Great Northern Highways forgotten hotel
Heading north on Great Northern Highway, just beyond New Norcia, you might have noticed several derelict buildings. These were once the Victoria Plains Hotel, otherwise known as the Waddington Hotel (or Inn). Built in 1878, it served highway travellers lodging, food and booze for nearly 100 years. Over that time there was a surprising amount of death, including at least one murder.
It's been abandoned since the 1970s and is now an interesting look into a very different time. I also explore the remains of the Waddington Recreational Reserve several minutes south. Around the overgrown oval I discover the remains of the town hall, a very tired looking cricket pitch and even the original alignment of the highway.
Sources:
https://inherit.dplh.wa.gov.au/public/inventory/details/b4cec2e6-b17a-4d22-b365-77b254db3fee
https://www.flickr.com/photos/136251344@N08/26129990715
https://www.wanowandthen.com/ghost-towns24.html
https://wikicamps.com.au/site/Western%2BAustralia/Point+of+Interest/Victoria+plains+hotel+Ruins/9592
https://inherit.dplh.wa.gov.au/Public/Inventory/Details/51dd99fc-48ca-495f-821b-f3c4160b7739
https://inherit.dplh.wa.gov.au/Public/Inventory/Details/d01d5036-df07-44d1-b98f-ee373d82fc36
https://inherit.dplh.wa.gov.au/Public/Inventory/Details/92637d98-b14b-4e86-8c60-b9511b000101
https://inherit.dplh.wa.gov.au/Public/Inventory/Details/b4cec2e6-b17a-4d22-b365-77b254db3fee
https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/cole/charles/59226?notes=2#convict-notes
https://slwa.wa.gov.au/pdf/mn/mn1_500/mn0239.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midland_railway_line,_Western_Australia
Library:
State Records:
https://archive.sro.wa.gov.au/index.php/waddington-public-hall-plans-0276
https://archive.sro.wa.gov.au/index.php/waddington-buildings-and-works-1941-0766
https://archive.sro.wa.gov.au/index.php/waddington-cemetery-59-442
Photos:
Waddington townsite 1900-1935
John Waddington 1897
Berkshire Valley Farm 1973
https://purl.slwa.wa.gov.au/slwa_b2759535_2
Newspapers:
22 May 1878
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/65955917?searchTerm=%22victoria%20plains%20hotel%22
Application of a Wayside House Location by Isaac Bloomer Jecks. This was to sell “fermented and spirituous liquors. The location was marked as the 92-mile post on the Champion Bay Road. The house, which he and is family resided in, contained one sitting-room, one tap room and two bedrooms.
29th November 1878
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2980260?searchTerm=%22victoria%20plains%20hotel%22
First year of the races being held south of the hotel. It was formally held on a private racecourse
5th November 1879
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/65955067?searchTerm=%22victoria%20plains%20hotel%22
Advert – cheap spirits for Christmas! (Isaac Bloomer Jecks, proprietor)
8th June 1880
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2983144?searchTerm=%22victoria%20plains%20hotel%22
Hotel for sale or lease. Listed as being built of stone with a shingled roof, sitting on 40 acres of land. It includes 8 rooms, a kitchen and two extra rooms detached. There’s also a stable for 6 horses and a chaff house. This was a building to store hay, etc. A portion of the land was even read for the plough.
30th July 1880
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2983474?searchTerm=%22victoria%20plains%20hotel%22
A notice from John Brown that he has taken over the business. He intends for the hotel to be a point of convivence, cleanliness and comfort, second to none in the colony. The liquors supplied with comprise of wines, spirits and beers of the best quality.
1st September 1880
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/65960851?searchTerm=%22victoria%20plains%20hotel%22
John Brown also applied for a Wayside House Licence
17th November 1880
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/65958773?searchTerm=%22victoria%20plains%20hotel%22
Changes the application to list there are two sitting rooms and three bedrooms, independent of those required for his family
11th January 1883
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/76932801?searchTerm=%22victoria%20plains%20hotel%22
The murder of Christina Burkenshaw at the hotel. The accused was Charles Cole, bush labourer. Burkenshaw’s throat was cut with a razor during an assault, after a heavy night of drinking. There were a handful of witnesses that testified, including John Brown.
The jury could not agree, and a retrial was organised
Double check date – I think it happened late 1882
17th January 1883
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/6576346
Cole was found guilty of wilful murder and sentenced to death.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/213978651?searchTerm=%22Christina%20Burkenshaw%22
good headline to use “sentence of death, without mercy”
17th January 1883
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/65935266?searchTerm=%22victoria%20plains%20hotel%22
John Brown listed an advert seeking a blacksmith for country work. They also needed to be a good boot and shoe maker
24th January 1883
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/65935492?searchTerm=%22charles%20cole%22
Cole’s death sentence was commuted to penal servitude for life
31st January 1883
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/65936898?searchTerm=%22charles%20cole%22
Many questioned Cole’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and a petition to stop the execution circulated around the colony (talked about in past tense)
11 February 1885
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/71997048?searchTerm=%22victoria%20plains%20hotel%22
Blacksmiths shop was for lease
12th January 1887
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/66080727?searchTerm=victoria%20plains%20hotel
First athletics sports carnival was held in the district on Boxing Day. This had a large turnout and the hotel was quite busy
20th January 1887
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/76474870?searchTerm=%22victoria%20plains%20hotel%22
Another crime, this time not resulting in a death thankfully. Aaron Kewshaw shot a man named William Savage in the foot, shattering his ankle joint. It was reported that the two men were strangers and had arrived separately to lodge in the hotel. Neither were drunk.
30th March 1887
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/66081600?searchTerm=%22victoria%20plains%20hotel%22
Trial of Kewshaw. Details Kewshaw, his friend John Dodd and Savage were staying in the same room but did not know each other. I think shared lodging was common if all rooms were full. The defence argued with pistol fired by accident.
31st March 1887
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/3761789?searchTerm=%22victoria%20plains%20hotel%22
It was found that Kewshaw had intended to shoot someone else, but not kill them. An instance of mistaken identity. Kewshaw was found guilty of wounding Savage with intent of grievous bodily harm. He was sentenced to eight years of penal servitude. In other words, hard labour.
15th September 1888
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/32714627?searchTerm=victoria%20plains%20hotel
An old man named Patrick Golding – and that’s the newspapers description, not mine – died suddenly. It goes on to say that he was a man of intemperate habits and had been drinking for “some days prior to his health”. An inquest ruled he died of national causes.
20th August 1889
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/3127831?s earchTerm=%22victoria%20plains%20hotel%22
Another man named James White died. He was last seen heading to the well to fetch water, but not return. He was found, quote “lying on the road quite dead.” A post mortem examination found that the internal organs were so diseased that the doctor was surprised that wasn’t dead long ago.
He was found to have died from natural causes. The article suddenly ends with “at present we are having a few days of fine weather with slight frosts at night.”
Talk about cemetery at this point – are they there too? Couldn’t look myself to see if there are headstones… on private property
6th March 1890
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/77288390?searchTerm=%22victoria%20plains%20hotel%22
Another ad seeking someone for a blacksmith and wheelwrights shop. This time including the lease of cottage.
Note: Still called the Victoria Plains Hotel at this point, contradicting the Heritage Council
7th of April 1892
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/211975880?searchTerm=%22Waddington%20hotel%22
A Miss M. Murphy came 18th in an art competition. She is listed as residing at Waddington Hotel in Victoria Plains. In case you’re wondering, the artwork was a Berlin woolwork picture of St Joeseph.
24th January 1893
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/3044508?searchTerm=%22victoria%20plains%20hotel%22
The hotel was up for public auction, under instruction of the first Mortgagee, the liquidator of the WA Fire Insurance Co. Was there a bankruptcy or something similar?
Listed as 8 room, with another 3 detached. A stable that’s 60 by 24 feet, a garden, a vineyard and a bootmakers shop. 18.3m x 7.3m
2nd September 1893
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/148381135?searchTerm=%22victoria%20plains%20hotel%22
John Robson applied for a Wayside House Licence. He was a blacksmith and was living there under lease of an entity called Tolley and Company, Limited. The lease was transferred to him from John Brown in the July.
28th November 1893
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/3055241?searchTerm=%22victoria%20plains%20hotel%22
Despite being a blacksmith himself, Robson was advertising for the role by November.
8th November 1895
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/72375891?searchTerm=%22victoria%20plains%20hotel%22
Application for a Wayside House Licence by Richard Lanigan – also leasing from Tolley and Company, Limited
12th March 1904
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/204773104?searchTerm=%22victoria%20plains%20hotel%22
It was decided in the previous December that the building was in a dilapidated state and needed repairs. Since these had not been carried out, Lanigan lost the licence on the first April. Sadly for him, it wasn’t a joke.
4th December 1907
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28833137?searchTerm=%22victoria%20plains%20hotel%22
An A. E. Norwood applied for Wayside House Licence, claiming the building had been improved since the previous application. Regardless, the application was denied
23rd September 1911
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/208698098?searchTerm=%22victoria%20plains%20hotel%22
Referred to a Norwood’s, and was just accommodation. The article states that the licence was refused because it meant a constable would have to be placed in the district – which I guess wasn’t the case by then. In previous articles about the crimes, the police that attended were stationed in New Norcia.
14th September 1934
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/32960463?searchTerm=%22Isaac%20Bloomer%20Jecks%22
Shows a photo of Jecks. Article states that his Dad built the Rose and Crown
29th September 1934
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/32807621?searchTerm=%22Waddington%20hotel%22
Jenks pops up, now an old man recounting his early days. It was referred to as the Waddington Hotel < backs up that he built it
