Cover of The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie. Courtesy of Project Gutenberg
In 1922 Agatha Christie’s second book, The Secret Adversary was published with the following dedication:
‘To all those who lead monotonous lives in the hope that they experience at second hand the delights and dangers of adventure‘1.
A day after the book came out, Agatha departed on an adventure of her own, one that would take her to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and Canada, in a nearly year-long ‘Grand Tour’2. Agatha’s husband Archie had been appointed financial adviser to the British Empire Mission, a somewhat odd bunch of representatives whose job it was to travel to the colonies on a public relations tour to promote the upcoming 1924 British Empire Exhibition. It was the opportunity of a lifetime for Agatha, who as Archie’s wife, would have all of her travel expenses paid.
The Times, 19 January 1922, p 5
The tour didn’t start off well for Agatha, who suffered from a such a severe bout of sea sickness that she seriously considered getting off the ship when it made its first port in Madeira and turning around and going back to England3. ‘I was laid low, and nearly dead!’4, she wrote in a letter to her mother.
The ship that Agatha and her husband arrived on into Australia.
Aeneas, between 1900-1954? Photo by Allan C. Green, H91.250/1582
Agatha persevered, and after some weeks travelling around South Africa, where she learned to surf for the first time, the party arrived in Adelaide on the 29th April 1922, on board the T.S.S. Aeneas. Agatha and her husband immediately took the train to Melbourne, arriving on Labour Day.
Passenger arrival list for T.S.S Aeneas featuring ‘Mrs A Christie’. State Records of South Australia via FamilySearch.
Recounting their arrival in Melbourne, Agatha wrote:
‘My own sketchy ideas of Australia comprised kangaroos in large quantities, and a great deal of waste desert. What startled me principally, as we came into Melbourne, was the extraordinary aspect of the trees, and the difference Australian gum trees make to a landscape.’5
Her base in Melbourne was the Menzies Hotel, one of the city’s grandest and finest establishments, situated on the corner of Bourke and William Streets, but sadly no longer standing today. When the hotel was refurbished in 1897, it advertised luxurious features such as a ‘Moorish Hall’, a winter garden festooned with Indian rugs, and a music room decorated with nymphs (Sportsman, 6 April 1897)- exactly the sort of establishment that the fastidious Hercule Poirot would have approved of!
Menzies Hotel, Melbourne, Vic [ca 1935], Rose Stereograph Co., H96.200/380.
There was little time for Agatha to sit back and enjoy the city. The delegates of the British Empire Mission had a full schedule of events, including luncheons at Parliament House, sports days, and a visit to MacRobertson’s chocolate factory. Agatha enjoyed the tour of the chocolate factory, but wrote in her diary that she was disappointed to leave without some complimentary chocolate!6.
Confectionery packaging line – MacRobertson Chocolate factory, 1910/1940, H2003.101/52
Further afield they visited sites of farming and manufacturing, industries whose goods could be exported throughout the British Empire. They spent a full day in Shepparton visiting the Cannery, the orchards of the Closer Settlements, and the Freezing Works, before attending a banquet at the Victoria Hotel (Shepparton Advertiser, 25 May 1922). On other days, they visited a site for basket-making in Ringwood, a brick factory in Dandenong, and a wool and pottery works in Castlemaine7.
The Victoria Hotel, Shepparton, Vic [1920-1954], Rose Stereograph Co., H32492/8976
A particular highlight for Agatha was a visit to Noojee, and a ride on the ‘bush tram’. Of the experience, she wrote:
‘It was lovely all through the bush, very dense undergrowth, and the great tall tree trunks. The engine flung out showers of sparks, but a kindly stoker was on duty to extinguish me if I was smouldering in more than two places at once! We got out at the Goodwood Saw mills, right in the heart of the forest. I shall never forget it’8.
Goodwood Timber Company, Noojee Victoria, 1936, J.L. Buckland. National Library of Australia. P861/677.
Agatha’s final stop in Victoria before travelling to New South Wales and Queensland, was the small border town of Echuca, of which Agatha was less than complimentary. In her diary she described their late night arrival to their ‘evil smelling‘ hotel, where they were met by a ‘drunken ruffian (who apparently acts as a chambermaid)’9. It seems the hospitality in Echuca was somewhat less grand than the Menzies Hotel in Melbourne!
The British Empire Mission also gave Agatha the chance for her own publicity, and it was in Melbourne where she gave one of her first interviews, which appeared in The Herald on the 20th of May 1922. When asked if Australia would be appearing in any future novels, Agatha explained that she, ‘had better wait until I get a good distance away, and then I’ll have time to get the right perspective‘. Although Australia didn’t feature as the setting in any of Agatha’s subsequent novels, her travels did prove inspirational for her creativity. While staying in Melbourne, she wrote to her mother that she had ‘done some writing of short stories in the last few days’10.
Left: Cover of UK first edition of Poirot Investigates (1924); Right: The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim as it appeared in The Sketch on 28 March 1923.
In 1923, Agatha had a collection of twenty-four short stories serialised in The Sketch, a British magazine. Eleven of these stories were then published as the book Poirot Investigates in 1924 and featured some of her most well-known short stories, including The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim, and The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman. Unfortunately, none of the plotting of these Poirot short stories appear in any of Agatha’s notebooks11, and so it is impossible to tell which of these stories she may have written during her time in Melbourne, but how wonderful would it be to think of the highest selling author of all time sitting in the opulent surrounds of the Menzies Hotel listening to the ding of the trams along Bourke Street and crafting her next mystery!
Discover the books by and about Agatha Christie at State Library Victoria here.
References
- Christie, A, 1922, The Secret Adversary, The Bodley Head, London
- Prichard, M (eds), 2012, The Grand Tour: letters and photographs from the British Empire Expedition, HarperCollins, London, p 1
- Christie, A, 1977, An Autobiography, Collins, London, p 290
- Prichard, M (eds), 2012, The Grand Tour: letters and photographs from the British Empire Expedition, HarperCollins, London, p 29
- Christie, A, 1977, An Autobiography, Collins, London, p 293
- Prichard, M (eds), 2012, The Grand Tour: letters and photographs from the British Empire Expedition, HarperCollins, London, p 174
- Prichard, M (eds), 2012, The Grand Tour: letters and photographs from the British Empire Expedition, HarperCollins, London, p 176
- Prichard, M (eds), 2012, The Grand Tour: letters and photographs from the British Empire Expedition, HarperCollins, London, p 190
- Prichard, M (eds), 2012, The Grand Tour: letters and photographs from the British Empire Expedition, HarperCollins, London, p 200
- Prichard, M (eds), 2012, The Grand Tour: letters and photographs from the British Empire Expedition, HarperCollins, London, p 178
- Curran, J, 2008, Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks: fifty years of mysteries in the making, HarperCollins, London, p 47
Menzies Hotel was indeed one of the city’s grandest and finest establishments, situated on the corner of Bourke and William Sts. Even as early as the 1890s, the Moorish Hall was blissful, tge winter garden with Indian rugs was classy and the music room was perhaps overly decorated.
What I did not know what that Archie was financial adviser to the the British Empire Mission who travelled to the main colonies on a public relations tour, promoting the upcoming 1924 British Empire Exhibition. He would have loved the hotel. And Melbourne.
Very interesting story.
Had no idea Agatha learnt to surf !
A great adventure she has in.
A very well travelled lady
Thank you so much for this blog post! Agatha’s “Grand Tour”, as documented in her letters home (compiled by her grandson, Mathew Prichard) is fascinating. Sadly all Agatha had to say about Melbourne was along the lines of, “Well, one city is much like another”! But there’s a reference to The Menzies Hotel in Agatha’s 1931 novel, The Sittaford Mystery, which features a luggage label stating, “Mendel’s Hotel, Melbourne.” It is such a tragedy The Menzies was demolished. I have a treasure from 1922, a first edition of The Secret Adversary (rebound) signed to a Mr Max Coleman, a fellow Aeneas boat passenger from Capetown to Adelaide. I’m surprised to not see his name on the passenger list! He does appear in a photograph onboard, included in Mathew Prichard’s The Grand Tour. I wish I could find out more about Mr Coleman!
Hi Scott,
Thank you for your comment, I’m so glad you enjoyed the blog post. I’ll have to re-read my copy of The Sittaford Mystery with fresh eyes now that I know the Menzies Hotel is mentioned in a roundabout way! how exciting!
Regarding your Mr Coleman, we have done some digging and one of my colleagues was able to find him on a seperate passenger list. The Aeneas visited multiple ports in Australia on its journey from Cape Town. Agatha and Archie disembarked at Adelaide, but Mr Coleman stayed on and disembarked at Sydney (which is why he isn’t on the same list as Agatha). He is listed on the passenger list as M.D.G Coleman, 32 years old and from England originally. I found brief mention on him in a newspaper article on Trove which describes him as a Sydney businessman connected with Schweppes Ltd. The article describes him as having recently returned from Cape Town.
A wonderful tale, thank you.
I currently work at 140 William Street, the 1972 skyscraper that replaced the Menzies Hotel.
Despite the beautiful design of this modernist building with its clean lines and travertine marble interiors, I wish I could have experienced the Menzies in its early days.
Sadly, Agatha’s ghost inhabits neither a moorish room nor a winter garden as these are all long gone. Even the courtyard is boarded up for repair work. I imagine her spirit might prefer one of the archeological digs she frequented in the Middle East.
Hi Jady,
It really is a shame that the hotel no longer exists! It seems like it would have been quite magnificent, and it also hosted many other famous visitors to Australia including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Anthony Trollope and H.G. Wells. I feel an idea for another blog coming on!
Having appreciated Agatha’s own account of her visit to Australia, as written in her magnificent autobiography (highly recommended reading!) it was rewarding to read this account from a different perspective. Thank you.
Hello Melissa,
I really enjoyed your blog about Agatha Christie’s visit to Melbourne as part of the 1924 Empire Exhibition promotion. In addition to her many Melbourne and Victorian activities, Agatha was interviewed by the journalist Freda Sternberg (from the Herald, who also had connections to the visits of Mark Twain and Arthur Conan Doyle) and was invited by Freda on Sunday, May 14, 1922 to visit a friend of hers (Henrietta Walker) at her home called Wombolano in Ringwood East (Henrietta would later write an article for the magazine Australian Home Beautiful about her home.
I have hosted some historical walks to the area where Wombolano once stood (now Wombolano Reserve in Heathmont), primarily based upon Agatha Christie’s visit there. Have also delivered a talk to the Ringwood Historical Society on Agatha’s visit and authored and article if you are interested.
Kind regards,
Simon Elliston
Hi Simon,
I would be very interested to hear more about this! I’ll send you an email directly.
Best wishes,
Melissa
Thank you. I found this so interesting. Just days ago I finished a large jigsaw puzzle documenting many of Agatha Christies travels, including mention of her visits to Australia and New Zealand. The puzzle had many items from her stories, including her large surfboard, on which she was noted to have ridden standing upright, perhaps one of the first European women to do so.
Hi Bev,
There are some great pictures of Agatha surfing in the book ‘The Grand Tour’- she first took up surfing in South Africa and then she and Archie spent some time in Hawaii honing their skills. She described learning to surf as having “moments of utter joy”- I think they got sunburned and dunked quite a lot in the process but it seems they got there in the end!
What a wonderful post! I loved to read Agatha’s books as a kid and would be the first in line to see a movie based on one of her books. It was coincidental that I only learnt of Agatha’s visit to Australia just before I saw this post! I am planning a trip to the Scenic Rim (south of Brisbane) and discovered Agatha had stayed in the area. She was a guest of the Bell family, who lived near Mt Alford, on a property called Coochin Coochin. The Bell family were well known for their hospitality, which they extended to not only Agatha but to Edward, Prince of Wales, in 1920.
Hi Margie,
Agatha speaks so warmly of the Bell’s in her letters that appear in the book ‘The Grand Tour’, she wrote that she “felt quite one of the family by the time I left! and quite sad to leave”. Of all the sights and experiences Agatha had in Australia, the Bell’s made the biggest impression as Agatha later wrote that “Whenever I think of Australia, I think of the Bells”. Praise indeed!
Susannah Fullerton’s book Literary Travellers in Australia 1835-1939 includes Agatha Christie’s visit
Hi Peter,
We have a copy of this book in the Latrobe Reading Room- it’s a great read!