01_QHA_July_Online

THE ROYALS
THE ROYAL HOTEL HARRISVILLE
The Royal Hotel Harrisville may not have been
established in honour of the British Royal Family
and Australia’s colonial origins, but the hotel’s origin
story also started with a strong lady at the helm.
The small cotton-growing town located 25km south
of Ipswich began with humble beginnings soon
after brothers George and John Harris acquired land
in the area to grow cotton. What followed was an
emerging farm community, a rail line, a school and of
course the local pub.
It was a determined woman by the name of
Margaret Wholey, who set out to establish a hotel in
Harrisville, which she accomplished in 1875, but it
wasn’t without its obstacles.
Townsfolk opposed the idea of a woman running a
licensed hotel claiming it was inappropriate, but as a
young widow with three children, she defeated their
petition of 250 signatures (which was later revealed
to have contained the names of children) and
became one of the few female licensees in Australia
at the time.
Margaret passed away in 1915 and the hotel burnt
down five years later but was rebuilt with the
building that stands in its place today. However,
known as ‘the lady in the black dress’, legend
has it that Margaret has made many supernatural
appearances at the Royal Hotel over the years
prompting the hotel to be listed as one of Australia’s
most haunted sites.
Despite never having experienced a sighting of the
lady in the black dress, hotel owner Monika Patrick
once engaged ghost investigators, Paranormal
Paratek Queensland, who revealed some interesting
findings, including a misty figure, believed to be
Margaret, walking past the entry to the kitchen and
footsteps along the hardwood floor throughout the
night of the investigation.
QHA REVIEW | 49