TEMPLE TAVERN
| The Temple Tavern once stood tucked away in Gilles Arcade, just off Currie Street. Its story began in 1840, when it first opened as the Arcade Shades Tavern, built as part of the soon-to-be-completed Queen’s Theatre complex. The tavern was unique in the young colony, being the only licensed premises in South Australia to feature a soda fountain. The building also housed four lodging rooms, a bar, a parlour, a three-horse stable, and a reception space for the adjacent theatre. When the Queen’s Theatre opened in 1841, the hotel was renamed the Shakspeare Tavern; a spelling of Shakespeare’s name still in use at the time. The tavern and theatre often worked hand in hand, with the theatre converted into a dining hall for special occasions, such as the 1843 public welcome for Jacob Montefiore. In 1845, under new publican Frederick William Allen, the venue was renamed once again, this time becoming the Temple Tavern. It soon developed a reputation as a gathering place for Adelaide’s Freemasons, who regularly held their lodge meetings there. Despite its prominence in the early years, the tavern was a simple pioneer building, and by the 1850s it had fallen into disrepair. Its licence was revoked in 1854, and within the following decade the hotel was gone. The theatre itself was later renovated and rebranded as the Royal Victoria Theatre in 1863. Though the Temple Tavern has vanished from the city, its legacy endures in the grand old theatre that still stands and continues to serve Adelaide today.  The Hotel was part of the Queen's Theatre, this is the Theatre in 2025. |
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| ARCADE SHADES TAVERN | 1840 | 1841 |
| SHAKSPEARE TAVERN | 1841 | 1841 |
| THE SHAKSPEARE TAVERN | 1841 | 1845 |
| TEMPLE TAVERN | 1845 | 1854 |
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Sketch of the Queens Theatre in 1842, With the Shakspeare Hotel at the front
State Library [B 4502]
| Publican Name | Start Date | Finish Date | Hotel |
| Wiliam A CHATFIELD | 1840 | 1840 | Arcade Shades Tavern |
| Henry Mooringe BOSWARVA | 1840 | 1841 | Arcade Shades Tavern |
| Isaac SOLOMON | 1841 | 1841 | Shakespeare Tavern |
| John LAZAR | 1841 | 1842 | Shakespeare Tavern |
| Frederick William ALLEN | 1845 | 1846 | Temple Tavern |
| Isaac SOLOMON | 1846 | 1850 | Temple Tavern |
| John LAZAR | 1850 | 1851 | Temple Tavern |
| Daniel LOVELOCK | 1851 | 1852 | Temple Tavern |
| Emanuel SOLOMON | 1852 | 1853 | Temple Tavern |
| W F/E MUNRO | 1853 | 1854 | Temple Tavern |