WELLINGTON HOTEL
| The Wellington Hotel was one of Adelaide’s grand early pubs, standing proudly on the corner of Currie Street and Leigh Street. Its story began in 1848, when George Bell already known for building the original Wellington Hotel on the Murray River in 1846 constructed a new city hotel bearing the same name. The site itself sat on land owned by William Leigh, part of a two-acre parcel he had purchased in 1840. Bell’s involvement was brief; within months he sold the property to William McLean. Under McLean, the hotel became a popular gathering place for Adelaide’s Irish community, serving as a de facto meeting hall before one was formally built. The Wellington also attracted the colony’s horse-racing fraternity, hosting post-race dinners and celebratory balls that cemented its place as a social hub. The hotel’s popularity prompted a major rebuild and expansion in 1871, creating a larger and more modern establishment. For decades, it remained a well-patronised Currie Street landmark. By 1914, however, the tide turned. The Anglican Church, then owner of the land, informed the licensee that the lease would not be renewed. The Wellington poured its last drinks on 31 December 1916. Left vacant for several months, the building was finally demolished in September 1917. Today, a striking red-brick structure occupies the corner, but the memory of the Wellington Hotel lives on as part of Adelaide’s lost hospitality heritage.  1917 State Library [B 67] Click here for a high resolution image |
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| WELLINGTON INN | 1848 | 1848 |
| WELLINGTON, THE PRINCE OF WATERLOO INN | 1848 | 1850 |
| WELLINGTON INN | 1850 | 1890 |
| WELLINGTON HOTEL | 1890 | 1916 |
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1865
State Library [B 5099/13]
1870
State Library [B 71130]
Click here for a high resolution image
The hotel being demolished in c1918
State Library [PRG 1316/12/466]
Hotel site in 2025
| Publican Name | Start Date | Finish Date | Hotel |
| George BELL | 1848 | 1848 | Wellington Inn |
| William McLEAN | 1848 | 1851 | Prince of Waterloo Inn |
| Matthew FAULKNER | 1851 | 1855 | Wellington Inn |
| Heinrich Daniel MULLER | 1855 | 1863 | Wellington Inn |
| Wilhelm MULLER | 1863 | 1865 | Wellington Inn |
| Stephen HUNT | 1865 | 1866 | Wellington Inn |
| Wilhelm William BOCK | 1866 | 1867 | Wellington Inn |
| Heinrich JAHN | 1867 | 1873 | Wellington Inn |
| Frederick ANDERSON | 1873 | 1878 | Wellington Inn |
| Oliver FERGUSON | 1878 | 1883 | Wellington Inn |
| Carl Charles FAHLBUSCH | 1883 | 1884 | Wellington Inn |
| Mrs Harriet Mary Ann FAHLBUSCH | 1884 | 1884 | Wellington Inn |
| Hanson WOODCOCK | 1884 | 1885 | Wellington Inn |
| Alexander RANKINE | 1885 | 1887 | Wellington Inn |
| Oliver FERGUSON | 1887 | 1889 | Wellington Inn |
| Charles Tracey STACEY | 1889 | 1890 | Wellington Hotel |
| Wallace TUCKER | 1890 | 1891 | Wellington Hotel |
| Heinrich Henry WARNCKEN | 1891 | 1891 | Wellington Hotel |
| Wallace TUCKER | 1891 | 1892 | Wellington Hotel |
| John W SOUTH | 1892 | 1893 | Wellington Hotel |
| William F O’SHAUGHNESSY | 1893 | 1896 | Wellington Hotel |
| Richard Charles TURNER | 1896 | 1905 | Wellington Hotel |
| John BURKE | 1905 | 1907 | Wellington Hotel |
| William Hanson WOODCOCK | 1907 | 1912 | Wellington Hotel |
| Alexander BERKHOLZ | 1912 | 1914 | Wellington Hotel |
| Alexander BERKHOLZ | 1914 | 1915 | Wellington Hotel |
| & Alexander George BERKHOLZ | 1914 | 1915 | Wellington Hotel |
| Alexander George BERKHOLZ | 1915 | 1916 | Wellington Hotel |