The District Commissioner
Addendum 6: Hotel Moresby
Additional information for Chapter 2 - New Guinea calls
The 1900 photo here is of the Hotel Port Moresby and was published in the Pacific Island Monthly publication.
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The MRDC Haus now occupies this site which is at the corner of Musgrave Street and Champion Parade, Port Moresby.
The photo was uploaded online by Geoff Hancock.
The 1955 photo above of the Hotel Moresby was sourced from the article dated 13 July, 2019 “End of an era in Papua New Guinea history” at malumnalu.blogspot.com/2009/07/end-of-era-in-papua-new-guinea-history.html
The Snakepit bar in the Hotel Moresby was immortalised by an alleged legendary 1930s brawl between soon-to-be Hollywood star Errol Flynn, a Tasmanian by birth, and a famous kiap, Jack Hides.
Teilo Nicholls in an article by Amanda Diaz on the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia website at www.nfsa.gov.au/latest/nfsa-stories-explorer-jack-hides-papua-new-guinea recalled a story of his great uncle Jack Hides as told by his grandmother “Errol Flynn was new in Port Moresby and wanted to make a name for himself. He asked around to find out who was the toughest bloke in town, and many answered that the bravest man they knew was Jack Hides, and they answered that he usually had lunch up at the hotel when in town. Flynn confronted him, looking for a fight, but Jack said he wouldn’t fight him as he was on duty and didn’t want to disgrace his uniform. My grandmother reckons Flynn used this to his advantage and hit Jack knowing that he wouldn’t fight back. Jack took the punch and walked out …[but] they became friends later on”.
This photo is of Jack Hides was sourced from Wikipedia at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Hides. He was a Patrol Officer 1931 to 1936, was chosen by Lieutenant-Governor Hubert Murray in 1935 to lead an expedition with Louis James O'Malley into the unexplored Great Papuan Plateau between the Strickland and Purari Rivers, discovered some gold in the upper reaches of the Strickland River, and died of pneumonia in Australia at the early age of 32. In temperament he was bold and courageous, although he did receive criticism that some of the loss of life during his missions could have been avoided by more careful planning or caution.
This photo is of the entrance to the famous Snakepit Bar in 1957. It was sourced from page 185 of the book “Port Moresby Taim bipo” by Stuart Hawthorne and provided courtesy of the family of the late Stuart Hawthorne.
The 2 photos above of the Hotel Moresby are from the Burns Philp archives dated 1960 to 1972, supplied by Lindsay Parry, and was uploaded online 31 May, 2020 by Geua Boe-Gibson.
This photo shows the Hotel Moresby on the right hand side, the Burns Philp building on the left side, and the police traffic controller in the middle. Downtown Port Moresby, looking down Musgrave Street with a view to the Harbour...1950's. Monash Collection.
