The Hotel Metropole

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Location — 253 Brisbane Street, Ipswich, Queensland

Mystery surrounds the identity of the ghostly spectre that walks the creaky floorboards of the Hotel Metropole at night.

It seems that prior to the hotel's most recent renovations in 2004, the site suffered from a number of paranormal events, so much so that the publican and his wife began to double guess themselves regarding events within the building. 

On numerous occasions, televisions within locked and vacant rooms would turn themselves on at full volume for no apparent reason, at ungodly hours late at night and in the early morning. 

Similarly, beds in locked rooms would be made up by housekeeping only to be found in a shambles a day or two later, when it was certain that no one had entered the specific lodgings. 



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The publican even took the time to point out a specific floorboard on the top level of the hotel that let out a very noticeable creak when weight was placed on it, at various times throughout the night when the publican and his wife were alone in the hotel, the floorboard would let out a tell-tale creak, signalling a footstep they knew couldn't have resulted from a flesh and blood patron.



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According to the publican, based on information that he'd received, the unusual occurrences within the building were due to the ghosts of two young girls. As an extra aside, the publican added an extra aspect to the story, on multiple occasions when his 3 year old grandaughter visited the hotel, she'd consistently mention seeing a spectral black dog running about the premises, supposedly linked to the two ghost girls.



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Most stories are alleged that a fire had torn through the venue many years ago, and as a result of the fire two young girls had been trapped in a front room on the top floor of the hotel. In a vain yet futile attempt to escape the flames, they had huddled beneath a bed in the room in question, unfortunately, their attempt at survival was slim.

When the fire damaged sections of the hotel were eventually accessed, it was confirmed that the girls had perished as a result, and it was supposed that their spirits continued to walk the current establishment creating mischief where they could.

With this information in mind, let's get to the bottom of the hotel's history.



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Further researching revealed Hotel Metropole first opened in 1906, it was built on the site of the old Harp of Erin Hotel.

On the 26th of June 1847, Martin Byrne ran an advert in The Moreton Bay Courier stating that he would soon open a new establishment in Ipswich, under the sign of the Harp of Erin, on the 1st of July - he'd been granted a new license to do so at the annual Licensing Board meeting on the 20th of April 1847.

The Harp of Erin Hotel was established near the Bremer river by Martin Byrne who operated the pub for the following few years until about 1851. 

The Harp of Erin was a wooden structure that was demolished in very late 1905 or early 1906 to make way for the construction of the new Hotel Metropole. It had become somewhat run-down by the 1890s but survived in some form until the early 20th century.

Despite its lack of grandeur the Harp of Erin was clearly a landmark in the town as early as 1861 when Bee-Hive Stores used its name and location to advertise their own clothing and groceries business situated opposite in Brisbane Street.

Was there a fatal fire which killed two young girls at the former Harp of Erin Hotel?



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On the 24th of September 1885, in the middle of the night, a fire took hold in Webb's old cordial factory on Brisbane Street. Before long, the fire spread to the stables behind Saunders Grocers Store, which were full of hay, and then leapt the remaining gap to the back of the Harp of Erin Hotel where more hay in the stables provided a happy breeding ground for the ensuing sparks. 

The Fire Department were soon on the scene and laid their hoses out as best they could. Saunders stables were soon cut away from the back of the Grocer's Store and extinguished, however the stable behind the Harp of Erin Hotel posed a more dangerous threat. 

Fortunately, the backyard blaze was extinguished before it reached the skirting of the hotel itself, everyone involved breathed a sigh of relief when it was confirmed that all lives at the hotel had been spared, although this soon proved to be incorrect. 



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Margaret Bourke, the 70 year old mother of the publican's wife Maria McGrory, resided in the rooms above the hotel, on hearing the shouts and cries around her in the middle of the night, the excitement was clearly too much for her aging heart. By the time the flames had subsided and the threat to the hotel had been abated, Margaret was found dead in her bed, and her death was attributed to the shock she had endured as a result of the fire.

Remarkably similar circumstances with the deaths of the two young girls.



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Another death that occurred at the hotel was that of Alexander Fairley, on the 5th of June 1894. 

Having immigrated to Australia in 1852, Alexander also tried his hand on the goldfields of Victoria, similarly to the Harp of Erin's original owner Martin Byrne. Having likely earned a small payout in gold, Fairley moved north to Queensland in 1864 where he worked a number of properties before settling at Ipswich. 

He took control of the Ulster Hotel with his wife for a couple of years before moving on to the Harp of Erin Hotel during its declining days in the early 1890's. Ultimately, in 1894, Alexander Fairley would die in his new hotel from apoplexy, an early term that indicated a cardiovascular incident or likely stroke.

His wife and nine children were left alone to recover from a series of disasters that had beset the family. Alexander’s father was a well-known accountant with the Royal Bank of Scotland in Glasgow and his mother was descended from the British peerage. He began his working life as a bank clerk in Glasgow but in 1852 left his life of privilege to go to Australia with an older brother during the gold rush. The brother died not long after arriving and Alexander was left to fend for himself.

When Alexander’s father passed away in Scotland in 1869, Alexander was cruelly denied a huge inheritance. He was the only one of his eight surviving siblings to be left out of the will. Alexander was also the only sibling not to have his image recorded in a photograph or an artistic representation. It’s as if all traces of him had to be erased. This must have tormented his soul for the rest of his life. Shortly after his father’s death, Alexander got married and pursued a career first in farming, and then as a publican, to support his growing family of six daughters and three sons.

Alexander brought the family to Ipswich in 1886 and took up the license of the Ulster Hotel. The 1890 floods were bad, but the three floods in quick succession in 1893 were disastrous. He surrendered the lease of the Ulster and moved up the road to the Harp of Erin Hotel which was seemingly safe on higher ground.



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On St Patrick’s night in 1894, Alexander’s cashbox was stolen from his bedroom upstairs at the Harp of Erin Hotel, with the equivalent of three-months’ wages inside. The devastation of the floods combined the financial crisis following the loss of the cashbox proved too much. Just ten weeks later, Alexander died suddenly from a massive stroke suffered while upstairs in that same bedroom.

Left alone to fight for survival, Alexander’s wife Christiana and their daughters continued to run the Harp of Erin Hotel, but sadly they ran it into such a dilapidated state that it had to be demolished just over a decade later. Fate smiled briefly on the family however, because once the new Hotel Metropole was erected on the site in 1906, the Fairleys were again in charge. The family remained as licensees and working on the site for twenty years, which is longer than any other family in the one hundred and seventy year hotel history of the location.

Fate again took a turn because three of Alexander’s unmarried daughters became overly familiar with the patrons and babies came unexpectedly. This was scandalous in those Edwardian times and Alexander’s soul was not allowed to rest.



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By 1906, the old wooden hulk affectionately known as the Harp of Erin Hotel was torn down, and a new brick establishment under the sign of the Hotel Metropole was built in its place, the very same establishment that exists to this day. Hotel Metropole opened on the 4th October 1906. 



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On the 17th of September 1940 at 2am, Hotel boarder George May ran out into the hallway screaming "fire!"  Within seconds, eight other boarders and the publican's family were grasping for their valuables and heading for the exits, however, two borders by the name of Mr and Mrs Nightingale failed to run from their rooms, as their usual route was blocked by the flames. 

Taking stock of their situation, the elderly couple ran out onto a balcony and managed to skirt around the flames and escape down the main stairs to the street, just before the roof collapsed in on the top floor where they'd all been sleeping. All in all, the damage bill was estimated at £2000, which came as a crushing blow to the licensee Orlando Andresen. 

Six months later, Orlando would be found dead by his wife, after having shot himself in the head at their residence in Kangaroo Point. A veteran of WWI, having fought on the Western Front, Andresen had shouldered the brunt of the damages inflicted on the Hotel Metropole, a repair bill he was likely unable to cover. 

Fortunately, the only destructive fire to rip through the Hotel Metropole site during its long life failed to claim a single soul directly...although its aftermath claimed the soul of the hotel's owner, who was likely unable to live with the loss.



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Records of the two young girls we have not, however, whilst we're able to discount the tale of the two young girls who died beneath a bed in a tragic fire, we've uncover a number of deaths linked with the hotel. 

Does Margaret Bourke still wander the building in a panic that a long since extinguished fire might engulf the building? 

Has Orlando Andresen returned to the Metropole after losing his life savings as a result of the 1940 fire and subsequently taking his life? 

Or does Alexander Fairley still preside over the hotel that he ran for a number of years after dying from a stroke within its walls?  Is his ghost the one that walks the creaky upstairs corridors in a vain attempt to protect his cash box – and his unmarried daughters – from the Ipswich railway men in the bar below?

That’s for you to decide.

[KANACKI]

Hello Headless thank you once again for an amazing story.

Its amazing what stories these buildings can tell. If only the walls could speak?

Kanacki