The Place for Local and Family History
on the Western Australian Goldfields

Coolgardie > Coolgardie Hotels F to S


The Freemasons Hotel, Bayley St, Coolgardie

The Freemasons Hotel was originally a single storey structure of corrugated iron which was frequently referred to as 'The Sweat Box'. It was situated on Bayley Street, near the corner of Renou Street.

When the first licensee, J Harris, sold it to Charles Vincent and Josiah Lipman took over the hotel in March of 1894 they made a number of alterations, including the erection of a saloon bar and a second storey, and set out to make it comparable with 'The Colony's best in artistic finish, beauty and comfort, with a dining room that was the most commodious and comfortable in Coolgardie' in their own words. At the rear of the hotel was a hand ball cart, the only one in town.

Kalgoorlie Miner 27 Jul 1900

Two years later, they sold the hotel for £20,000 to the Tobias Bros who added two handsome shops on the western side of the building which were in operation until the turn of the 1900's. In 1911 the hotel and shops were sold and it operated until 1917 when it was dismantled and taken away.

The Freemasons Hotel Coolgardie 1900

THE GLOBE HOTEL Bayley St, Coolgardie

The Globe Hotel was situated between Ford and Hunt Streets Coolgardie. There is no known photograph of the building which has survived. W M Faahan was the first owner and claimed it to be the first hotel in Coolgardie.

]Coolgardie Miner 15 Oct 1936
Coolgardie Miner 15 Oct 1936

In 1895 it was known as, Alec Caro’s Wine and Beer Saloon, three months later, when Alex collapsed in the street and died the business was taken over by his brother Emil. Three years later Emil brought the first gramophone to Coolgardie and he invited all music lovers to hear it free of charge for 'a few night only'.

By the end of the year the Saloon was offered for sale. It was up for sale for a year before it was purchased by Mrs Pat Lynch in 1898 and was renamed the Globe Hotel. Mrs Lynch the later sold the goodwill, stock and lease to Nat Burgess.

In an advertisement in the Coolgardie Press, Pat called the Globe

‘The working man’s main house of call, with the best counter lunches and ales brewed by the Hannans Brewery in the Colony’.

By the turn of the century, the Globe was referred to by the Warden as

‘one of the worst conducted places in town’

a description disputed by Burgess who said those remarks were an exaggeration and likely to increase disturbances at the hotel.

Tom McJannett, who had been Chief Steward at the Coolgardie Club, rebuilt the hotel in 1903 as a single story brick and plaster structure. He offered drinkers 'spiced wine, mulled strout and wine Tom and Jerries' in addition to Toorak beer obtained from the cask by a new up to date method. A New Years part was held at the end of 1903 where guests were invited to partake of 'Whiskey Punch, Partin Taes, Tatties and Harrins, Athol Bros and Haggis'.
(not quite sure what some of these food and drinks is)

:-

In 1913 W J Reynolds was the proprietor

Like so many other hotels, the Globe closed down in December 1918 when the owners, The Kalgoorlie Brewery, declined to carry out extensive repairs ordered by the Licensing Court.

The Grand Bar Hotel, Bayley Street, Coolgardie

This hotel only operated  for a few years. It was situated next to the Marvel Bar Hotel. It appeares to have been built in 1905 and demolished in 1916.

The Grand Hotel:-

The Grand Hotel which was on the corner of Sylvester and Lefroy Street, Coolgardie. 

What a magnificent building, such a shame it was demolished.
It was a wooden building and was built in about 1895. It survived several fires in the town and was eventually demolished in 1918, and the materials sold off.

 

The Great Western Hotel - Coolgardie

The Great Western Hotel stood on the corner of Bayley and Hunt Sts Coolgardie. The site now occupied by the Coolgardie Motel. It was also known as De Baun's, after the first licencee.

It was build in 1893 and was destroyed in the great fire of 1897.

1894

Sketch of the Great Western Hotel

Great Western Hotel and Cobb and Co office

The Westral Hotel was built on this site after the Great Western Burnt Down.

The Lion Hotel, Cnr Renou and Sylvester Sts, Coolgardie.

                                                                      The Lion Hotel Coolgardie

The Lion Hotel was one of the string of hotels built by (Judah) Vincent and (Isaac) Lipman. It operated alongside the Lion Brewery untill about 1916 when there was an application to transfer the liquor licence by MrsBottrill. It appears in the WA Post Office Directories for the last time in 1917. It is not known when the building was demolished.

                                   Lion Hotel with the Lion Brewery in the background, Coolgardie 1900

The Marvel Bar Hotel

 

The Marvel Bar Hotel is at 31-33 Bayley Street, Coolgardie.  The current building was built in 1898, next to the Western Australian Bank. The first hotel on the site was a single storey iron building. In 1996 it was occupied by the Coolgardie RSL and still is today. The building which is two story, and of brick and iron, has the main feature of an elaborate street facade. The parapet wall has the name in relief. It was closed as a hotel in 1927.

 

The Marvel Bar Hotel Coolgardie

The Marvel Bar Hotel Coolgardie - 2015

The first building on the site was the premises occupied as a store, owned by Messrs. Arnold Lamb and Leiper. The first licensee of the weatherboard and galvanised iron hotel was Jack McGregor. He envisioned it as a place ‘Cool and Pleasant’ which it eventually became, with punkahs keeping the air moving in both the public and private bars where drinks cost nine pence. Mr McGregor was the licensee for most of the hotels life.

[caption id="attachment_8386" align="aligncenter" width="472"]

The First Marvel Bar Hotel on left c 1896

The Marvel Bar Hotel quickly became a favorite with the miners, because they were always welcome, irrespective of how they were dressed. Cheap meals were also available, and any prospector down on his luck was never turned away.

Kalgoorlie Miner 2 June 1897, page 3

On June 28, 1898 the building, which had for so long represented the early style of structures erected in the early days, was demolished and replaced with the present-day two-storey stone building, reflecting the opulence of the town when the population peaked at 15,000. In 1900 the building sported a ground floor street verandah.

Marvel Bar Hotel with Verandah 1900

The Marvel Bar was one of the four hotels still operating in 1916, but was badly damaged ten years later by a cyclone. The buildings and fittings were then bought by Michael Moran for ₤160. In 1934 Mick Moran made an unsuccessful application to the Liquor Licencing Board for a liquor licence for the Marvel Bar.

Kalgoorlie Miner 14 January 1905, page 10

The building is now occupied by the Coolgardie RSL. I have not yet been able to find out where the name "Marvel Bar' came from, does anyone know? There have been various suggestions over the years such as the name of a London Hotel and that of a race horse.

The Marvel Bar Hotel with the Western Australian Bank next door.[

The Metropolitan Hotel Coolgardie:


The Metropolitan Hotel, Coolgardie

When Pat Kennedy and his wife vacated the site on the north-eastern corner of Bayley and Fords streets in 1894, Fred Brewer erected a hotel two years later which was called The Metropolitan.
The hotel had two frontages – one on Bayley Street and the other in Ford Street, with he main entrance to the two ground floor bars being in the corner.

The saloon Bar, reached by a passageway from both streets, boasted an alcove with hand painted scenes of the sea and the coast. In addition to a large dining room, there was a Commercial Room, two parlours, billiard room, office and three bathrooms. At the read were twelve bedrooms and tanks which held 14,000 gallons of water.

On the first floor were twelve double bedrooms and ten single rooms. Each room was fitted with French casements opening on to a long balcony used for banqueting and the convenience of guests during the summer months.

In 1898, the lessee took all the furniture and fittings, leaving only a shell, which was leased by one of the local breweries at a weekly rent of £15. In 1905, the hotel was secured by a brewery for £5 per week.

The Metropolitan finally closed during the first world war when the building was dismantled and carted away. On the demolition of the Metropolitan, all four corners of Bayley and Ford Streets were now vacant.

Coolgardie Pioneer 11 December 1897   :   A FINE HOTEL.


Mrs Brewer

This hotel is the largest building of its kind in Coolgardie, and is a valuable quota to the city's ornamental architecture. Situated on the corner of Bayley and Ford streets, in the very heart of the town, it compels the attention of all who visit this centre. The interior, to the new corner with all his preconceived notions of Coolgardie civilisation, is a revelation, it, indeed, being appointed in a style that would reflect creditably upon the best of the Perth hostelries. Four large and handsome saloons are within its walls, a splendid billiard room, a large dining hall capable of seating 200 persons, private sitting rooms, bath rooms, and excellent bedrooms also. The hotel is connected with the telephone exchange, and is lit up with electric light throughout, and for it may be claimed, that it is without doubt the best ventilated hotel in the city. Mr Brewer, the proprietor, was born in London, and arrived in Sydney in 1880. He was well-known on the concert platforms of the East for his very fine vocal abilities. In November, 1892, he came to Coolgardie and started in the building and contracting line, at which he was eminently successful. Foreseeing the permanence of the place, he set to work and built the hotel pictured

 

above, and has, we are sure, been amply rewarded for his enterprise. Mrs Brewer, whose portrait we also present, herewith, is a lady whose personal charm has gained her many friends since her arrival here in 1895.

The Metropolitan as a family hotel, is unsurpassed in Coolgardie, as a glance over the premises is enough to demonstrate. A feature of the place is its magnificent balcony running the complete length of two sides of the building and scattered over with deck chairs, lounges, etc, which gives it an air of the very essence of temptation for an after-dinner smoke or quiet chat. The electric light being installed throughout the building, besides every precaution being exercised, reduces the risk of fire to a minimum - a consideration which has great weight with visitors to the goldfields, as we have in the past earned a rather unenviable reputation on account of the frequency of disastrous conflagrations, chiefly affecting hotels.

The Metropolitan Hotel - Coolgardie 1897

The Royal Hotel

Edwards Royal Hotel – Coolgardie Lot 31, Cnr Ford and Bayley Streets, Coolgardie

Edwards Royal Hotel (on Right) Coolgardie

Edwards Royal Hotel (on Right) 

Rudy Krakouver’s Hotel was the first two story hotel in Coolgardie and opened for business in June 1895. Later the Edwards family took over the hotel and claimed the hotel offered ‘Superior accommodation and attractive waiters’.
The catering at the Royal was excellent, only the best of everything being considerd good enough for its ‘Discriminating Clientel’ who were served with black coffee after dinner each night, on the commodious balcony overlooking Bayley Street.
On November 23rd, a Scotsman, McCleod MATHIESON, (known as the Opal King of Queensland), fell off the balcony and was killed. This was unfortunate for him as some hours earlier he had been paid £15,000 ($30,000) for a mining lease he held.

The Royal Hotel (two story on right) Coolgardie

Early in 1896, the licence was transferred to the Edwards family who claimed that the Royal had the  ‘Superior accommodation and attractive waiters’.  Shortly afterwards the licence was transferred to G T Glowert who had been mining at Bonnivale and who was later to be elected Mayor of Coolgardie.

The licence again changed hands when the lease and goodwill were purchased by Arth Travis, one of the owners of the South Carbine mine.

When the Bonnivale Coaching service began operations in 1898, the Royal was the departure point for the coaches which were fitted with the new ‘dust prevention wheels’ which were then becoming in favour.

]Scetch of Edwards Royal Hotel, Coolgardie.

Sketch of Edwards Royal Hotel, Coolgardie.[/caption]

When Billy Faahan sold the Club Hotel in 1901, he took control of the Royal for a time until the Edwards family resumed control until 1919 when the building was sold and dismantled.

During the course of the hotels 24yrs in existence there were 12 licensees.
1897 to 1900       = J T Glowery
1901      = Albert Travis
1902                       = William Faahan
1903                       = Percy Dobbie
1904                       = H G Minneken
1905                       = Jack Wilson
1906 to 1907       = Mrs Lean
1908 to 1909       = Mrs Sallinger
1910                       = M Noonan
1911                       = John R Fraser
1912 to 1913       = M de Pedro
1914 to 1920       = Andrew D Craig

 

The Shamrock Hotel

Colreavy's Shamrock Hotel, Coolgardie 1895. The lady in the centre next to the man is Cath Colreavy - Photo Hemus and Hall

Colreavy's Shamrock Hotel, Coolgardie 1895. The lady in the centre next to the man is Cath Colreavy - Photo Hemus and Hall

When the Shamrock Hotel, on the corner of Sylvester and Jobson Streets, Coolgardie was opened in September 1895, the licensee, Mrs Cath Colreavy, announced her best efforts would be used to

‘promote the comfort and convenience of patrons and visitors’.

Despite having twenty bedrooms for guests, permanent boarders were housed in a special building at the rear of the hotel. Its construction was of iron lined with hessian and paper.

{C}

The hotel changed hands in 1902, but was destroyed by fire two yeas later when the ceiling of the Sitting Room, which had been sagging for some time, fell onto a kerosene lamp. It was said the Fire Brigade used 25,000 gallons of water to put out the blaze, but this was denied. Although it was admitted that a large volume of water was used, this was attributed to leaking hoses.

The Shamrock was rebuilt by Vincent & Lipman and re-opened on May 6, 1904 and became the rendezvous for ‘cyclists and other highly perfumed individuals who assembled at the Shamrock in the days when the Wheel was king’.

As a further inducement, they were offered the use of a large training room and free showers in addition to

copious quantities of Lion Beer with a head as big as a cauliflower’.

The original licensee, Mrs Catherine Colreavy, arrived in Western Australia in 1882 as the matron on the emigrant ship, the Glenavon. She was then a widow and known as Mrs Cunningham. In 1886 she married Bernard Norbert Colreavy in Perth. By 1893 she was again a widow after the death of Bernard. She continued to run the hotel with the help of her son Jack Cunningham, who was also known as Jack Colreavy, until 1902 when she moved to Kalgoorlie.

The Licensees:
Mrs Cath Colreavy's 1895 -1901
Alex Young - 1902
Edward Stoph - 1903-4
G Lathrope - 1905
T Cunningham - 1906-7
J Tantanini - 1908-9
George Willman -1910

By 1911 it seems to have lost its licence, as it was advertised to rent as a private residence. By 1918, the hotel – one of the first to close down – was sold and carted away.

Bernard Norbert Colreavy was a well known and respected miner and prospector who was the discover of the Golden Valley in WA

]Bernard Norbert Colreavy W.A. Bulletin Saturday 29 September 1888, page 7

Bernard Norbert Colreavy W.A. Bulletin Saturday 29 September 1888, 

 

The United Club Hotel:

The United Club was formed in September 1896 and had Warden J.M. Finnerty as its first President.  Immediately after formation it was proposed to erect a building, estimated to cost ₤5,000, for use as a Club in Bayley Street west.

The United Club Hotel Coolgardie.

The United Club, on the corner of Moran and Bayley Streets Coolgardie west, was an imposing structure of stone and brick, with an elegant balcony extending over the footpath. Entry was through a central hall which ran into a spacious chamber behind which was a billiard room of similar dimensions.

From the front, there was a Stranger’s Room, Secretary’s Office, Light Court, Card and Writing Rooms. Upstairs were ten Bedrooms, four Card Rooms and two Bathrooms.

The Club, which was not strictly residential, kept the bedrooms for the convenience of visitors and country members.Despite opening with a Grand Ball, the building’s use as a Club was limited, so that when William Sheldon too it over he applied for and was granted a licence in 1895, and from then on it became known as the United Club Hotel.

After Jack Gregory, who was a member of the Coolgardie Council at the time of his marriage to Mercy Taylor, took over the hotel in 1900, it was always referred to as ‘Gregory’s Pub’ as a tribute to the

'jovial raconteur of quips and jokes, delivered with a broad Scottish accent’.

In 1903 water from the Coolgardie Water Supply Scheme was available from a stand pipe near 'Gregory's where water was sold from 8am to 6pm daily. The first buyer was called McAllister.

The following year while holidaying in Sydney, Mrs Gregory was fatally stabbed by a young attendant at the hotel where she was staying. There is a fountain erected in the Coolgardie Park in remembrance to her. You can read the story here: The Murder of Mercy Gregory

After the sale of the hotel to the Lion Brewery, Jack Gregory left Coolgardie and the hotel was taken over by Mrs E. Harris, who held the licence until the hotel’s closure during the First World War in 1920 when the building was allowed to fall into disrepair.

[caption id="attachment_9332" align="aligncenter" width="584"]1916

1916

The White Hart Hotel 

The White Hart Hotel was located in Hunt Street, Between Sylvester and Lindsay Sts, Coolgardie.

White Hart Hotel Coolgardie 1976 - Photo by W T Pether. The sign in front of the building reads: 'Sole Survivor'

The White Hart Hotel, erected by the owners of the Lion Brewery built in July 1900, was one of a number of new brick buildings that sprung up in Coolgardie at the turn of the century.

Not as pretentious as some of the other Vincent & Lipman establishments, the White Hart contained only three bedrooms and two sitting rooms. It was one of five hotels owned by Lipman at the time.

Announcing the opening, George Dewsnap, a former baker at Montana and a member of the Municipal Council, expressed the hope of meeting all his old friends and many new ones.

White Hart Hotel Coolgardie 1976 - Photo by W T Pether.

Two years later, Steve Timewell purchased the White Hart for £1120 (insured for £1800) and he made it one of the most popular venues and it soon became a rendezvous for

‘those who enjoy a quiet chat over their drinks’.

When the licence was not renewed in 1916-1917, the hotel was used as a boarding house until the fittings and furniture were sold.

Licensees:
George Murray Dewsnap - 1901-1902
Stephen Timewell - 1903-1905
Edward Walton -1907- 1909
Frank Martin - 1910
Martin Hyland - 1912
James Duffy - 1914
Hugh Dunstan - 1915
R R Reid - 1916-1917

Day Dawn Chronicle 13 January 1906, page 3

Day Dawn Chronicle 13 January 1906

Alcohol Prices 1916
A
lcohil Prices 1916


Previous Record Coolgardie Hotels A to E

Return to Coolgardie

Next Record Coolgardie Hotels F to S


Outback Family History Blog
WA Virtual Miners Memorial
Moya Sharp - Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) For Services to Community History

Would you like to subscribe to our newsletter?

Maybe next time! No, thanks.



* indicates required fields