Stingray Point Reserve, Mandurah

Statement of Significance

• Has high aesthetic value, particularly when viewed from the water.
• Important as the former site of the second tourist hotel established in Mandurah.
• Is representative of the development of Mandurah as a holiday destination.
• Is representative of the character of Mandurah as a recreational destination associated with fishing and boating.
• The prominent location of the place and its consistent recreational function throughout the twentieth century contribute to the community’s sense of place.

Physical Description

Peninsula Hotel (former), Boatsheds & Stingray Point, consists of a jetty and pavilion to the south-west, random rubble stone revetment wall along the shoreline, and public open space with a large Moreton Bay Fig tree at the tip of Stingray Point. The hotel was destroyed by fire in August 2003.

History

The Peninsula Hotel was built in 1899 as a six bedroom holiday home for George Brookman, a wealthy mining magnate and Mayor of Perth, who had moved to Western Australia from Adelaide in the 1890s. The Brookmans possibly referred to the house as Sans Souchi. The pavilion jetty at the end of Stingray Point was constructed at the same time as the house and used as a dock for Brookman’s impressive ocean-going
yacht Majestic.
When Brookman’s business empire collapsed he resigned from the mayoralty and came to live in Mandurah. It was converted to a hotel in 1904 when Brookman returned to Adelaide, making it the second hotel in Mandurah. At the same time a wooden footbridge was constructed across Mandjar Bay from Stingray Point to Mandurah Terrace. In 1907 the hotel was sold to Walter Bramwell of Mandurah, and then resold in 1910 to Charles Slee. The first licence was issued in 1911 and recorded as ‘Wayside House’. Local identities Hobart and Clarence Tuckey held the licence in 1925 and sold it to Thomas Blakeley for his son, Harold, who was not of legal age to hold a publican’s licence. At this
stage the hotel comprised of twenty three rooms, as well as ‘sleeping out’ rooms. The Blakeleys owned and operated ‘The Pen’ for the next 62 years. During that time they bought a block of land in Smart Street and built a freshwater pump there to provide water across town and over the old wooden footbridge to the hotel. During World War Two the hotel was home for British submariners based in Fremantle, and on weekends during the 1950s and 1960s it was a popular drinking spot for people from Perth, where Sunday trading was prohibited.
The hotel was sold in 1991 for redevelopment and operated as a hotel until 26 January 2003. It was placed on the State Heritage Register in October 2006, although the hotel building was destroyed by fire on the 10 August 2003.
‘The Pen’ was the second tourist hotel in Mandurah and had been the meeting place of fishermen and prawners since the early years of the twentieth century and was a very important part of the social fabric of Mandurah. Its conversion into a hotel reflects an attempt to capitalise on the increasing numbers of tourists visiting the town, mainly at Christmas and Easter and for holidays. In the early part of the twentieth century it
initially only traded for three weeks in the year- two weeks at Christmas and one week at Easter- but the guest register read like a who’s who of Western Australian society, reflecting the relative affluence of Mandurah’s visitors at that time. It was also the home of the Canopus Boat for some time, until it was removed to the Mandurah backyard of its (and the Peninsula’s) owner.

Integrity/Authenticity

Authenticity : Medium

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

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