The Geraldton Hotel’s critical role in a pioneer town

Hotel, tavern, bar. We know them all simply as ‘the pub’. Where generations have gathered to celebrate, commiserate, and everything in between. It’s a place where romances blossom, business deals are sealed, and long standing friendships are made and tested. In this series Pub Crawl Through Time, the Geraldton Guardian explores the colourful history of Geraldton’s favourite watering holes. In part one, we’re starting at the start with The Geraldton Hotel. From council chambers, to maternity ward, to the pub we know today. The story of The Geraldton Hotel begins in February 1858, just eight years after the town was established. Daniel Scott, a harbourmaster from Fremantle, had retired and moved north to focus his time on commerce. The pub he built officially opened in 1862, and is described by Sister Mary Albertus Bain in her book A Life of Its Own, as a “simple, single storey building, with a large bar at the front, and backyard.” Mr Scott arrived in Australia from Liverpool on the same boat as wine and spirit maker Lionel Samson. The two were inseparable, a useful friendship to have for a publican. Changing hands between sons in law — whose motives surely have to be questioned — the Geraldton Hotel emerged as a businessman’s hangout and a prime meeting spot for just about every club and organisation in the emerging town, not least the town council. Current publican Graham Phease said the dark early days had left a supernatural scar on the old pub. “We have had a few things happen that are unexplained. Tills open by themselves, bins moving around. That sort of thing,” he said. Rumour has it that convicts were once kept in the cellar below the pub as they awaited trial at the courthouse across the road, and to this day there is still a tunnel running under the road that connected the two buildings. Mr Phease said he had gone looking for it, but to no avail. “There’s big thick wooden doors down there. I tried taking off a few panels, but I never saw any tunnel. If they’ve sealed it, they’ve done a very good job.” However, local historian Stan Gratte said the theory was nonsense. His explanation is that the now blocked tunnel once led to a beer keg-sized hole in the street. In the days before refrigeration, beer would arrive on the cart, and was lowered into the cellar along rails through the short tunnel. “Why would anyone keep convicts in a cellar? It’s a ridiculous idea,” Mr Gratte said. If convict ghosts aren’t a scary enough thought, The Geraldton Hotel also served as the town’s maternity ward. No, really. As there was no hospital in Geraldton until 1887, it was common for pastoralists’ wives to take up a room in the hotel and have a midwife deliver the baby there. 1874 saw an extravagant meal prepared for the arrival of explorer and future premier John Forrest. He and a team of five were tasked with trekking from Geraldton to Adelaide, exploring the interior of WA. Gregory Street was lined with locals as they saw off the adventurers. A plaque commemorating the event can be found on the left side of the steps on the Gregory Street entrance. The hotel licence was taken over in 1875 by Martin Hosken, who set about manufacturing the first soft drinks in WA. They were made from recipes purchased by Lionel Samson in Europe, and proved popular not only with locals, but travelling merchants as well. Crates of the fizzy drinks were regularly sold to vessels headed for Hong Kong and Singapore. Hosken left the hotel to his brother William, but when he died suddenly after being thrown from his horse, William’s wife Hannah took up the licence of the pub, a controversial move in Victorian times. Not that it seemed to bother her, as she went on to also run the Club Hotel in 1885. It wasn’t the last time The Geraldton Hotel would be the centre of controversy. The General Workers Union launched action in mid-1912, seeking better hours and higher wages for the hotel staff. A lengthy string of discussions followed, leading to bar staff being cut back to 48 hours per week, at a wage of 40 shillings — about $250 in today’s money. In 1951 licensee Harry McGregor was fined £10 — about $444 in today’s money — plus costs for the high crime of serving beers on a Sunday. As the Geraldton Guardian reported, Mr McGregor stated: “I have no excuse to offer, except that it had been the birthday of one of the men and when they were passing the hotel in a taxi they stopped and came in for a drink.” Mr Phease said there was “not much left that’s original” as the pub stands today. The beer garden now known for relaxed Sunday sessions once hosted stables. Much of the brickwork has been rendered over and many a window replaced. Only the staircase remains untouched from the 19th century construction.