Fox Under the Hill

© Prospect Heritage Trust Inc.

William Freame wrote in an article published in the Parramatta Argus  in 1928 that he believed that the Inn took its name from a  famous landmark in Surrey, England.

There is a story told that the bushranger, Jack Donohoe, when he was operating in the Prospect area in the 1820s, often hid out at the Fox under the Hill Inn.

The following Licenses were granted by the Parramatta Bench of Magistrates, A.C. Innes, John Palmer, William Lawson, R. Lethbridge, G.T. Palmer and C.W. Wall, for the year 1829. The details have been extracted from the Sydney Gazette of 12th of March 1829.

In 1831: “On Tuesday last, at a very full Bench of the Magistrates of Parramatta, consisting of S. Wright, J. Harris, J. Palmer, W. Lawson, R. Lethbridge, E. Lockyer, and C.W. Wall, Esquires, the following licenses were granted for that town and vicinity : -’

19 April 1853, at the Annual Licensing Meeting held at Parramatta, a Publican’s General License for the house known by the sign of the Fox under Hill , situate on Western Road in the district of Parramatta,  was given to Luke Hughes, for a fee of fifty pounds. Mr Hughes sureties were Thomas Flynn of Parramatta and John Barker  of Parramatta. The licence was to expire on 1 July 1854.

18 April 1854, at the Annual Licensing Meeting held at Parramatta, a Publican’s General License for the Fox under Hill , situated at Prospect, was given to Luke Hughes, for a fee of fifty pounds. Mr Hughes sureties were Thomas Flynn of Parramatta and Patrick Walker of Parramatta. The licence was to expire on 1 July 1855.

Original Photo

PHT Photographic collection

C1950’s

Courtesy: NSW RMS