James Joynton Smith

Who was James Joynton Smith?

Sir James John Joynton Smith KBE, commonly referred to simply as Joynton Smith, was an Australian hotelier, racecourse and newspaper owner, and Lord Mayor of Sydney.

Born James Smith in Bishopsgate, London, Smith worked at sea until 1874, when he settled in Wellington, New Zealand. In 1884 he organised the Seamen's and Firemen's Union of Wellington, and was first president and secretary of the Cooks' and Pantrymen's Union of New Zealand. He went on to run the Prince of Wales Hotel, then the Post Office Hotel and marrying in 1882. However, according to his memoirs, he gambled away his fortune during a brief return to London in 1886. Around 1890 he arrived in Sydney and in 1891 re-entered the hospitality industry, starting with the Grand Central Coffee Palace, a temperance hotel. In 1896 he took over lease of the Imperial Arcade Hotel in Pitt Street, renaming it the Arcadia and transforming it into a highly profitable residential hotel. He eventually acquired a string of hotels in Sydney and the Blue Mountains, including the Log Cabin in Penrith, the Imperial in Mount Victoria and the Carrington in Katoomba.