NORFOLK TAVERN
| The Norfolk Arms Inn was opened by George Ottoway in August 1847 on Rundle Street, one of Adelaide’s earliest and busiest commercial thoroughfares. Ottoway was already well known in the city, having previously managed the Royal Oak Hotel on Hindley Street. His new establishment was a substantial two-storey stone building, featuring a wide, shaded veranda that offered welcome relief from the summer sun and attracted both locals and travellers passing through the east end of the city. The hotel occupied a prime location, situated only a few doors east of John Primrose’s Union Brewery, then the largest brewing enterprise in the colony. The close proximity of the brewery meant the Norfolk Arms was ideally placed to serve freshly brewed ales to its patrons, and it quickly became a popular meeting place for city workers, merchants, and visiting tradesmen. By March 1851, Ottoway, citing his advancing age and the demands of running a busy public house, decided to retire from hotelkeeping and placed the property up for lease. The lease was soon taken up by George James, who would go on to become one of the hotel’s most celebrated and longest-serving publicans. The Norfolk Arms occupied a corner position beside a narrow lane that provided direct access to the Union Brewery at the rear. Originally an unnamed service alley, it became known locally as James Place during George James’s tenure, a name that endures to this day, immortalising his long association with the site. In 1858, the hotel underwent a major renovation and expansion, including the construction of a new, larger public room on the ground floor. This expansion reflected the hotel’s growing popularity and its importance as a social centre in Rundle Street’s east end. Around this time, the Norfolk Arms became the setting for one of Adelaide’s more colourful episodes. The hotel hosted Joseph Shires, a self-styled “Snake Hunter” and travelling showman, who exhibited live snakes in the hotel’s public room. Shires allowed spectators to witness venomous snakes biting live chickens to demonstrate his claimed antidote to their venom. However, his fame turned to infamy a decade later: in 1868, Shires was exposed as a fraudulent “snake oil” salesman when a man who had used his so-called antidote died from a snakebite. The incident was widely reported and became a cautionary tale of the era. After an extraordinary 27 years as licensee, George James sold the lease of the Norfolk Arms in 1878. He attempted to open a new establishment, the Governor Jervois Hotel on Carrington Street, but was denied a licence. The Norfolk Arms was subsequently sold to the firm W. & T. Rhodes, who undertook significant renovations to modernise the property before leasing it to Phillip Lee. Under their management, the hotel retained its popularity, benefiting from its central city location and its reputation for good service and lively trade. By the early twentieth century, the Norfolk Arms was one of Adelaide’s most established hotels. In 1916, the original 1840s structure was completely rebuilt, replaced by a modern five-storey concrete building that reflected the city’s growing sophistication. The new hotel featured contemporary conveniences, including a picture theatre and a rooftop garden, making it one of the most impressive hotels in Adelaide at the time. However, controversy returned in 1918 when licensee Alfred Drake was fined £10 for selling contaminated beer from an unlicensed bottling plant he had established behind the hotel. Complaints from the public prompted an investigation, revealing that Drake had failed to wash bottles before refilling them, resulting in beer tainted with straw, spiders, sand, and wood shavings. The case attracted considerable media attention and served as a cautionary example of poor hygiene in the bottling trade. The Norfolk Arms continued trading through the twentieth century, undergoing further renovations in 1976, when the main bar was relocated to the basement. Despite its historic importance, the hotel finally closed its doors in 1990, ending nearly 150 years of continuous hospitality on the site. Today, the impressive five-storey building still stands proudly on Rundle Street. Thousands of people pass by it each day, often unaware that this grand structure was once home to one of Adelaide’s most storied hotels, a place that witnessed nearly a century and a half of city life, colourful characters, and brewing history.  c1970 The hotel is then located in the basement of the Sturt Cinema |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NORFOLK ARMS INN | 1847 | 1870 |
| NORFOLK ARMS HOTEL | 1870 | 1985 |
| NORFOLK TAVERN | 1985 | 1990 |
|
|
c1854
State Library [B 5852]
Sketch by H. Glover
c1867
State Library [B 47794/87]
c1893
State Library [PRG 631/2/1134]
c1915
State Library [B 55]
Hotel building in 2025
| Publican Name | Start Date | Finish Date | Hotel |
| George OTTAWAY | 1847 | 1851 | Norfolk Arms Inn |
| George JAMES | 1851 | 1872 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |
| Alfred JAMES | 1873 | 1874 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |
| George JAMES | 1874 | 1878 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |
| Philip LEE | 1878 | 1879 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |
| Charles Conway FERORS | 1879 | 1888 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |
| Thomas TIERNEY | 1888 | 1892 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |
| & Philip LEE | 1888 | 1892 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |
| William A JONES | 1896 | 1897 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |
| William Francis O’SHAUGHNESSY | 1897 | 1899 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |
| Charles P CARNEY | 1899 | 1899 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |
| Mrs Marcella DAY | 1899 | 1900 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |
| Hans CHRISTENSEN | 1900 | 1902 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |
| Charles Henry FERORS | 1902 | 1907 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |
| Alfred FRANCIS | 1907 | 1907 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |
| Westbury McKenzie MORRIS | 1907 | 1907 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |
| Alfred DRAKE | 1907 | 1923 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |
| Edward C DONNELLY | 1923 | 1926 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |
| Walter A PIPER | 1926 | 1926 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |
| William V RONALD | 1926 | 1927 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |
| Harry H COULLS | 1927 | 1929 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |
| Emily S G GRAY | 1929 | 1932 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |
| Henry CORNELIUS | 1932 | 1933 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |
| Maxwell E FLANNAGAN | 1933 | 1934 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |
| Mrs Elizabeth Gertrude BARRETT | 1934 | 1937 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |
| Beryl Dagmae Veronique MILDREN | 1937 | 1938 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |
| Mrs Johanna ANDERSON | 1938 | 1942 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |
| & Mrs Agnes Jane FLEMING | 1938 | 1942 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |
| James FARRELLY | 1942 | 1959 | Norfolk Arms Hotel |