Pubs of Albany: London Hotel full of history and mystery after 150 years of service

Pubs are community hubs where friendships are made, romances sparked and business deals brokered. Bad things can happen in places where people gather and drinks flow, but for the most part, these establishments are the keepers of fond memories. The watering holes of Albany are among the oldest in the State. In an ongoing series, the Advertiser explores their colourful history. “Eclectic” might be the word for it. Loaded fries on a menu with steak tartare and a sign outside that jokes about accepting Christopher Walkins — a sense of liveliness fills Liberte. Calling it a pub in the conventional sense probably doesn’t do it justice. But Liberte is home to a long and interesting history — and possibly some resident ghosts — that give the place the character and charm to bring in more than a few Walkins. Before changing its name to Liberte, the building on the corner of York Street and Stirling Terrace used to be the London Hotel and before that, the Chusan Hotel. Thought to be established in the 1850s, about 30 years after the settlement of Albany, the Chusan was a prefabricated timber affair from Singapore and one of the first buildings to go up along the waterfront. Despite changing its name to the London Hotel in 1861, this original name referenced just how important shipping was to Albany. A 700-tonne barque rigged steamer known as the Chusan was responsible for the first delivery of a regular mail service from England to Australia. In those early days, Albany, not Fremantle, was the mail port of WA thanks to its well-protected natural harbour. But while Albany clung to this title for 50 years, it couldn’t last forever. Fremantle finished its artificial harbour in 1897, and by 1900, P&O decided to dock at Fremantle instead, taking its mail service with it. An article from the Albany Advertiser in August 1900 entitled “The Fate of Albany Decided” provides a sense of what a loss this must have seemed. “The telegram which appeared in the Advertiser of Saturday last to the effect that the mail steamers had decided to call almost immediately at Fremantle instead of Albany, fell like a bombshell on the town,” the Advertiser wrote. The news spelt trouble for the old Chusan Hotel. The site that had originally named itself in honour of a P&O ship was now losing business because of the same company. Compounding matters, a few years later in 1909, a fire gutted the building and significant reconstruction was needed. But it didn’t take long for renovations to be completed, and that same year a new “luxurious palace at Albany” was promoted in The Daily News. “The London Hotel, Albany... is only just completed, at an amount of over £7000. The proprietor ... now having the most up to-date hotel on the south coast,” it read. “In the days of the old P&O boats calling at Albany it was considered the leading house. “A two-storey building of brick, plastered, with large spacious balconies commanding all the beautiful views of Albany harbour and mountains.” Even in those early days, the London was concerned with more than just providing a stiff drink. Some referred to it as The Nook and The Nest for its association with honeymooning couples. During World War II, the hotel was reportedly involved in hosting a visiting American squadron that caused its decorator Vera Davey to make a visit to Perth. On her tour, Ms Davey boasted Prince George, who became King George V, spent a few nights at the old Chusan when he visited Albany on board HMS Bacchante. At the same time, she also repeated a rumour the hotel was haunted. “By the ghost of a Yankee whaler’s sailor, he had been murdered by his mate, who it is asserted, thrust a harpoon in to him,” it was reported in the Mirror in 1938. “And his wraith used to visit a shed at the rear of the premises ... until the ghost was eventually laid by the late Reverend Father Mattei, then the priest at Albany.” The story was repeated a decade later in a 1948 article in the Albany Advertiser. “My spies tell me that down at the London Hotel there is a ghost, a mysterious sighing noise that seems to come from somewhere in the plumbing, but which has not yet been tracked down,” it reads. “It is usually most noticeable during that hushed period after nine o’clock when convivial souls are recovering from the shock of being emptied out into a cold, unsympathetic world.” According to the State Heritage Listing, the hotel would change hands many times over the years following. “At some stage the ornate veranda was removed, leaving the hotel with the facade still seen today,” it reads. “In 2000 it was still operating as a hotel and also provided accommodation for backpackers.” When the hotel was bought in 2009 by Kester Solomon and his wife, the building was dilapidated, “It was a brawlers’ bar,” Solomon told the Sunshine Coast Daily in 2011. “We had to renovate everything — you could see the dirt through the floorboards.” In 2014, ownership of the hotel’s business was taken over by gun chef Amy Hamilton who converted it into the multi-award winning Parisian-inspired Liberte. As well as a range of stiff drinks, Liberte serves up critically acclaimed French-Vietnamese food. Interestingly, Ms Hamilton said a ghost might still call the building home, with multiple sightings and accounts from workers over a long stretch of time. “I met the lady who owned the business 20 years before me and the first thing she said when she met me was ‘have you seen the ghost?’,” Ms Hamilton said. “When I bought the business seven years ago ,the people that were upstairs running the backpackers told me that they’d got an exorcist to force the spirits downstairs.” Liberte manager Hester van der Straaten said she had heard the sounds of a young girl, “clear as day”. Ms Hamilton said another ghost was known to wear a top hat and hang around the stairs. “We have had some strange things happen there in the time that I’ve owned the business,” she said. “There’s definitely something otherworldly there. “I’ve had staff that have reported at night-time that the taps turn off and on, like running water. My bar manager, who was with me for six years, she often used to see an outline of someone walking through the reflections of the mirrors. These stories are coming from multiple sources, and credible sources.” Ghosts or not, Ms Hamilton said the history and mystery of the hotel was part of the appeal of running Liberte. “I do really love that building, which is why I did make the commitment for seven years to do it,” she said. “I thought that it was a really special place.”