Samuel Smale Craig
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Samuel Smale Craig (1802–1864) and his wife Mary were settlers to York, Western Australia who arrived in 1850 and then built the Castle Hotel, which was then run by the Craig family for 137 years.
Craig was born on the farm at Nether-Garrel, Kirkmichael, Scotland, prior to 10 October 1802, He was the second son of John Craig and his second wife Henrietta Bell.[1]: 1
In 1842, at age 40, he married Mary Anne Morton.[1]: 6
According to family legend, Craig invented a means for igniting and extinguishing street lights from the ground, thus obviating the need for ladders, however there is no evidence of any patent having been lodged.[1]: 6
Emigration
By whatever means, he amassed enough money to bring his family to the Swan River Colony, arriving on the ship Sophia on 27 July 1850.[a] After arrival, his middle name was changed from the name of his village priest, Smail, to Smale.[1]: 6
The Colony's first introduction to the Craig family was a letter from the Craigs to the Independent Journal dated 27 August 1850 complaining about the conduct of Mr Parr, Surgeon Superintendent on Sophia.[3] The Craigs must have come with some money and status as they donated 2 guineas for the erection of an independent chapel in Fremantle.[4]
York Hotel
On 25 November 1851,[5] Craig purchased the licence for and leased the York Hotel from John Henry Monger Snr.[1]: 10 A claim was made against Craig by a man called Byrnes for return of a horse sold to Craig for £30 (“when Byrnes was sober”) to pay for liquor bills on 13 January 1852.[6] Following this, Craig was shortly after reported as racing a horse called Tom O’Shanter.[7]
On 8 May 1852, Craig was granted a liquor licence for the Agricultural and Commercial Hotel.[b][8] Craig announced improvements to the Agricultural and Commercial Hotel in August and September 1852.[9] Then in August 1853, Monger advertised that the York Hotel was available for lease,[10] indicating that Craig had moved on.