of James Punch Evening News, 7 December 1880, p. 2; purchased by Frank Punch Evening News, 23 February 1881, p. 2.
[49] Evening News, 17 April 1883, p. 3; Sydney Mail, 21 April 1883, p. 758.
[50] SMH, 30 January 1893, p. 5.
[51] Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 24 August 1918, p. 9.
