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By Fitzroy
In olden times in Queensland many a poor tired swagman, whether he had a fat cheque in his pouch, or only an empty pipe, was glad enough at sundown to see a bush "pub" springing into view of his weary eyes. To such a person the following verse would forcibly appeal:
"Where're he's travelled life's dull round
Where're his stages may have been,
May sigh to say he still has found
The warmest welcome at an inn."
It is true the bush hotels of early times were not often regarded as places
where a traveller should linger, but no person of experience will deny that,
with some exceptions, hotels in the bush were and are a great convenience
and helpful in many ways. Old-timers, carriers and travellers generally whether
riding or on foot, usually met with a cheery welcome at the wayside pub. The
invitations to have a taste at mine host's expense may have had an ulterior
object, but such a call was frequently made without a thought of a large return,
if any at all.
On occasions carriers have blessed the bush hotel owners for having filled
up boggy places, made crossing of creeks easier, and in case of mishap, supplied
them with all kinds of things the traveller could not otherwise obtain. Therefore
it must be admitted hotels in the bush were in remote times indeed welcome
as a general thing to wayfarers of all classes. All this by the way, for the
writer wishes to refer chiefly to the hotels that sprang up in the early days
of Rockhampton and its environs.
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Rockhamptons first Criterion Hotel approx 1875 |
Many visitors to Rockhampton on viewing the fine building known as the Criterion
Hotel, at the corner of Quay and Fitzroy streets, must have wondered what
the "pub" that first stood on that site was like. It was probably
much inferior to even the worst similar buildings of the present day, however
distant from civilisation they may be.
The Bush Inn was the name given to the hostelry, and certainly there was
nothing ostentatious about the title. Richard Parker, who probably built it
with his own hands, had been living in Gayndah for some little time, whither
he had migrated from Sydney some months previously. Gayndah at that time (1857)
was the outside town of most importance north of Maryborough and Ipswich,
though Gladstone was also making headway, but that snug little town was somewhat
out of the course of those who with flocks and herds were steadily pushing
northward.
Parker must have heard of the arrival of the Archers at Gracemere and also
that Richard Palmer was starting the erection of a substantial store on the
River Fitzroy. Though there were no newspapers at that period north of Brisbane,
information was carried from one person to another with fair accuracy. A new
arrival in any place was greeted with acclamation and the question "what's
the news ?" soon set his tongue going, and so even trivial events were
soon disseminated from place to place and from one person to another.
Parker with his experience of the country opened up "on the Sydney side"-a
familiar expression in those days to designate the locality-must have reasoned
that where a store was erected a hotel would soon be needed, and so he made
tracks for the banks of the Fitzroy.
It was a lonesome uninviting locality, enough in those days, for though a splendid river flowed serenely away to the sea, the banks were covered with mangroves except for the little spot cleared by Richard Palmer's men to enable them to land the timber for the store, and also the goods to fill the store with. There was also a shed near the Belle Vue Hotel, where the Archers placed their wool for shipment, or as a shelter for their man.
It was a lonesome uninviting locality, enough in those days, for though a splendid river flowed serenely away to the sea, the banks were covered with mangroves except for the little spot cleared by Richard Palmer's men to enable them to land the timber for the store, and also the goods to fill the store with. There was also a shed near the Belle Vue Hotel, where the Archers placed their wool for shipment, or as a shelter for their man.
Why Palmer chose the spot he did for his store was probably because the ground
was a little higher than elsewhere along the bank, and as such a huge river
would naturally be in flood at times, it was well to be secure from its reach.
Parker quite naturally chose a spot not distant from the store, and then he
started to erect the first hotel or inn that ever saw the light on the banks
of the River Fitzroy. That it was an isolated locality there is no denying,
for the nearest hotel was at Gladstone, some eighty miles away, and the next
at Gayndah, nearly 300 miles distant. Even a very sanguine man must have recognised
that the speculation gave every indication of foresight but a very slow advance.
As there was two buildings-Palmer's store and Parker's Bush Inn-formed the
genesis of the city of Rockhampton, it will be wise to give some little detail,
seen at a risk of repeating facts that have already appeared. The Archers
settled at Gracemere with a considerable number of employees in August 1855.
Richard Palmer was led to start a store on the bank of the Fitzroy the following
year. Palmer started from Gladstone with his men to build the store about
the beginning of June, 1856. The blacks were so aggressive at that period
that he was conveyed from Gladstone by Lieutenant Powell and his black troopers.
The party arrived safely at its destination on the 6th of June and at once
made camp. Timber for the buildings came latter by a small coasting vessel,
probably from Maryborough.
There was plenty to do before the timber arrived, for the mangroves had to
be cleared away, and an opening made to get the timber and goods on shore.
When this was done the building of the store proceeded, and it must have been
near the end of 1856 that Palmer's store was opened to the public, at that
time just a few stray people looking for country.
About the middle of 1857, Richard Parker, then at Gayndah, decided to try his fortune with an inn near where Palmer's store stood. It was no easy task getting to the Fitzroy from Gayndah. In view of after events it is not likely that that he took a round about course from Gayndah to Maryborough thence to Gladstone, and then to his destination. Parker was almost certainly accompanied by an employed man and his wife, and that they all three came in a dray with horses, because all their food and requirements would have to be brought with them for a considerable period. The only other way he could have come would be by going from Gayndah to Maryborough and chartering a small sailing vessel. The overland route is the more likely because there would be great need for a dray and horse at their destination.
After the death of Mr Brown, Mr Kilner was recalled to Rockhampton as sub-collector
and W. J. Connolly held the position of shipping master. Mr Kilner gave place
to the original Barney Fahey in 1883, and he held the appointment till 1904,
when J. M. Forbes took his position, Mr Fahey lived in Brisbane till his demise,
a few years ago.
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Criterion Hotel 1905 |
The party would have had to be well armed as well as provided with necessaries. Palmer's store was built of sawn timber, but Parker decided on a building of slabs covered with bark. These bark roofings were very popular in early times as they possessed the advantages of coolness, cheapness, and being easily obtained. Unfortunately, it meant the death of the tree, and subsequently in early times thousands of feet of splendid ironbark, were needlessly destroyed. When its bark was used the value of its timber was not so great.
These two buildings-the store and inn-formed the starting point of the city
of Rockhampton and they were erected in 1856 and 1857 respectively. Thank
to John Arthur Macartneys reminiscences, some idea can be formed of the appearances
of these premises for that gentleman arrived with some others in the first
week of June 1858. Those with him where John and George Murray, native police
officers, and Dan Connor, who had lately taken up Princhester, Marlborough,
and Collaroy, and other country. He said:-"Our party more than doubled
the population. Really there were only three people in the place, Richard
Palmer, his servant man, and a woman, the wife of the man left in charge of
the Bush Inn. There were but two buildings-the Bush Inn, the embryo Criterion
Hotel, built on the spot where the hotel stands today, and Palmer's store
just over the way. The inn was built by Mr. Parker and he had gone to Gayndah,
to get married. It was a dark, miserable, rough little slab place, and only
partly finished. The bar was locked by the proprietor when he went away, but
as the wall did not go up to the roof, I got over the wallplate and handed
out to my companions a bottle of ale, a bottle of porter, and a pint of rum,
which John Murray mixed together in an old iron jug and we all partook of.
There was nothing in the bar to drink from. The only other liquor in the place
besides the ale, stout, and rum, was some whisky in a jar. Palmer's store,
like the inn, was in an unfinished state.
Of course the stuff taken was afterwards paid for, but considering the four
consisted of two magistrates, and two police officers, who where subsequently
police magistrates, the occurrence gives some idea of the free and easy methods
of those times.
Mr. Macartney's incident seems to disclose several points. Richard Palmer
and his man ran the store by themselves; Parker had a man and woman with him,
and these he must have brought with him; and that the business done was so
trifling that the proprietor could be away for weeks. As regards the liquor
in stock, it shows a variety that not a few starting a bush inn at that period
would have been proud of.
The young lady Parker married was the one to whom he was affianced in Sydney,
and who must have followed him to Gayndah, probably by vessel to Maryborough
and thence on horseback. She almost certainly returned with her husband from
Gayndah, and took up her residence at the Bush Inn, the building of which
was doubtless then completed, or additions made.
Mrs Parker was very young when she married, and like almost all women of early
times took an active part in the future progress of her husband as a hotelkeeper.
No doubt the first half of 1858 passed away quietly enough, with but few visitors
either in the Bush Inn or Palmer's store. The outlook, therefore, was not
very hopeful or exhilarating for years might he expected to pass before the
"township" on the Fitzroy contained many residents or there was
much shipping business done.
From this state of quietude and inaction, Parker and Palmer were suddenly stirred into a state of excitement by the report of gold having been found at Canoona. This was late in July, 1958, but it was not till August was well advanced that the rush set in with all its force and intensity.
The first excitement came when Chapple, the discoverer, returned to Canoona
with a party from Gladstone, and thereafter it continued for some months.
The Bush Inn was well patronised, and though in a few weeks grog shanties
were opened, both in Rockhampton and at Canoona, Parker had all the business
he could manage. With drinking there came a certain amount of rowdyism, and
altogether the Bush had a never-to-be-forgotten change from quietude that
marked its early days of existence.
As opportunity offered, Parker enlarged his premises, but exactly the date
of its taking on a distinctly improved appearance is not known. In 1860 Richard
Parker died, leaving his widow with two little girls, both practically babies.
The property was left to the eldest or both children. The oldest married Mr.
G. S. Curtis, and the younger married a Mr. Rush in Sydney.
Mrs. Parker continued to keep the Bush Inn, but in 1861 she married J. A. Watt, who was at that time the leading butcher of the town. It was now that the hotel took on a more pretentious appearance. In fact, the whole of the town began to emerge from its period of humpies and tents, and buildings of some comfort and convenience took their place.
By 1862 the hotel had assumed a good appearance, and Mrs. Watt decided to
get a spell from hotel-keeping. She quickly found a customer in John Ward,
an energetic old fellow, who mixed up in all kinds of speculations. The Bush
Inn was not a title that suited Ward's aspirations, so he renamed it "The
Criterion Hotel," which it has remained ever since.
The entrance to the public bar was from the corner of Fitzroy street and Quay lane. The coffee-room was towards the river, and was approached through a garden, the billiard-room being at the end of the room, bordering on Fitzroy street.
The rapid manner in which hotels changed owners in the early days was quite
startling and rather confusing. For one thing there seemed to be much greater
mortality among hotelkeepers than any other section of the community, and
thus change of ownership became imperative. The Criterion proved no exception
to the general rule, for in the 67 years of its existence it must have had
20 landlords.
John Ward took possession in 1862, and before the year had closed had transferred
the license and goodwill to Thomas Nobbs, who was an importation from Sydney.
A big lusty fellow with a very capable and energetic wife, under whose admirable
management the Criterion soon won a good many amongst the western pastoralists
and visitors generally.
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Criterion Hotel 2001 |
Meanwhile Mrs. Watt took an active interest in her husbands butchering business.
But he had very indifferent health and about 1865 joined the great majority
leaving a widow and two step-daughters. In 1866 Mrs. Watt married John Cramp,
who had been her late husband's business manager. The same year John Cramp
became the landlord of the Cambridge Hotel but in a few months moved to the
Commercial Hotel, corner of Quay and William streets, which had been vacated
by Host Hant, who had gone to Bowen.
The Cramps had not been long in the Commercial when the lease of the Criterion
Hotel expired, and Mr and Mrs Cramp decided to go back to their own property,
or rather that of their children. This was about the end of 1866.
Thus Mrs. Cramp was back in the hotel first started by her husband 1o years
previously. The Cramps retained possession of the hotel for some years, and
in the seventies the oldest daughter Miss Parker, married Mr. G. S. Curtis,
then a rising young auctioneer and real estate agent. Mrs Cramps health began
to fail, and she too passed away, after a very strenuous pioneering life at
age 37 years. Mrs. Cramp was always a popular business woman, but her activities
outran her strength, particularly at a period when few of the comforts and
enjoyments of life were to be obtained in Rockhampton.
The writer is not quite certain in what order the landlords who followed John Cramp came, but Mrs. Laurie probably followed Mr Cramp, and she gave place to Fred A. Morgan, who took possession about 1879. Then came Mrs. Eaton, Sizer, Coleman, and George H. Bitch, the last of whom kept the place for a long period.
About 1890 Mrs. Curtis, who still owned the Criterion, was induced to erect
the present fine three-storied building of brick and stone. When completed
it was undoubtedly one of the finest hotels in Queensland, and for many years
was considered quite ahead of the times. It then secured and has since retained
a high reputation extending practically from Melbourne to Thursday Island.
It is somewhat remarkable that this first hotel to be started in Rockhampton,
when the site of the city was simply bushland, long before the town was surveyed,
is the only hotel property in the city that has remained in the possession
of its original owners-the present being the grandchildren of the original
Mr. And Mrs. Parker, who took possession of the piece of crown land belonging
to the Government of New South Wales in 1857.
The foregoing rather lengthy sketch of the famous Criterion Hotel may be considered
justified from the fact that the place has always maintained its position,
as the first hotel in the town both for outward attractiveness and for its
internal arrangements and management.