Australia Hotel

Opened 1 October 1898, Lot 258, 2 Beach St, corner of what was Edward Street and is now [[../streets/parry.html|Parry St]]reet, photo Battye BA842/11. (Edward Parry was one person anyway.)

[[img/australiahotel1.jpg|]]

The Australia Hotel is on the corner of Parry Street (original name Edward Street, named for [[../people/parry.html|William Edward Parry]]) and Beach Street. It has had various names and was most recently Australia Backpackers. As a licensed premises it previously traded as the Flag and Whistle, and was known before that as the Harbourside and as the Australia Tavern. It's just across from the Passenger Terminal on Victoria Quay (the south wharf) and so is one of the first buildings seen by passengers arriving on cruise ships, so it's just as well it's had a recent facelift (before 2021), as it was looking very unkempt. There was until 2022 a footbridge leading directly from the wharf to Beach Street, opposite the hotel. It has presumably been found to be unfit for purpose. I have heard of no plans for it replacement.

The [[../buildings/railwaystation.html|East Perth Railway Station]] was directly opposite the hotel, at '1 Beach Street', 1897-c.1907.

Western Mail, 1897:
PROVISIONAL CERTIFICATES.
Johannah Mary Bowe, widow, applied for a provisional certificate for a publican's general license for premises proposed to be erected at the corner of Beach and Edward streets, East Fremantle. Mr. Moss appeared to support the application, which was unopposed. Mr. O. N. Nicholson architect, produced plans of the building, which it was estimated would cost between £9,000 and £10,000. It was intended to erect a first-class hotel of three stories on a block of land of 102ft by 188ft. In addition to the bars and ordinary rooms there would be 46 bedrooms and 5 parlours, and Mr. Moss remarked that it would be the best hotel in Fremantle when completed. The Bench granted the application. Western Mail, Friday 10 December 1897, p. 35.

This was the hotel before its 2015 renovation when the signage was that of the Flag and Whistle. It had a bad internet reputation at that time.

Shot taken from the now (2023) closed footbridge across the rail lines to the passenger terminal, showing a small, early version of Captain Munchies. The woolstores building to the right has since been replaced with a four-storey apartment block with offices on the ground floor.

It's now the Australia Tavern. The Captain Munchies caravan has been replacd by a larger building out of sight to the right.

[[img/australiahotel6.jpg|]]

The next photo after the previous one. The girls on the left and right have not moved their hands. SLWA 103075PD, the saloon bar, 1955.

References and Links

According to Allen Graham, the hotel was opened on 1 October 1898. See the article in the Inquirer and Commercial News for Friday 7 October 1898, p. 10.

Elizabeth Griffin/Griffen (1864-1927) was the licensee in 1898 of the Australia Hotel, and also, later, of the Fremantle Hotel. See the page for her on the streetsoffreo website. According to that site, Catholic priest Fr James Duff built and owned the hotel.

Freotopia

This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 23 September, 2014 and hosted at freotopia.org/hotels/australia.html (it was last updated on 25 November, 2023), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.