store. Toodyay Roads Board meetings were held in the hotel on the first Saturday of each month, designed to coincide with shopping day in town. In 1871, a tea meeting and concert at the hotel, organised by Rev. Innes formed a young men's reading club, with James Drummond chairing the meeting. It was said to be the biggest social event ever held in Toodyay. In 1875, the well behind the hotel was closed for public use when the new proprietor Michael Ryan declared a charge of one pound per person for its use. At the end of 1880 the hotel was sold to Thomas Donegan, who soon sold it to his brother, James. In 1890, builder H. Davey Jnr. purchased the hotel, later re-roofing and redecorating the premises and adding a billiard room. Davey also sold the water from the well to the hospital at a rate of half a crown a cask. In 1899 Davey built a single storey shop adjoining the hotel. In 1904, proprietor E.J. Myers extended the front to the street line and added a second storey. On 4 December 1908 the Freemasons' Hotel hosted a luncheon for the Governor of Western Australia, Frederick Bedford, when he was invited to commemorate the commencement of construction for the Newcastle–Bolgart Railway. The adjoining shop built by Davey eventually became part of the hotel. Prior to this it was utilised as a hairdressing salon, tobacconist, news agency, chemist, photographer's establishment and SP betting shop. It was also a Ladies Club before it was incorporated into the hotel to become the saloon bar. References Buildings and structures in Toodyay, Western Australia Stirling Terrace, Toodyay Hotels in Western Australia