More About the Cole/Tetlow Index

The Tetlow Index to the Robert K Cole collection of hotel records: city and suburban hotels, Melbourne, Australia was compiled by the State Library of Victoria’s Genealogy Team volunteer, Eric Tetlow using the Robert K Cole Collection of hotel records held in the Library’s Australian Manuscripts Collection (MS 7592). Copies of the original volumes are located in the Library’s Genealogy Centre (G 994.5 C67H).

The index entries contain the name of the licencee or owner, location of the hotel, dates when the licence was held and volume and page numbers which can be used to locate an entry in the Robert K Cole Collection of hotel records. Covering the years c1841 to 1949, the information - though not exhaustive - was gathered by Robert Cole from various sources such as post office directories and newspaper and trade journal notices.

Robert K Cole was a well-known identity in the brewing world of Victoria, joining Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) in 1906 and spending all of his working life at a Victorian plant. He was a member of the Historical Society of Victoria, taking particular interest in the history of the brewing industry and hotels in Victoria.