- This article is about the club; see also the Buffalo Club building, the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes, and the article about Fremantle's clubs in general.
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The Fremantle Buffalo Club is at 54 High Street, on Town Lot 105, and was opened in 1938. It's name comes from the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes, who still meet there but who have not been the main organisation behind the club since about the 1960s.
History
Ron Davidson describes: "…a slightly rusty building in High Street with a facade which Fremantle wits call art deco revival. That means green tiles and a buffalo skull set into the stucco wall"[1]
The building is on what was the original 1833 town lot no. 105 which was granted to G.F. Johnson. It is now lot 500.
Before it was the Buffalo Club, the building was the Madrid Restaurant, run by the Andinach family. For the pre-1938 history of the building, see the restaurant's article.
On lot 105 in 1830, Robert Thomson was operating one of the first four pubs in the colony, the Stirling Arms.
The West Australian Buffalo Club was inaugurated in 1919 (the first RAOB in Australia), on the corner of King and Hay streets in Perth.[2]
Club offices were at 13 Adelaide Street in 1920, when it was a public company with £500 capital.[3]
1921, April 12, Daily News:[4]
Fremantle Buffalo Club to Secure New Premises
The Fremantle Buffalo Club. Ltd. represented by Mr. J. D. Moss, to-day applied to the Chief Justice (Sir Robert McMillan), sitting in No. 3 Supreme Court, for permission to purchase new club premises by altering the company's memorandum of association.
William O. Myers, president of the Fremantle Buffalo Club, said tho club was in a sound financial position. During the last eleven months profit of £350 had been made. The committee were desirous of securing new and larger premises of its own. There were no debenture holders.
The petition was granted.
In 1926 the club was "undergoing alterations and additions. The billiard tables have been moved to a bigger room, the old billiard room being now used as a reading room and library. Card rooms are re-decorated, and the Lodge Room bas been fully equipped."[5]
A club member, William Jones, was found dead in Fremantle Harbour in December 1929.[6]
In 1941, alterations were carried out by Allen & Nicholas.[7] The limestone wall between the main bar and the shop at number 60 was removed as part of renovations overseen in 1986 by Michael Broderick & Partners.[7]
The shop at 58 High Street was leased to Richard John Nockolds in 1960[8], and after the Fremantle Health Authority required "certain improvements"[9] he ceased business in 1963.[10]
A new association, Fremantle Buffalo Club Inc, was registered on 9 June 1965.[11]
In June 2021, the building has had its disgusting awnings removed, tho the facade has not been made good. One can only hope that some hero will restore the Madrid verandahs, tho there are hardly any verandahs left in High Street. Here's the building with mouldy awnings, from my snap of c. 2017?
In 2024 the club was a non-profit association with an open membership. The committee was:[12]
- Neil Porter
- Greg Patterson
- Raymond Grenfell
- Anna Farrant
- John Fox
- Michael Sheehy
- Zane Wayman
The club was a finalist in the Chamber of Commerce's 2024 Business Awards, in the Community Organisation category (the Leeuwin Ocean Adventure Foundation won;[13] the other shortlisted organisations were Expression Australia; St Patrick's Community Support Centre; Domestic Abuse Resource and Training Institute aka DART; Fremantle Foundation; Stephen Michael Foundation; Freocast Radio; The Hospital Foundation Group aka Spinnaker; Business Foundations; Portcare; Imagined Futures; and Freo Street Doctor aka Black Swan Health).[14]
Gallery
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Buffalo head.
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2016: Entrance.
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2024: Upstairs social hall.
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History subcommittee
References
- ↑ David Parker; Ron Davidson The Clubs 2010 (FotoFreo), ID p99
- ↑ WEST AUSTRALIAN BUFFALO CLUB. (1919, July 7). The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), p. 6. Retrieved October 1, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27610322
- ↑ NEWS AND NOTES. (1920, February 18). The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), p. 4. Retrieved September 25, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27675697
- ↑ FREMANTLE BUFFALO CLUB (1921, April 12). The Daily News (Perth, WA : 1882 - 1955), p. 6 (THIRD EDITION). Retrieved September 25, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article84744213
- ↑ The Buffalo Club (1926, July 17). Mirror (Perth, WA : 1921 - 1956), p. 3. Retrieved October 1, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article76450078
- ↑ BODY IN HARBOR (1929, December 24). The Daily News (Perth, WA : 1882 - 1955), p. 6 (HOME FINAL EDITION). Retrieved September 25, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article83119349
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 State Heritage Office, place number 24832.
- ↑ File:BUFF2024-7_0118.JPG
- ↑ File:BUFF2024-7_0128.JPG
- ↑ File:BUFF2024-7_0127.JPG
- ↑ Association Search, ID A0650022F, DEMIRS.
- ↑ Committee @ The Buff, accessed 9 September 2024
- ↑ FREO CHAMBERS BUSINESS AWARDS by Roel Loopers, October 12, 2024.
- ↑ Fremantle Business Awards Finalists 2024, 16 September 2024.
Hitchcock, J.K. 1929, The History of Fremantle, The Front Gate of Australia 1829-1929, Fremantle City Council.
Parker, David Dare & Ron Davidson 2010, The Clubs, FotoFreo, Fremantle.
Page for Josephina Andinach on streetsoffreo.com.au.
Streetsoffreo.com.au page for the Buffalo Club and Madrid Restaurant.
See also
- Buffalo Club committees for past members.
- The Club Constitution.
- Club Archives.
- Newsletters:
Links
- Official website: https://www.freobuffclub.org
Wikimedia Commons category: Buffalo Club
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 1 October, 2014 and hosted at freotopia.org/clubs/buffalo.html (it was last updated on 19 October, 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.