Above: The Grand Hotel, with the former Cricketers Arms Hotel on its left. Below: Mornington Motor Garage, formerly the Cricketers Arms Hotel, circa 1920. Bottom: Day trippers to Mornington arrive by steamer.
On 11 July, 1903 the Mornington Standard reported on another mishap: “An appalling flash of lightning accompanied almost simultaneously by thunder struck Mornington on Saturday. The Grand Hotel, which fortunately had a lightning conductor, had a narrow escape from destruction, the tower of which is a prominent object. The lightning removed the conducting rod entirely out of its position, and at the bottom of it, on the ground, it loosened and cracked the asphalt.” Meanwhile licensees came and went: the licence was transferred to Cecilia Powell (1899), Mrs. S. A. Strong (1902), Owen Connors (1903), James Bowman (1904), and to John Chant (1906) who disposed of the business in May, 1907 to Mary Goldberg for 450 pounds ($900). Six months later Louis Harrison bought the goodwill and effects. In the early years of the twentieth century Mornington boomed as a picnic destination. A report on the annual Victorian Post and Telegraph Picnic of 1903 gives some idea of the impact of public gatherings at the park and on the township. The event required five special trains to transport the picnickers to Mornington. As well as the Post Office Military Band, the Post and Telegraph Musical Society offered some selections and the “young people” danced to Goodall's band. A merry-go-round and races were provided for the children and there was a programme of sport. The official party retired to the Grand Hotel for lunch, while some of the picnickers took the opportunity to fish from the jetty or go periwinkling on the shore. continued next page...
August 2019
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