John Alchin: The Wesleyan Publican

John Alchin (1821-1901)

This article, about a publican who was also an adherent of a religion which abhorred the demon drink, is by guest blogger and Alchin family chronicler, Garry Smith.

In the early years of the Australian colonies alcohol consumption was heavy but is shown to be lower than in some other countries at that time. The decade of the 1830s saw the highest per capita consumption although the gold rush period of the 1850s was probably comparable. From 1860 to 1900 consumption fell strongly.

John Alchin (originally John Waters Gaynes) arrived in the colony of New South Wales in 1838 with his “adoptive” family – Ambrose and Ann Alchin and their six children. Although Ann Alchin, John’s natural mother, and Ambrose Alchin were recorded as “Baptist” on the passenger list of the arrivals aboard the Palmyra, the family lived their lives as staunch Wesleyans.

There are many uses of the word Wesleyan over time. When the Alchins arrived in the colony, Wesleyans were probably teetotallers or abstainers; they were part of a “dry” church. The Temperance Movement in the colony was clear for all to see, both in Sydney and the furthest boundaries of the colony. In 1837 the Temperance Magazine was already noteworthy.

THE TEMPERANCE MAGAZINE. We are gratified in being enabled to report the success this little periodical has already met with, it having now been fairly launched on the ocean of intemperance, to assist in the destruction of that detestable monster. (Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, Tuesday 11 July 1837)

John Alchin initially built his life on the land at Jerrawa and Oolong Creek, along with his father and brothers. He was a freehold farmer having obtained land through purchase of thirty acres at Oolong Creek in the County of King in 1853; further land acquisitions followed.

In 1868 a rather strange item appears in the records. A certificate for a publican’s licence was issued to John Alchin on 26 August 1868 for a public house at Mudgee, New South Wales. It was the Prince Alfred Inn at Two Mile Flat Goldfields, Guntawang. Several hotels were licenced at this time; the gold rush was still on in the Mudgee-Gulgong area.

 State Records and Archives NSW, Certificates for publicans’ licences [via Ancestry.com]

Gulgong, with Guntawang & Two Mile Flat (to left of Gulgong) [Bonzle Maps]

Although John Alchin continued to appear on the electoral roll – as a farmer at Oolong Creek/Dalton (Yass Plains Electoral Roll) – well into the late nineteenth century, there is some evidence that he may have lived at the Prince Alfred Inn in 1868. The New South Wales Police Gazette (10 June 1868) carried an item reporting that James Talboy and Joseph Gilligen broke into “… the premises of John Alchin, publican, Two Mile Flat, on the 12th ultimo.” The gold fields were a lucrative place for criminals.

New South Wales Police Gazette (10 June 1868) [via TROVE]

John Alchin married teenager Martha Matilda Johnson (1837-1922) in the Parish of Bringelly on 9 February 1852, at St Thomas Church, Mulgoa. He died on 14 June 1901 at Dalton aged eighty-one years and was buried two days later at the Dalton Wesleyan Cemetery.

Goulburn Evening Penny Post, Thursday 20 June 1901

His widow Martha lived on until August 1922.

Goulburn Evening Penny Post, Thursday 7 September 1922

John and Martha Alchin's headstones, Dalton Methodist Cemetery. The dates on both are at odds with the press reports shown above and are incorrectly recorded. (Image by Garry Smith)