Pubs of Albany: White Star Hotel’s starring role in port city’s history

Pubs are community hubs where friendships are made, romances sparked and business deals brokered. Bad things can happen in places where people gather and drinks flow, but for the most part, these establishments are the keepers of fond memories. The watering holes of Albany are among the oldest in the State. In a series launching today, the Advertiser explores their colourful history. In part two, we look at the White Star Hotel. With a view of the harbour, a name linked to White Star Line shipping and clients who spent their days at sea, the history of the White Star Hotel is tied to the tides. The old hotel started life as a bakehouse in the 1870s before it was licensed in 1884. At one stage the building was run as a bakehouse and a hotel, providing guests with a place to stay and baked treats while they were there. In those early days, when it was known as the White Hart Inn, the building was a simple two-storey affair with a pitched roof. But as Albany grew through the 1890s, business boomed, and by the early 1900s the local authorities were threatening to shut the hotel down for not being up to scratch. That is, according to the White Star Hotel Conservation Management Plan by H+H Architects. “By the first decade of the 20th century ... the fabric of the White Hart Hotel was badly degraded,” the plan reads. “The hotel was under severe threat of de-licensing and condemnation by the local board of health, due to its rapidly deteriorating condition.” With the threat of closure looming, the hotel needed rapid action to keep its doors open but despite the danger, the owners were unwilling to invest. “When it was necessary to invest money into refurbishment of the hotel, there was an impasse between the many joint owners and their agents,” the conservation management plan reads. It seems that the White Hart ship was kept afloat largely through the work of one owner named Nathaniel McKail. McKail even took the matter to court in an effort to raise funds and make the necessary renovations, obtaining £3500 for the repairs. The White Hart would live on but under a different name. After the announcement of refurbishments on Christmas Day 1909, the White Hart Inn changed its name to the White Star Hotel. While there is some uncertainty as to why this was done, on balance, it looks as though it was a marketing move. “It seems likely that Charles Reddin (licensee)... saw the marketing opportunities that may evolve by association with a large international shipping line,” the management plan reads. White Star Line was the common name of the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company — the group behind the Titanic. And with a new name and the hotel’s proximity to the wharf, it was probably thought that it would help bring more wharfies through the doors. The rebuilt White Star Hotel opened in 1910, featuring 22 bedrooms in a two-storey building “thoroughly in accord with modern requirements”. Despite a need for more repairs on the building in 1924, increasing tourism over the 1920s and 1930s buoyed the White Star. “Its prominent position on Stirling Terrace, near the railway station and town jetty, allowed it to compete with its adjacent neighbour, the Royal George Hotel,” the plan reads. The hotel ran through licensees at a rapid pace, including a former first class cricketer and Mayor of Albany, but it seemed to matter little as the hotel was competing well in a crowded market. But all this increasing business had its negatives, too. Some locals thought that such hotels brought public drunkenness and crime to Albany, pointing to White Star as one of the chief culprits. One of these was neighbouring hotel owner, Vernon King, who claimed White Star and its badly lit toilets were compromising his business In an appearance before the State Licensing Bench, Mr King alleged that White Star’s customers misused the toilet facilities at the back of their building “thereby offending his own customers”. While the complaint was dismissed, run-ins with the law would continue for White Star. The founding of the Cheynes Beach Whaling Station in the 1950s and a new manager named Molly Moyes, did little to stop the at-times lewd behaviour. “The chasers would drop the catch at the whaling station and make straight for the jetty,” the conservation management plan reads. Affectionately referred to as the “whalers’ grandmother” by deckhand Peter Johnson, Moyes was the stern and beloved matriarch at the pub, and known to leave a carton of beer at the jetty. But she was not loved by all. In 1968, after a series of drunken incidents, Constable AB Sharrett was reportedly dispatched to Albany to investigate Moyes, White Star and the hotel industry in Albany. Unfortunately for Sharrett, his attempts to interview Moyes were interrupted by MP Jack Hall, who accused the police of victimising her. With Mr Hall on White Star’s side, the wharfies continued to bring some extra fun and a little bit of chaos to Stirling Terrace. “One bloke had a unique way of clearing the bar in winter when there was a fire burning,” former Advertiser reporter Chris Pash wrote. “The charge used in a harpoon was a bag of gunpowder weighing 650g and he would stuff one of these in his shirt, then come up to the pub and chuck it in the grate. There was no explosion but the black powder would burn fast, sending clouds of smoke into the room.” As whaling drew to a close and the years rolled on, these antics would be seen less and less at the White Star. In 2006, the pub seemed to have experienced an identity turnaround with a boutique bar and microbrewery planned on-site. The property was leased to Tanglehead Brewing Co. whose name harkens back to Albany’s first beer, which may well have been enjoyed at the old White Hart Inn. Now, White Star Hotel part-owner David Steytler, plans to bring more of the pub’s history back to the terrace. “We’re planning on doing the renovations upstairs to allow access to the balcony — that’s the first stage. The second stage will be putting in function rooms upstairs.” he said. “It’s a re-creation of the original balcony that was on the building back in the day. Its probably still 12 months away. We’ve been planning it for about 10 years and now it’s finally starting to happen.”

Pubs of Albany: White Star Hotel’s starring role in port city’s history

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