The United Club Hotel – Coolgardie hotels

The United Club was formed in September 1896 and had Warden J.M. Finnerty as its first President.  Immediately after formation it was proposed to erect a building, estimated to cost ₤5,000, for use as a Club in Bayley Street west.

The United Club, on the corner of Moran and Bayley Streets Coolgardie west, was an imposing structure of stone and brick, with an elegant balcony extending over the footpath. Entry was through a central hall which ran into a spacious chamber behind which was a billiard room of similar dimensions.

From the front, there was a Stranger’s Room, Secretary’s Office, Light Court, Card and Writing Rooms. Upstairs were ten Bedrooms, four Card Rooms and two Bathrooms.

The Club, which was not strictly residential, kept the bedrooms for the convenience of visitors and country members.Despite opening with a Grand Ball, the building’s use as a Club was limited, so that when William Sheldon too it over he applied for and was granted a licence in 1895, and from then on it became known as the United Club Hotel.

After Jack Gregory, who was a member of the Coolgardie Council at the time of his marriage to Mercy Taylor, took over the hotel in 1900, it was always referred to as ‘Gregory’s Pub’ as a tribute to the

‘jovial raconteur of quips and jokes, delivered with a broad Scottish accent’.

In 1903 water from the Coolgardie Water Supply Scheme was available from a stand pipe near ‘Gregory’s where water was sold from 8am to 6pm daily. The first buyer was called McAllister.

The following year while holidaying in Sydney, Mrs Gregory was fatally stabbed by a young attendant at the hotel where she was staying. There is a fountain erected in the Coolgardie Park in remembrance to her. You can read the story here: The Murder of Mercy Gregory

After the sale of the hotel to the Lion Brewery, Jack Gregory left Coolgardie and the hotel was taken over by Mrs E. Harris, who held the licence until the hotel’s closure during the First World War in 1920 when the building was allowed to fall into disrepair.

1916

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Moya Sharp

Owner at Outback Family History

My name is Moya Sharp, I live in Kalgoorlie Western Australia and have worked most of my adult life in the history/museum industry. I have been passionate about history for as long as I can remember and in particular the history of my adopted home the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. Through my website I am committed to providing as many records and photographs free to any one who is interested in the family and local history of the region.

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