Qui va la? Who goes there?
Next time you pass the former Wain’s Hotel in Princes St (currently known as Fable Dunedin), look up and you will see this phrase etched between two of the carved figures that adorn the hotel’s beautiful frontage.
The figures from classical mythology on the outside of the building, surmised by some to be the work of famous Dunedin carver Lewis John Godfrey, were once accompanied by similarly themed adornment on the inside.
You can easily imagine this open-mouthed figure likewise bellowing out the order to identify yourself (although perhaps they would have said it in Greek, Latin, or Norse, rather than in French).
The gods on the outside have gazed down on passers-by ever since Job Wain had the hotel rebuilt in grandiose fashion in the late 1870s (nice job, Job!). It is unclear when the staircase monitor began his similar vigil inside. However, we do know that he was was removed from his post when Dominion Breweries took over the hotel and renovated it in the early 1970s.
By that time, Job Wain was long gone, of course. He had died in 1922, aged 86.
Qui etait-il? Who was he? Who was this man whose name is still emblazoned upon the building a century after his death?
The discovery of gold in Australia enticed Wain across the Tasman in 1852, but before long he returned to Dunedin. He married Catherine Jenkins in 1860, by which time he had become a livery stables proprietor.
The stables proprietor became a hotel owner in 1863 when he bought Moir’s Family and Commercial Hotel in Manse St. Railway building contracts were added to his business portfolio in the 1870s and at the same time he began planning to extend his hotel from Manse St through to Princes St. Construction began in 1878 and the refurbished and enlarged hotel resumed business late the following year.
In the 1880s, the Wains spent some time travelling, returned to running the hotel for a bit, and then in 1888 retired to their property at Opoho.
Job Wain, it would seem, had found prosperity and respectability as a colonist in Otago. His contribution to Dunedin society, in particular his involvement in the city’s early fire brigades, was well recognised.
By the time of his death in 1922, he had amassed an estate of £51,000 (nearly $6 million in today’s terms).
In 1883, Frederick’s circumstances would hit an all-time low. A son, Alfred, was born to second wife Margaret, but survived only three weeks.
A few weeks later, 7-year-old Harry, youngest surviving child of Frederick’s first marriage, also died. The inquest into Harry’s death sparked a sensation when it was concluded it was a result of abuse and neglect. Frederick and Margaret were both subsequently found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to seven years behind bars.
Now the name Wain would not only be immortalised above the door of Job’s hotel but also in the lines of a George Scott poem lamenting the tragic death of "Poor Little Wain".
Peter Read is a curator at Toitū Otago Settlers Museum
