| The Vintage Shades Inn was established in 1859 by Joseph Edmunds, a landowner in the developing suburb of Norwood. Early that year, Edmunds constructed a modest but strategically placed hotel on the corner of William and Elizabeth Streets. Alongside the hotel, he also built a small brewery and a distillery on the adjoining land. The distillery quickly drew the attention of authorities. Edmunds had begun producing spirits without the required licence, and in November 1859 he was taken to court for the illegal manufacture of spirits. As a result, the distillery was dismantled, though the brewery appears to have continued operating for some time afterwards. Joseph Edmunds sold the hotel and brewery in 1861. Records are unclear on how long brewing continued under the new owners, but by the 1870s the property was owned by Logues’ Kent Town Brewery. Given that the hotel was now under the umbrella of a larger brewing operation, it is unlikely that beer was still being brewed onsite during this period. A significant chapter in the hotel’s history began in 1882 when Bartholomew John Conry became the publican. Conry is believed to have eventually acquired the property and reinstated brewing operations at the hotel, reviving the small brewery that had been dormant for years. Brewing seems to have continued into the early 1890s. In 1893 Conry submitted a customs declaration describing the brewery’s equipment and noting that brewing had recently ceased. By this time the hotel was receiving its beer from Pikes Oakbank Brewery, signalling the final end of local brewing on the premises. Conry left the hotel in 1894, with his wife Hannah serving as publican until 1896. Bartholomew remained active in the hotel trade, later becoming publican of the Wheelwrights Arms in Adelaide in 1901 and the Forest Hotel at Black Forest in 1906. Interestingly, the Forest Hotel also had an attached brewery, raising the possibility that Conry once again attempted small-scale brewing during his tenure there. The Forest Hotel eventually closed in 1909 due to public pressure. Bartholomew John Conry died in 1939 and was laid to rest in the West Terrace Cemetery. His involvement with the Vintage Shades Inn stands as a notable part of the building’s early brewing history, one of several small, often short-lived breweries that dotted the Adelaide suburbs in the late 19th century. |
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c1910
State Library [B 6]
1909
State Library [PRG 313]
Image from LiquidHistory.au
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