One of the many pleasures of Ancestry is the finding of hitherto
unknown relations.
A few years ago I was contacted by Neil Cook, who had seen
my tree on Ancestry and concluded that we were second cousins, both
great-grandchildren of James Patrick and Mary Gleeson. We continued to correspond and share
information, and then Neil suggested that we plan a family reunion in a
significant place in James and Mary’s lives – the famous Regatta Hotel in
Brisbane.
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| Regatta Hotel - about 1940 |
In 1915, James and Mary were the licensees of this hotel,
which still occupies a prominent position on the Toowong reach of the Brisbane
River. Built in 1886, it has survived
floods and two great depressions, and in 1915 it also survived a fire.
On 15 March of that year, all the Brisbane newspapers
carried the dramatic story.
From the Brisbane Courier:
“Everything was apparently in good order when the inmates
retired to rest late on Saturday night. Shortly before 3 o'clock on Sunday
morning Miss Grace Leis, the housemaid whose room was on the first floor at the
front of the premises, and almost over the kitchen, was awakened by smoke in
her room. Jumping out of bed she discovered that the hotel was on fire and in
her night attire she ran screaming along the passage towards the front of the
house The girl's cries awakened Mr and
Mrs Gleeson (whose bedroom was on the first floor, in the front of the
premises) as well as their son (Mr James Gleeson), Miss Gleeson * aged 13 years
and a baby girl* aged 1 year. The baby was picked up, and the others rushed out
on to the front balcony. Meanwhile the fire was making quick headway from the
rear. Mr James Gleeson climbed over the railing and slid down a post to the
veranda and then stepped out on to the footpath. Mr Gleeson dropped the baby
girl from the balcony into the arms of her brother and she was safely carried
out of harm's way. Mr Gleeson then got hold of Miss Gleeson, lifted her over
the Railing and dropped her into the arms of her brother. Mrs Gleeson and Miss
Grace Leis both scrambled over the rails and then dropped to the ground. Mr
James Gleeson tried to break his mother's fall by catching her before she
reached the ground but Mrs Gleeson sprained her ankle and Mr James Gleeson also
had his foot injured. Miss Grace Leis was also injured. After the fall she
complained of pains in her back, and that her collarbone was broken.”
* Aileen
* the baby was Beryl - then about 4 years old
The Regatta Hotel was
insured for 1,260 pounds, and was restored by its owners but James and Mary Gleeson
moved on from the Regatta to other Brisbane hotels, including the Alliance in
Spring Hill. In 1926, they bought the
freehold of the Club Hotel in Warwick, Queensland. James died in Warwick in 1933, and Mary continued
to run the hotel for several years. She died
in 1947.
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| L to R Mary, Mick, Tom, John (Jack), James (Jim) and James snr.. Aileen in front. The photo taken many years before Beryl's birth. |
Neil’s plan was that as many descendants as possible would
meet at the Regatta Hotel on 8 June, 2015, a little over 100 years after the
fire. Fortunately there was a living
relative who had known James and Mary - their granddaughter-in-law, Zita, who
was a mine of information.
Neil is the son of Tom Gleeson, brother to our grandfather
Jack. The two men barely met after they
grew up and married and moved to different parts of the country. Neil and I had not known of the other’s
existence before we began our family history research. When we all came together, there was much to
talk about, stories and photos to be shared, and history to be compared. And of course, the Regatta Hotel to be
explored.
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| Cousins Donna, Neil and Julie with Zita and my sisters and me. |
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