Peter McCoy

The McCoy family of Thomastown and Woodstock

Peter McCoy was one of the earliest Europeans in Thomastown, his family arriving there in the 1850s.   Peter is remembered as the publican of the the Belmont, which was constructed in about 1855 by his father.  He also served for many years on the local roads board and several terms as Shire President of the former Epping Shire.  He is sometimes confused with his father as the builder of the hotel.

Peter was the youngest son of a Roman Catholic family from Belfast in Ireland that arrived in the colony of Victoria in February 1842 in the ship Manliss.  His parents were Peter and Margaret McCoy. He was born in Little Bourke Street in 1845.   He had brothers named William and Hugh and sisters named Catherine (Mrs Hearn) and Frances (Mrs John McCormack.).  After the early deaths of his two sisters at Mansfield he helped raise their many children, not having a wife or children of his own. 

Peter remained at Thomastown when his parents moved to Woodstock, where they operated a dairy farm.  In mid-1893 Peter listed the farm at Woodstock consisting of 640 acres for sale.  His father, Peter Senior and brother Hugh, died at the Clare Hotel, Little Bourke St in 1864 and were interred at the Melbourne General Cemetery.  Hugh aged only 22 died of an abscess to the throat, Peter Sr of heart disease aged 55.

In the 1860s the Belmont Hotel was the meeting place of the Epping Road Board, which was a precursor of the local council.  The original weatherboard hotel was destroyed by fire in 1890 and replaced by a two-storey brick building in early 1891.  The hotel remained with the family until 1928 when it was sold by his niece, Mrs Bridget McCormack although it was later returned to her in 1933 after the new buyers defaulted on their payment.

Peter’s niece Bridget McCormack died at Kew in 1944.  When her parents John and Frances died young she and her siblings were raised by him at Thomastown.  Bridget’s siblings were Margaret (Mrs Egan), Catherine (Mrs Larmer), Francis, Peter, Michael, Mary, John and Nellie.  Catherine’s husband Robert Larmer was also a licensee of the Belmont after Peter McCoy’s passing.  He was also a farmer at Woodstock.  Catherine died in 1932 in Melbourne, Robert in 1938.  They had no children of their own.

In his younger years Peter was active in sport in the Thomastown area, especially in racing and coursing, with a small racecourse operating at the rear of the hotel.  The hotel was a popular local destination until its demolition when the Ring Road went in.

Peter died aged 71 at his residence at the Belmont Hotel in March 1916 and is buried at the Melbourne General Cemetery.  Six of his nephews carried his remains to his grave.  The funeral was one of the largest seen in the district with over 50 vehicles reported in the cortege.  Among those present were many former members of the former Epping council and members of the Whittlesea council.   He left a will made the same day he passed with real estate valued at £7825 and personal property at £616.  A newspaper from 1933 reported that the property included 143 acres of land in addition to the hotel.