Guest blog by Robyn B, Local History Volunteer at Gympie Library.

There were two “Live and Let Live” Hotels on the Gympie goldfield; one owner Charles Narcisse Bouel captured our imagination. His nickname was French Charley.

Bouel had one “Live and Let Live” establishment at One Mile, and Bouel and his partner Zimmerman had the Live and Let Live Hotel in Mary Street (in area of 115-123 Mary Street) in 1868/1869.

Charles Bouel applied for a Publican’s Licence in early 1868, for his Live and Let Live Hotel situated at Twelve Mile Creek, Nashville (Nashville Times, 19 February 1868, p. 3). He was granted a licence for a hotel and a theatre in March 1868.

Bouel was ‘favourably known as French Charley’ and erected a ‘commodious building’ with notable furnishings in the accommodation (Nashville Times, 18 March 1868, p. 3). He called his theatre, the “Theatre Royal”, his location now known as One Mile Creek. Performances were frequent and enthusiastically received.

By mid 1868, Charles Bouel was declared insolvent (Brisbane Courier, 29 May 1868, p. 2) and the One Mile establishments were soon sold.

The Hotel and Theatre Royal (at One Mile) were destroyed by fire in January 1869 (Maryborough Chronicle, 7 January 1869, p. 2).

French Charley’s “Live and Let Live” name did not end with his insolvency or the One Mile fire. It appears that “Live and Let Live” was a string of hotels, owned by Charles Bouel and partners. They advertised their chain in 1870 and were still advertising their chain of hotels in the Gympie Times on 5 April 1887, p. 3. The advertisement hasn’t been updated to reflect the 1869 fire at One Mile and is silent on the matter of Bouel’s 1868 insolvency.

Bouel married Mary Louisa Josephine Gallagher on 22 September 1870 at Rockhampton. He was 42 years old and she was 17 when they married. Gympie Family History Society researchers write that the Bouels moved to Cooktown in 1873 and were apparently still there in 1885 because of a legal matter between Bouel and the Cooktown Municipal Council. He was a ‘restaurant keeper’ when he died in Brisbane in 1893 and is buried in the Toowong Cemetery.

The story of French Charley took an intriguing turn in 2018 when a local metal detectorist found two French coins (1864 Cinq Centimes) in the One Mile area.

Historic Gympie Region Metal Detecting and Lost Item Recovery on Facebook

Gympie Family History Society Inc.