The Exchange Hotel Broad Arrow:

Following on from the recent article on the hotels of Broad Arrow I received an email from an OFH reader, John Hanley. His Gt Grandfather James Hanley owned and ran the Exchange Hotel and his family is fortunate in that the original cash book from the hotel has been preserved and passed down through the family. He very kindly sent me the following article which I have posted with his permission. I would like to thank John for sharing his family story.

Under the listing for Broad Arrow (Kurawa) and the nine hotels there is an entry for the Exchange Hotel, Broad Arrow

James McMahon Hanley was my Great Grandfather, Thomas McMahon Hanley’s brother and I have in my possession a family heirloom which is the “Cash Book” for this very hotel with the first entry being inserted on July 13th 1896. The entries are very accurate and cover the trading period from 13th  July 1896 through to May 3rd 1897.

James McMahon Hanley was born in Longford, Ireland in 1863. It appears he immigrated to South Australia with most his extended family including his father, mother, brothers and sisters, arriving in the mid to late 1870’s.

James McMahon HANLEY

At some time he was Licensee of Ford’s Hotel in Clare, South Australia, immediately before venturing west to the great Gold Rush of the 1890’s with his wife Annie (nee McKeon) and baby daughter, Myra Kathleen Clare Hanley (born January 1896 in South Australia). His sister, Mrs. Ellen Tilbrook, took, over as Licensee of that hotel on his leaving.

He wasn’t after the gold in the ground but the gold in the miner’s pockets. It is reported that Broad Arrow had, at its peak some 15000 residents. By 1898 the population had dramatically dwindled to a mere 337.

I don’t know for sure whether James Hanley built the Exchange Hotel but looking through the entries in the Cash Book, he does not appear to account for payment of rent during the period. The Exchange was one of nine Hotels in town at the time.

Takings on the first day of trading amounted to £4 (pounds) 13 (shillings) 0 (pence) [$9.30 in converted Australian decimal currency], while day 2 amounted to £27-0-0. Business was booming and on 17th July he took £35, and by July 30th, the accumulated daily takings stood at £474-5-6 [$948.55]. During the same period, outgoings by way of general supplies, firewood, groceries, beer and aerated waters had amounted to £102-7-4. It appears that initially, business was very profitable.

First Trading -13th July 1896.

In January 1897, his wife Annie died in Broad Arrow of pneumonia which left James running the Hotel and caring for his 12 month old baby daughter, Myra. Annie is buried in the Broad Arrow Cemetery. There is an obituary for her in the local newspaper, the Broad Arrow Standard Saturday 30th January 1896 at http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/226223504?searchTerm=Hanley%20Exchange&searchLi mits

The Cash Book records show that business continued until the last cash sales were recorded on the 3rd May 1897 when an entry of £9-8-0 was made. At this time, gross takings for the business stood at £8294-12-7. The total banked stood at £7976-3-1. On 10th May a cheque for £19-19-6 was received and banked account “Cheque Brown”. There was also an amount of £8-3-4 received and banked account “Webb” on July 9th  1897. So £8322-15-5 was received in 294 days of trading. That amounts to approximately £28 per day.

Final days trading – May and July 1897.

At the end of May 1897 accumulated expenses stood at £8215-19-5. Further payments on 3rd May by way of wages etc amounting to £52-15-0 were made making total outgoings of

£8268 14 5 or approximately £28 per day. Takings and expenses were the same and with a dwindling population, the outlook for business was not good.

Interestingly, some entries in the book relate to payments made to my maternal Great Grandfather, John Boileau who was one of the first Chemists on the Goldfields. He established business’ in Coolgardie, Boulder and Broad Arrow during the 1890’s and resided in Kalgoorlie until his death in 1922.

There are no further entries for the Exchange Hotel Broad Arrow and it appears that James actually was declared bankrupt in Fremantle in 1899.

14th July 1899 – In Bankrupcy – Before the Registrar:-
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/33164282
James McMahon Hanley, hotelkeeper, North Framantle, and late of Broad Arrow

During his time in North Fremantle, Annie’s sister Rose McKeon arrived from South Australia to help James look after baby Myra. Eventually, with the Roman Catholic Church’s blessing, James and Rose married in Fremantle in 1897.

James and Rose had three children, the last two being born in and around Kalgoorlie and Boulder where James and Rose had returned to continue as Licensees and Publicans and at some stage, a Commercial Traveller for Hannan’s Brewery throughout the first decade and a half of the 20th Century.

Eventually James, Rose and children moved away from the Eastern Goldfields. James continued in the Liquor and Hospitality Trade becoming a Manager in the State Government’s fledgling State Hotels enterprise. He was briefly Manger / Licensee of the State Hotel at Wongan Hills and then was first Manager / Licensee of the State Hotel in Corrigin in 1916.

I believe James had an interest in a Liquor Bar in Subiaco for some years and Electoral Roll records show him living in Greenmount Western Australia. James died in Subiaco in 1924. It appears that Rose lived mainly in Maylands up until she died in Northam in 1946. Both James and Rose are buried in the same plot in Karrakatta Cemetery, Perth.

Myra, the child of James and Annie, and the other children by James and Rose were not half brothers and sisters as would be expected from a second marriage. All children actually had the same Grand Parents on both sides of the family so their relationship was much closer.

Rose was in fact Myra’s maternal Aunt and also her Step-mother. John Hanley

December 2016    –    Copyright John B. Hanley 27 December 2016

Footnote:- When putting together the information for this article John told me he regretted that he didnt have a photograph of James. When sorting through a pile or previously unsorted paperwork, lo and behold right on the top was a previously unknown copy of the photograph in this article turned up.

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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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