The Lorne Hotel, Victoria Australia

The site of the Lorne Hotel was where the second house in Lorne, Walton Lodge, with a municipal value of £200 in 1873 was located. After addition of an observatory it was renamed St. Peters by owner Edward Hall. In 1876, Joseph Duncan and Theodore Hancock built the Lorne Hotel on the site and the first licensee was John Rooke.

The tariff at The Hotel Lorne in those early days was £5.00 per week ($10) and included the return coach and rail fare. People from all over Victoria and beyond made the popular trip to Lorne for holidays as they learned about the area and of the comfortable accommodation available. The Lorne Hotel was an accommodation style hotel rather than a public house, but it was licensed.

In 1893, Charles Rooke became the licensee when his father John died. Charles wasn’t the licensee for as long as his father, as he died at the age of 39 in 1905. His wife Catherine then took up the licence.

Christina Umhauer took control in 1912. The next lady in charge was Ada Leydin who, after just under two years of being licensee of the Lorne Hotel, had to stand by and watch the hotel being eaten by flames in 1920.

The fire started in January 1920 during the night and burnt through the entire hotel. It moved slowly enough for all residents and even the furniture to be saved from the flames, however, due to the lack of water pressure, the building itself could not be saved. All that remained of this large hotel was the front wall of the structure. There was a fair number of visitors staying at the hotel, and the accommodation had been heavily booked up for some months ahead. A record season was expected. Great presence of mind was shown by Miss Leydin and a band of workers. All the visitors’ luggage and a large portion of the furniture and stock were removed to the foreshore. All the guests were accommodated for the night at the Grand Pacific Hotel.

Rebuilding of the Lorne Hotel started in 1920, when a new two-storey brick building rose from the ashes. It included 40 bedrooms, smoking rooms, a dining hall, kitchen, electric light and even tennis and croquet lawns as well as a bowling green. Another luxurious feature was the motor garage, which held up to 12 vehicles. Since that day, the hotel has undergone numerous renovations.

2024

Sources:

• Lorne A Living History by Doug Stirling
• Geelong Advertiser 8 Jan 1920
• State Library Victoria
• Greetings From Lorne by Leigh Hammerton
• Walton Lodge – Lorne Hotel, note from Hector Stribling, December 1984