Notable Celebrity Guests at the Hotel St George, Perretts Corner, Wellington

In addition to the Beatles, a range of notable guests stayed at the Hotel St George, Willis Street, at the Perrett's Corner intersection over the years - musicians and sportsmen among their number:

Violinists Yehudi and Hepzibah Menuhin stayed at the St George in July 1951. Here they autograph photos for fans. Evening Post Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library.

Evening Post Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library.

Members of the English cricket team "relax" (in suits!) in one of their rooms at the Hotel St George. In the 4 day test match against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve, Wellington between 24 - 28 March, 1951, England won by six wickets. Spectators must have got a lot of sleep in during the match with an average run rate of 2 runs per over being posted by both sides.

Evening Post Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library.

During their 1951 tour of New Zealand to play the New Zealand Maori team, the Fiji team stayed at the St George. Here, three team members display their mementos obtained on the tour.

The Beatles at the Hotel St George July 1964, Perretts Corner

The Beatles on the upper balcony of the Hotel St George, Wellington, during their June 1964 tour of New Zealand. Photo Morrie Hill. Alexander Turnbull Library.

Perhaps the most famous guests to stay at the Hotel St George in its more than 60 years as a public hotel were the Beatles, pictured here circa 20 June 1964 being greeted by a large crowd of their fans who have essentially shutdown traffic at Perrett's corner.

The Beatles gave two packed out concerts at the (old) Wellington Town Hall during their stay in the city.

Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Harrison up front at the concert
at the Wellington Town Hall in 1964. Dominion Post Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library.

Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr, at the Wellington Town Hall, June 1964.
Dominion Post Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library.

The fans in a more restrained moment. To protect the reputations of aging Wellington Beatles fans some of the more hysterical fan photos have been withheld!
Photo: Morrie Hill. Dominion Post Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library.

Hotel St George - Perrett's Corner Wellington 1930s

The Hotel St George, circa 1930s.
Alexander Turnbull Library

The Art Deco style Hotel St George was constructed on the site of the Albert Hotel, the former Old Identities Hotel on the corner of Boulcott and Willis Streets opposite Perrett's corner in Wellington. It opened for business in 1931.

For over 60 years the hotel served as a high class hotel hosting some of Wellington's most notable visitors including the Beatles in 1964.

Now subject to Heritage protection, architect William Prouse's design is described by the Wellington City Council's Heritage site as "a three-storey "base" with a curved corner, and two shafts above, rising to eight storeys, which are divided by a deep bay with perforated balconies. There is a conscious (but not over-defined) vertical emphasis to the building consistent with the Art Deco influence.... It must have seemed the very epitome of the modern hotel when it opened in 1930. The construction, too, was advanced, consisting of reinforced concrete, cast in situ, and floors of Winflor reinforced concrete block."

The hotel under construction in 1930. The building immediately to its right is the Wellington YWCA:

Hotel St George under construction in 1930
Photo: William Hall Raine. Alexander Turnbull Library

The Hotel St George begins to overshadow Perrett's corner in 1930 as well as the Wellington YWCA in the right edge of the picture.

Hotel St George begins to take up some of Perrett's afternoon sun, a precious commodity in Wellington. Alexander Turnbull Library

Today the St George is used as a student hostel by the Victoria University of Wellington.

Misadventure By Automobile - Perrett's Corner circa 1928

Evening Post Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library

Misadventure by horseless carriage at Perrett's corner, circa 1928. The wreckage is at the Willis Street - Boulcott street corner with Perrett's corner the spot at which the photographer is positioned. One wonders what other tangles have occurred at this busy intersection between pedestrians, horse & cart, trams, cars, trucks, and buses.

The Old Identities Hotel, now the Albert Hotel, is lit up. In May 1929 it is demolished to make way for the new Hotel St George completed in 1931. The figures of the Old Identities of Wellington may be seen above the doors and windows.

Note the bricked or cobbled street that has replaced the dirt surface from the early 1900s.

Britannia - Roxy Theatre, Manners Street, Perrett's Corner

Britannia Theater, with arch entrance, opened Monday 15 December 1913.
M & M (Muir and Moodie?) postcard.

In the early 1900s, Manners Street became the home of the continuous movie palaces of Wellington with such names as People's Picture Palace and The New Theatre appearing while nearby Shortt's Continuous Theatre on Willis St and West's The King's Theatre provided added competition.

On 15 December 1913 the Britannia Theatre opened across the street & a few doors down from Perrett's corner. The first feature to be shown was Adrift on Life's Tide, a British film, starring Alma Taylor, Flora Morris, Harry Royston, and Harry Gilbey.

Evening Post, 15 December 1913, Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand.

A few days before the opening the Evening Post sent its reporter along to the theatre to inspect the premises. He was much impressed by the facilities, commenting upon the novelty of floor level lighting to guide patrons in the darkness. Click on the article to read:

Evening Post, 13 December 1913, Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand.



The Britannia pictured sometime in the first half of the 1930s. Photographer unidentified. Alexander Turnbull Library.

In 1935 in the midst of the Great Depression the Britannia was re-opened as the Roxy under new ownership.

Alexander Turnbull Library

The Roxy lived on until 1974 when it was closed in the face of competition from television and other newer entertainments. It was demolished the same year to make way for a new high rise office tower.

A late night crowd leaves the Roxy after a festival of horror films on 31 July 1971 according to the notes with this photo, though the posters above the door advertise Frontier Uprising and MASH.

Ghoulish good times...

Evening Post collection, Alexander Turnbull Library

London Dental Institute - Manners Street - Perretts Corner 1908

The London Dental Institute occupied the first floor above Perrett's chemist at the corner of Manners and Willis streets in the early 1900s.

Evening Post, 25 August 1908, Papers Past, Alexander Turnbull Library

Kitty-corner, as the Americans say, or diagonally across the intersection from Perretts, the American Dental Institute operated commercial premises.

No account seems to survive of how the competition played out between these two brands - one appealing to the New Zealander colonists sentimental attachment to "Home" and loyalty to the British Empire; the other, presumably, to the latest in artificial dental aids and care from a rising industrial power.

Perrett's Chemists - Perrett's Corner, Manners Street, Wellington

Typical Chemist Shop in New Zealand, early 1900s. An unidentified chemists shop in Christchurch, NZ, Perrett's chemist shop would have looked similar with chemical compounds arrayed in neatly labeled bottles and most merchandise on the retailer's side of the counter.
Photo: Steffano Webb, Alexander Turnbull Library, ref.

Claude H Perrett and his brother Edwin established their chemist shop and mail order business at the corner of Manners and Willis streets some time after Turner's chemists vacated the premises. They had moved down to Wellington from Wanganui. Newspaper advertising of their various patent remedies - or what today we might refer to as quack medicines - appears in The Evening Post as early as 12 August 1908.

Soon the corner became known as Perrett's corner - and remained so long after the business was sold in 1964 and the building demolished in 1971. Indeed, although housed in a new building on the site, Perretts Corner lives on in the name of a cafe, Perretts Corner Cafe, at the spot.

Evening Post, 1909, Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand

Wellington's population flocked by - and out of towners mailed in orders based on the mail catalogues the Perretts mailed around the country - to get such tonics as Vitalis, Guderin, and Microbin that would reinvigorate them, cure them of hysteria, fainting spells, and nervousness, or simply ensure good dental hygiene.

Evening Post, 1908, Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand

Evening Post, 1913, Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand