Coogee Media

Arden Street Coogee in 1920s showing Carlton Cafe

Hugh Gilmartin
Irish born 48 year old Hugh Gilmartin, the cafe's owner, had come to Coogee in 1916 after living in the mid-western NSW town of Forbes for 27 years. When he left Forbes in 1916, he was given a commemorative farewell dinner hosted by the local Mayor where the town's worthies spoke in his praise. A single man, Gilmartin had been employed at the local mill and also purchased a farming property in Forbes before retiring. He was a supporter of patriotic causes and World War One recruiting drives, though it was said he could not enlist himself because of physical constraints. He had recently learnt that his brother, Pat, had been killed fighting in the trenches. Hugh Gillmartin, it seems, was a pillar of the local Forbes Society.

At some point in 1916,he got wind of the Carlton Cafe business at Coogee (186 Arden Street Coogee on the corner with Alfreda Street, which now houses McDonalds restaurant) being on sale. He arranged for its purchase. He had been "in business" , and had been the licensee of a couple of hotels when he lived in Forbes, so that may have been the source of his interest in the hospitality area - why he chose the cafe at Coogee is a mystery. Visitors from Forbes sometimes dropped into the cafe and reported to local papers that Gilmartin and his business were doing well.

On the night of 16th August, 2018, the cafe was open for business as usual. Among its customers were members of the Coogee Branch of Political Labor Leagues (what today would be called Coogee Branch of the Australian Labor Party) who were holding their monthly meeting there.

Coogee ALP Branch Formed - First Meeting
The Coogee Australian Labor Party (ALP) Branch was formed in September 1915 by a group of local residents. Newspaper reports of the time show that:

A meeting was held at the Grand Pacific [Hotel], Coogee, on the 7th instant [September], for the purpose of forming a branch of the [Political Labor League] P.L.L., and the following motion was unanimously carried: "That this meeting accepts the Platform and Constitution of the Political Labor League of N.S.W., and resolves to establish a branch at Coogee.Mr. T. D. Kelly was elected President; Mr. H. Perrignon, Hon. Sec.; and Mr. Hooper, Treasurer.

Its formation was formally approved by the New South Wales State Executive of the ALP.

Grand Pacific Hotel at 64 Carr Street, Coogee
Site of the First Coogee ALP Branch Meeting in 1915

Fiery Debate & the Carlton Cafe Affair
So on the evening of 16th August 1918, the ALP Branch met for its monthly meeting at the Carlton Cafe. You imagine that debate was brisk and argumentative (as was the case in those days). Weighty issues such as the progress of the Great War, the conscription controversy, the democratic socialisation of industry, or even more mundane issues like local drainage, could have been on the agenda. You can almost hear tables being thumped, important issues dissected, and copies of the Labor Daily, Socialist News and other left-wing publications being bandied about.

As 10pm approached, it was likely that the comrades' serious concerns would have been interrupted by the Chairman; drawing their attention to rules about how long the meeting could go on and adjourning debate to the next meeting. Calm would have returned and with much back-slapping, members made their way home.

The staff of the cafe tidied-up and once they had left, the proprietor, Mr Hugh Gilmartin, turned out the lights, locked the doors and made his way to his home in Fernbank on the corner Bream and Arden Streets, Coogee.

Fire Engulfs Carlton Cafe
Not long after the cafe had closed , Coogee's weeknight quiet was disturbed by shouts and alarms as the interior of the Carlton Cafe was consumed by flames. Once the fire had been extinguished, police began their investigation into the cause of the fire. For some of the police, suspicion immediately fell upon the "Labor Socialists" who, some felt, were only too keen to tear down society - and they seemed to be starting right here in Coogee! Bundles of partly burnt copies of socialist newspapers and pamphlets were found under the floorboards of the Cafe. Surely the fire was the work of these malcontents?

This was at the time when the revolutionary syndicalist labour group known as the "International Workers of the World (IWW), known colloquially as the "Wobblies" mounted an active campaign of arson in Sydney in an attempt to persuade authorities to release 12 of their number from prison for various offences. The IWW, however, was a much more radical organisation than the ALP with very different aims and methods from the Labor Party in general, let alone the local Coogee Branch in particular, which was basically a talking shop composed of local respectiable local burghers.

Luckily, Police Sergeant Saunders from Randwick, in charge, was not so sure that the Coogee Labor Branch members caused the fire. "Why", he asked "would the socialists burn down their own meeting hall? Wouldn't they more likely start with a bank, or even a police station, if they wanted to tear down society?" The perpetrator must be someone else.

As the police continued their investigation and combed through the debris, the source of the fire was seen to emanate from spaces under three manhole covers in the cafe's floor which had been tacked down and then carefully covered with linoleum and rugs. The first one contained copies of newspapers called Worker and Fairplay, but then the next two had copies of the Forbes Advocate. Half burnt matches and their boxes were found by a cafe entrance.

Suspicion Falls on Proprietor Hugh Gilmartin
Sergeant Saunders brought Gilmartin to the cafe who claimed to have no knowledge of the manholes or their contents, but became upset when the police produced copies of the Forbes Advocate. "I have been framed," Gilmartin said. Gilmartin by all accounts was distressed by the idea that he was a suspect in arson. He took his solicitor to Randwick Police station and made a statement claiming no knowledge of the fire, and outlined his substantial wealth, far in excess of anything he could have achieved by collecting insurance as a result of the fire.

Building on the corner of Arden and Alfreda Streets
where the Carlton Cafe once operated

Suicide
On the night of the 18th August, Gilmartin paid his domestic staff, tidied up his will and generally "got his affairs in order". He farewelled those in his household and went to bed. In the morning of the 19th August, when he did not come to breakfast, his friend Thomas Aston went to his room and found him dead with a bullet wound to his head, a pistol in his hand and a suicide note nearby.

Gilmartin's funeral was held on Tuesday, 20th August, with the cortege leaving for the ceremony at nearby Waverley Cemetery.

Left Behind Many Unanswered Questions
While the coroner concluded that Gilmartin had lit the fire and had taken his own life for his own confused reasons, his untimely death, nonetheless, left behind much suspicion and many unanswered questions, such as;