Elizabeth C Griffin

(1864-1927)

Elizabeth Griffin, daughter of a Geraldton Postmaster, was widowed young, and as a single mother, worked to become the extraordinary Proprietress of two of Fremantle’s most luxurious and landmark Hotels.

Elizabeth Cecelia Commerford was born in Geraldton in 1864. Her father Martin Commerford, from Kilkenny, Ireland, was nicknamed ‘the Major’ due to his Army service in the Crimean war (1828-1889) and he came to WA, in 1858, as a pensioner guard on the convict ship Lord Raglan. He was for 15 years Postmaster and clerk of customs at Geraldton, and a member of the first Geraldton Municipal Council. He was so popular that when he was arrested on a charge of stealing a pound note from the mail in 1877, the town hoisted flags in his honour when he was acquitted. (reference)

The family were staunch Roman Catholics. Elizabeth’s mother Ellen Jones (1842-1922) had been born in Nana, Tipperary, Ireland and come out on the Lord Raglan with Martin. At the time of Martins death in 1889 she was left with five daughters; Susan Nora (1856-1842), Bridget Theresa (1859-1928), Ellen (1862-1892), Elizabeth (1864), and Mary Frances (1985-1942). All three of her sons had died young. (reference)  

Elizabeth and her sisters were educated at the Convent of the Sisters of Mercy (now Mercedes College), Victoria Square, Perth and in Geraldton. Older sister Ellen became ‘Sister Mary Augustine’, in 1883, when she joined the Sisters of Mercy, and served in York until her early death from consumption in 1892. (reference)

Sister Susan, followed in her father and grandfathers footsteps-from girlhood to her retiring age, she served in the post and telegraph service of WA. In 1896 she was appointed Post Mistress of the brand new Claremont Post Office. ( reference)

Sister Mary married J.M. Drew, MLC who served as a minister in the Daglish, Scaddan and Colliver governments.

In 1886 Elizabeth married Joseph James Griffin (1861- 1891) and he became Postmaster in Geraldton, after her father died. Joseph had joined the post office as a messenger boy at 11 years old and was an exceptional telegraphist.  (reference)

Their daughter Mary Kathleen Griffin, was born in Geraldton in 1889.

Sadly only a 18 months after her father died, her husband died, at only 33 years old, and Elizabeth was left a widow:

July 1891, MR. J. J. GRIFFIN, Postmaster at Geraldton, died in that township on Tuesday last. The cause of death was Bright's disease. The deceased leaves a wife and one child to mourn their loss. (reference)

 In February 1897, aged 32, she took up the position of proprietress of the one of the best hotels on the Goldfields- the Murchison Club Hotel in Cue.

There was a large attendance at the Murchison Club Hotel (popularly known as Daly's Hotel) on Tuesday evening, on the occasion of a ball given for the dual purpose of bidding farewell to Mr, Mrs and Miss Daly and of welcoming the new proprietress, Mrs. Griffin. The large dining hall was specially draped and decorated for the occasion…Dancing was commenced about 8 o'clock and kept up until 2 a.m. During the evening, acting on behalf of the employees of the Hotel, Mr. W. H. Gale, Mayor of Cue, presented Mrs Daly with a handsome gold brooch… (Murchison Times and Day Dawn Gazette, 18 February 1897, page 2)

Elizabeth organised banquets, wedding parties and dances for the local community.

Fashionable wedding pending at the Murchison Club Hotel. The bride referred to will not be Mrs. Griffin, so there -you are wrong. (Murchison Times and Day Dawn Gazette, 17 June 1897, page 3)

She met Lord and Lady Forrest at the station at the event to celebrate the  opening of the Murchison Railway to Cue on 19 March 1987. (reference)

Elizabeth was a keen supporter of the Roman Catholic community and she travelled with Bishops Gibney and Salvador on the same train to Cue in Dec 1897. ( reference) Perhaps it is through these bishops that she met Father James Duff, a young Catholic priest and heard of his plans to build the finest hotel in Fremantle; with 100 rooms, on the corner of Beach St and Edward St, Fremantle. Where Duff got his gold from was always a mystery but he already owned two hotels at Gingin and Kalgoorlie. He was probably looking for a good proprietress to run it.

In October 1898 Mrs Elizabeth Griffin entered an agreement with Father Duff-that she would  lease the Hotel Australia at Fremantle, from him, for a period of seven years, and it was agreed that she should be free at any time to surrender the lease, provided three months' notice in writing were given. In the event of surrender being made Duff was to repay £1,500 paid by Griffin for the lease. (reference) In December 1898 Elizabeth was granted a Publicans Licence for the Hotel Australia. (reference) and she arranged to fit out the Hotel in grand style:

The Hotel Australia was designed by Mr. O N. Nicholson, architect, of Fremantle…The furnishing, which cost £3,500, was carried out by Bickford's, of Perth, and the total expenditure in connection with the erection of the building amounted to close on £14,000. Mrs. E. C. Griffon, late of Cue, has taken over the management of the hotel. (reference)

The whole building is illuminated by electricity, starting at the tower with a Korting and Mathieson new patent long burning arc-lamp of 2,000 candlepower, requiring new carbons only every three weeks, instead of every day, as in the old style. (reference)

For an amazingly in-depth description of every room of the new Hotel Australia in Fremantle -read this article from the West Australian, 19 November 1898, page 2: (reference)

“The hotel has been only recently opened, and there are already signs that during the summer months its accommodation will be considerably taxed by visitors from the goldfields and city who annually make their pilgrimage to the Port to enjoy the cool southerly breezes and bracing sea air during the "dog days….”

Elizabeth lived at the hotel with her daughter Kathleen:

“In the bedroom occupied by the licensee the furniture is of a very costly description. The suite is a massive one in solid walnut of Parisienne design and includes a box couch upholstered in printed velvet, while the carpet is of velvet pile of a sunflower pattern.” (reference)

Father James Duff, was born in Tully, Ireland in 1860 and arrived in WA in 1883. He moved around extensively- and was mythologized as being one of the first Catholic priests to ‘rough it’ in the Goldfields, the North West, Geraldton and Katanning. (reference) Duff was a curious mixture of priest and businessman. Sued numerous times in later years for non payment of money owed to workers and family alike, he was embroiled in numerous court actions and indeed- by the time of his early death, at 41 years old, on the 1st January 1906, he was described as:

Father Duff, the well-known priest and litigant, died at Fremantle today. (reference)

In March 1900 Elizabeth, probably realising that with many of his cheques dishonoured, Father Duff was not going to pay her back for money spent on improvements and furniture at the hotel,  and she negotiated a new lease of 5 and a half years, at less rent, with Duffy, and on the same terms of surrender.

In 1901 Father Duff sued Elizabeth C. Griffin for a debt and she counterclaimed for nearly the same amount. Father Duff won, given a verdict for 1,450 pounds in his favour (reference)

In 1904 Mrs Dorothea Ohlsen, house-keeper and manageress of the Australia Hotel took laundress Margaret Leehane to court after Margaret made defamatory comments saying she was stealing from her proprietress Mrs Griffin. She said she had worked for Mrs Griffin for five years. Her wage was 5 pounds a week. The case was dismissed. (reference) and Mrs Ohlsen and Mrs Griffin remained friends.

1905 A gay and animated scene was presented at the Victoria Hall on Friday evening last on the occasion of a children's and adults' plain and fancy dress ball, held in aid of funds for the Fremantle stall at the coming Jubilee Bazaar… Those dancing included Kathleen Griffen.(reference)

In Nov 1905 Elizabeth’s lease came to an end. However Duff refused to pay her the bond and other monies he owed her, which included for improvements, furniture, board and lodging for Duff and his guests in 1904-1905, rates insurance, and dishonoured cheques. Elizabeth Griffen had had enough of his behaviour and took Father Duff to court, where he admitted everything but the claim for furniture and improvements.

Father Duff and a Hotelkeeper: Verdict against Father Duff- In the Supreme Court today his Honor Mr. Justice Burnside delivered judgement in the case in which Elizabeth Cecilia Griffin sued Father Duff, the owner of the Hotel Australia, at Fremantle, for the recovery of certain moneys. His Honor gave judgment for the plaintiff for £1500 in the first instance, because she already had judgment for £414 and for £364 in the dispute. His Honor said plaintiff was also entitled to a judgment for such sum as might be fixed by valuation for the furniture in the hotel at the time of surrender. (reference)

Father Duff died soon after on Jan 1 , 1906.

In 1906 Elizabeth took over the license for the Hotel Fremantle on the corner of High and Cliff Sts. She cleverly advertised in the Geraldton papers and soon had a steady stream of loyal clientele from the Murchison:

Hotel Fremantle-Most Conveniently Situated Hostelry in Fremantle to Railway Station and all Wharves… Mrs. E. C. Griffin, late of the Hotel Australia, having taken over the above splendidly appointed Hotel, has had the interior of the whole premises thoroughly renovated and redecorated, together with extensive replenishing arrangements. The bedrooms are commodious, lofty, and thoroughly ventilated. Excellent Cuisine. Tariff Moderate. (reference)

THE LATEST IN WHISKY. Mrs. E. C. Griffin invites all Friends and Patrons to visit the Hotel Fremantle she having secured the Highland Nectar Whisky (Certificated), 16 years in wood. This Whisky is recognised by connoisseurs as the best obtainable. On sale in Saloon Bar upstairs at the Hotel Fremantle. Mrs. E. C. GRIFFIN Proprietress. (reference)

In 1908 Elizabeth’s daughter Kathleen married Sydney Arthur Beeson (1882- 1974), who in 1911 was Assistant Engineer on the Mundaring Weir. They lived at the Number 1 Pumping Station at Mundaring Weir.

The marriage of Miss Kathleen Griffin, only daughter of Mrs E. C. Griffin, Fremantle, and Mr. S. A. Beeson, Mundaring Weir, son of Mr. W. Beesen, Porchester Square, Bayswater, London, was solemnised at St. Patrick's Church on Tuesday, Aug. 17, in the presence of a large gathering of friends and well wishers, and the brightest of sunny skies shone on the bride as she entered the church with her uncle, Mr. J.M. Drew, who gave her away…  the ceremony a reception was held at the Hotel Australia, Mrs. Griffin receiving her guests in the hall upstairs where they passed into the drawing-room to congratulate the newly-wedded pair. Mrs. Griffin wore a handsome toilette of palest grey striped silk ninon, made with a narrow skirt panel of filet lace threaded with silver and chenille. (reference)

Tragedy struck on 6 October 1912 when Mary Kathleen, aged 23 died suddenly from a heart attack:

"In the midst of life we are in death." The truth of these words were never more truly exemplified than in the case of Mrs. Sydney Beeson, better known in Geraldton, where she was born and where her early days were spent, as Kathleen Griffin, only daughter of Mrs. E. C. Griffin of the Hotel Fremantle, and of the late Mr. J. J. Griffin… On Sunday evening last, in the presence of many of her relatives, and without any previous warning symptoms, she became, suddenly seized with an attack of illness, and in a few minutes had passed away to the consternation of all around. The doctor was called by telephone at the very onset of the seizure, but, although on the spot within a quarter of an hour was too late to render any first aid. He certified heart failure as the cause of death.( reference)

Mary Kathleen left three young children: Sydney Joseph (born Fremantle 1909-1976), Kathleen Elizabeth Beeson (born Fremantle in 1911) and Nancy Ethel (born Fremantle 1912-1984).

Elizabeth stayed on as the publican of the Hotel Fremantle until 1920, when she had been a Hotel Publican in Fremantle, for over 20 years.

In 1921 Elizabeth was able to retire and she bought her own house ‘Rossall’ at 18 Kings Park Road, West Perth ( now demolished) and she was at the bedside of her mother Ellen when she died in June 1922.

Elizabeth Cecilia Griffin died 17 March 1927 and was buried at Karrakatta Cemetery.

GRIFFIN. On March 17, 1927, at her late residence, Rossall, King's Park-road, Elizabeth Cecelia, relict of the late Joseph Griffin, of Geraldton, dearly beloved sister of Susan Commerford, Teresa Commerford, of Melbourne, and Mary (Mrs. J. M. Drew), and grandmother of Sydney, Kathleen, and Nancy Beeson. R.I.P.  (reference)