Prince Alfred Hotel – Gundiah

Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh was Queen Victoria’s second son and enthusiastically received as the first English prince to visit Australia in 1868.

He visited Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Tasmania. On 12 March 1868, on his second visit to Sydney while picnicking in the beachfront suburb of Clontarf, he was wounded in the back by a revolver fired by Henry O'Farrell. [1]

Fittingly, the original Prince Alfred Hotel was opened in ‘Gootchie Creek’ in 1868, by Charles Henry Scarrott. It was a ‘Wayside Inn’ between Maryborough and Gympie on the coach route and ‘future Gootchie Terminus of the Railway’. [2]Scarrott had 350 acres of property at his retirement in 1878.[3] The liquor licence transferred in 1878 to Robert Whannel, and 1879 to Robert Woodward, and then to Mary Scarrott on Charles‘ death in 1882.[4] Charles Scarrott has an elaborate headstone at Gundiah southeast of the present pub.

The new Prince Alfred Hotel was built at ‘Gootchie’ in 1883 adjacent to the new Gundiah Railway Station (opened 1882). In an article about the new Dalkeith Sawmill, Jan 17, 1883, it states it was being erected on “the site which Scarrotts’ Hotel was rendered famous during the last 16 years, abutting on the railway line and close to Gundiah (Gootchie) Creek...Quite the village of cottages will be erected... and arrangements are being made for the early establishment of a store, butcher and baker and the inevitable hotel on sites adjacent to the Mill.” The brick furnace remains of the Sawmill and the Scarrott gravesite are on the Tiddy property at 314 Netherby Road, just south of the current pub.

The Prince Alfred Hotel saw the license change hands on average every 3 years until Benedict Bauer 1891.

House Hotel, at the Gundiah station, was burned to the ground. It was a large building, with detached kitchen and outbuildings, none of which wore saved. The origin of the fire is a mystery and likely to remain so. Mr. Ben Bauer was unlucky enough to lose £60 in notes (takings at the Boxing Day races), together with other valuables. He had placed them in an iron safe, being under the delusion that it would stand fire but to his dismay found when the fireproof safe was opened that nothing remained but a few ashes. It was stated by a person who saw the safe opened, that it appeared to be lined with sawdust.

The buildings were the property of the Queensland National Bank, and were insured for £700 in the Royal Insurance Company, the furniture being insured by Mr. Bauer for £300 in the Commercial Union Company. It is reported that an in enquiry will be held into the origin of the disaster.

Benedict Bauer died in 1904 [5]  and the property was willed to his wife.

The information in this blog entry has been copied with permission from the Gundiah Gazette.

Accessed online:  http://gundiahgazette.com.au/History-GundyPub.html

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[1] The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser Saturday 14 March 1868

http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/18716231?searchTerm=prince+alfred+++shot

http://www.shoalhaven.net.au/~cathyd/history/prince.html

[2] History of The Prince Alfred Hotel by and . Copy provided by Ms Kim McDonald, current owner of the hotel

[3] Charles Henry Scarrott, original owner of the Prince Alfred Hotel b. 1829 d. 1882. His grave site is on the property, once a part of the 350 acres freehold land owned by the Scarrott family. In March 1878, the property was listed for sale or let, and included “THAT WELL-KNOWN WAYSIDE INN, the Prince Alfred Hotel, half-way between Maryborough and Gympie, with about 350 acres of Freehold Land, the greater portion of which is securely fenced. The hotel is situated in close proximity to the future Gootchie Terminus of the Railway and is doing a fine business. With it, there are also substantially built Stables and Outbuildings; a Garden stocked with choice fruit trees, grape vines etc; a cultivated paddock of about 10 acres; and all the conveniences (Stockyard, Milking yard, Bails etc) for carrying on a LARGE DAIRY.” [see 2]

[4] http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/3404762?searchTerm=Charles+Henry+Scarrott#pstart531329

[5] http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/19477822?searchTerm=Benedict+Bauer#pstart1554105

The Brisbane Courier. Thursday 6 September 1906

IN MEMORIAM.

BAUER.-In loving memory of our dear father, Benedict Bauer, who died September 6, 1904.

R.I.P.

A precious one from us is gone

The voice we loved is stilled

A place is vacant in the hearth

Which never can be filled.

Inserted by his loving children.