The Highland Laddie, Toodyay
The Highland Laddie was an inn in West Toodyay. The business was initially established in 1850 as the Bonnie Laddie, and also traded as the Gum Tree Tavern.
Alexander Warren had been granted lot R25 in the original townsite of Toodyay, Western Australia in October 1849. He very quickly applied for a publican's license, which was granted in early 1850, and named his inn the Bonnie Laddie. It stood at 31°31′36″S 116°25′13″E / 31.5266°S 116.4202°E, close to the Royal Oak and not far from the ford crossing of the Avon River. Both inns were likely to have been built of rammed earth with a thatched roof.
Warren managed the inn for two years before advertising the property as either for sale or to let. His advertisements referred to the inn as the Toodyay Hotel. In April 1852, he leased the hotel to the partnership of Joseph York and William Rummer. When the partnership dissolved twelve months later, Rummer took over the lease. In doing so, he changed the name of the hotel to the Highland Laddie. Rummer terminated his lease at the end of 1854.
In 1855, Warren resumed management of his hotel and gave it the name of the Gum Tree Tavern. He also set about obtaining nearby lots R24, R27, R28 together with lot R10 and lot R45. In 1855 he exchanged lot R10 for John Herbert's lot R26. It seems very probable that Warren decided to operate the Gum Tree Tavern from the better quality building on lot R26 (31°31′37″S 116°25′12″E / 31.5269°S 116.4200°E), instead of the original building on R25. He soon found himself in financial difficulties. By early 1856, his debt had amounted to almost 320 pounds.
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