Red Ted Theodore cancels speech after fatal explosion at Australian Hotel, Irvinebank

At 5:30 pm, April 10, 1911, an explosion rocked the town of Irvinebank.

Australian Hotel, Irvinebank circa 1907. Picture scanned by author from glass plate negative in 2002.

While the residents of Irvinebank were used to the the muffled sound of dynamite and gelignite blasts coming from the hundreds of underground mines surrounding the booming mining town, an explosion coming out of a pub in the center of the township had an obviously different ring to it.

"A great sensation was caused here this afternoon, when a mysterious explosion took place at D. Stuart's Australian Hotel," The 'Post Correspondent' reported in The Cairns Post. The report noted that at 5:30 pm, an explosion occured in the hotel's kitchen stove.

"The top of the stove was blown off and pots and boilers scattered in all directions. Two windows were also shattered. The cook, a young woman named Mary Mackay, was frightfully injured. From appearances, she must have been leaning over the stove at the time, and consequently got the full force of the explosion."

Dr William MacFarlane was summoned. MacFarlane would have arrived quickly, as both his home, and the Irvinebank Hospital where he worked, were situated on the slope behind the Australian Hotel.

Poor Mary was so seriously injured in the blast that MacFarlane could do nothing more than perhaps try to make her more comfortable.

"Dr MacFarlane ... held out no hope of her recovery. She was conveyed to the hospital where she expired about an hour later," the Post Correspondant wrote.

newspaper report — One of several reports on the incident in the Cairns Post

Of who Mary Mackay was, the Post Correspondent said that "she was a new arrival here and was generally well liked." The news was widely reported around the state and in New South Wales, with some reports identifying Mary as a 33-year-old Irish woman who had immigrated to Australia three years previously. In the latter reports her surname is given as McGhie.

As to the cause of the accident, the report says "the circumstances generally point to either a detonator or a piece of dynamite having by some means or other got into the stove." The police have the matter in hand, but it is doubtful if the mystery will ever be solved."

On April 13, the Cairns Post reported that Inspector Quilter received a wire from Irvinebank stating that it was believed that the deceased had unknowingly placed a stick of gelignite into the fire. According to the investigation, the children of the landlord, Mrs Ramage, had found an old stick of gelignite a couple months before, and had mistaken it for "a dirty old candle." Fortunately, someone took it off the children before they could harm themselves. However, the gelignite was simply wrapped in a peice of old paper, and placed on the kitchen shelf. Mary is believed to have put the paper containing the gelignite into the stove.

A report in the Darling Downs Gazette mentions that a boarder at the hotel, named Curtin, said that he had placed a half-plug of inch gelignite on a ledge in the bathroom around three months before, fitting the description of the object found by Mrs Ramage's children.

Coincidentally, E.G. "Red Ted" Theodore was due to deliver a speech in Irvinebank later that evening, but cancelled after hearing of the explosion."

"Mr Theodore was to have spoken here tonight on the Referenda proposals, but postponed it on account of the sad accident."

The "referenda proposals" likely refered to the Constitution Alteration (Nationalization of Monopolies) Bill 1912.

Although the 1912 referendum failed, as Premier of Queensland in 1919, Theodore oversaw the nationalisation of much of the state's industry, including the assets of John Moffat's Irvinebank Mining Company and associated enterprises.

Sources and Citations

Irvinebank News. (1911, April 14). Cairns Post (Qld. : 1909 - 1954), p. 8. Retrieved June 17, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article39861663

THE IRVINEBANK EXPLOSION. (1911, April 13). Cairns Post (Qld. : 1909 - 1954), p. 4. Retrieved June 17, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article39874160

The Irvinebank Explosion. (1911, April 13). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), p. 4. Retrieved June 17, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article19701019

STRAY GELIGNITE. (1911, April 14). Darling Downs Gazette (Qld. : 1881 - 1922), p. 8. Retrieved June 17, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article182701551