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Company of Strangers: 
Patea and Wanganui Hotels, 1866-1899 

A thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for 
the degree of Master of Arts in History at Massey University 

JASON LEONARD WRIGHT 
2004 



I dedicate this thesis to all of my educators, especially my parents, Lyn Davis, 
Bernie Noble-Campbell and Phillip Rankin. You told me I would accomplish 

something if I put my mind to it. Here is evidence that I was listening. 



Contents 

Illustrations ............................................................................................ iii 

Acknowledgements ................................................................................ iv 

Abbreviations ......................................................................................... v 

Introduction ........................... ................................................................ 1 

1. A Physical Presence .................................................................... 8 

i. Patea Settlement. ii. Wanganui Borough. iii. Boarding Houses. iv. 
Transport and Hotels. v. Depth and Breadth. vi. Promotional Activity. 
vii. Hotel Ownership. 

2. Controls and Consequences ....................................................... 47 

i. Legislation and Licensing. ii. Public Debate Intensifies. iii. A Matter 
of Money. iv. Licensed Clubs. v. Unfair Maori Laws? vi. 
Consequences. vii. Ambiguity and Ambivalence. 

3. Cohesion and Division ................................................................ 86 

i. On the Frontier. ii. Teetotallers and Temperance. iii. Attacking Social 
Liberties. iv. Free Trade. v. Gatherings. 

Conclusion .............................................................................................. 115 

Bibliography .......................................................................................... 122 



g[[ustrations 

Graphs 

1. Male conv1ct10ns for drunkenness, Patea and 

Wanganui, 1870-1899 ................................. ......... ........................ .. .... 75 

Maps 

1. The location of Pate a hotels in 1881 ... ... .. .. .... ..... .. ..... ........... ................ 12 

2. The location of Wanganui hotels in 1875 ....... .. ........ ........ ... .... ............ .. 18 

Plates 

1. Accommodation House Plan, Patea .... .. ..... ............... ............... .. ..... .... .. 26 

2. The Australasian Hotel , Patea ... ... .. .. .. ... .......... .................................... 27 

3. The Rutland Hotel, Wanganui ............... .......... ........ ... .. ...... ..... ....... ... .. 28 

m 



Acknow[edgements 

A number of people have assisted me during the twenty-four months I have worked to 

complete this thesis. They deserve my grateful thanks. Foremost, I thank my 

supervisor, Professor Margaret Tennant, for her patience and guidance throughout this 

time. I also thank Basil Poff and Nathan Hook for their interest and advice. I 

appreciate the support from Massey University Library Services and Patea and 

Wanganui museum and council archivists. Thank you also to friends and family for 

their support throughout this time. Finally, I acknowledge Sonya Reesby for her idea 

and enthusiasm for this topic, without which I would not have embarked on this 

thesis. 

iv 



AfJ&reviations 

AJHR 

JP 

MHR 

NZJH 

NZPD 

STDM 

WRM 

WTU 

Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives 

Justice of the Peace 

Member of the House of Representatives 

New Zealand Journal of History 

New Zealand Parliamentary Debates 

South Taranaki District Museum 

Whanganui Regional Museum 

Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, 
Wellington, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa 

v 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS INTRODUCTION 

qntroduction 

Between 1866 and 1899 the Patea and Wanganui hotel was a changing institution that 

dominated social , economic and political spheres. At its heart, the hotel was an arena for 

social debate and social interaction, usually among men. It has been contended that the 

hotel is a 'legal creation' in that laws ensured hotels provided certain services during 

specified hours, and punished any transgressors. ' Defined as public houses, their legal 

definition barely changed over the period under review, but the services that a hotel 

offered were regularly amended to take account of social pressures. While this notion of 

the hotel as legal creation may have informed much of the political debate and regulatory 

framework of the late nineteenth century, the hotel was a symbol of freedom from hard 

work, family constraints, boredom, long hours of travel , the physical difficulties of 

frontier life and political and social elites pushing for moral and social change. The hotel 

was also the accepted place to drink, and where liquor debates occurred, they usually 

centred on the hotel. Historians suggest that these elements were common in hotels 

throughout colonial New Zealand, Australia and USA, with links back to sixteenth 

century England and to previous Roman times . The nineteenth century hotel was also a 

gentleman ' s club for the working class. There, men could relax in warmth and relative 

comfort to share stories and news in the company of friends and strangers. During the 

nineteenth century views of the hotel underwent several changes at the hands of 

politicians and social commentators. However, it continued to serve the same basic 

functions, as provider of accommodation, entertainment and environment for social and 

political interaction. 

There is a plethora of historical and sociological literature that examines the use 

of liquor and other drugs more generally, including Stevan Eldred-Grigg' s Pleasures of 

the Flesh: Sex and Drugs in Colonial New Zealand, 1840-1915' and David Pitman and 

Charles Snyder' s Society, Culture, and Drinking Patterns. Fewer histories discuss the 

specific role of the hotel , and even these fall within the greater parameters of particular 

1 Conrad Saunders, Social Stigma: the lower Grade Worker in Service Organisations, England: Gower Publishing Company Ltd ., 
1981 , p.91. 

2 Stevan Eldred-Grigg, Pleasures of the Flesh: Sex and Drugs in Colonial Ni!W Zealand, 1840-1915, Wellington : A.H. & A.W. Reed 
Ltd, 1984; Pittman, David J. and Snyder, Charles R. (eds), Society, Culture. and Drinking Pal/ems, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 
Inc. 1962. 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS INTRODUCTION 

time periods or social and political movements. Despite this, historians are all but 

unanimous in their appraisal of New Zealand's nineteenth century hotel, suggesting that it 

extended into most areas of society. Few histories, in fact, deal with the hotel as a single 

entity. Even pictorial histories celebrating the country pub show an appreciation for 

hotels as places to meet and socialise. 3 In their social histories, Conrad Bollinger, 

Raewyn Dalziel, Stevan Eldred-Grigg, Jeanine Graham, David Hamer, Jock Phillips and 

Len Richardson imply that the hotel was a complicated environment that fostered male 

culture and provided an impetus for the liquor debate on many levels, including frontier 

drinking habits, temperance advocacy, brewing interests, concerns about crime, 

politicking, Maori issues and the relationship between hotels and transport. ' Graham and 

Phillips also discuss the hotel as an alternative to the family and Christianity.5 They also 

examine the perceived need to increase family ideals in order to reduce frontier drinking 

habits, concluding that this anti-drink stance, combined with the greater moral push, 

resulted in small victories for the organised temperance movement. Ironically, these 

victories may have drawn liquor duties out of government coffers that in a way that 

increased the strain on the colonial economy through to the mid 1890s. Nevertheless, 

liquor consumption was often at the root of family and street violence, and while this was 

somewhat tolerated on the frontier, middle class New Zealanders protested its appearance 

in towns and cities. 

While historians agree that the hotel was generally a male domain, they have 

also focused some attention on women and family concerns, discussing their increasing 

power in the public sphere as they headed toward women's franchise . The analysis of 

women in hotels is limited, although Graham and Phillips do suggest that women were 

the keepers of hearth and home, and rarely stepped into the male dominated domain that 

was the hotel, unless it was to work." Temperance advocates disdained this practice as 

being for the purpose of attracting weak men into drinking habits. Women who appeared 

in hotels for a drink or to sell their flesh were equally disparaged by anti-drinkers and 

3 Malcolm Somerville, Pubs of New Zealand, Auckland : Hodder Moa Beckett, 2000 
4 Eldred-Grigg, Pleasures of the Flesh; David A Hamer, ' Towns in Nineteenth-Century New Zealand ', NZJH, 13: 1, (April 1979), 

pp.5-20; Jock Phillips, A Man 's Country? The Image of the Pakeha Male - A History, Revised Edition, Auckland: Penguin Books 
(NZ) Ltd , 1996, pp.43-80; Raewyn Dalziel , 'The Politics of Settlement', Jeanine Graham, 'Settler Society' and Len Richardson, 
'Parties and Political Change' in Geoffrey W. Rice, (ed .), The Oxford History of New Zealand, 2"d Edition, Auckland : Oxford 
University Press, 1996, pp.87-111 ; pp.112-140; pp.201-229. 

5 Graham, pp.124-28; Phillips, pp.56-67. 
6 Graham, pp.124-26; Phillips, pp.59-60; 69-70. 

2 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS INTRODUCTION 

moderates. The hotel was viewed as no place for women. Graham and Phillips also 

report on the nineteenth century view that drinking among single men may have 

increased without the refining nature of women. ' This certainly appears to have been the 

case in Patea and Wanganui during the first few years of the towns' existence. At the 

same time that the towns grew and began to prosper, liquor consumption and drinking 

crimes decreased. 

Phillips and Eldred-Grigg show that from the 1870s license administrators and 

temperance advocates were becoming increasingly involved in the liquor debate. As 

modern communications and industries expanded from this period, anti-drinkers and 

moderates grew increasingly intolerant of frontier drinking habits because they believed 

heavy drinking and a poor work ethic were undermining the public works and land 

improvements throughout New Zealand.8 In this environment, anti-drinkers believed that 

men needed to stop drinking and focus on making money if the colony and individual 

communities were to prosper. Yet, a hotel also reflected a town's 'health and hope' 9 and 

the more hotels a town had, the greater its prosperity, or anticipation for better times. 

Likewise, the hotel was fiscally important to communities because hotel-keepers paid 

liquor duties and license fees to provincial authorities, and liquor duties to central 

government, which were used for public works. Hotels also attracted customers who 

spent money in other shops and services. 

Liquor licensing became a major community concern from the 1880s, but like 

all nineteenth century liquor laws, they were often ignored by drinkers, licensed 

publicans, illegal operators and law enforcers. Phillips and Eldred-Grigg record that 

liquor laws were ineffectual. This claim is backed by primary evidence. From the 1860s 

politicians, newspaper correspondents and Maori leaders argued that liquor laws were not 

strong enough, or were unfair. When laws were strengthened to the satisfaction of anti­

drinkers in the I 880s and 1890s, pro-drinkers claimed that they were being unfairly 

targeted, and more importantly, that laws were detrimental to local economies. 

International historians also show that the hotel and liquor issues pervaded much 

of society throughout the Australian and American colonies and industrialised Britain, 

1 Graham, pp.125-26; Phillips, pp.50-53 . 
8 Phillips, p.49. 
9 Somerville, p.22. 

3 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS INTRODUCTION 

although there is a distinct difference between the grand British hotels of the late 

nineteenth-century that catered to a more upmarket clientele, and the working class pub 

or inn common to city streets and rural settlements.10 Where the early nineteenth century 

English pub ' began to assume particular social characteristics under the impetus of 

industrialism ', 11 difficu lt frontier li fe helped spawn the colonial New Zealand hotel of the 

1860s and its associated male culture that included gambling and alcoholic sprees. 

Victorian British and colonial hotels are described as being mainly the domain of men. 

Diane Kirkby al so suggests that Australian hotels employed women as barmaids, but the 

hotel was a workplace 'dominated by the presence of men pursuing their leisure' .12 Many 

international hi storians examine the anti-drink perception that hotels were bad, and 

discuss temperance advocacy rather than the social role that hotels played. Peter Clark is 

one major exception. His history of the English alehouse between 1200 and 1830 shows 

that there are parallels between England 's early drinking establishments13 and colonial 

hotels. In particular, Clark examines the social significance of drinking houses and the 

e ffects of law, brewing interests, women, temperance and the use of different 

establishments by different classes. Similarly, Michael A . Smith focuses on social uses 

of the public drinking house. International histo ries do show that people often viewed 

hotels as detrimental to socia l and moral order. Many hi stories also present hotels as 

service providers, and hoteliers as people concerned with the growth and prosperity of the 

towns, serving the town beyond their work in the bar.1
' In so doing, histo ri ans disclose 

that hotels were far more s ignificant than providing liquor. This notion has been 

overlooked in New Zealand hi stories, but as this thesis will demonstrate, was particularl y 

evident in Patea where many of the publicans worked in the community as soldiers, 

firemen, councillors or on local committees. 

It seems that most New Zealand histories concern themselves at least in part 

with liquor consumption and its consequences, either at a local or nationwide level. 

w Manning Clark, Manning Clark's History of Australia, ( 1987), abridged by Michael Cathcart, Melbourne: Melbourne University 
Press, 1997, Peter Clark, The English A lehouse: a Social H1st0ry 1200-1830, London· Longman Group Limited, 1983; Bnan 
Harrison, Drmk and the Victorians: the Temperance Ques//on in England. 1815-1872, London. Faber and Faber Ltd., 1971; Derek 
Taylor, Fortune and Folly : British Hotels and Cateringfrom 1878 to 1978. Great Britain : IPC Business Press, Ltd., 1977, p.3 

11 Michael A. Smnh, 'Social Usage of the Public Drinking House: Changing Aspects of Class and Leisure' in the British Journal of 
Sociology, 34, 3, 1983, p.369. 

12 Diane Kirkby, Barmaids: a History of Women ·s Work in Pubs, Melbourne. Cambridge University Press, 1997, pp. 7; 25. 
13 This includes taverns, inns, a le houses, gin palaces, pubhc houses and hotels 
" Joseph R. Gusfield, 'Status Conflicts and the Changing Ideologies of the American Temperance Movement' in David J. P1nman and 

Charles R. Snyder (eds), Society, Culture, and Drinking Pal/ems, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1962, p.104. 

4 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS INTRODUCTION 

Primary sources also offer numerous and varied references to liquor consumption, 

licensing, liquor crimes and hotel management. The dichotomous themes of pro- and 

anti-drink within primary sources show that nineteenth century residents were closely 

divided on the subject, even when it came to voting for local prohibition. While most 

districts never introduced prohibition, or even sought to reduce the number of hotel s, the 

outcomes were very close. It is of no surpri se that politicians should also be 

representative of this pattern. New Zealand Parliamentary Debates provide lengthy 

debates on liquor licensing and licensing Bills. The major concerns among politicians 

were the effects of drinking on the wider community and soldier ability, demands for free 

trade, illicit sales to Maori, laws not being upheld and questions of the val idity of 

individuals to make decisions on I icenses. As a result of parliamentary debates over a 30 

year period, laws-makers increased the power of liquor legislation, forcing one to 

conclude that parliament was changing in its assumptions about hotels, along with the 

population in general. The 1902 hearings over tied houses in Appendices to the 

Legislative Council and the 1898 police enquiry in the Appendices to the Journals of the 

House of Representatives also provide a dichotomy of ideas about hotels. C learly, police 

were concerned with the practice of some publicans and licensing committees, wh ile 

publicans and brewers did not support the laws. In these documents, police were even 

accused of failing in their duties and overlooking illegal drinking among Maori. 

Meanwhile, licensing committees were condemned by police for their own interpretations 

of the law. Wanganui Licensing Committee minute books and Patea and Wanganui 

newspapers complement these official publications, providing an essential comparison 

between pro- and anti-drink arguments. Minute books and newspapers provide detailed 

reports of the license meetings, including outcomes, police recommendations and 

comments made by committee members and people protesting the licensing of hotels. 

Newspapers advertising and reports also demonstrate that hotels were significant social 

centres that provided accommodation, food, stabling, water and comfortable dining and 

bar rooms that were important to local economies. 

Primary and secondary resources have a number of deficiencies that result in a 

mainly Pakeha male study. Evidence about women and Maori working in Patea and 

Wanganui hotels, or involved in drinking crimes and drink-related deaths in these two 

5 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS INTRODUCTION 

centres has proved difficult to find. In these cases, examples from other geographic 

locations have been used, but even these are limited in number. Furthermore, detailed 

information about owners of hotels rather than licensees has not been forthcoming. With 

some exceptions, it is difficult to say with any certainty exactly who owned Patea and 

Wanganui hotels, and one is forced to draw tentative conclusions as to whether hotels in 

these two towns were owned by brewing interests, groups of shareholders, hotel barons or 

merely individuals. Also, much of the evidence for Patea licensing has come from 

newspaper reports rather than licensing committee minutes as these minutes were 

reportedly destroyed by fire during the 1960s. These deficiencies result in an over­

reliance on official sources such as New Zealand Parliamentary Debates and newspapers. 

In previous histories, few attempts have been made to complement the 

generalised picture of the New Zealand hotel with detailed local studies. As a result, I 

have chosen to study the scope of Patea and Wanganui hotels between 1866 and 1899 

because this was a period of enormous change in Patea and Wanganui. When comparing 

the two centres, it is clear they differed enormously in size, population, popularity as 

stopping places and in the number of hotels that each town boasted. This period saw the 

smaller settlement grow from frontier outpost to prosperous settlement catering to 

relatively small numbers of road travellers and local residents. At the same time, the 

larger one continued to expand as a significant service centre and transport depot that 

attracted a larger number of visitors and residents. Despite their differences throughout 

this period, hotels maintained an important social position in both towns that from this 

early date engendered a great deal of debate about the drinking among the towns ' 

inhabitants. 1866-1899 was also a period that saw military hostilities between Maori and 

Pakeha subside. Maori gradually took their place in Pakeha society, although they 

continued to be treated differently by the law and society at large. Women also took on a 

greater role during this period, becoming a more prominent public force. Between 1866 

and the end of the nineteenth century frontier ideas also gave way to notions of prosperity 

that continued into the twentieth century. As a result, hotels, drinking, licensing laws, 

public expectations and acceptance underwent dynamic transformation. This thesis 

examines how these changes affected hotels between 1866 and 1899 in two towns close 

in proximity, but widely different in other aspects. 

6 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS INTRODUCTION 

The obvious starting point for a study of the hotel industry and liquor debate in 

the townships of Patea and Wanganui must be with a discussion of the physical nature of 

the hotel. This provides a backdrop for further investigation into the widespread role of 

the hotel, with respect to advertising, the role of publicans, transport, liquor laws, drink­

related crime and death, the role of women, Maori licensing and socio-political debate. 

Chapter two, ' Controls and Consequences', is mainly focused on the role of the 

legislature and political debate on a wider scale, with some local evidence into the 

licensing debates that occurred in Patea and Wanganui, and the role of Wanganui police 

reports in licensing local hotels. Maori laws were seen as unfair, with evidence from 

commissions of enquiry that authorities were only intermittently upholding Maori liquor 

laws. The impact of drink-related crime and deaths specifically concerns Patea and 

Wanganui residents, with some reflection into the wider issues surrounding use of liquor 

and its role in drowning accidents throughout the colony. The third chapter of this thesis, 

' Cohesion and Division ', concerns the wide social implications of drink, initially on 

settler and soldier communities. The focus here is mainly on the debate that raged 

between pro- and anti-drinkers, and the perceived consequences of drinking on families 

and the prosperity of Patea and Wanganui. Religion , families and women are seen to 

been important to the liquor debate as deliverers from evil ; however, men continued to 

have the wider powers of persuasion. 

This thesis does not redefine the hotel or revise the history of colonial drinking. 

Instead, this work adds to the wider histories of male culture by Jock Phillips, Stevan 

Eldred-Grigg and Conrad Bollinger by detailing often overlooked details of the hotel and 

liquor debate in smaller provincial centres between 1866 and 1899. This includes 

analysis of the hotel as a physical presence, its uses by the public, the role of the 

publican, advertising, licensing committee meetings, drink-related deaths, pro- and anti­

drink arguments, debates over Maori liquor laws and the extent to which these aspects 

were perceived by various groups directly and indirectly concerned with Patea and 

Wanganui. In sum, this thesis will show that Patea and Wanganui hotels maintained a 

dominant political, social and physical presence between 1866 and 1899 . 

•••••••• 
7 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

1. 7\ WFt~sica( Wresence 

gntroduction 

Between 1866 and I 899 Patea and Wanganui hotels were essential institutions, 

dominating their town's physical, financial and social landscapes. Throughout this 

period, they embodied the changing social and economic ideologies evident across the 

country. Initially, Patea and Wanganui hotels seemed more important for their provision 

of liquor, but as the settlements grew and road and railways into these settlements became 

safer and easier transport routes, accommodation became the primary function of the 

hotel, as it had been in Australia, and USA ' s colonial period 100 years before. ' Hotel 

lodgings were especially important in country districts, and hotels were sometimes 

referred to as hostelries. 2 Moreover, hotels provided meals, fresh water, stabling, 

entertainment and a warm, friendly environment for locals and travellers. Some rural 

hotels even supplied general goods to farmers. 3 These services set hotels apart from 

taverns and grog shops. Drinking establishments without these services 'were 

nuisances ' .' Because many people wanted liquor, hotels were also more popular than dry 

boarding houses. 

Hotels were often the most prominent buildings in both large and small New 

Zealand towns. Only banks, post offices and council buildings rivalled hotels for size 

and opulence. Their very presence and size indicates a building and business of great 

significance to owners, licensees, patrons and the whole community. Small , dark 

establishments were less attractive to potential customers, especially travellers. If men 

sought only drink, often anywhere would do, including bush shanties or illicit drink shops 

supplying home brew. But people, mainly men, sought more than liquor, resulting in 

promotional activity that included bigger, more appealing buildings and furnishings . 

Likewise, a hotel's location was important to its survival. According to sociologist 

1 Gusfield, p. I 04. 
2 ' Licensing Bill', NZPD, 11 (1871), p.336 (Mr Swanson); 'The property of the Albion . . ', Patea Mail, 21August1875, p.2. 
3 'Obituary: the Late Mr T. Keane', Patea County Press, 5 April J 899, col. c, p.2. 
4 ' Licensing Bill', NZPD, 16 (1874), p.790. 

8 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

Conrad Saunders, ' the key factors of the right location, correct capacity and high level of 

utilisation are ... crucial to the viability of (the] hotel'. 5 

As public works increased from 1870, communications and travel between 

towns also improved. This meant that hotel advertising was more widespread, but also 

that any concerns people had with hotels became widely known. As a result, public 

expectations about hotels changed, and hotel services were altered. This change is 

particularly seen in the decreasing use of the hotel as a place of accommodation when the 

railway expanded. Consequently, hotels 'put more emphasis on their role as purveyors of 

liquor' .6 It was also during this period of public works consolidation that hotel numbers 

often decreased. To differing degrees, Patea and Wanganui establishments exemplified 

this national trend. Liquor was, therefore, important to soldiers and settlers, and on sports 

days when men and women gathered to share in the excitement of the event, where a 

drink from a hotel ' s liquor booth increased the euphoria of backing the winner or gave 

the losers a means to drown their sorrows. 

Whatever the reason for the gathering, hotels were an important setting that 

impacted on the social and physical environment. This chapter examines the use of 

hotels for accommodation, their geographic placement, advertising, the significance of 

their names, their association with transport and the subsequent growth and decline of 

towns, and the role of some of Pa tea and Wanganui ' s pub I icans. This wide scope of the 

hotel as a business and physical entity indicates its importance to growing towns like 

Patea and to the more established centres such as Wanganui. 

i. Sfte Watea Settf ement 

Originally called Carlyle, Patea was established as a military post on the hills above 

Mana Bay. For the frontier settlement, the 1870s was one of relative growth that resulted 

in its borough status in 1881. As Patea expanded so did its number of hotels, to as many 

as seven. They were important to the fledgling settlement as providers of 

accommodation, entertainment and refreshment to travellers, soldiers and settlers, 

although the regular turnover of publicans indicates they were not easy business 

5 Saunders, p. 98. 
6 James Watson, links: a History of Transport and New Zealand Society, Wellington : GP Publications, 1996, p.115. 

9 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

propositions.' Economic depression from the early 1880s and the detrimental effects of 

the railway exacerbated this pattern, ultimately causing many Patea hotels to close. In 

fact, by 1894 only the Albion, Central and Masonic remained. 

When John Casey opened the first of Patea's hotels, the Shamrock, in August 

1866, hotel-keepers were reliant on road and ferry transport for customers, a reliance that 

became even more important after the establishment of the railway in 1883. Casey had 

been a storekeeper and sutler' for local soldiers, including the 1 gth Royal Irish Regiment -

a relationship that may have aided his success as a publican and spurred Casey to name 

his hotel after the symbol of Ireland. While the Shamrock was not the only source of 

accommodation, it was better placed than its boarding house competition because it stood 

next to the main road, near the ferry crossing at the mouth of the Patea River. There the 

Shamrock benefited from passing traffic, as many as 600 local militiamen and Imperial 

troops stationed in or near the settlement, and the settlement's twenty civilians who 

worked as either agents or contractors.9 Conversely, Alex Summers owned the only 

boarding house in the settlement, and this was further up on the flat, away from the ferry 

crossing and out of the immediate view of travellers in search of a place to stay. 

Although there is no evidence that Casey operated the Patea ferry , he would 

have benefited from travellers' need for refreshment and shelter, as the nearest hotel was 

as far away as Nukumaru, some 20 kilometres south. 10 The Shamrock was in fact ' the 

first home you come to on landing ' on the western side of the Patea River. " From there, 

the main road led up 'a steep ... very sandy ... hill , to a sort of natural terrace' and the 

military camp. 12 The presence of a hotel so early in the town 's history shows how 

important such a business was to the town 's economic and social prosperity at the time. 

Without it, local soldiers, civilians and travellers may have suffered frontier difficulties 

and Maori insurgency without the accommodation and refreshments that Casey offered. 

7 This information is available in license committee meeting newspaper repons in the Patea Mail, Patea County Mail , Patea County 
Press, Star Almanac Taranaki, Wanganui Almanac and [Wises] New Zealand Directory between 1870 and 1899. 

8 A sutler is a merchant who specifically accompanies the military in order to sell provisions to soldiers. 
9 Militiamen and imperial troops were renowned for their drinking and because of the regulari ty of their redoubts and camps, soldier 

use of hotels usually only extended as far as liquor consumption. Wanganui Times, 14 August 1866, p.2; K.W. Thomson (ed.), The 
Legacy of Turi: an Historical Geography of Patea County, Palmerston North: Dunmore Press Ltd , 1976, p.102. 

10 H.E.B. Newton, ' James Hirst, 1831-1887: notes on the life, family and background of one of Patea's earliest citizens and pioneers ', 
based on the correspondence of Grace Hirst, James' mother, STDM, p.24. 

11 Taranaki Herald, 14 August 1866, p.2. 
12 ibid . 

10 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

Without the Shamrock, the settlement may also have been without the early economic or 

physical prominence that local newspapers had accorded it. 

As Patea's population increased, Robert Campbell also sought the benefits of 

soldier and settler spending when he established the Royal Hotel in 1867 .13 The idea of 

monarchical control contrasts with that of symbol of Ireland, and may have been named 

to clearly differentiate between the two establishments. Like Casey, Campbell was 

already affiliated with local soldiers, initially supplying them food and equipment from 

his store. He, too, may have seen the benefits of running one of the few hotels in South 

Taranaki. Nevertheless, the Shamrock and Royal were closed in 1867 for a short period 

by resident magistrate James Booth because of habitual drinking among local troops. 1
' 

The number of hotels in Patea expanded quickly from 1870 when the town was 

relocated to its current position. This rise in hotel numbers suggests that residents and 

hotel owners expected their town to increase in size and prosperity, and is a common 

trend where hotels reflected a town's success. 1
; While the period 1866-1899 was an 

economic rollercoaster, the 1870s were a decade of relative wealth for Patea, when the 

population quadrupled, the river was bridged and the railway came ever closer. These 

improvements encouraged the establishment of more businesses and hotels in the town. 

In this environment, Casey and Campbell relocated their hotels to the settlement's new 

site. Thomas Quinlivan, however, bought the first section for his hotel, the Albion. 16 

Campbell renamed his new hotel the Masonic, and Casey named his the 

Australasian. Using some of the material from his beach hotel , Casey initially re­

established his hotel on Norfolk Street, the expected main road. 11 He was obviously 

astute enough to ensure his hotel remained on a major thoroughfare, again moving it to 

Bedford Street once that was designated the main road. Casey's hotel was no longer the 

first travellers came to on entering Patea from either direction, a position that may have 

contributed to its eventual demise. Despite its size and good condition, 18 it was reduced to 

13 Ian Church, et al, Patea: a Centennial History, Palmerston North, Palmerston North : Dunmore Press, 1981. p.89. 
14 ' Public Houses in Disturbed Districts Bill ', NZPD, 3 (1868), p.446 (Mr Stafford). 
i; Somerville, p.22. 
16 Quinlivan bought lot I , block 4 and another section for £30 and £24 respectively- ' Register of Land Sales ', STDM. Town sections 

were first gazetted for sale on 17 February 1868 - 'First Sale of Land ', New Zealand Gazette, 1868, p . 84 ~ sections were again 
gazetted for sale on 16 March 1870-ibid., 1870, pp.130-31. 

17 Church, p.89; 'Mr Taplin 's New Warehouse ', Patea Mail, 30 July 1883, col. f, p.2. 
18 ' To be sold or let with a purchasing clause ', Patea Mail, 2 May 1884, col. c, p.3. 

11 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

a boarding house in November 1884 after creditors tried to wind up the estate of the then 

owner, William 'Skipper' Odgers. 19 

Patea Hotels, 1881 

Key 

Australasian 
Masonic (Royal) 
Albion 

4 Patea 
.5 Carlyle 
6 Central 
7 Railway 

Proposed railway line 
0 Proposed railway station 

• Wharves and Jetties 

Map 1. Most Patea hotels were built along the main road within a short distance of each 
other. 

1 ~ This does not appear to be the same William Odgers that Ian Church claimed had received the first Victoria Cross awarded in New 
Zealand - Church, p.89. The winner of the VC is buried in Cornwall, England - www.victoriacross.net. William Odgers of Patea, o 
the other hand, died in 1916 at the age of 84 and is buried in Waverley cemetery. Odgers was given the nickname of 'Skipper' 
presumably because at one time he skippered a coastal trader called the Dart - ' Mr Taplin's New Warehouse', Patea Mail, 30 July 
1883, col. f, p.2. Odgers VC had worked aboard the HMS Niger. This may also have been cause for confusion between the two 
men. Earlier in 1884 the Patea Borough Council had, in fact, threatened to sell up the Australasian because of unpaid rates, evidence 
that the depression was probably biting hard - 'To be sold or let with a purchasing clause', Patea Mail, 2 May 1884, col. c, p.3. 

12 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

The mam road through Patea was a popular and pragmatic choice for the 

location of hotels, with six of the seven established along its length. The Albion was the 

first hotel to be established on the main street, followed by the Masonic, Australasian, 

Carlyle, Central and Patea. As Map 1 demonstrates, the distance between the six main 

road hotels was remarkably short. There are two possible reasons why the small town of 

Patea had so many hotels over such a short distance: first, there was a need for 

entertainment and social gathering in the relatively isolated district with difficult living 

conditions; second, Patea was a popular stopping place for road travellers. Either way, 

Patea's hotels maintained an important relationship with transport services. 

In 1879 John Milroy built the Central Hotel only metres from the Albion. 

Milroy owned the Central as part of a group of trustees, but he leased it to Owen 

McKittrick who became the licensee.'0 Like the Albion and Masonic hotels, the Central 

was a two-storey building. Next door, McKittrick used another double storey building to 

house commercial travellers. 21 He also supplied sample rooms for salespeople to display 

their produce. These rooms, even in a relatively small hotel in a town like Patea, were a 

status symbol and a measure of the size and importance of the Central's business. By the 

1880s the Central was increasing in value, despite the falling economy. In September 

1881 Owen McKittrick sold his lease Mr Kirkwood of Christchurch for £500.22 In the 

following year, William Balmforth bought the lease for £1200. 21 This price difference 

may have occurred because of Kirkwood ' s success; however, this is unlikely as he only 

kept the hotel ' s lease for such a short time. It is more probable that the property had 

increased in value as the railway came closer to Patea. 

Most of Patea's hotels were ultimately unsuccessful. The Carlyle Hotel, named 

after the original beach settlement, opened in December 1873 opposite what became the 

borough council chambers and the existing monument to Turi's waka.2
' The owner of the 

Carlyle, Henry Usher, remained its sole proprietor until 1881, when for reasons yet 

unknown it failed to retain its license and became a boarding house. '5 Like many 

2° Church, p. 91 ; 'We hear that. .. ', Patea Mail, 2 August 1882, col. f, p.2. In 1874 Milroy also built a wharf on the Patea River, just 
north of the road bridge on the eastern side of the river. It appears to have been built specifically for John Gibson, a local 
storekeeper and during the 1860s one ofa group of military suppliers- Newton, p.19. 

21 Church, p.88. 
22 Patea County Mail, 2 September. 1881, col. g, p.3. 
23 'The Central Hotel ... ', Patea Mail, 11 August 1882, col. e, p.2. 
24 This monument was erected in 1933. 
25 Church, p. 91. 

13 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

hoteliers in Patea and Wanganui, Usher had already gained experience in the hospitality 

industry, initially as a storekeeper at the beach settlement,26 then as a baker, and more 

importantly as the licensee of the Masonic Hotel in 1872. Patea Hotel was also originally 

owned by a man experienced in the industry and was likewise unsuccessful. Initially 

named the Shamrock Temperance Boarding House, it opened for business near the river 

in 1870 under the management of Alex Summers. There is no known connection 

between this and Casey's Shamrock, but the two men did share some history. It appears 

they were in competition against one another first when Summers ran a boarding house at 

the beach settlement, and second when he held the license for the Shamrock in 1868 

while it was still under Casey's ownership. Summers tried to maintain a temperance slant 

from his boarding house days, but the desire for liquor proved too much and in 1882 

George Beamish, whose brother operated the Masonic Hotel only metres away, was 

granted a liquor license for the Patea Hotel. The replacement of the ferry crossing with a 

single lane bridge in 1874 may also have influenced Beamish ' s decision to license his 

hotel , as travellers no longer needed to wait for so long to use the ferry, but might have 

been more interested in the refreshments a handy hotel might have offered. The c losure 

of the Patea Hotel may have been influenced by its close proximity to the Masonic. It 

also appears that Beamish was 'removed' from the Patea Hotel in 1883, after which 

Patrick Hurley held a second tenure before Fanny and J. O'Dea returned it to its 

temperance origins, again running it as a boarding house.2' Mr and Mrs O'Dea had earlier 

tried to encourage drinkers away from hotels with their Pier Dining Rooms, which, 

combining with the Patea Hotel , they renamed J O'Dea's Temperance Hotel Restaurant. 

In 1881 Felix O'Sullivan McCarthy took advantage of the growing railroad and 

opened his hotel. Naming it the Railway, McCarthy advertised the arrival of its 

namesake transport service in the area. Boasting ' 14 bedrooms, dining room, billiards 

room, three parlours and bar', the Railway Hotel was established on Portland Quay, on 

the east of the Patea River, with Felix 's brother Patrick as the licensee.28 McCarthy relied 

on customers breaking railway journeys, just as Casey and the Shamrock had benefited 

from the ferry crossing at the beach. Pro- and anti-drinkers debated the Railway's initial 

26 'Mr Taplin's New Warehouse', Patea Mail, 30 July 1883, col. f, p.2. 
27 License records for the Patea Hotel are not available as they were apparently destroyed by fire in the 1960s; however, local 

newspapers and almanacs provide some details about licensees. 
28 Church, p.91; 'Licensing Court: Railway Hotel ', Patea County Mail, 17 March 1881 , cols a-b, p.3. 

14 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

license. Those against it believed it surplus to the town's drinking requirements, while 

those in favour maintained it was essential for workers' accommodation. Railway 

workers certainly abandoned their tents to stay there, showing that it was an important 

provider of lodgings. 29 McCarthy's success would, however, be short-lived. He remained 

the proprietor until 1884, and by 1890 the Railway was reduced to a boarding house, and 

eventually demolished. 

The proportion of hotels to population in Patea was initially striking. In 1874 

Patea boasted one hotel for every 39 Europeans living in the town. As hotels closed and 

the population grew, the number of people per hotel increased. In 1896 there were 246 

people for every hotel. 10 Although hotel numbers declined and people per hotel increased, 

the rate of hotels in Patea was still almost twice the national rate, strengthening the notion 

that small town hotels could be economically viable, and were essential to town 

prosperity, even after railway workers moved on, taking their money with them. 

H. G\Vanganu i CfiorougFt 

Like Patea, Wanganui was well endowed with drinking establishments that were 

concentrated close to main thoroughfares, soldier garrisons and other services and 

businesses. Because of its bigger population this larger town had more hotels than Patea, 

but between 1874 and 1896 the proportion of hotels to population was not as high. In 

187 4 there were 151 Wanganui residents for every hotel , increasing to 283 in 1896.11 The 

proportion of hotels to population was also higher than the national rate in every Census 

year between 1874 and 1896.' 2 And so, like Patea, Wanganui's hotels were significant 

businesses that dominated Wanganui borough. 

During Wanganui's earliest years, some of its first settlers provided liquor and a 

place to drink it four years before the arrival of any churches and other public buildings.33 

29 To the Editor: Good Templars and Licenses ', Pa tea County Mail, 13 January 1881 , col. b, p.3 ; 'Licensing Court: Railway Hotel ', 
Patea County Mail, 17 March 1881 , col. b, p.3. This is discussed in more detail in ' Controls and Consequences' and 'Social 
Bonds '. 

30 'Population and Dwellings ', Census, 1874-1896; ' Licenses ', Statistics of New Zealand, 1874-1896. In 1896 this was surpassed by 
only 21 of the 97 boroughs, and many of these were in Otago and Westland- ' Licenses ', Statistics of New Zealand, 1896, p.495 . 

31 ' Population and Dwell ings', Census, 1874-1896; Statistics of New Zealand, 1874-1896. 
32 ibid. 
33 The first church was built for the Church of England, and the sennon delivered by Rev. Richard Taylor 'on the first Sunday in 

January 1844. The first Roman Catholic church was completed in the 1850s, although a Catholic missionary, Monsieur Le Compte 
arrived in Wanganui in 1849 'to minister to members of his faith serving in the Imperial Troops stationed in Wanganui' - Maxwell 
J.G. Smart and Arthur P. Bates, The Wanganui Story, Wanganui: Wanganui Newspapers Ltd ., 1973, pp.81-82. 

15 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

Up until the 1850s, most of Wanganui's drinking establishments did not offer 

accommodation. Rather, they were grog shops with bad reputations. There was simply 

no demand for public lodgings. Local pioneers wanted drink, and many of the locals 

were surveyors and bush farmers who erected their own tents or rudimentary huts. Up to 

the 1870s travellers were also relatively few because of poor road conditions and the lack 

of railways, further reducing the need for public accommodation. As Jock Phillips 

suggests, the absence of hotel accommodation was common in other areas of the colony. 

He explains that many of Westland's late nineteenth century urban hotels were 'drinking 

houses, little more than shacks ' built to cater for the drinking needs of miners and early 

settlers - people often not requiring public lodgings." According to historians Maxwell 

Smart and Arthur Bates, the first Wanganui drink shop was established in 1840, from 

which the number grew quite rapidly. They report: 'entry in a private diary dated Dec. 

1840 ... had this to say on the subject, "Of the seven houses already built in Wanganui, 

three are being used as grog houses"'. 3
; With the scarcity of hotel accommodation, 

urbanites looked on Wanganui as a hotbed of vice and debauchery, where its European 

residents had sadly ' given themselves over to drunkenness ' .16 

By the 1850s hotels were being built with the need to accommodate locals and 

travellers in mind. The Wanganui Borough Council recognised the importance of the 

town's hotels for this purpose in a street map published in the Wanganui Almanac. The 

map lists ' Churches, Public Offices, Institutions, Banks', and the town ' s 17 'Hotels and 

Inns ', ignoring its other businesses." While New Zealand 's lacklustre economic 

condition during the 1880s did help reduce the number of hotels in Patea, Wanganui hotel 

numbers remained fairly static until the 1890s, when they dropped to twelve. However, 

as in Patea, hotel ownership and proprietorship regularly changed hands. The 

Commercial Hotel alone had eleven owners between 1844 and 1870, changing hands at 

least thirteen times in 26 years .3
R 

34 Phillips, p.57. 
3
; Smart and Bates, p.85 . 

36 ibid ., citing an unnamed Wellington newspaper of April 1841 ; James Belich also comments on this activity, describing the town as 
' a hamlet of200 with a reputation for debauchery ' - Making Peoples: a History of the New Zealanders from Polynesian Settlement 
to the End of the Nineteenth Century, Auckland: Allen Lane: The Penguin Press, 1996, p.339. 

37 'Plan ofWanganui Borough' from the Wanganui Almanac, 1875. 
38 'The Old Commercial ', Evening Herald, 2 June 1870, cols c-d, p.2. 

16 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

While liquor abuse was common during Wanganui's formative years, it often 

gave way to the primary function of the hotel once roads were improved and railways 

were built. Thus, as more hotels catered to the accommodation needs of locals and 

travellers, the focus swung toward hotels as businesses essential to the success of towns. 

Wanganui's earliest officially licensed hotels offering accommodation were the Rob Roy 

and Churton'S.39 Both were established in the early 1840s near the Whanganui River, 

close to today's Moutoa Gardens.4° By 1875 Wanganui boasted 19 hotels' 1 with 

accommodation, although most were established during the period of 'laissez-faire' 

licensing through to the 1870s." Hotel numbers increased as the population grew, 

showing that the early demand for hotels was as strong in Wanganui as it had been in 

Patea. According to Smart and Bates, 'the presence of several hundred garrison troops 

stationed in Wanganui gave a decided boost to trade, and a number of new business 

premises and hotels were erected to cope with this increased demand' .43 

As Map 2 demonstrates, most of Wanganui's hotels were clustered in a 

relatively small area on the western side of the river, taking advantage of travellers and 

soldiers. Where one hotel was built and became popular, usually on a corner section, 

others sprang up, attempting to cash in on customers already drawn to well-known areas. 

Taupo Quay, borderin <.:: the river, was an especially popular hotel strip, each hotel taking 

advantage of river, and later, rail traffic. The Ship Hotel on the corner of Taupo Quay 

and Wilson Street, for example, was a very important and successful business. It had 

continued a tradition of hotels on the same site from 1844 when it was originally the 

Commercial Hotel, commonly called 'Yankee Smith's' after its first owner, an American 

whaler named Alva G. Smith." He had employed two former missionaries to build the 

hotel , but aside from four pence, 'they had taken all their wages out in liquor'. '; The hotel 

39 M.J .G Smart, ' Early Wanganui Hotels ', Home & Building, February 1962, pp.11-13. Captain John McGregor owned the Rob Roy. 
The Rob Roy was 'a low mud-walled cottage with the roof thatched in the fashion of the nearby Maori whares'. McGregor named 
his hotel after the famous Rob Roy McGregor, whom the hotel owner claimed as an ancestor - Smart and Bates, p.86. 

40 Moutoa Gardens was known as Market Place or the Market Square Reserve until 1872. It was here that the Wanganui purchase 
agreement was made in May 1848- Flora Spurdle, More Stories of Old Whanganui , Wanganui : L.W.L. van den Broek, 1963, p.93 . 

41 'Plan ofWanganui Borough ', Wanganui Almanac, 1875. 
42 L.H . Southwick, Alan Dormer and G.R. Halford, The Liquor Laws of New Zealand: a Successor to the Original Text of J.H. 

Luxford, CMG, Wellington: Butterworths, 1983, p. l . 
'

3 Smart and Bates, p.89. 
44 Smart, p.12. As Yankee Smith 's, the hotel served as a blockhouse in 1846 with ' its upper storey barricaded for the protection of 

women and children of the settlement' . 
';'The Old Commercial ', Evening Herald, 2 June 1870, col. c, p.2. This article gives a detailed account of the Commercial's history, 

including its construction and character of landlords. 

17 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

was destroyed by fire in 1870,46 rebuilt as the New Commercial Hotel with notable 

differences, including a 'small theatre', before it was again replaced in 1880 as the Ship 

Hotel.47 

Wanganui Hotels, main centre, 1875 

L 

Cook's Gardens 

• u • 
0: 3 
c 
~ 
z 2 

I 
Whanganui 

6 

Mana Place 

Ridgway Street 

4 5 

Tau po Quay 

II 

7 

Key 

I Ship 
2 Custom 
3 Criterion 
4 Provincial 
5 Empire 
6 Telegraph 
7 Victoria 
8 Rutland 
9 Steam Packet 
10 Prince or Wales 
11 Phoenix 
12 Exchange 
13 Wanganui 
14 Atkinson's 
15 Albion 
16 Royal Oak 

- Wharves and Jetties 
- - Future Ra ilwa y Line 
8 Rutland Stockade 

Queen' s Park 

8 

!1 
.___9_10_~ 1 I 11 

B 

151~ 
14 : 

~mpbell Plaa: ii 

::11 
t====>-' -===-=1 

River 

Map 2. Most Wanganui hotels were clustered in the main business area over a relatively small 
distance. 

Having passed through many hands, the Ship's final owner, George Roberts, 

saw the Commercial through its best years, and 'he soon made a large amount of money' , 

selling it for £I 000.48 Another site, near the corner of Victoria Street and Taupo Quay, 

was home to two hotels during the nineteenth century. The first, the York, started 

46 ibid., col. d, p.2. 
47 Smart, pp.11-12. By 1908 the Ship Hotel had been reduced to a boarding house and turned into a ' coffee house' - 1908 Wanganui 

town plans, Wanganui District Library. 
"8 'The Old Commercial ', Evening Herald, 2 June 1870, col. c, p.2. 

18 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

business in 1852 when it was moved from Rutland Street because its initial site had 

proved inadequate for the demands of locals.'9 The original owner, John Foster Kells, 

named it after his ' former regiment', the 65th Yorkshire North Riding, with whom he had 

served as sergeant.50 It was destroyed by fire in 1858, but rebuilt as the Steam Packet 

Hotel after the first passenger steamer to arrive in Wanganui in September 1857 'tied up 

on the river bank opposite' Kells ' original hotel.51 At the time, it was the largest three 

storied building in Wanganui. Under new ownership in I 872, it was renamed Foster'S.52 

Moutoa Gardens was also a popular backdrop for a number of hotels where the 

Wanganui, Albion , Exchange, Royal Oak and Atkinson ' s occupied a stretch of 

approximately 200 metres. From across Moutoa Gardens, this row of hotels had a clear 

view of the Whanganui River, with easy access to wharf facilities used later for berthing 

the Waimarie and Manuwai, two river ferries servicing the northern hinterland. The main 

anchor point along the foreshore had provided safe berthing since 1840, with ' 30 feet of 

clear water' below ships' hulls.s; The Albion, a single story, high gabled establishment, 

was reportedly built in 1861 by a Mr Hoskins, only a few hundred metres back from the 

river. In 1861 , not long after the Albion was bui It, Hoskins gave his title deed to 

Reverend Edward Wyvill as security for a substantial loan; an ironic twist in what would 

become a society strong in the temperance debate. 

While hotel numbers of hotels in Wanganu i might suggest a community with a 

drinking problem, the short di stance between each hotel coupled with their number, is 

indicative of a settlement reliant on hotel s for accommodation and entertainment. This 

need was supported by local option polling, when residents voted to maintain the number 

of hotels in their townsY The foreshore area, including Moutoa Gardens, was a bustling 

arena of accommodation, drinking and commerce, with hoteliers' clear reliance on public 

transport services for much of their custom. People obviously wanted licensed 

accommodation, with the choice to drink. Even after the introduction of more stringent 

Jaws and the rise of a stronger anti-drink lobby through to the 1890s, Wanganui's cluster 

'
9 This move occurred five years after the hotel's establishment. 

so James Garland Woon, Wanganui Old Seulers, ( 1902). Christchurch: Kiwr Publrshers, 2000, p.46. 
51 Athol Kirk, Wanganui Chronicle, 15 May 1988, p 14. 
52 The 1875 Almanac still referred to the hotel as the Steam Packet. The hotel was rebuilt in 1907 and again destroyed by fire in 1918. 
53 Smart, p.1 I. 
54 ' Local Option Poll ', Statistics of New Zealand, 1894, p.458. This is further dealt with rn 'Controls and Consequences' . 

19 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

of hotels continued to provide essential accommodation services for travellers and 

popular drinking places for local soldiers and civilians. 

iii. CBoarding CHous~s 

Boarding houses were common throughout nineteenth century New Zealand. Patea had 

at least three, and Wanganui at least five. However, they were not as popular as hotels 

for accommodation purposes because they did not offer liquor, and stabling was rare.55 

Also, larger hotels such as Wanganui's Empire or Patea's Australasian also played the 

part of a boarding house by providing long term lodgings. Hotels were often more 

opulent, and so more popular among travellers, even prohibitionists, whereas boarding 

houses were usually smaller, less roomy establishments catering to the low-paying 

customer. 5
" Some Wanganui hotels, including the Ship, Criterion and Phoenix, did 

however, grow from boarding houses, or were later reduced to them. Boarding houses, 

therefore, served the needs of long and short term lodgers, but if boarders wanted a drink, 

they were expected to go to a hotel because any drinking on the premises was frowned 

upon and often the grounds for eviction. Mr and Mrs Palmer also opened a boarding 

establishment at the Carlyle beach settlement in 1867, but remained in business only 

briefly. Summers' first boarding house also did not survive once the town was relocated, 

and his Shamrock Temperance Hotel proved unsuccessful even though it was built near 

the ferry crossing. In 1884 O'Dea's boarding and eating house upgrade was also 

unsuccessful. By 1887 the business had folded and the hotel building was moved to the 

northern outskirts of the town where it was used as a residence for one of the borough 

councillors and prominent landowners, Edward Honeyfield. 51 The closure of these two 

boarding houses strongly suggests that travellers and locals wanting accommodation or 

food also wanted the chance to have a drink. Although ideas about public drinking were 

changing and people were growing more intolerant of hotels as drinking places, hotels 

were still more popular than temperance boarding houses. Nevertheless, boarding house 

operators knew the value of liquor and a number of landlords graduated from boarding 

55 'Temperance Boarding House', Patea Mail, 5 May 1875, col. f, p.3. 
56 ' Police Commission of Enquiry ', AJHR, 1898, vol. Ill , H.2, p.1104. 
57 Church, p.91. Local historians still debate whether Patea Hotel was moved . There is anecdotal evidence that the Railway Hotel 

was, in fact moved to E.M. Honeyfield 's Park Farm, Whenuakura. 

20 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

houses to hotels. As mentioned, this occurred in Wanganui, the first owner of the New 

Criterion Hotel, Mr D. Roux Buisson, 'a short, dark Frenchman with a heavy moustache', 

had previously owned the Prince of Wales boarding house on Taupo Quay.58 

iv. C)ransport and CHotds 

It is clear that Patea and Wanganui hotels were closely associated with public transport 

services. Patea hotels such as the Shamrock, Albion and Railway relied on road and 

railway travellers breaking their journeys with accommodation and refreshments. From 

the very first passenger coach trip between Patea and Wanganui in February 1867 hotels 

were involved. Cobb and Co. made the eight hour journey from the Rutland Hotel in 

Wanganui and arrived at the Shamrock where the passengers 'were received with a very 

cordial welcome' from locals and politicians, including William Fox.59 The relationship 

between hotels and ferries was also strong, with hotels the main beneficiary of the 

association, as ferry crossings were convenient stopping places.60 Some ferry operators 

carefully timetabled their crossings, and depending on the width and condition of the 

river, allowed only one or two crossings a day, waylaying travellers, all but forcing them 

to seek refreshment and shelter in the nearby hotel. In fact, hoteliers sometimes operated 

ferries, profiting from any river hold ups. By the 1870s road and railway travel was 

becoming increasingly reliable and widespread, and bridges were built, making ferry 

crossings obsolete; even with the changes, hotels and transport continued their significant 

relationship. 

Because of Patea's size and location, hotel survival depended upon transport, 

but the advance of the railway toward Hawera impacted negatively on the town's hotels. 

In Patea, the close distance between McCarthy's hotel and the railroad provided short 

term benefits to the publican. As the railway advanced toward the settlement, its 

population and hotel patronage swelled with the influx of railway workers looking for 

accommodation and a place to drink. In fact, one argument for licensing the Railway 

Hotel was to house railway workers who were living in tents and huts, drinking in public. 

;s Photograph details, no. B/H/48, WRM. 
;

9 'The First Journey of Cobb 's Coach to Patea', Weekly Herald, 12 February 1870, col. b, p.3. This article provides an in-depth 
account of the trip, including stopping places - one being Titikowaru 's pa at Tauranga lka. 

60 ' Licensing Bill ', NZPD, 16 (1874), p.790. 

21 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

Once it was completed in August 1883,01 however, the railway proved detrimental to this 

and other hotels, taking workers and other customers away. This forced McCarthy and 

Patea' s other hoteliers to rely on road travellers and the town's small number of settlers 

for their income. While the expanding railroad had promised greater prosperity for Patea, 

even before it was completed to the town its namesake hotel was struggling. While Patea 

was the railhead, railway travellers and workers provided only brief respite to what 

became known as the 'Linger and Die' .62 It shared a similar fate of many larger facilities, 

even whole towns.6
' At the same time, Patea's housing increased with the population 

growth and the need for public accommodation decreased , further impacting on the town. 

Residents had hoped that McCarthy's hotel would attract more customers; however, its 

demise was no doubt partly the result of its placement away from main road traffic. 

It seems that main road hotels like the Albion were better options because at 

ieast they couid draw in road travellers. Thomas Quinlivan established the relationship 

between the Albion and Cobb and Co. There the company changed horses before 

journeying to the growing settlements north of Hawera, and beyond to New Plymouth. 

This brought customers into the Albion for a drink or a rest. Travellers stopping for 

longer periods, or over night, were also likely to spend money in other shops. 

Wanganui was a transport hub that benefited from road, rail and river services. 

As a result, the relationship between hotels and transport services was more discernible in 

Wanganui than in Patea. This association is clear upon examining the number of hotels 

in close proximity to the Whanganui River, and later to the railway which was originally 

constructed near the riverbank. Between 1891 and 1959 the Whanganui River was, in 

fact, the essential transport route for people living as far north as Pipiriki. 6-1 Some 

6 1 The railway was opened between Waverley and Manutahi on 28 August 1883. Unlike other small sections, the Waverley to Patea 
and Patea to Manutahi sections were opened on the same day, meaning that train services to Patea did not begin until the railway 
was eight miles and 57 chains beyond Patea. 'Enclosure to Appendix G: Table of Lengths of Government Lines Authorised, 
Constructed, and Surveyed up to 31" March 1891 ', AJHR, 1891 , D. l , Appendix G. 

62 Church, p.91. 
63 This also occurred in Hawke' s Bay where numerous small towns, such as the Manawatu Gorge Settlement, Makotuku and Matamau 

all but disappeared, and even Ormondville and Woodville severely declined once the railway was completed. My Honours research 
exercise, ' Progress and Prosperity? The Impact of the Napier-Palmerston North Railway Line on Southern Waipawa County, 1886-
1896' and David Hamer's NZJH article, 'Towns in Nineteenth-Century New Zealand ', discuss this phenomenon in more detail, 
showing that while the railway was essential to a growing agriculture and timber industry, in turn benefiting town services, this 
benefit did not extend to hotels. 

64 Smart and Bates, pp.243-44. As numerous pa sites along the length of the Whanganui River indicate, Maori had used this important 
waterway as a trade and transport route between the coast and the hinterland since their arrival in the area. " An enterprising 
Norwegian captain" established the first European river service between Wanganui and Pipiriki in 1865. His was a short-lived 
enterprise. In 1890 a more feasible service was organised by Alexander Hatrick who, with the help of the Whanganui River Trust, 
inaugurated the more successful service, making his first trip to Pipiriki on 21 December 1891 . The service was extended in 1903 
to include Taumaranui on the upper reaches of the river, using Maori canoe from Pipiriki . 

22 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

Wanganui hotels were also built near jetties and, before the construction of Victoria 

Bridge in 1871, the main ferry crossing. George Roberts, the owner of the Commercial 

Hotel, invested in a wharf to increase his business, and to avoid government berthing 

fees , even though the public wharf was only a short distance from his own facility. 65 

Roberts even commissioned a pathway from his wharf 'to the front door' of his hotel, 

providing easy access for potential customerS.66 Like many other hoteliers, he was 

indebted to the Whanganui River which had serviced him for many years, 'honoured all 

my draughts ... and ... been as good to me as £3000 ' .67 

From the mid 1880s Wanganui was also a maJor railway terminus with 

maintenance workshops, furthering its popularity as a transport centre. In fact, between 

1881 and 1885 when the railway between Wellington and New Plymouth was complete, 

passengers on the Wanganui line increased by up to 37%."" As British historian Derek 

Tayior argues, raiiways 'pioneered the modem hotel industry'. 60 The railway boosted 

hotel numbers and hotel patronage throughout England as more and more people 

travelled by train. The same trend occurred in New Zealand, but usually only in larger 

towns like Wanganui . Despite the railway often proving a boon to railhead towns such as 

Patea, once the railway was completed, the need for lodgings dwindled 'as rail-borne 

travellers rumbled quickly past to their destinations in larger centres' .7° Where towns a 

day's horse ride apart had once been logical stopping places, hence the string of 

settlements throughout New Zealand, now towns a day 's train ride apart prospered as 

economically practical sites for railway workshops, industry and larger livestock and 

timber yards. At such places, passengers also disembarked for refreshments. A converse 

trend occurred in nineteenth century England where ' hotels retained much of their 

importance in fashionable society until the coming of the railways ... [when] hotels and 

inns . . . suffered from the decline of longer distance carrying ... and the migration of 

economic and other activities' .11 Small town hotels, on the other hand, suffered at the 

hands of longer distance train travel, despite an increase in the number of train passengers 

65 Smart, pp.11-13. 
66 ibid . 
67 Woon, p.50; Smart, p.13; 'The Old Commercial ', Evening Herald, 2 June 1870, col. c, p.2. 
68 'Traffic Returns', New Zealand Gazelle, 1881-1886. 
69 Taylor, p. l . 
70 Watson, p.115. 
71 Peter Clark, p.10. 

23 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

travelling on the Taranaki-Wanganui line. 12 Efficient railway operations and travelling 

distances meant that Wanganui, Hawera and New Plymouth were more logical stopping 

places than Patea. 

v. CDeptFt and CfireadtFt 

A hotel was important to a town as much as it was to the business itself. Anti-drinkers 

ignored these benefits, focusing instead on problems with drinking. Temperance 

advocates also claimed that drinking led to a personal hardship. However, hotels 

attracted travellers and tourists who spent money with other businesses and tradesmen, 

thus benefiting the whole community. Boroughs and provinces also earned money from 

license fees, and liquor duties helped bolster spending on public works. According to one 

newspaper correspondent, 'Had the working classes of New Zealand never drunk a glass 

of liquor or smoked a pipe of tobacco ... landgrabbers and capitalists would have had to 

- ~ · · [m~-~1 •axes or rTr.ne l ll ithr.iit man " railurnvs rn~rk and bridgP.s ' 73 pay . . . UlCiJ t .. . 5v11 v\11u1v\ .. u . u• •;··· •• · ·-J, .. ....... -- ....... . ~ _.,...... This 

reinforces historian Raewyn Dalziel 's claim that the 1887 fall in government revenue was 

' caused largely by a decline in the consumption of liquor '." 

Hotels were also important on race days. They provided accommodation and a 

drinks stall at the race meeting. On Wanganui race days, hotels were also essential ' to the 

shopkeepers and trades people ' because visitors meant ' a valuable addition ' to weekly 

profits, 'and consequently a lot of money finds its way to Wanganui that would be spent 

elsewhere.' " In fact, Wanganui race days attracted so many people to the town that at 

times hotels found it hard to cope with the accommodation needs of visitors. 

Presumably, the Wanganui races and other such large events would have attracted fewer 

visitors had the number of hotels been reduced because finding a bed for the night would 

be difficult. Fewer visitors may also have created an economic loss for the entire 

community.'6 

72 In 1880 the total number of railway passengers using either the Wanganui or New Plymouth lines was 203,864. In 1885 when the 
railway had been completed two years, 222,414 passengers travelled by train . This was an eight percent increase - 'Traffic 
Returns ', New Zealand Gazette, 1881-1886. 

73 ' Stonewalling', Yeoman , 17 September 1898, col. a, p.12. 
74 Raewyn Dalziel , 'The Politics of Settlement' in Geoffrey W. Rice (ed.) Oxford History of New Zealand, 2"d Edition, Auckland: 

Oxford University Press, 1996, p.109. 
15 ' The Licensing Election ', Yeoman , 3 March 1894, col. b, p.12. 
76 ' Hotel Accommodation ', Yeoman , 10 March 1894, col. b, p.12. 

24 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

Hotel-keepers added to local economies by employing 'local merchants, to say 

nothing of the large orders daily filled by the grocer, baker [and] butcher' .11 Patea and 

Wanganui breweries also supplied local hotels,7" and hoteliers often supported local 

industries in order to ' give local tradesmen a chance of competing with outsiders' .79 For 

example, in 'a generous spirit of mutual help', Felix McCarthy took order of 'bedding 

[and] linen' from a local draper and importer, Robert A. Adams.80 McCarthy also 

employed local workmen to make the Railway Hotel's furniture. "' 

Clearly, hotels provided more for their communities than temperance supporters 

would have society believe, and a large, sophisticated hotel was an obvious attraction. 

Although most Patea and Wanganui hotels were two storey buildings, the Shamrock, 

Carlyle and Patea hotels and Wanganui 's Albion were small. They supplied enough 

rooms for small numbers of travellers, lodgers and private accommodation for the 

publican. Plans for 'a proposed Accommodation House' on the Patea River show a 

simple, relatively small two storey building with four bedrooms, a dining room, bar, 

kitchen and 'private parlour' .8' The largest bedroom was planned at 13 x 8 feet, whiie the 

bar and dining room, presumably where the largest numbers of people congregated, were 

each 13 x 12 feet, and without fireplaces;8
' sufficient for entertaining small groups. 

Although there is no evidence that this plan refers to either the Shamrock Temperance or 

Masonic hotels, as Plate I suggests, it was a small affair likely to have been 

overshadowed in stature and probably reputation by larger premises. The Australasian, 

for example, was an imposing three storey structure. By I 884 this establishment had 

been raised over fifteen feet above its original height,"' and boasted '33 Rooms, 

stables ... Out-buildings, 2 cottages, and a Butcher's Shop ' .85 It also covered three town 

77 ibid. 
78 Both centres had breweries, and Hope Gibbons owned one in each town. No individual records of transactions have come to light to 

indicate which hotels Gibbons ' provided beer to. He advertised his ale and stout at 5s per dozen pints and 7s 6d per dozen quartz. 
Due to 'increasing demand ' and ' the improvement to the brewery and bottling departments ', Gibbons was 'in a position to supply 
first-class draught or bottled ale in any quantity ' - ' Patea Brewery ', Patea County Press, 12 September 1892, col. f, p.3 . Two 
enterprising residents, George Adams and William Treweek, had established Patea Brewery before 1868. Like the Royal and 
Shamrock hotels, the brewers were surely taking advantage of the large number of soldiers in the town - 'The Patea Brewery', 
Patea Mail, 9 September 1981 , col. c, p.64. 

79 'A license has been granted ... ', Patea County Mail, 17 March 1881, col. f, p.2 . 
80 ibid . 
81 ibid. 
82 'Plan of Proposed Accommodation House, Patea River' (facsimile), STDM. 
83 ibid. 
"' 'The extensive alterations ... ' Patea Mail, 14 February 1883, col. c, p.2. 
85 'To be sold or let with a purchasing clause ... ', Patea Mail, 2 May 1884, col. c, p.3; ' Hotel Property for Sale', Pa1ea Mail, 7 

November 1884, col. c, p.3. 

25 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

sections. Anyone approaching from the eastern side of the Patea River would have 

clearly seen the large structure and surely been attracted to it. The size of the 

Australasian adds to the irony of its downgrading to a boarding house and eventual 

closure.86 

Dining room 
13' x 12 ' 

Ground plan 

Bar 
13' x 12' 

Bedroom 
13'x 8 ' 

Passage 

/ 
Bedroom 
11'x 10' 

Chamber plan 

1r 
Bedroom 
10· x 10' 

Section 

Plate 1. Facsimile of a plan for a proposed accommodation house. This was 
to be built near the Patea River."' 

As Wanganui increased in size, large premises became more popular. Plate 3 

shows that the Rutland Hotel dominated Wanganui , dwarfing private dwellings and other 

early hotels like the Albion. Established on the comer of Ridgeway and Victoria streets 

by William Spears Russell in the early 1850s,•• the Rutland ' s physical presence meant 

that it became known across the colony as providing 'ample accommodation for the 

needs of the young settlement' , including its use by local organisations and well known 

politicians ."9 The Tongariro Lodge of Freemasons met at the Rutland for many years, and 

on 9 November 1869 they entertained the Superintendent of Wellington Province, Isaac 

Earl Featherston. Governor Sir George Ferguson Bowen also stayed in the noted 

86 The Australasian eventually ended life in the late twentieth century when it was deliberately set afire for the local fire brigade to 
practise their ski lls. 

87 ' Plan of proposed Accommodation House Patea River' (facsimile), STOM. 
88 Smart and Bates, p.88. 
89 ibid. 

26 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

establishment prior to opening of Victoria Bridge.00 The Rutland remained important into 

the twentieth century, although the original building burnt down on Christmas Day 1868 

after a neighbouring American style bowling alley caught fire. 91 Wanganui's other large 

hotels must also have been attractive to travellers. The original Criterion Hotel on Nixon 

Place was a relatively small two storey building providing livery, stables and 'genuine 

wines and spirits' .92 Built on a comer section, its replacement was far more spacious. It 

also maintained its own sample rooms, making the establishment more attractive to 

travellers and sales people wishing to display their wares . 
.. 

Plate 2. The three storey Australasian Hotel dominates Patea's other buildings.93 

90 ibid., pp.168-69. 
91 ibid., p.88. 
92 ' Criterion Hotel ', B/1-1/41 ; B/H/48, WRM. 
93 ' View of Patea looking across the river', cal 900s, F-55304-112, WTU. 

27 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

Plate 3. Wanganui's Rutland Hotel dwarfed its neighbours.9
' 

To compete with growing numbers of hotels, hoteliers also improved their 

amenities, trying to attract travellers and tourists. Potential customers, including itinerant 

workers looking to go on the spree, were persuaded by the latest advances in hotel design 

and style. Frontier men might have tolerated the inauspicious drinking establishments of 

1840s Wanganui and 1860s Patea, but public tastes changed as the two towns increased 

in population, and as society demanded improved public services and demonstrations of 

prosperity to reflect the growth of the colony. 1830s England had witnessed the growth 

of gin palaces where 'the domesticity of the old pub had given way to the commercialised 

glamour of new people's palaces, gaudy compensation for the meanness of everyday 

life' .9
; Like the British hotels and gin palaces, New Zealand hotels were also upgraded to 

94 ' Rutland Hotel ', cal850s, B/Hn8, WRM. 
9
; Smith, p.368, citing P. Bailey's Leisure and Class in Victorian England, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1978, p.16. 

28 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

attract customers. Licensing committees picked up on this desire and made it clear that 

they wanted local hotels 'up-to-date and suitable for all requirements'.% They also 

believed that Wanganui would need new hotel buildings, forcing hoteliers to consider the 

quality of their own buildings as essential to good business, and to gaining liquor 

licenses. 97 Committees obviously understood the economic value of the hotel. While 

Patea and Wanganui hotels never reached the grandeur of the larger English 

establishments, from the 1870s settlers and visitors expected the comforts of hotels in 

large towns, like those in Auckland and Wellington. Drinkers and certainly travellers 

wanted the best their pounds, shillings and pence could buy, and hotels were improved to 

attract them. 

Frontier digs were becoming a distant memory as Patea and Wanganui hotels 

improved their furnishings and I ighting, and from 1881 outside I ighting was also a legal 

requirement,9" but as advertising and photographs suggest, the fancier the doorway 

lantern, lintels or architraves, the greater a hotel's promise of luxury inside. Patea's 

Central Hotel appeared glamorous and its popularity was certainly well known. 

Advertisements suggest that hoteliers offered commodious buildings, lofty bedrooms and 

spacious dining facilities , and for road travellers, stabling, paddocks and water were 

essential amenities, as they were in Australian , American and English establishments. 

From 1873 hotels were legally required to supply bedrooms and stabling, as it was ' a 

general complaint. . . that [many] public houses had not sufficient accommodation for 

travellers ' .•• From 1881 all hotels were to provide at least six rooms for travellers, and 

stabling enough for three horses. '00 Anything else was illegal , including bush shanties. 

This does not mean such abodes did not exist, but it does show that the hotel in particular 

was legally defined by its function as provider of accommodation for the benefit of the 

travelling public. As the railway became an increasingly popular form of transport, 

however, more extensive paddocks and stabling were often the preserve only of hotels in 

smaller towns like Patea, or those on the outskirts of larger towns like Wanganui, where 

road travellers were more common. 

96 ' Wanganui Licensing Committee ', Yeoman, 18 June 1898, col. d, p.18. 
97 ibid., col. c. 
911 ' Licensing Act ', New Zealand Statutes, 1881 , no .21 , 45, S. 124, p.154. 
99 ' Licensing Bill ', NZPD, I l ( 1871), p.331 (Mr Creighton). 
'
00 ' Licensing Act', New Zealand Statutes, 1881 , no.21 , 45, S. 38, p.137. 

29 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

vi. SJ?romotiona[ .;\_ctivit~ 

To attract travellers, hoteliers advertised in local newspapers and almanacs. This practice 

became popular in Patea and Wanganui during the 1870s when numbers of travellers 

increased once road and railways were improved. In contrast, boarding house and 

cafeteria advertisements were rare. Between 1875 and 1899 local hoteliers perpetually 

focused on accommodation and transport services, only sporadically mentioning liquor. 

This focus reinforced the image that hotels provided important services rather than 

merely drink. On occasion, hoteliers also aimed accommodation and dining services at 

families , promoting the image of more respectable premises, an increasingly important 

attraction as town populations grew and ideas about the hotel and public drinking became 

more inflammatory. 

The need for promotion was particularly important in more isolated towns like 

Patea where visitors were far less frequent than in Wanganui. Patea hotels were 

promoted for their location, size of buildings, 'airy' rooms, ample tables, stables, 

paddocks, water supply and the latest fire safety improvements. Hoteliers also tried to 

show that their establishments were as good as any in Wanganui . In 1875 Robert Daniels 

heavily promoted the quality of accommodation for ' families ', travellers and horses at the 

Albion, claiming 'comfort .. . not surpassed by any hotel in New Zealand '. 101 Yet, he made 

only passing mention of the 'quality and brands ' of liquor he offered. In 1877 the 

Albion 's Thomas Haywood and the Australasian ' s William Odgers advertised their 

respective businesses in the Wanganui Almanac. The two men again promoted their 

hotels as homely places, presenting accommodation ahead of liquor. Odgers provided 

accommodation ' on one of the best sites' in Patea, including home comforts with 

'lofty ... airy rooms' . 102 Haywood promoted the Albion as the 'stopping place of Cobb and 

Co's Coaches',"u but by 1881 focused on his hotel 's hot and cold baths, shower, 

'spacious . .. rooms ... [and] first-class stabling', while its selection of food and, more 

importantly, ' choicest Wines', finest 'spirits and cigars' and range of beers seems of 

101 'Albion Hotel ', Patea Mail, 14 April 1875, col. b, p.4. 
102 Wanganui Almanac, 1877, p.49. 
103 ibid ., p.52 . In 1883 Haywood also made known his ' handy little timetable for gratuitous distribution, giving the arrivals and 

departures of trains ' - ' Mr Thomas Haywood ... ', Patea Mail, 31 August 1883, col. e, p.2. 

30 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

secondary value, placed in small type near the bottom of the advertisement.")4 In 1884 

William Balmforth advertised the Central hotel, promoting its stabling, paddocks and 

billiards room ahead of alcoholic beverages. In fact, he introduced readers to the 

'superior furniture' of his 'commodious' hotel, with a promise to 'spare no expense to 

make ... [it] the Best and most Comfortable on the Coast' .10
; Any mention of liquor lacks 

definition and seems an afterthought, placed toward the end of the advertisement, printed 

in lower case italics. 106 

Advertisements placed by Wanganui hoteliers also confirm how important 

travellers were to their industry. John Ruscoe promoted his Empire Hotel as the 'largest 

and most commodious family hotel in Wanganui', offering a dining room 'capable of 

accommodating upwards of sixty people', a lodge room, billiard room and 'about 

twenty ... spacious and well-ventilated' bedrooms' .107 Furthering his promotion as a hotel 

fit for families, Ruscoe offered private dining and bedrooms for families and gentlemen. 108 

He was also one of the rare hoteliers to advertise prices for board and residence, charging 

£I per week, or£ I 5s for people wanting private bedrooms. 10
" Compared to 35s per week 

to lease a Patea house, and the average weekly wage for farm workers and artisans at 43s, 

Ruscoe's rooms might be deemed expensive. 110 John Rawlings also advertised St John's 

Hotel , promoting 'good stabling . .. best hay, com and chaff' , and 'the best 

accommodation for travellers and boarders'. 111 Rather than attracting drinkers per se, he 

focused on accommodation needs, using bold, uppercase type. Rawlings did offer 

'Wines, Spirits and Beer of the Primest Quality', but this also seems insignificant 

compared with his promotion of accommodation and livestock services. 

The emphasis on services was not specific to New Zealand. English hotel 

advertising also focused almost entirely on accommodation. England's Great Northern 

Hotel, for example, was promoted using a large illustration of the multi-storey building in 

the centre of its advertisement. It provided an extensive list of room and service prices, 

including servant's quarters, dressing rooms, sitting room fire places, food and hot 

104 'The Albion ', Patea County Mail, 17 March 1881 , col. b, p. l . 
io; ' Central Hotel, Patea ', Patea Mail, 7 November 1884, col. f, p.3. 
106 ibid. 
10

' 'Empire Hotel ', Evening Herald, 29 August 1873, p.3 . In 1908, the Empire section was listed on the Wanganui town plan as the 
Cosmopolitan Club. 

108 ibid. 
109 ibid. 
1 10 Newton, p.32; ' Wages and Prices ', Statistics of New Zealand, 1880, pp.172-73. 
111 Wanganui Almanac, 1877, p.7. 

31 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

baths. 112 Local advertisements were far less lavish or detailed, but they still promoted the 

basic conveniences ahead of liquor, perhaps emulating the advertising and services of 

large English hotels, and the perception that smaller New Zealand hotels offered some of 

the luxuries of their British counterparts. 

Hotel-keepers also promoted their towns by mentioning local scenery, amenities 

and improved transport facilities in their advertisements . The railway, bridges and 

transport services were particularly common. Indeed, the closer a hotel was to other 

businesses and services, particularly transport, the greater was its pulling power because 

these facilities were important to travellers. The promotion of local improvements in 

hotel advertising also alerted customers to the presence of the railway, wharves and road 

bridges, showing travellers that towns like Patea were prosperous and worthy stopping 

places. Thus, Thomas Haywood advertised his hotel's link with Cobb and Co. and its 

'close proximity to the Post and Telegraph offices';'" William Balmforth promoted the 

Central Hotel ' s ' extensive views of the sea and country'; "' James Beamish promoted 

local road improvements and the Masonic Hotel ' s ' close proximity to the Patea Bridge '; "s 

Felix McCarthy focused on his hotel ' s geographic location to local improvements such as 

the road bridge and the railway. 11
• More importantly, McCarthy ' s May 1881 promotion 

was no ordinary advertisement: it appeared in the public announcements column. 

Patea hotels were promoted outside of advertising columns. Newspaper 

reporters sometimes wrote favourably about hotels, especially at the changeover of 

licensees or after hoteliers had improved or altered their buildings. Newspapers also 

emphasised hotels above other businesses, indicating that once settlers established hotels, 

outsiders viewed settlements like Patea as progressive. In 1866 the Taranaki Herald 

described Patea in rudimentary terms, with ' 70 to 100 houses ... composed of iron, timber 

or toi toi ', also reporting the Shamrock as a ' timber house, well built. .. [with] eight 

rooms', a kitchen and a cellar. '" A newspaper correspondent also claimed that Patea had 

'progressed faster than its most sanguine supporters could have dreamt of,' focusing on 

11 2 Taylor, p.3 
11 3 'The Albion ', Patea County Mail, 17 March 1881 , col. b, p.1. 
114 ' Central Hotel, Patea', Patea Mail, 7 November 1884, col. f, p.3 . 
11 5 Wanganui Almanac, 1877, p.49. 
116 ' Hotels', Patea County Mail, 17 May 1881 , col. f, p.1. 
11 7 ' Patea Hotel ', Taranaki Herald, 14 August 1866, p.2. 

32 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

the 'two hotels in the township' .11 8 In an 1869 newspaper article Patea hotels were again 

mentioned ahead of the town's other 'local industries', including butchers, bakers or 

brick and tile makers. 119 Again, in 1870 a reporter for Wanganui's Evening Herald 

described Patea hotels as 'first class in style and size', with the Albion described as 

'second to no hotel in Wanganui for nearly everything in which an hotel should excel' 

[sic]. 120 

By the early 1880s Patea had grown sufficiently that reporters no longer focused 

on the town's growth, but on the improvements to established hotels. Patea's Masonic 

Hotel was known for its furnishings and services, but as one newspaper report indicated, 

the building had had a number of improvements, including 'convenient and simple' fire 

safety provisions such as fire escapes, 'broad steps' and a rear balcony for 'escape from 

fire'. 121 The hotel's water supply was also developed. James Beamish had added a 3,500 

gallon tank to supply 'cool and sweet.. .roof-water' to the hotel ' s kitchen, bath and wash­

house, with ' a pipe running to a horse-trough at the front of the hotel , with a handy tap 

for the wayfarer to slake his horse 's thirst while taking his own refresher' .122 

An 1884 newspaper article provided the most telling example of the position 

hotels held in Patea. Having been sold, the Australasian Hotel was introduced as ' our old 

friend ' .12
' Joseph Richards had acquired the hotel which was described as a ' hostelry ' and 

a ' favourite place of resort' with the 'choicest liquors ... a spacious billiard-room and 

excellent table . . . for passing callers, evening visitors, or permanent lodgers ' .12
' 

Furthermore, the article was given its own headline, rather than appearing under the 

general 'News of the Day' like many other local, regional or national news reports. Such 

reports suggest that the nineteenth century hotel was indeed an important social 

institution, viewed by some as a source of local pride. 

Why would newspaper reporters explain hotel accommodation in such detail? 

Indeed, why would advertisers emphasise services such as furnishings, water supply or 

fire safety when drinking was supposed to be so widespread? Perhaps people knew they 

118 'Correspondent' , Evening Herald, 29 August 1867, col. b, p.2. Settlers had also built another hotel, but it had not been licensed . 
119 ' Patea: From our own Correspondent', Weekly Herald, 18 December 1869, col. c, p.2. 
120 ' From Wanganui to Patea ', Evening Herald, S May 1870, col. c, p.2. 
121 'The lessee of the Masonic Hotel. .. ', Pa tea County Mail, 1 S March 1881 , col. g, p.2 . 
122 ibid. Ironically, the Masonic Hotel burned down in 1906. 
12

-' 'Old Friends', Patea Mail, 22 December 1884, col. g, p.2. 
124 ibid. 

33 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

could find liquor in hotels, and so there was little point in advertising it. While a hotel's 

physical attributes might draw alcohol-seeking customers, it is clear that advertising 

building and safety improvements were aimed at travellers and lodgers. On each 

occasion, newspaper reporters also linked Patea' s growing prosperity to the town's 

hotels, indicating how important they believed hotels were to the town's economic 

success. The press supported Patea hotels, according them some ascendancy in the 

hierarchy of business, rarely mentioning other services or shops. As Patea entered a 

period of economic and demographic decline, hoteliers were increasingly hard pressed to 

continue in business. Yet, they persistently avoided using liquor as their major draw 

cards, probably aware that quality accommodation rather than liquor would continue to 

attract travellers. For example, in January 1884 Arthur Haywood reduced board and 

lodging rates at Patea's Albion ' to suit the times ' ."5 

Advertising was clearly important to the life of a hotel. However, hotel names 

also ' had a commercial function '. 126 As historian David Garrioch asserts, business signs 

and names in general did not always reflect the trade that was ' carried on beneath 

them'. 121 On the other hand, it was usually quite obvious what English inn signs referred 

to, frequently alluding to the products offered, such as grape vines or a punch bowl."" 

Often, a drinking house 's name also reflected beliefs, practices or local affiliations and 

symbols. Garrioch shows that some English inns used Britannia or royal insignia, while 

the Fleur de Lys was common to France, and the bear was used in Switzerland. 129 Over 

time, names also changed in response to political and ideological transformation. For 

example, many sixteenth century inns changed from "'The Pope's Head" to "The 

Bishop's Head'"; a century later "'The King's Arms'" became "'The Parliament's 

Arms"'. 110 

In New Zealand, hotel names also said something about their locality or the 

hotel's original owner. Hotels bearing their settlement's name advertised the setting as 

much as it did the hotel , whereas Ship, Steam Packet, Custom House, Anchor or Railway 

125 'We hear that. .', Patea Mail, 14 January 1884, col. c, p.2. 
126 David Garrioch, ' House Names, Shop Signs and Social Organization in Western European Cities, l 500-1900', Urban History, 21 , 

I, April 1994, p.22 . 
127 ibid ., p.24. He discusses the inconsistencies of two London examples from the eighteenth century where the 'Crown' was a dyer's 

business and the 'Sun' was a tradesman's workplace. 
128 ibid ., p.26. 
129 ibid., pp.26-27. 
130 ibid ., p.27. 

34 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

reflected a town's growth, and services and transport facilities, suggesting to travellers 

that the town had advanced. Such names also epitomise the link between transport and 

hotels. Similar to the names of English inns, hotel names like Rutland, Shamrock and 

Royal often reveal something of the original owner's heritage and patriotism. Spears 

Russell named the Rutland Hotel 'in honour of the 65th [Rutlandshire] Regiment' in 

which he had served as a sergeant. " ' Likewise, the York and the early Rob Roy hotels 

honoured their original owners' military backgrounds.' 32 Patea's Shamrock and Royal 

also suggest the diverse origins of their respective owners and may have been named to 

attract patriotic settlers and soldiers from either England or Ireland. The naming of the 

Shamrock may also have been designed to attract or even identify with the 18th Irish 

troops stationed in Patea, or because of Casey's own affiliation with the regiment. 

Shamrock and Royal certainly provide a distinct contrast that, for historical reasons, is 

easily recognised. Likewise, the name of the Masonic also has an ideological meaning, 

stretching back centuries. While the Wanganui and Patea Masonic hotels were not 

specifically linked to freemasonry ,' 33 one can make sense of the original owners' reasons 

for naming their hotels after this moralistic order. The name evokes ideas of secrecy and 

community service of the archetypical male establishment. The name also induces 

notions of brotherhood, reflecting the common belief that hotels were for men, and only 

rarely trespassed upon by women, in the same way that the Masonic Lodge is a male-only 

environment. Thus, the Masonic Hotel might have been a place where like-minded men 

gathered to share news and experiences in a friendly atmosphere. The functions 

performed by hotel names were, therefore, similar to the role of English shop and inn 

signs. They were a form of advertising that became synonymous with their town, 

background and atmosphere of the hotel. Names rather than buildings were signposts, 

landmarks, 'familiar faces' or 'old friends' by which travellers and locals found their way 

through larger towns or rural counties. 11
' 

131 Smart and Bates, p.88. This compares to the naming of the Rutland Stockade that overlooked the Wanganui's riverside businesses 
and dwellings. The stockade 's name originated from its first inhabitants, the 58"' Rutlandshire Regiment- p.68. 

13 2 ibid. 
133 J.G. Beamish was a long time member of Patea Kilwinning Freemason ' s Lodge - Pa tea Kilwinning Lodge No.18, New Zealand 

Constitution, 'Tyler' s Book', 1893-1901 , 1901-11 ; Patea Kilwinning Lodge No.18, New Zealand Constitution, ' Minutes', October 
1890-February 1905; Patea Kilwinning Lodge No.18, New Zealand Constitution, ' Registration Book', 1896-1995. 

134 Garrioch, pp.25; 36; ' Old Friends', Patea Mail, 22 December 1884, col. g, p.2. 

35 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

vii. CHotef ()wnersft ip 

Although the postmodernist revolution of the mid twentieth century encouraged 

historians to re-examine historical methodology, many histories and biographies are still 

concerned with popular events and heroes. Certainly, feminist literature and histories of 

men and male culture focus on previously ignored aspects of our past, but even these 

sometimes neglect the stories of individuals and ordinary people. However, relative 

unknowns also influenced past events, and remain important to history. Patea and 

Wanganui's ordinary people were integral to the liquor industry and subsequent debate 

because of their official roles, actions and expressions of opinion, just as a plethora of 

politicians and temperance organisations were integral to the nationwide debate. It is not 

always enough to refer to these men and women as pro- and anti-drinkers, temperance 

advocates or hoteliers with making some attempt to understand what other roles they 

played in their communities. 

According to Joseph Gusfield, America' s colonial 'innkeepers were respected 

members of the community' because of the services and facilities they provided, and their 

myriad other roles as soldiers, councillors, committee members, builders, importers and 

land owners. "5 In fact, there are distinctive similarities between the hotelier as provider 

of essential services and their volunteer work. As their voluntary membership to 

community organisations demonstrates, they cared about the social and economic factors 

concerning their community. While many publicans might have progressed from country 

to suburban and borough hotels, hoping to increase the size and profit margins of their 

businesses,1
'

6 many Patea hoteliers stayed loyal to the area, either remaining in the trade 

or serving other community roles over many years. Although some hoteliers had 

financial difficulties, evidenced by the closure of more than half of Patea's hotels and 

several declarations of bankruptcy, many in the trade had previously held licenses 

elsewhere, and some moved among Patea's hotels, perhaps seeking to better themselves. 

Indeed, Patea's hotels witnessed at least 35 licensees between 1866 and 1899, adding to 

the town's rich past. Of the men and women that ran hotels, there is no clear pattern of 

135 Gusfield, p.104. 
136 Poff, p.2, citing B.F. Cadogan, ' Lace Curtain Catholics: the Catholic Bourgeoisie of the Diocese of Dunedin, 1900-1920', B.A. 

(Hons.) Thesis, University ofOtago, 1984, pp.20-21 . 

36 



COMPANY OF STRANGERS A PHYSICAL PRESENCE 

one religious denomination or cultural group. 137 Their range of backgrounds, local and 

international affiliations and over all success in the hotel industry provides a stronger 

sense of local history, and demonstrates that personality and reputation may have been 

important to a publican's success. A history of hotels, therefore, is not a simple matter of 

social and moral battles between opponen