Breakfast Creek Hotel

Coordinates: 27°26′27″S 153°02′44″E / 27.44085°S 153.045479°E / -27.44085; 153.045479

Breakfast Creek Hotel in 2008, the lights of Allan Border Field in the background

The Breakfast Creek Hotel is a heritage-listed hotel (pub) located at 2 Kingsford Smith Drive, Breakfast Creek, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.[1][2]

History of the site

The plot was created in 1845 by a subdivision. In 1848 the first traffic bridge was built across Breakfast Creek and a hotel was established somewhere in the vicinity, but its precise location is not known. In 1849 a Brisbane carpenter, Thomas Hennessy, bought the land. By 1862 his wife had established the Breakfast Creek Hotel on the land, but it is not known if it was at the location of the current hotel. In 1863 Michael Campbell took over as publican, but by the late 1860s there is no evidence the hotel was still operating.[2]

History of the current hotel

The current hotel was built by William McNaughton Galloway, who was mayor of Brisbane in 1889. This time was a growth period for the Breakfast Creek area with industries such as quarrying and timber-milling. A new Breakfast Creek Bridge opened on 24 May 1889 and a racecourse was constructed at Albion. The architects were Simkin and Ibler and the builders Woollam and Norman.[2][3]

The hotel opened for business on 17 May 1890.[3][4]

The Breakfast Creek Hotel during the 1893 flood

In February 1893, the Brisbane River flooded and the hotel was 7 to 8 feet underwater. The upper floors were used by many people as a refuge, accessed by climbing up the iron posts that supported the verandahs.[5]

On Saturday 12 January 1895, William McNaughton Galloway fell from a window on the second floor of the Breakfast Creek Hotel, a distance of 17 feet. He received immediate medical attention from a passing doctor and was taken to hospital, but he died about 40 minutes later. In the subsequent magisterial inquiry, it was revealed that Galloway had been drinking heavily over the previous 3 weeks. On the day of his death, he was again intoxicated and the barman, William Floyd, decided to lock Galloway in an upper room of the hotel, hoping Galloway would sleep off his intoxication. Galloway attempted to escape the room by climbing out the window. Having climbed out the window onto a ledge, he tried to jump to a nearby balcony. Although he caught the balcony railings with his hands, one hand gave way and he fell.[6][7]

Anne Galloway (née Waters), the widow of William Galloway, took over the license of the hotel in April 1895.[8] However, as William Galloway died intestate with a mortgage over the hotel with the Queensland National Bank, the Curator of Intestate Estates became the owner of the property and leased the hotel to Mrs Galloway for six years from August 1895.[9]

In January 1898 the Brisbane River flooded again and the hotel was surrounded by water.[10]

In September 1900, the hotel was sold (subject to the lease to Mrs Galloway) to the brewing company Perkins & Co.[9]

In August 1901, Anne Galloway's lease of the hotel ended and she was not able to obtain a new lease from Perkins & Co. Her response was described as having "seemed to lose her head, wrecking the premises, and pulling down the bar, electric bells, a kitchen range, a copper boiler, and caused the stables to be removed". She refused to give Perkins & Co the possession of the premises by nailing up all the doors of the hotel. It was only when Perkins & Co blocked access to the cellar, through which she was entering and exiting the hotel, that she capitulated and the license was transferred to Michael McGuire. A subsequent long court case followed where the ownership of various fixtures and fittings of the hotel was contested between Perkins & Co and Mrs Galloway.[9][11]

Architecture

The current hotel is a large two-storey brick building with cement rendering.[2]

Standing completely detached in its own grounds, it was designed in the French Renaissance architecture style. The centre portion is recessed with a loggia of four arches, paved with Encaustic tiles. On the left wing, the bar entrance has a pediment flanked by Doric pilasters. The right wing contained the commercial and drawing-rooms and was finished with a two-storied bay-window. A massive cornice, with parapets and pediments, covers the front, left and right sides of the building. On the roof, each wing is capped with a pavilion having bevelled-corners and crowned with an ornamental iron cresting and tall flag-poles. Externally the walls are tuck-pointed with rusticated quoins at the angles.[3]

William McNaughton Galloway's initials and the date appear on the front facade of the hotel.[4]

Heritage listing

The hotel was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.[2]

The hotel is regarded as a Brisbane icon and is mentioned in many books about Brisbane. It was mentioned in the 1987 song "Dreamworld" by Midnight Oil.[12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Breakfast Creek Hotel home page, accessed 19 August 2012
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Breakfast Creek Hotel (entry 600057)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 "New Buildings". The Brisbane Courier (1864–1933). Queensland: National Library of Australia. 21 May 1890. p. 6. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  4. 1 2 "History: Breakfast Creek Hotel". Breakfast Creek Hotel. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  5. ↑ "Flood News from Ipswich". The Brisbane Courier (1864–1933). Queensland: National Library of Australia. 8 February 1893. p. 5. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  6. ↑ "The Federal Council". The Brisbane Courier (1864–1933). Queensland: National Library of Australia. 14 January 1895. p. 4. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  7. ↑ "Death of Mr. W. M. Galloway". The Brisbane Courier (1864–1933). Queensland: National Library of Australia. 19 January 1895. p. 2. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  8. ↑ "Annual Licensing Court". The Brisbane Courier (1864–1933). Queensland: National Library of Australia. 4 April 1895. p. 3. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  9. 1 2 3 "Supreme Court". The Brisbane Courier (1864–1933). Queensland: National Library of Australia. 3 April 1902. p. 7. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  10. ↑ "The Flood". The Brisbane Courier (1864–1933). Queensland: National Library of Australia. 13 January 1898. p. 5. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  11. ↑ "Licensing Courts". The Brisbane Courier (1864–1933). Queensland: National Library of Australia. 8 August 1901. p. 8. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  12. ↑ "Midnight Oil – Official Site". Midnight Oil. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
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