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William “Bunty” Alfred Banister (1875
– 1956) was born in Newcastle New Brunswick He married Florence Anna
Carey (1878 – 1948) in 1898.
In 1899 he took over the family hotel business in Carberry, the
Dufferin House Hotel. In 1912 he purchased the Western Hotel. He also
owned a Ford Dealership, and an Imperial Oil Dealership.
He served as Mayor from 1921-27.
Bunty was a prominent local curler; serving as President of the Board
of Directors and while Mayor he undertook the promotion of a new rink
on 4th Avenue.
As a private citizen he purchased a full set of new rocks for the
Summerville Curling Club in 1911.
William’s father was Henry “Harry” Charles David Banister (1848 –
1898). He was born in Wales and married Amy Amelia Ward.
In the 1880’s Henry worked as a Road Master on the CPR. In 1893 he came
to Carberry and took over the Dufferin House Hotel.
A Day in the Life of a Small Town Hotel
“Running a small-town Manitoba hotel in the early 1900s was hard work.
The hotel staff usually consisted of at least two chambermaids and a
cook who worked from morning till night, cleaning the guest rooms,
doing the laundry, and washing dishes. The maid's work day usually
started at 6:00 a.m. and ended at 9:00 p.m. for which she was paid $10
per month, plus room and board. Porters not only assisted hotel guests
with their luggage; they also washed dishes, milked the cows that
supplied the milk for the hotel and did all the odd jobs. The upstairs
maid also polished the silver and glassware and kept everything
shining.
All members of the hotel owner’s family had to share in the work of
running the hotel.
Wash days – usually Mondays – were an ordeal, especially in winter.
Washing bedding and clothes was often a two-day proposition. Water had
to be hauled and then heated in tubs the night before. Most hotels did
not get running water until the 1940s or 1950s. In the winter, hotels
used melted ice and snow, or water that had been collected in rain
barrels during the previous summer.”
© Joan Champ, 2011
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