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From whiskey to war bonds, an Ipswich pub icon
In 1939, when World War Two was declared in Europe, the people of Ipswich proudly did their bit for the war effort. One resident in particular, Mrs Emma ‘Ma’ Bentham, proprietress of the Commonwealth Hotel, went above and beyond during the war years, tirelessly raising funds for the community.
1939 would prove to be a tumultuous year for the Commonwealth Hotel’s husband and wife team. Mr Steven Bentham and his wife Emma, who were movers and shakers in Ipswich’s social and business landscapes, were extremely civic-minded.
The couple were famous for throwing their support behind numerous sporting clubs and musical and theatrical endeavours, all whilst running one of the more stylish hotels in the town, so no one would have been surprised when Ipswich’s power couple brought their formidable organisational and networking skills to bear for the war effort.
Constant news reports and bulletins from overseas would have alerted the Benthams, along with the people of Ipswich, that a war was inevitable, and on September 1, that became a reality that would shape the lives and businesses of Ipswich for the next decade and beyond.
First of all, every Ipswich resident would now be required to carry their gas mask and national identity card with them wherever they went.
Despite the start of the war, the Commonwealth Hotel remained a popular venue for Ipswich society weddings thanks to Emma Benton’s reputation for creating stylish and beautifully-themed wedding receptions. During the war years she regularly decorate dance halls and stages for many community events, and was publicly praised for her taste and style.
The January 1940 wedding of Henry Renton and Marie Coomber, whose reception was held at the Commonwealth Hotel, was no exception. It received a detailed story in the newspaper’s social pages, featuring in-depth descriptions of the bridal party’s attire and flowers.
Blackout laws kick in
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1910
John Jamieson applies for approval to build a new hotel on Union Street
The brand-new Commonwealth Hotel opens in October under the management of Mr James Brisbane
1911
Mr Hartigan takes over management of the hotel
1912
Local character, Mr Harry Green, takes over management.
1914
Mr Green transforms the storage sheds in the hotel’s back yard into an electric power plant and a mineral water bottling plant.
1917
Miss Margaret Calvert takes over the management of the hotel.
1920s
Frances and Jules Ajax take over management of the hotel.
1924
Mr Steven and Mrs Emma Bentham take over management of the hotel.
1931
A mysterious gentleman using the name ‘Mr Donald’ checks into the Commonwealth Hotel after arriving in Ipswich on Saturday night on May 2. After requesting a room, ‘Mr Donald’ asked Hotelier Mr Bentham to see that he was not disturbed, nor woken for breakfast. Hotel staff discovered the man dead on Monday morning from a gunshot to the head. The case has never been solved and the man’s true identity has never been established.
1930s
The hotel is a popular wedding reception venue. On December 4, 1934 Miss Millicent Hare and Mr Stanley McLennan held their wedding reception at the hotel where “the tables were decked with tall silver vases of blue agapanthus, daises and maidenhair fern. A feature was the Peter’s ice-cream wedding cake.”
1940s
Emma Bentham is celebrated for her extensive efforts in fundraising and community work during the second world war.
1947
Mr Steven Bentham passes away. Mrs Emma Bentham, known locally as “Ma Bentham” continues to manage the hotel for many years. During her time as the licensee, Ma Bentham appears in court a several times regarding a number of matters including giving evidence in a bar fight, suing a former long-term boarder for forty-four pounds of unpaid rent and board, and as a defendant when sued by a former bar manager over a wages dispute.
1949
The hotel’s first bottle shop opens.
1950
Ma Bentham opens Bentham’s Beer Gardens.
1960
The hotel is purchased by the McLachlan family. At some time during the 1960s to the 1990s, the name is changed from the Commonwealth Hotel to Murphy’s Town Pub.
1986
The interior of the building is rebuilt by new owners Kern Corporation and includes a large downstairs public bar at the rear of the building.
1991
Murphy’s Town Pub is added to the Ipswich Heritage Study.
2014
Ipswich City Properties acquires Murphy’s Town Pub in November, closing it for repairs after subsidence and significant cracking in the building’s façade rendered it uninhabitable.
2017
Queensland Heritage Restorations commences work at the hotel, cataloguing all original building materials and storing off-site in a secure location. These will be restored to their original condition and then used to reconstruct the building. The building’s footprint will be the same as it was in 1910. During this time, all additions from the 1980s are removed and demolished.
2018
Extensive underground works are carried out to find the source of the subsidence. It is found that the addition of a retaining wall during the 1986 construction of the Ipswich Mall led to draining issues and soil erosion.
The building’s original name, the Commonwealth Hotel, is reinstated.
2019
Trowse Qld repairs the foundation by using new pylons and concreting to create a stable site.
Rebuilding works commence around the middle of the year to restore the Commonwealth Hotel base building. This will be a ‘cold shell’ meaning that no interior works will be carried out.
Leasing agents retained by Ipswich City Council begin negotiations with potential future licensees.
The hotel’s new licensee will commence the Interior fit-out. It is anticipated that the refurbished and restored Commonwealth Hotel will be open and serving cold beers in 2020.
In April 1940, Steven Bentham was one of 46 leading local businessmen to vote in favour of starting an Ipswich Eisteddfod. The vote was unanimous and the first local eisteddfod was held later that year.
It was a huge success and Steven, whose love of music and performance was well-known around town, remained heavily involved in the annual Ipswich Eisteddfod until his death in 1947.
In September 1940, the Benthams, along with the rest of the town, were instructed to cover all the doors and windows at the Commonwealth Hotel to ensure they complied with new blackout laws.
On the night of September 27, Ipswich held its first public blackout and air raid training. The Commonwealth Hotel was closed for the night, with all non-essential transport and car travel temporarily halted and their customers all at home ensuring that their own windows and doors were light proof. No light was allowed to show under any circumstances.
The blackout was designed to make finding targets as difficult as possible for the enemy. Spotter planes would fly overhead during the training to report on any visible light. Heavy fines could be issued for breaching the blackout regulations.
War bombings a real concern
Following in their parents’ footsteps, it appears that daughter Meg, and son Thomas, were keen entertainers and performers. Meg Bentham, who would go on to become a nurse, entertained patients at Goodna Hospital at a Christmas variety concert and took part in various concerts around Ipswich where she would perform “patter and a toe dance.”
Her brother Thomas was involved in the Ipswich Eisteddfod scene, regularly taking part in shows.
It was during 1940 that Emma Bentham’s stellar war efforts took off. She held regular meetings for the Ladies’ Welfare Committee held at the hotel and throughout the war years, Emma would receive a number of honorary titles including the Ipswich Girls’ Auxiliary Commandant, President of the Ladies’ Committee and Patroness of the Women’s All Services Club, thanks to her endless fund-raising work.
She organised dances, took part in organising fetes, manned jumble stalls, sold badges and buttons and organised collections.
In December 1941, when the Benthams read the news that Pearl Harbour had been bombed by the Japanese, they immediately had an air raid shelter installed behind the hotel.
The Bentham family, along with their hotel staff and customers, would seek shelter in the sturdy hardwood structure in the event that Ipswich was bombed by the enemy. If bombers were detected near Ipswich, the air raid siren would sound which warned people to get to their nearest bomb shelter. They would wait inside the shelters until the all-clear siren sounded.
Bombing was a very real concern, particularly during 1942, when the Northern Territory, Western Australia and North Queensland were bombed by Japanese flying boats during a sustained campaign that continued for almost the entire year.
10,000 meals from the hut
Towards the end of December 1941, Emma Bentham, along with members of her ladies’ committee volunteered at the Lands Office in East Street to assist with medical organisation and the reserve depot.
Emma’s strong organisational skills would stand her in good stead, as she also turned her hand to organising dances around town to raise money. Each of the dances she organised up until the end of the war required significant planning and work, from sourcing venues, to decorating, securing lucky door prizes, booking the musical acts and collecting the entry fees, which would then be donated to one of a number of causes such as the Red Cross, returned servicemen, a hostel for service women and much more.
She would hold multiple dances each week.
During 1942, Emma sponsored a Big Patriotic Carnival Dance featuring the Bell Boys, a jitterbug competition, waltzes and prizes. The event was in aid of the A.R.P (Air Raid Precautions) wardens, a group of local volunteers who nightly checked that residents were adhering to strict blackout rules, checked air raid shelters and ensured that residents were ever vigilant in the event that Ipswich was bombed by the enemy.
Emma Bentham’s fund-raising dances were well-known, and were extremely well-patronised by the Ipswich community.
During the six years of World War II she raised more than 12,000 pounds (equivalent to over half a million dollars in 2019). She was a key part of a local lady’s group to hold a fete to raise money for the building of an All Services Hut to be built in Memorial Park (outside the RSL building).
This was for service men and women to use as a recreational facility during the war. It was removed from the park at the end of the war.
By October 1942 the hut would provide around 10,000 meals per month to service men and women from all branches of the military. The hut was extremely well patronised during the war, both for the good affordable meals and convivial social atmosphere it provided to service men and women who were home on leave.
Debating the consumption of liquor
However, 1942 was not without its challenges, Emma Bentham was summoned to court following claims that she had unlawfully supplied beer to a customer after 8pm (outside of licenced hours), claims she strongly denied.
With the liquor laws in a state of flux during the war years, she received a fine of two pounds and ten shillings, and had to pay court costs of six shillings.
The indomitable Emma Bentham didn’t let her business worries impact on her war efforts. Around this time there was real fear in the community that Ipswich could be bombed, leaving its residents homeless.
She donated 25 pounds, a significant sum in 1942, to assist the Women’s Auxiliary Transport Service to make bedding for the people of Ipswich in the event that they are made homeless by bombings.
The national consumption of alcohol was a topic of much debate in 1942. The Federal Government tried to pass new legislation to restrict hotels to a seven-hour day for the duration of the war, which fortunately for the Benthams, was not passed.
The Federal Government then tries to reduce production and distribution of beer by one third to curb excessive drinking in t
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Source: Ipswich First (Ipswich City Council) — CC BY 4.0.