In 1886, John and Catherine Lennon arrived in Barcaldine, and John became the licensee of the (first) Railway Hotel. The Lennon family emigrated from Clady County, Armagh in Ireland.
Five of John and Catherine Lennon’s seven children were enrolled on the opening day of the Barcaldine State School in 1887.
In 1889, John Lennon died, and Catherine became the licensee of the Lennon’s Railway Hotel.
On 29 December 1896, during the first big street fire to devastate the centre of town, the Railway Hotel burnt down. It was one of 12 businesses destroyed in Oak Street. The complete hotel was destroyed, including bedrooms and outhouses.
Catherine immediately rebuilt. The new building was two-storied.
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The Capricornian, 16 Jan 1897 Our townspeople who suffered from the late fire are now busily engaged in re-erecting their premises, which, I understand, will in all cases be a marked improvement on the original structures. Mrs. Lennon will replace the Railway Hotel with a two storey building, which will compare favourably with any hotel in the town. Mr. Vesper is putting up two shops in place of those pulled down, which will be a great improvement on the original premises. Mr. Peel is about to put up a new hotel, and Mr. Hoskins is busy re-erecting his shop. It is to be hoped something will be done to give us a Town Hall in place of the one burned down. |
Western Champion, February 1897 Mrs Lennon is constructing a two-storey hotel on the site of the old Railway Hotel. Meacham & Leyland are the builders. |
Mrs Catherine Lennon, proprietress and licensee of the Railway Hotel since her husband’s death in 1889, died on 24 May 1905, aged 64.
Western Champion, 29 May 1905
We regret to have to announce that Catherine, relict of Mr. John Lennon, proprietor of the Railway Hotel, who died some sixteen years ago, succumbed somewhat suddenly on Wednesday morning, at the Railway Hotel, at the age of 64. Mrs. Lennon had been ailing for some time past, but appeared to be in her usual state of health early on the Wednesday morning, when she partook of a cup of milk, as was her usual custom at about 7 a.m., and had a talk with the girls. She then retired to her room, and at 8.30 was found on the bed dead, quietly lying as if asleep. The deceased lady leaves a grown-up family, all fairly prosperous. The sons are Mr. J. Lennon, owner of the Railway Hotel; Mr. F. J. Lennon, Chemist, Rockhampton; Mr. Dan Lennon, lately of the Half-way Hotel, Aramac road; and daughters Mrs. Geo. Ellis, Muttaburra; Mrs. M’Donnell, Australian Hotel, Winton ; Mrs. Campion, wife of Mr. Joe Campion, drover; and Sarah, married awhile ago to Mr. Whitman, Bank New South Wales, Rockhampton, all of whom were present at the funeral. The funeral, which left the hotel on Friday morning was very largely attended by relatives and friends, with Rev. J. Mulcahy officiating. There were many wreaths and floral tributes.
Catherine’s son, John James Lennon, became the proprietor and licensee of Lennon’s Railway Hotel until his death in 1919.
In 1908, the old Union Office in Ash Street – that became the headquarters of the 1891 Shearers’ Strike Committee – was moved on wheels to the rear of the Railway Hotel to become its kitchen.
March 6 1919 John James Lennon died at the age of 46 years.
April 1919 License granted to Margaret Lennon, Executor for the late John James Lennon.
March 1920 Margaret Lennon, Proprietress and licensee.
March 1923 Margaret Lennon applied to have the hotel license transferred to Mr Edmond Fuery.
March 1923 After 36 years in the Railway Hotel, the Lennon family leased it to Mr Edmond Fuery.
The Fuery family were the leasees from 1923 to about 1940 when the Lennon family returned.
The Western Champion, 24 February 1923 After being in the Lennon family for over 36 years, the well-known Railway Hotel at Barcaldine on Thursday passed into the hands of Mr. E. Fuery, who until recently carried on a storekeeping and aerated waters business. Mr. Fuery is well and popularly known in these parts, and was, for a considerable time, in the Railway Department. With the capable assistance of his wife, (who is a daughter of Mrs. A. Lynch, of the Royal Hotel) we are sure the Railway will be as excellently managed by Mr. Fuery in the future as it has been in the past, and we wish Mr, and Mrs. Fuery every success and prosperity in their new venture and congratulate them upon assuming the proprietorship of such an old-established business. |
The Fuery’s were Licensees when disaster struck again.
On 10 November 1927, the Railway Hotel was destroyed for the second time by fire. The owner was Mrs Margaret Lennon, and Edmond Fuery was the Licensee.
The Exchange Hotel burnt down at the same time.
Joe Jackson (hairdresser and tobacconist) lost his shop in the fire. He moved his business to the Federal Hotel after the fire.
Meacham & Leyland on the east of the Railway Hotel and Parnell’s store on the west of the Exchange Hotel were partly damaged in the fire and suffered water damage.
FIRE IN BARCALDINE. TWO HOTELS DESTROYED. The Capricornian, 10 November 1927
In the most serious outbreak in the eastern section of the town since 1896 when about 12 buildings were destroyed, occurred about 3:45 o’clock this morning, resulting in the total destruction of the Railway Hotel, E Fuery proprietor, and the Exchange Hotel, W Moore licensee.
Damage was done to Meacham and Leyland’s premises, which adjoined the Exchange Hotel, and which had a miraculous escape, and also to Parnell’s adjoining the Railway Hotel.
The fire bell sounded the dread alarm, which was followed by the screeching of the siren. The new Morris engine, which is fitted with a Hale pump, was quickly on the scene and this did excellent service, supplied with two hoses, with 90lbs. pressure, and there was ample water. Two hoses were also used from the rear in Oak Street.
The firemen did wonderful work and performed what almost appeared to be an impossibility in effecting such a wonderful save in a block, in which the buildings were practically alongside each other and with no breaks. The iron wall of Meacham’s large emporium was alongside the Exchange Hotel. The fire was stopped here. The same applies to Parnell’s, which is an old single storied building, separated from the Railway Hotel by a 6 ft. passage, although the balcony of the hotel is overhead.
The firemen on the roof of Parnell’s worked like Trojans. The flames from the large two-storied hotel almost touched their faces, but they stuck to their guns and eventually the fire was beaten and portion of the western end of the hotel stands as a monument to the heroic efforts of the firemen.
Firemen and volunteers at the rear of the burning buildings did excellent work, and a bucket brigade at Meacham’s were instrumental in quelling outbreaks in those properties.
Fortunately at the critical time the wind veered and drove the flames away from Meacham’s. This undoubtedly prevented the fire from spreading eastwardly. By 4.30 the fire was well under control and there is now an ugly blank in the centre of this section. Too much praise cannot be given to the brigade, and the new engine pump proved a godsend in combating the fire.
The fire started in the storeroom of the Exchange Hotel. The flames spread rapidly. Mr. Moore and his family escaped with difficulty and saved nothing. Mr. Fuery is a heavy loser; he lost all. Much sympathy is felt for Mr. Fuery, who only lost his wife last week. Tim Fuery lost an expensive wireless outfit. Joe Jackson, hairdresser and tobacconist in the Railway building, lost practically everything. He had a nice little stock. Business people west of the immediate scene of the fire, but in the same block, hurriedly removed their stocks, etc. On one occasion the flames were blowing dangerously over the ‘Champion” buildings in Ash Street and the worst was feared. Millions of large sparks fell and the watchers had an anxious time until the wind again changed and drove the flames almost directly north. Altogether 1300 ft. of hose was in use and the brigade undoubtedly proved very efficient under the excellent command of Chief Officer Williams and Deputy Vale. The Railway Hotel is owned by Mrs. J. Lennon, her late husband being the occupier for years. The Exchange Hotel is owned by Messrs. Hempenstall Brothers, who hold all the Insurances, which, it is understood, are with the New Zealand Co. The Railway Hotel was insured with the South British Co for £1030 and I.O.A. for £1200. Mr. Jackson’s stock, tools in trade, and effects was insured with the State Insurance Office. |
April 1928 Mr. E Fuery’s license was renewed. There were plans to rebuild the hotel.
July 1929 Mr Joe Jackson, hairdresser and tobacconist, was operating out of the Railway Hotel again.
August 1929 Mr. E Fuery was proprietor of Railway Hotel when it burnt down again.
On 29 Oct 1929, for the second time in as many years, the Railway Hotel was destroyed by a fire that started in the Exchange Hotel as it was still being rebuilt.
Meacham & Leyland furniture store was destroyed; Joe Jackson’s business was destroyed again; the railway goods shed across the road caught alight but that threat was extinguished.
After the fire, Mr Fuery appears to have had enough, and the Lennon family returned to take over the hotel business.
July 1930 Railway Hotel License transferred from Mr. E Fuery to Margaret Lennon.
Extract from The Capricornian, 31 Oct 1929. BARCALDINE BLAZE. TWO HOTELS AND THREE SHOPS … The buildings destroyed were the newly-erected Exchange Hotel, which was only finished on Saturday afternoon; Fuery’s Railway Hotel; the furniture portion of Messrs. Meacham and Lelyand’s emporium; J. S. Jackson’s hairdressing saloon in the Railway Hotel; and Parnell’s general store, one of the oldest established houses in the town. … When the fire was first seen the Exchange Hotel was a raging furnace and Fuery’s, which is right alongside quickly ignited. The occupants of Fuery’s Hotel hardly had time to get out. The Exchange Hotel appeared to burn like matchwood. … The new Railway Hotel was a fine two-storey structure, well furnished. Mr. Fuery had only been in occupation about 12 months and he lost everything. The carpenters only finished their work at the Exchange Hotel last Saturday and it is stated that a plumber was at work there yesterday. The origin of the fire was a mystery. The scene this morning is one of desolation, and once again there is a nasty gap in the main business centre. The Railway Hotel was built of fibrolite and celotex, and the outer walls of the Exchange Hotel were of fibrolite, yet the material offered little or no resistance to the fire, which burned furiously for about an hour. |
Western Champion, May 1930 Messrs. Meacham and Leyland are making good progress with the new Railway Hotel. The building is well in frame and discloses that the building will be larger than the structure recently destroyed by fire. |
1954 Six Lennon family members lived in the Railway Hotel including Hugh Lennon, Maureen Patricia Lennon, barmaid; and Marlene Ursula Lennon. ‘Hughie’ Lennon is manager.
1972 Raymond Alexander & Thelma Florence Alexander – Licensees
1976 Lennon family descendants sell the hotel
1977 Mark Flavy Korostovetz, Proprietor & Elena Korostovetz – Licensees
