Mackay history: Ambassador Hotel rises from Tattersalls Hotel ashes

Behind Mackay’s Art Deco facade hide many stories of the people who designed, built, owned, lived and worked in these buildings over the span of close to 100 years.

Behind Mackay’s Art Deco facade hide many stories of the people who designed, built, owned, lived and worked in these buildings over the span of close to 100 years.

Many of Mackay’s Art Deco buildings emerged out of the devastation of the 1918 cyclone.

By contrast, Mackay’s Ambassador Hotel rose from the ashes of the Tattersall Hotel, which was badly damaged by fire in 1936.

The Tattersall, which had stood for more than 50 years, was a two-storey timber structure with little defence against a fire.

Thankfully only two employees were resident at the time, both of whom managed to escape, losing their personal possessions in the process.

The fire was not good news for the new owner of the hotel, Mrs Mary Azar, who had ­contracted to purchase the Tattersall, and was planning to move in just a few weeks later.

Luckily, as the hotel was insured, the sale proceeded.

Mr Azar was not a Mackay local; she was born in Syria in 1876.

She married Elias Azar, himself of Syrian origin, in Atherton, North Queensland, in 1895, when Mary was 19, and her new husband was 35.

The Ambassador Hotel at 2 Sydney St, Mackay. Picture: Contributed

Elias had spent the early part of his life in America then moved to Australia in 1885, settling in North Queensland where he conducted a draper’s business for more than 30 years.

The couple had 12 children during their marriage which was sadly cut short when Elias died in 1928 at their then home at Hamilton, Brisbane.

The family had only recently moved to the area from their property at Yattee, near Gordonvale.

When Elias died, Mary still had three small children under her care, with the youngest, Mavis, being just six years old.

After Elias died, Mary moved away from Brisbane – living in Tully, where many of her older children lived, and Yeppoon, before her move to Mackay.

In 1937 the local electoral roll lists Mary as hotel-keeper for Tattersall, with her daughter Esme manageress.

Another Azar – son Michael – is listed as barkeep at Mackay’s Commercial Hotel.

Female hotelkeepers were commonplace. Up until the 1960s publicans were expected to live on the premises and provide meals and accommodation.

The domestic nature of the work attracted women – and with a small family to raise, likely suited Mary’s personal circumstances well.

While the Tattersall was literally in tatters, Mary was making good on her investment by selling off what could be salvaged from the building by auction.

Essentially, this was the whole ground floor, comprising the entire kitchen, passageway, and a large quantity of bricks, timber, hardwood, pine, galvanised iron, Wunderlich ceiling tiles, doors, windows and fanlights.

She had also engaged the Guthrie brothers to build a splendid new Art Deco styled hotel – the Ambassador.

The hotel was designed by Townsville architect Joseph Rooney, in an inter-war functionalist style with Art Deco detailing.

There have been some alterations over the years – notably the addition of a third storey, but the Sydney St hotel still retains key features of the original as built in 1937.

This was a large investment for Mary.

In 1940, the Daily Mercury reported that she had paid 14,500 pounds for the construction of the Ambassador – which was significantly more than the insurance payout on the old Tattersall premises.

The high cost was due in part to the reinforced foundations, built on the basis that a third storey could be added later if desired.

The new hotel opened with great fanfare on September 3, 1937.

According to the Daily Mercury, Len Sullivan’s orchestra was to play while the guests enjoyed “dainty refreshments”, and dancing under the stars in the rooftop garden.

Rooms were priced at 17 shillings per day, with reduced rates for longer terms.

Hot and cold water was on-tap in every bedroom and “excellent cuisine” was available in the hotel restaurant.

When Mary’s daughter Esme married Reginald Hurley in May 1938, her reception was held at the Ambassador, and hosted by her mother.

Working life was not without drama however and maybe running a large and expensive premises was proving to be harder than anticipated.

In 1937 Mary appears to put the lease up for sale in December, then subsequently withdraws it.

In 1938 an action was brought against Mary by the licensing court, alleging she kept the hotel open for the sale of alcohol, beyond legal closing time.

For Mary this resulted in a fine of 10 pounds with six shillings costs.

For their trouble the four after-hours drinkers were each fined 10 shillings each, also with six shillings costs.

Mary and Esme ran the hotel between 1937 and 1941, after which it passed to John Thompson, who paid 24,000 pounds for the building and contents, a healthy return for Mary’s 14,500 pounds investment.

It doesn’t appear that Mary stayed in Mackay for long.

After her tenure at the Ambassador ended, she headed south again.

In 1954 she was living in Greenslopes, Brisbane.

She died in 1957 and was buried in the family plot with husband Elias, in Nudgee Cemetery.

Vicky Bowden, Sugar City Art Deco and Modernism Society

Surprising history of how Mackay’s CBD streets were named

As a resident of Mackay, you may have wondered at one time or another about who was responsible for the naming of Mackay’s CBD streets.

The credit goes to Thomas Henry Fitzgerald who on April 21, 1863 arrived by steamer at the ‘Pioneer River Settlement’ and not, as one would expect, the ‘Mackay Settlement’.

Our local river had originally been named the Mackay River after John Mackay, a prominent member of the first expedition of Europeans into the fertile valley which is now the Pioneer Valley in 1860.

He returned in 1862 and settled for a short time at his property at Greenmount.

The Mackay name was erased on December 27, 1862 when the river was gazetted as the Pioneer.

The need for a name change had occurred a few months earlier, when Queensland’s Governor Bowen aboard HMS Pioneer commanded by Commodore Burnett had come across another Mackay River in Rockingham Bay.

Corner of Wood and Victoria Street in the Mackay CBD. Picture: Tony Martin

This river is now named the Tully River but at the time it was decided to avoid confusion and rename our Mackay river the Pioneer after a strong endorsement by Commodore Burnett.

This wasn’t the last time that issues involving name changes would occur in our locality.

A major one involved Thomas Fitzgerald himself and the renaming of the Pioneer River Settlement.

Fitzgerald, an Irish-born migrant to New Zealand with 20 years surveying experience, and a qualified engineer was tasked with completing a town survey in order to secure titles over the land occupied by the early settlers.

Of course no consideration was given to the land rights of the original inhabitants, the Juipera People.

In 1863, the settlement consisted of about ‘16 timber and galvanised iron dwellings and four tents of timber and calico, all erected within the Town boundary’.

Fitzgerald’s plan was completed by the end of May and finally approved on September 12, 1863.

Thomas Henry Fitzgerald. Picture: Unknown

The Fitzgerald survey plan laid out the streets of Mackay’s CBD in a now familiar grid pattern ensuring that the streets were wide, at least one and a half chains (about 30 metres) and never less than one chain (about 20 metres).

He also ensured that there wouldn’t be any narrow lanes for easy access to the backs of allotments.

Fitzgerald’s aim was to avoid the ‘skelter’, confusion and impediment to traffic flow of existing streets in many of the earlier colonial cities, with ‘Old Sydney Town’ being a prime example.

Sydney and Brisbane Streets were of course named after the earlier cities of the colony.

To the east he chose British literary figures; Carlyle, Tennyson, Moore, Burns and Byron.

To the west, Fitzgerald honoured his superiors; Wood, Gregory and Macalister who was the Lands and Public Works minister.

Alexandra Town Plan, 1863. Picture: Unknown

From north to south the streets bore the names of members of the Royal family; Victoria, Alfred and Albert.

Albert Street was later changed to Gordon after the poet Adam Lindsay Gordon because of the confusion that arose between Albert and Alfred.

When Thomas Henry Fitzgerald completed his survey plan in 1863, Mackay had a population of about 70 European residents.

Thomas had migrated to Queensland in 1862, from New Zealand and while in Brisbane had seen the early experiments of growing sugar cane in Queensland’s sub- tropical climate.

He quickly identified the potential for the Pioneer River Settlement as a major sugar producing area.

Fitzgerald’s interest in settling in the area extended to his desire to rename the Pioneer River Settlement to ‘Alexandra’ in honour of Princess Alexandra of Denmark, who had on March 8, 1863 married the heir to the British throne, Prince Albert Edward.

A number of town residents and local squatters had a favourable attitude towards Fitzgerald’s suggestion and the local discussion generated around the township’s name reached the ears of the Rockhampton Bulletin’s own correspondent whose June 10, 1863 article titled ‘The Pioneer River’ continued with ‘ALEXANDRA! So our township is at last named if rumour be correct, and such a name!’

Alexandra was not to be as many including Governor Bowen supported the renaming of the Pioneer River Settlement to Mackay in recognition of John Mackay’s contribution to the settlement of the area.

Town Plan Of Mackay, 1863. Picture: Unknown

T.H. Fitzgerald with John Spiller are accredited with the founding of the Mackay sugar industry.

Fitzgerald was one of the first to take up land under the new Sugar and Coffee Regulations.

His first plantation was named ‘Alexandra’ and in partnership with John Ewen Davidson he built the first steam driven sugar mill in North Queensland in 1868.

Fitzgerald later founded the Meadowlands, and Te Kowai mills and the Peri plantation.

In 1875 the disastrous rust outbreak in the district’s sugar plantations hit Fitzgerald, a casualty of the financial meltdown as he had over extended himself in many projects.

In 1876 he left Mackay because of insolvency.

Thomas Henry Fitzgerald left his mark on Mackay in the 12 years he resided here including a primary school named in his honour.

For more details about T.H. Fitzgerald’s sugar industry contributions and political career, check out the article titled ‘Fitzgerald: A true pioneer of the Mackay Region’ written by Leonie Fanning at the Pioneer Valley Museum.

J Stewart, Mackay Historical Society