Flora Shaw Stewart (1886–1979), better known as 'Ma' Stewart, was a popular pioneering hotel owner in the

Territory of Papua The Territory of Papua comprised the southeastern quarter of the island of New Guinea from 1883 to 1975. In 1883, the Government of Queensland annexed this territory for the British Empire. The United Kingdom Government refused to ratify the ...

and the

Territory of New Guinea The Territory of New Guinea was an Australian-administered League of Nations and then United Nations trust territory on the island of New Guinea from 1914 until 1975. In 1949, the Territory and the Territory of Papua were established in an adm ...

(now

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

) from 1920 until 1979.

Early life

Flora Shaw Stewart was born on 28 August 1886 at

Fountainbridge Fountainbridge is a former industrial district in Edinburgh, Scotland, a short distance west of the Old Town. It is built around the street of the same name, which begins at the West Port and continues (as Dundee Street) towards Gorgie and Da ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. She was the eldest of seven children. Her father, John Young, was a blacksmith. In 1888 her family migrated to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, living in

Cooktown Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the '' Endeavour'', for ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. In 1906 her father took his family to the Territory of Papua as he was considering buying a hotel. Flora worked for five months as manageress of the Cosmopolitan Hotel in

Samarai Samarai is an island and former administrative capital in Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. The island is historically significant as the site of a trading port and stop-over between Australia and East Asia. Samarai town was established o ...

island in Papua in order to gain experience of the business. At that time, Samarai was a booming port that served as a stopover for Australian vessels heading to Asia. She returned with her family to Queensland in 1909. On 24 June 1909 she married Harry Gofton, a horse-dealer. Stewart had already developed a love of

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

horses.

Life in Papua

Stewart and her husband moved to Papua and lived on a rubber plantation for three years. In 1911, she had a son in Papua's capital,

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

, and named him Moresby. In 1913, the couple went to the Vailala River area, in what is now the

Gulf Province Gulf Province is a province of Papua New Guinea located on the southern coast. The provincial capital is Kerema. The 34,472 km2 province is dominated by mountains, lowland river deltas, and grassland flood plains. In Gulf Province, the Kiko ...

, to prospect for gold. She operated a store, kept chickens and pigs, and shot deer and crocodiles for meat and skins. When

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

broke out the couple returned to Australia and her husband enlisted in the

First Australian Imperial Force The First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) was the main Expeditionary warfare, expeditionary force of the Australian Army during the First World War. It was formed as the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) following United Kingdom of Great Bri ...

. Flora returned to Port Moresby with her son and daughter. She worked in the drapery department of the Burns Philp store and later opened a guest house. Her husband died while fighting in France in 1918. Stewart moved to Samarai in 1920 to help her sister to run the Cosmopolitan Hotel. She bought the hotel in 1927. In 1929, in Samarai, she married James Stewart, a building foreman. They were to have a daughter.

Life in Morobe

Stewart and her husband then moved to

Salamaua Salamaua () was a small town situated on the northeastern coastline of Papua New Guinea, in Salamaua Rural LLG, Morobe province. The settlement was built on a minor isthmus between the coast with mountains on the inland side and a headland. The c ...

on the north coast of New Guinea, a staging post for the goldfields area of

Wau Wau may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Papua New Guinea * Wau, Papua New Guinea * Wau Airport (Papua New Guinea) * Wau Rural LLG, (local level government) South Sudan * Wau State, South Sudan * Wau, South Sudan, city * Wau railway s ...

and

Bulolo Bulolo is a town in Wau-Bulolo Urban LLG, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. It was once an important gold dredging centre in the former Territory of New Guinea,Morobe Province Morobe is a province on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital and largest city is Lae. The province covers 33,705 km2, with a population of 674,810 (2011 census), and since the division of Southern Highlands Province ...

. They quickly moved on to the goldfields and established the Hotel Bulolo, the first real hotel in the area, with room for 32 guests. She became known to all as 'Ma', and became the confidante and banker of numerous prospectors. Many were only able to carry on because of the loans she gave them, many of which were not repaid. She acted as a hairdresser and a nurse and, in the absence of a bank, often hid their gold under her bed. Not forgetting her love of horses, she raced them with considerable success and she and her husband organized races by shipping horses from Australia to Lae and then flying them up to the goldfields in

Junkers Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (JFM, earlier JCO or JKO in World War I, English language, English: Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works) more commonly Junkers , was a major German aircraft manufacturer, aircraft and aircraft engine manufactu ...

airplanes, which were being used at the time to ferry large gold dredgers piece by piece. Racing ended in 1934 when evidence of doping and other malpractices emerged. Moving to

Lae Lae (, , later ) is the capital of Morobe Province and is the second-largest city in Papua New Guinea. It is located near the delta of the Markham River on the northern coast of Huon Gulf. It is at the start of the Highlands Highway, which is ...

, now the second city of Papua New Guinea, she opened the Hotel Cecil in 1936. Among the many important visitors to pass through the hotel was the American pilot,

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( ; July 24, 1897 – January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer. On July 2, 1937, she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. During her li ...

, who stayed at the Cecil on the night before her departure on 2 July 1937, on her final flight. She was never seen again. Stewart's husband was killed in a road accident in 1937 and her son, a bomber pilot in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, was killed in action in 1940. In December 1941 she was evacuated urgently to Australia with her two daughters, just prior to the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

invasion. The Hotel Cecil, the Hotel Bulolo, and the racehorses were destroyed during the war. At the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, she returned to Lae as soon as possible, reputedly being the first civilian white woman allowed back into the territory. She took over some barracks and turned them into a temporary hotel, with rooms created by building flimsy partitions that did not reach to the floor or ceiling. She was finally allowed to rebuild the Hotel Cecil on its pre-war site in 1951 and she operated it until 1957. The hotel had 40 rooms. Stewart was clearly well-off. Reports from the Lae correspondent of

Pacific Islands Monthly ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', commonly referred to as "PIM", was a magazine founded in 1930 in Sydney by New Zealand born journalist R.W. Robson. Background ''Pacific Islands Monthly'' was started in Sydney in 1930. The first issue ran in August ...

indicated that she took a six-week "world tour" by plane in 1951 and also visited London for the

coronation of Elizabeth II The Coronation of the British monarch, coronation of Elizabeth II as queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. Elizabeth acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon th ...

in 1953, a trip that also included Spain. Stewart and her daughters also constructed a theatre/cinema, which opened in 1963. She was a founding member of the Morobe Agricultural Society and led the grand parade at its annual show until the end of her life.

Death

Stewart died on 13 May 1979 in Lae and was buried in the local cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Flora Shaw 1886 births 1979 deaths Australian expatriates in Papua New Guinea Australian women in business British emigrants to Australia

Flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...