Celebrations will be held for a whole week in October this year to mark the 150th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of the historic St Kilda Hotel at the south-east corner of Marsh and Rusden Streets. The historic St Kilda Hotel dates from October 1861, and is one of Armidale’s seven hotels which have changed their names over the years. This week we take up the story from where it ended in No 47 (May 18, 2011) when Mrs Mary Ann Brady owned the St Kilda Hotel from July 1870 to July 1875. It was then taken over by Benjamin Kendall for use as a school. But first, we need a brief summary of the story so far. The historic St Kilda Hotel began life as the Freemasons’ Hotel. Its foundation stone (a block of New England granite) had been laid on Monday, October 14, 1861 and the completed building was operating by July 1863. A newspaper story written in 1865 describes the Freemasons’ Hotel as “decidedly the best looking hotel in Armidale”. It was a brick structure of two storeys, “with a fine wide roomy balcony running all round the front portion of the house”. In July 1870 the licence for the Freemasons’ Hotel was transferred to Mrs Mary Ann Brady, who changed the name of the Freemasons’ Hotel to the St Kilda Hotel.
The St Kilda Hotel was one of the establishments at which Senior Sergeant Balls of the local police had been drinking on the night before his death at his home at three o’clock on the afternoon of Sunday, May 21, 1871. Anyone interested in a first-hand account of drinking habits in Armidale at that time will find the details from the inquest most helpful.
After his evening meal at his home on the Saturday night, Balls went down town and visited the lock-up (which is now the site of the Armidale Post Office) where he read newspapers until going for a walk with Senior Constable McDonald, who takes up the story at the inquest:
“We then walked along Beardy-street past Allingham’s mill, as far as Markham-street. We then turned and walked back along the same street till we came to Marsh-street, which we turned up, and went into the St Kilda Hotel. We were served twice with pale brandy and water hot. Mr Brady served us on one occasion, and the barman on the other. “After leaving the St Kilda Hotel, we took another walk, and then proceeded to the Wellington Inn (which is now Tatts Hotel), as deceased said he wished to see Sergeant Scollings, of the Gold Escort, who was staying there. We did not find the sergeant in, but before leaving we each drank a glass of pale brandy and water hot. After leaving we fell in with Sergeants Scollings and Hetherington, in the street, opposite the Telegraph Office (near what is now the New England Hotel). “After we had conversed in the street for a time, we all four, at the request of Sergeant Scollings, returned to the Wellington Inn. I and the deceased during our stay each drank two more glasses of the same mixed liquor hot. ”¦ He then wished us all good night, and left. He was quite sober and collected at the time, as was each of us.
“Deceased could bear a great deal of drink. He had had five nobblers in my company between eight and 11 that evening, and I am satisfied that the quantity was insufficient to make him drunk. ”¦ I drank the same kind of grog and the same quantity, but I did not feel the least ill after it either in the night or the next morning. I was more acquainted with the deceased than any other man in Armidale was, and only once during the last eight years did I know him the worse for liquor.” Advertisements in newspapers in May 1875 indicate that Mrs Brady was about to relinquish business, and offered for sale the St Kilda’s billiard table and the household furniture and effects. By July 1875 Mrs Brady had left the St Kilda Hotel and it was taken over by Benjamin Kendall for use as a school. Benjamin Kendall had opened a boarding school in Armidale on October 1, 1873, at a location which is now unknown to us. In 1875 he took over the St Kilda Hotel and the building became the Armidale Grammar School, as per this advertisement in June: “The Duties of the school will be resumed on July 10th in the Building known at present as the St Kilda Hotel. A Quarter’s Notice, or a Quarter’s Fees, required before the removal of a Pupil. Terms and other particulars to the Head Master.” On Thursday, November 23, 1876 Benjamin Kendall’s wife Ellen died and the funeral procession moved from the Grammar School to the cemetery on Friday afternoon at four o’clock. This news item later appeared in the local newspaper: “From the amiable disposition of Mrs Kendall, she will be greatly missed by her numerous friends, who deeply sympathise with Mr Kendall in his untimely bereavement. The leading residents of Armidale and its vicinity attended the funeral.” Benjamin Kendall soon married a rich widow, Helen Scott, and closed his school at the end of 1877. The building was advertised for use as a hotel. It again became the St Kilda Hotel with Mary Ann Brady as the licensee. The story will continue later in another feature.
