TAVISTOCK HOTEL
| Many people stroll past its surviving shopfronts on Rundle Street without realising they are looking at the remnants of one of Adelaide’s grandest hotels the Tavistock Hotel. It once stood on the corner of Rundle Street and the now-vanished Tavistock Street. The story began in 1849, when James Curnow attempted to open a hotel in the Tavistock Buildings on the site. However, he failed to secure a liquor license, and the venture never began. It wasn’t until 1857 that Charles Catchlove renovated the premises, gained a license, and officially opened the Tavistock Hotel. The hotel quickly became a hub for entertainment, boasting a concert room and a cider cellar, which drew large crowds to the east end of Adelaide. Business boomed, but the original building soon proved too small. In 1882, it was demolished and replaced with an impressive three-storey structure featuring ample lodging and shopfronts along Rundle Street. The new building opened to great fanfare in October 1883 and became one of the largest and most popular hotels in the city. The Tavistock’s demise came for an unusual reason. By the 1960s, the Adelaide City Council was pursuing a major road project to relieve congestion on King William Street the creation of Frome Street, which had not been part of Colonel Light’s original city plan. This new north–south route required the widening of Tavistock Street (North Terrace to Rundle Street) and Ackland Street (Grenfell Street to Wakefield Street), as well as the purchase and demolition of properties in between. The Tavistock Hotel stood directly in the proposed path and could not be saved. Even so, part of the building survives the shopfronts and the upper-storey hotel rooms still line Rundle Street, now adorned with a much-loved mural on the western wall. It’s a reminder of a time when the Tavistock was a centre of lodging, music, and nightlife in Adelaide’s east end.  1962 Just prior to being demolished State Library [B 14499] |
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| TAVISTOCK HOTEL | 1857 | 1962 |
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1866
State Library [B 6145]
A Parade of Troops going off to the Boer War c1900
State Library [B 49534]
1902
State Library [B 63780]
Hotel site in 2025
Click here for a high resolution image
 5.001.H342.0010 |
 5.001.H342.0020 |
| Publican Name | Start Date | Finish Date | Hotel |
| Charles CATCHLOVE | 1857 | 1858 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Henry CATCHLOVE | 1858 | 1861 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Elizabeth HOLLAND | 1861 | 1862 | Tavistock Hotel |
| S W W PARRY | 1862 | 1863 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Alexander COCK | 1863 | 1872 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Robert Andrew COCK | 1872 | 1872 | Tavistock Hotel |
| George STIBBLES | 1872 | 1876 | Tavistock Hotel |
| William Henry COOMBE | 1876 | 1878 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Frederick Chanter BORN | 1878 | 1878 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Thomas CANDLER | 1878 | 1882 | Tavistock Hotel |
| John O’NEIL | 1883 | 1884 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Michael MURPHY | 1884 | 1884 | Tavistock Hotel |
| John RAINE/RAINES | 1884 | 1885 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Robert McGOWAN | 1885 | 1886 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Henry Dennett REYNOLDS | 1886 | 1888 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Henry BYWATER | 1888 | 1890 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Mrs Charlotte Louisa GRIFFITHS | 1890 | 1899 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Mrs Emma Maria WILLIS | 1899 | 1900 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Gustav MEYER | 1900 | 1901 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Mrs Minnie MEYER | 1901 | 1903 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Charles Alfred MARTEN | 1903 | 1906 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Hannah JACOBS | 1906 | 1907 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Jacob JACOBS | 1906 | 1907 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Mrs Elizabeth PINE | 1907 | 1908 | Tavistock Hotel |
| & Miss Mabel PINE | 1907 | 1908 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Mrs Bridget STACEY | 1908 | 1908 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Mrs Bessie O’DWYER | 1908 | 1910 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Mrs Minna HENDER | 1910 | 1912 | Tavistock Hotel |
| William Nicholas WAITE | 1912 | 1916 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Mrs Marguerite WAITE | 1916 | 1917 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Martin P KENNY | 1917 | 1920 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Reginald C CHEEK | 1920 | 1921 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Horace Blakeney MANN | 1921 | 1922 | Tavistock Hotel |
| & H V C O’FLAHERTY | 1921 | 1922 | Tavistock Hotel |
| O B DUHST | 1922 | 1923 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Frederick William ALLEN | 1923 | 1925 | Tavistock Hotel |
| James Francis GILLEN | 1925 | 1925 | Tavistock Hotel |
| James Francis GILLEN | 1925 | 1925 | Tavistock Hotel |
| & Winifred GILLEN | 1925 | 1925 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Mageed RASHEED | 1926 | 1927 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Percival Stanley RUGLESS | 1927 | 1927 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Percy William BARNES | 1927 | 1930 | Tavistock Hotel |
| & Carrol Arthur BARNES | 1927 | 1930 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Albert MORRIS | 1930 | 1931 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Daniel Hoare KENNY | 1931 | 1937 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Charles Rhodes MILLHOUSE | 1937 | 1938 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Eric Cordes BOTH | 1938 | 1940 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Mrs Elvira Annie MCCALLUM | 1940 | 1940 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Seymour MATTHEWS | 1940 | 1940 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Thomas Patrick MILLER | 1940 | 1947 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Denis SULLIVAN | 1947 | 1954 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Eugene Gerard McMAHON | 1954 | 1954 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Herbert William OAKLEY | 1954 | 1955 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Eugene Gerard McMAHON | 1955 | 1956 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Jack Francis McMAHON | 1956 | 1957 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Ada Eileen McMAHON | 1957 | 1958 | Tavistock Hotel |
| Brian Arthur JOHNS | 1958 | 1962 | Tavistock Hotel |