The Historic British Hotel

One of North Adelaide's best known pubs, rich in history would have to be The British Hotel. 'The simple and unassuming structure of the British Hotel in Finniss Street, as it can be seen today, is the result of rebuilding and renovations that took place in about 1883.'

The sign on the beautiful dressed stone building says it was first licensed in 1838, but research carried out in more recent times says that it has actually been here since Christmas of 1837, which was only twelve months after the Proclamation of South Australia.

'When it first opened, it was outstanding among the early buildings of North Adelaide - not for it's architecture, but for its "English" atmosphere and the people who frequented it. According to advertisements in the local press this hotel specialised in "English Festivities", where dancing commenced at three o'clock in the afternoon and continued for the following two days - all for the inclusive price of ten shillings!'

The Historic Lion Hotel on Melbourne Street

At the intersection with Jerningham Street and Melbourne Street is the Lion Hotel. The older people of North Adelaide still remember the hotel as it was in the days when it was a brewery - the great stone buildings, the malt-house, the brewing tower, the stables that housed up to thirty horses, and the aerated water factory. Like so many other buildings in North Adelaide, the Lion has been given a new lease of life.

The Lion Brewery and its malt-house were originally built for William James Bailey and Frederick Stanley in the mid- 1850's, but by 1874 Stanley had sold his share in the business, and soon after, in October of that year, Bailey sold his interest too. The brewery was taken over by a partnership consisting of William Henry Beaglehole, James Johnston, and the co-partners of a wine and spirit business trading as Johnstone and Furniss. The firm continued its brewing under the name 'Beaglehole and Johnstone’.

By 1888 only William Beaglehole and James Johnstone remained in the partnership, and on 13 April of that year they signed an agreement to sell the brewery, all of their twenty-three freehold hotels, and several acres of vacant land to a company yet to be formed. This became The Lion Brewery and Malting Company Ltd. At this time the brewery was producing only draught beer, but by 1892 it had started the manufacture of bottled beer and aerated waters. The price of beer supplied to hotels was four shillings per dozen.

The old brewery and malting premises, together with the Lion Hotel, were sold in 1970, and the property has since been developed into a hotel and restaurant complex, and more recently, also specialising as a Function Centre.

Information taken from "North Adelaide Sketchbook" (1975)
Drawing by Jeanette McLeod – Text by Paula Nagel

Historic Cottage Homes of Stanley Street

By the 1870s the province of South Australia was two generations old and so it was appropriate, if coincidental, that Adelaide society, now established with its new wrought iron and Victorian bric-a-brac, should turn its mind to establishing cottages for the aged and infirm, the poor, and widows.

A committee of subscribers was formed and by 1873 acre Number 1035, between Kingston Terrace and Stanley Street in lower North Adelaide, had been bought for the sum of £130. On this ground it was planned to build twenty cottages of two rooms each, giving to each a strip of land for a garden.

On 27 October 1873 the foundation-stone for the first two cottages was laid by the wife of Governor Musgrave. The architect for the buildings was David Garlick.

The institution was to be unsectarian, and the inmates were to be selected by the subscribers, each of whom would be entitled to a vote according to the amount of his donation. Anyone who donated £100 (the estimated cost of two rooms) should have the right of nominating an occupant to one house.

Thus the Cottage Homes for the Aged emerged, to survive much as they were planned until 1969. By this time they had become too uneconomical to run properly, and so they were sold to a company of developers. Soon afterwards they were resold, and have since been redecorated and converted into attractive town houses, still retaining many features of the original plans.

Information taken from “North Adelaide Sketchbook”
Drawing by Jeanette McLeod, Text by Paula Nagel, 1975

House (and former shop) 78 Jerningham Street (corner Stanley Street)

This item is of historical significance because of its relatively early date, and its association with John Bullock and Robert and William Whinham. John Bullock, described as an "agent", of Franklin Street, was an early shareholder in the Burra Burra Mine and a one time Director of that prominent mining concern. Messrs. R & W. Whinham, teachers, owned Whinham College and erected the substantial building at the corner of Ward and Jeffcott Streets (now used as the Lutheran Seminary).

The building occupies a prominent corner site, having been erected on Lot 228, at the north-western corner of John Barton Hack's Chichester Gardens Estate subdivision. The Kingston Map of 1842 shows the area comprising Lot 228 as being vacant, indicating that the building was erected after this date. It was in February, 1849, that John Gale purchased for £410, Lots 118-121 and 221-228 and part of Lot 117.

The earliest Council Rate Assessment Book for this area was surveyed in late 1851 and describes an eight roomed one (this should probably have been two) storeyed house at the corner of Jerningham and Stanley Streets. By 1853, this had changed to an eight roomed two storeyed house. This building was rated at £33 in 1871 and £28 in 1876, indicating no substantial improvements to the property in this period. It seems certain therefore due to the relatively consistent rated value and description, that the majority of of the present two storeyed buildings dates from the early 1850's . A photograph taken of Stanley Street in the late 1870's shows the building largely as it is at present, the corner shop section being then occupied by W.H. Creswell, draper. The house was later the residence of Sir Henry Krips, past conductor of the South Australian Symphony Orchestra.

Alterations which appear to have taken place since this time are the alteration of window frames, the removal of the ground floor verandah and extensions to the south and east of the original two storeyed building.

This article and photo were taken from "Historic Walks" Copyright Corp. City of Adelaide 1986; Text Paul Stark.

Melbourne Street in the 1930s

Some landmarks, as remembered by Ellen Pearce (nee Egan) who lived in Provost Street in the 1930s:

The Old Lion was on its current corner, but with more open ground around it. Opposite was Spencer, the Chemist. On Bocca’s corner was Sallis’ deli, a private home and then Graff’s Bakery, and McLoughlan’s home. Zambracca’s corner was the home, plus newsagency, of Miss Coword, with Mielbanks deli next door. The Store was originally Miss Tyrell’s grocery store, with Celinto butcher, next door. Also along the Southern side was Vasey’s florist shop, Bray’s barber shop, a billiard hall, and Lanyon’s grocery.

Melbourne Street in the 1930’s had many homes along it, and also vacant paddocks.

St. Cyprian’s Day School

In 1872 the Church of England purchased a block of land lying between Melbourne Street & Sussex Street with the intention of establishing a mission in the area. Ten years later the foundation stone for a Mission School Church was laid by Lady Jervois. The building was dedicated in February 1883, the costs of its erection having been met by parishioners of Christ Church in Upper North Adelaide. The name "Mission School Church" clearly indicates not only the intentions of the project, but also the nature of the community in which it was located. The area was colloquially known as "Irish Town". An Anglican Priest wrote he and his Catholic counterpart had to break up sectarian boyhood yikes over the back fence of the little church.

The education aspect of the mission was clearly important from the beginning, as there is a report which indicates that by 1885 there were 117 children attending the Sunday School. As with other small private schools which operated during the first quarter of the twentieth century, organisation was very basic. Early records are virtually non existent. A teacher’s salary at the St. George's School at Goodwood in 1902 was fifty pounds per annum. At the same time a teacher’s salary at a government school was seventy pounds. However many women especially preferred the ethos of the church school, and no doubt saw their work as fulfilling a religious commitment. One may assume that similar circumstances would have applied in the St. Cyprian's Day School.

In 1918 the brick annex was built onto the eastern side of the day school building, no doubt to serve as an office and general store room for the teachers. In 1924 the church became responsible for the school committee.

There were about thirty pupils attending the school with two female teachers. The brick annex was also used as a kindergarten. At around 1925 St. Peter's Girl's School, located in North Adelaide, offered a scholarship to the top girl at St. Cyprian's Day School. In 1926 Miss Cole left her position of head mistress and took up as head mistress of the Christ Church (Upper North Adelaide). With the loss of the head mistress a decision was made to close the school. The decision to close the school may have had something to do with much improved free public education drawing students away from fee paying private schools. During the war years there was a brief return of a school. One last association with a school at St. Cyprian's was the teaching of Greek language classes in 1967.

Further information can be found through Father Ralph Holden at the church. Thanks go to St. Cyprian's church records and information from www.postcards.sa.com.au

St. Mary’s Church

There are many small businesses that have emerged from the mid 1800's in Lower North Adelaide. As could be expected, the Church in its many streams was present from those early days.

The Sisters of St Joseph first established a school in Lower North Adelaide in 1870. The Sisters left the school in 1872 in response to the excommunication of Mary Mackillop but resumed teaching there in 1873. In 1877, a bluestone and red brick school building was erected in Stanley Street for the Sisters of St Joseph's Parochial School.

In 1875, the land on which the school was erected, was owned by Phillip Le Cornu, a carpenter of O'Connell St. On 23rd February 1877, the property was transferred to the Catholic Church Endowment Society Inc, in whose ownership it remains today. The building was originally constructed to serve as both a church and school. In the late 1800’s this part of Lower North Adelaide was known as Irish Town and the Church and Parochial School served the Catholic community that resided in the area. The property ceased to operate as a school in 1973.

In 2000 - 2001 extensive restoration was undertaken based on criteria to preserve the past as reflected in the historic elements of the building and to facilitate modern liturgical practice now and into the future. Today there is a balance of contemporary interior worship space combined with the historic interior. Much more could be written about this church. Bookings for Weddings are popular and it seats about 120 guests.

Thanks to Father Kevin O'Loughlin for his knowledge and detail of this historic landmark.