Albion Tavern Shannon

The Albion Tavern hotel was the second hotel in Shannon to be built but the first hotel to be trading. The Albion Tavern was built in 1889. The locals called it the top pub for geographical reasons. It was a popular hotel with a lot of the locals. In 1908 the hotel had a lucky escape, when the Albion was narrowly missed by a fire that started in the shed that stood behind the tavern. The shed was insured for 25 pounds (that's about 50 dollars nowadays). As well as supplying alcoholic beverages, the Albion provided beds and meals for the traveling public and stabling was provided for the horses of visitors to town. The Albion Tavern was now a well founded hotel of 9 bedrooms and 14 other rooms.

In 1915 a fire broke out in an upstairs room of the Albion Tavern and the Albion was burnt to the ground. It was rebuilt in 1916 for 5,000 pounds. It was constructed from wood and iron.

Constable John Doyle was a member of the Shannon police force. He died on 5th Feburary 1913, at the age of 35 on a call out gone wrong. He asked three men to leave the Albion but two men returned and beat Constable Doyle up. Constable Doyle was taken to Palmerston North hospital, where he died a week later as a result of the injuries he received.

On January the 26th the Wanganui Chronicle reported a “DARING ROBBERY” between 2.30am and 10.45am on Monday. It was at the Albion Tavern where the licencee Mrs Hunora Calligan left a key in the lock of a small safe in a private section of the hotel. The safe contained 13 pounds. The thieves evidently sneaked down through the passage and took the money.

In October 2011 a fire ripped thorough the Albion Tavern, which was believed to be from an electrical fault. The fire guttered the top story of the Albion. It took eight fire crews, from Levin, Foxton, Shannon, Tokomaru, Foxton Beach, Palmerston North and Wanganui, five hours to put the flames out.

Through this inquiry we have learnt a lot more about our community and what it used to be like in Shannon in the past. Be have also developed relationships with the community through our many visitors to the school and going out into the community to find information.

Acknowledgements
Albion Tavern, Shannon Kete Horowhenua
From Bush and Swamp by Marjorie Law

Team effort by Amber (Year 7) and Louise (Year 7).

Yearning for yesterday - the Albion Tavern

The Albion Tavern Hotel was the first hotel in Shannon. It was built in 1889. The locals called it the ‘top pub’ for geographical reasons. It was a popular hotel.

The hotel had a very lucky escape in 1908, when the Albion was narrowly missed by a fire that started in the shed that stood behind it. The shed was insured for 25 pounds ($50 back then), but it’s contents were not. They were worth five hundred pounds (About $1,000 back then)

In January 26 1911 the Wanganui Chronicle reported a “DARING ROBBERY” between 2.30am and 10.45am on Monday. It was at the Albion where the the licensee Mrs Hunora Calligan left a key in the lock of a small safe in a private section of the hotel. The safe contained 13 pounds (About $26 back then) The thieves evidently sneaked down through the passage and took the money.

In 1915 the Albion wasn’t so lucky and was burnt to the ground. It was rebuilt in 1916 for 5,000 pounds (About $10 000 back then). It was constructed from wood and iron.
The Albion Tavern was now a well found hotel of nine bedrooms and fourteen other rooms.

In October 2011 the Albion was rendered beyond repair by a fire. It was said to be a splendid sight from an onlookers point of view.

When we asked Mrs Marjorie Law and Mr David Law what the most popular beer was in the Albion, Mr Law said that it was beer and whisky but mainly beer.
A Saturday night at the pub was exciting. Most of the workers at the local factories came down for a well earned drink. Mrs Law said that the main street could get so backed up with people you could hardly walk!

Constable John Doyle was a member of the Shannon Police Force. He died in 1913, at the age of 35 on a callout gone wrong. He asked three men to leave the Albion pub but two men returned saying they were there to stay and they beat him up. It took two days to get him to hospital, where he died a short time later.
It was Mr Carter that noticed that Mr. Doyle’s name was left off of the list of officers who died in the line of duty, that was drawn up before the opening of the Porirua Police College.

Oh dear! This hotel has had a rather dramatic history!

Acknowledgements

We’d like to thank all of our Key-note speakers for coming in and sharing their knowledge with us and giving up their spare time to speak to us. We’d also like to thank Raymond Liddell for providing us with a fair bit of his information on Shannon’s “Golden days.”

Team effort by Connor (Year 6) and Elizabeth (Year 7).