Many Ipswich people remember the stories of a gentleman by the name of Bossie Martoo. Born Baceli Martoo in 1879 in Alexandria, Egypt he immigrated to Australia with his family when he was 20 years old. By this stage Ipswich was a growing bustling town with a wide range of services to suit residents’ everday needs. Sporting and other recreational activites also had a large following by this point and Mr Martoo promptly fitted into the community as a keen sportsman in wrestling, cycling and horseracing.
After the Martoo family had established themselves in the Ipswich area they promptly set up their business of ‘Martoo’s Drapery’ in Brisbane Street, from which they sold haberdashery, drapery, clothing, boots, shoes, household items and ironmongery. Several years later in 1922 Mr Martoo appear to have moved his drapery to a new premises on Limestone Street where he was able to stock a wider range of items including crockery, stationery, meatsafes, tinware, tailormade suits, a millinery section for ladies hats, baggage and saddlery. The shop was very popular with residents and soon Bossie was able to open another store in Marburg.
Martoo’s Drapery Store, Marburg 1920 – Image courtesy of Picture Ipswich
As well as establishing his drapery business in Brisbane Street Mr Martoo also purchased a large block of land which was bounded by Limestone, Gordon and South Streets. As he was a keen sportman he decided to make the area into a public sportsground for all of Ipswich to enjoy. Several articles in the Queensland Times report on the many wrestling matches that were held at the ground between Martoo and other interested gentleman of Ipswich and surrounding areas. One report from 1910 reported that a ‘strongman’ by the name of Lex McLean from the Barton’s Circus, which was visiting Ipswich at time, was defeated by Martoo in a three round fight amid crowds of Ipswich residents who had come to enjoy a good clean fight.
After Martoo’s sportsground had stood vacant for a number of years he decided to begin construction on one of Ipswich’s great theatres which became known as Martoo’s Olympia. In 1910 Bossie Martoo built the first stage of his enomous theatre on his Limestone Street block. Many stories exist as to how big the theatre was, however it was first believed to seat approximately 3000 people. However, after further stages were added to the theatre an additional 2000 seats were added, taking the capacity up to 5000 people. Mr Martoo was extremely proud of his establishment and upon its completion it took up a large portion including the area between Limestone and South Streets. The facade and entrance on Limestone Street was also something to behold which appeared to look like an igloo. Inside, your eyes were met with an amazing site with the theatre itself only being partly roofed (known as an open air theatre) and row after row of wooden seats referred to as hen roosts, whilst down the front canvas deck chairs were reserved for those residents who could afford such a luxury in the theatre.
Advertisement for the Three Vardells acrobats appearing at Martoo’s Olympia Theatre, 1914 – Image courtesy of the National Library of Australia
In the early 1900’s in Ipswich movie-going was a special event that called for your best attire and your most appropriate manners . Martoo’s Olympia was no exception with residents coming from all over Ipswich and the surrounding areas to see the great efforts that Bossie would go to when a show was on in his theatre. There were brass bands marching down the street, 1000 person choirs singing at special occasions and an amazing theatre orchestra hand picked by Mr Martoo himself. There were also many anecdotes,hinting to the Olympia’s enormosity with many residents saying that the theatre was at one point big enough to: fit all the school children of Ipswich, hold a gentleman’s horse and sulky and ride a motorbike through the aisles as Mr Martoo was often found doing.
Martoo’s Drapery and The Olympia Theatre were just two of Bossie’s main endeavours, however he also opened a second theatre in Silkstone known as the Garden Theatre, opearated a skating rink in the area and owned a number of racing horses. He was also very generous with his money, giving to numerous charities as well as running many benefit events at The Olympia theatre to raise money for several patriotic funds in the Ipswich area during the war years. In April 1927 after spending 27 years in Ipswich improving the recreational activites of the residents Mr Bossie Martoo passed away in the Ipswich General Hospital, he was 48 years old. Although Olympia Theatre (later to be known after Martoo’s death as The Tivoli) no longer exists having been burnt to the ground in a 1928 fire for many residents of Ipswich Mr Martoo will be remembered as the man that brought an important part of Ipswich to life.
Bacelie ‘Bossie’ Martoo, opeartor of the Olympia Theatre – Image courtesy of Picture Ipswich and Robyn Buchanan
Information taken from : ‘Mr Bacelie (“Bossie”) Martoo (Obituary)’ The QT 11/04/1927, ‘Martoo’s – the cinema you could drive a buggy through’ The QT 02/08/1982, ‘B. Martoo’ The QT 01/12/1922, ‘Wrestling match’ The QT 25/05/1910, ‘Martoo’s’ The QT 22/12/1919, “Ipswich in the 20th Century” by Robyn Buchanan.