Arthur Ware was born at Kooringa, the eldest son of Fanny Crawford and Charles James Ware, proprietors of the Burra Hotel and Brewery. In 1868 he moved to Adelaide with his parents when they took over the Exchange Hotel, then owned by Sir Henry Ayers. He was educated at John L. Young’s Adelaide Educational Institution and later at Whinham College. After leaving school, Ware was apprenticed to the locomotive department of the South Australian Railways but later left to work at Harrold Brothers’ hardware store. A serious workplace accident forced his resignation, and during his recovery he assisted his mother in managing the Exchange Hotel. Together with his brother Tom, trading as A. W. & T. L. Ware & Co., he co-founded the Torrensside Brewery. This enterprise merged with the East Adelaide Brewery in 1898 and was later amalgamated with the Walkerville Brewery, which the brothers managed with success. The Torrensside site subsequently became the Southwark Brewery. When W. Piper secured the lease of the Exchange Hotel, Ware agreed to remain for a further year before retiring from business. Ware was active in civic life, serving on the Adelaide City Council for the Gawler Ward in the early 1890s. After a brief absence, he returned as an alderman and later served as mayor. During his mayoralty, which coincided with the South African War, he organised patriotic initiatives and officiated at events during a Royal visit. Despite being restricted from active sport due to his leg injury, Ware was a generous supporter of Adelaide’s sporting community. He was a patron of racing, cricket, football, coursing, rifle shooting, and lacrosse, and served as chairman of the Tattersalls Racing Club committee for three years. He also held executive roles with both Tattersalls and the Adelaide Racing Club, with each awarding him life membership in recognition of his service. In April 1902, Ware and his wife travelled to London for the Coronation and a tour of Europe. While there, he underwent surgery to alleviate his longstanding leg injury. In 1909 he moved to Queensland, purchasing “Brookstead” station near Wondai, which he later subdivided and sold in 1912. Ware remained active in public life, unsuccessfully contesting a seat on the Maryborough Council in 1913, though he was elected president of the Maryborough Licensed Victuallers’ Association later that year. He subsequently held the licence for the Royal Hotel, transferring it in May 1915, and later managed the Pacific Hotel at Southport. Following his wife’s death in November 1915, he continued managing the hotel until mid-1916. By 1919 he had returned to Prospect, South Australia, and in 1925 relocated again to Wondai. Arthur Ware died in 1927 at a private hospital in Wondai after a period of ill health. He was survived by four daughters, March (Mrs George Isbister Mowat), Fanny (Mrs Williford Hood), Daphne (Mrs Howard Brougham Claxton), and Madeline (Mrs William Jorgensen), and two sons, Thomas Sefton “Tom” Ware MC of Dalgety & Company, Brisbane, and Charles James Ware of the Municipal Tramways Trust, Adelaide. His brothers Boxer Ware and George J. Ware also played prominent roles in Adelaide’s hotel and brewing industries, including the management of the Exchange Hotel.

Mrs Rosa Ware

Breweries involved with Arthur Wellington Ware
Brewery		Started	Ended
	Torrenside Brewery	1886	1893
	Torrenside Brewery	1893	1896
	Torrenside Brewery	1896	1898
	Exchange Hotel	1898	1901
	South Cross Hotel	1901	1908