Heritage of the City of

ADELAIDE CLUB

164-167 North Terrace

Thomas Worsnop, town clerk of the Corporation of the City of Adelaide between 1869 and 1898, described the Adelaide Club as wielding a power in the political arena, and '. . . deemed to be par excellence the resort of merchants, squatters and country gentlemen'. Since its erection in 1863-64, this building has represented the male gentry of South Australian society who controlled South 's mercantile, political and rural political and rural pursuits. Most of 's 'great capitalists' were members. Robert Barr Smith, Sir , David Murray, Joseph Fisher, J. H. Angas, Andrew Tennant, and Peter Waite were members and associated with each other in organisations such as Elder, Smith & Co., the Bank of Adelaide, and the Adelaide Steamship Company. The club has been the host to men who have held the majority of capital in the colony and has provided a meeting place for negotiations and business transactions. The building is highly significant, therefore, because of the part it has played by association in the development of South Australia.

The building was sponsored by a group of mainly English and Scottish merchants, professionals and farmers. Only a few of them, according to Van Dissel, ' . . . would have been considered 'gentry' in Great Britain, but they prospered during the general economic expansion of the Colonial period, thereby establishing [themselves and] their families as the ruling class of South Australia'. These families, some of whose antecedents had been devout and militant non-conformists, often became traditionally Anglican and further increased their coherence by intermarriage or through social and business ties fostered by membership of the club.

Blewett and Jaensch described the Adelaide gentry as a resilient group who 'progressed' from being political, economic and religious innovators and non-conformists in the broadest sense to being traditional and conservative political, economic and social leaders who ' . . . hankered after the days of Victorian England' and who ' . . . fought to preserve a nineteenth century constitution, a hierarchical social order and a laissez-faire economy'. The building and its associations are now rather more affectionately seen as representing the Adelaide 'establishment'.

The formation of clubs in South Australia was generally patterned on the British institution of Corporation social clubs for men which multiplied to a very of the City of Adelaide, great extent during the reign of Queen . The first South Australian club was formed in 1838, but was declared bankrupt during the disastrous economic depression of the early 1840s.

Finally, on 2 July 1863, the Adelaide Club was formed. Building plans were prepared by the architects G. & E. Hamilton. The site, 'part of Dr Everard's acre' cost £2000 and a building estimate of £6000 was reported. This building, which is similar to Barry’s Travellers' Club in London, is a monument to the resilience of the club's founders.

Located opposite Government House, Register of 20 January 1864 reported that it ' . . . will present a somewhat imposing elevation . . . the walls will be of

 Corporation of the City of Adelaide Heritage of the City of Adelaide picked Dry Creek stone with brick dressings, moulded bricks being used for the strings, window-heads etc . . . '. The foundations and basement storey were built by English and Brown, the contractor for the completion of the building being William Lines. The amount of the contract was £6280.

# B E AC 1 1# D:\P H O TO _C D \IM AG E S \IM G 0 00 4.P C D 634 33 04 13 98 2 869 45 50 93 869 45 50 93 P B4 0 9 44 353 248 0

(CD Ref 3982/4)

Between 1866 and 1890 various additions and improvements were made to the building including completion of finishes to the top floor in 1875 and stabilisation due to subsidence caused by the construction of the adjacent Bank of building in 1886. In 1890 substantial additions were made at the rear of the building to the design of English & Soward, Grainger & Naish, joint architects.

Since this time few major alterations appear to have taken place, although the cantilevered balcony has been shortened. The building remains historically and architecturally one of the most significant structures in South Australia embodying the confidence and aspirations of Adelaide's influential elite. It was a substantial building for its time, and remains an important element of the major townscape of North Terrace.

#B E AC 11 # D :\P H O TO _C D \IM AG E S \IM G 01 00.P C D 63 4330 4139 74 86 9623 550 86 9623 550 P B 4 0 5 22 38 2 23 9 0

(CD Ref 3974/100)

ACA, Digest of Proceedings, 24 June 1889; Angas, H., 'The Adelaide Club' (unpublished paper), 1980; Blewett, N., & Jaensch, D., Playford to Dunstan: politics of transition, 1971, p. 9; Morgan, E.J.R., The Adelaide Club 1863-1963, 1963, p. 1 and passim; Morgan, E.J.R., & Gilbert, S.H., Early Adelaide architecture 1836 to 1886, 1969, pp. 4, 14, 115; MLSA,

 Corporation of the City of Adelaide Heritage of the City of Adelaide

Historical photographs (Town Acre 17), RN 582, SRG 104; Pike, D., Paradise of dissent, 1967, p. 105; South Australian Register, 17, 22 September 1863, 20 January 1864, 4 January 1865, 24 November 1875, 25 November 1886, 23 April 1888, 4 April 1890; Van Dissel, D., 'The Adelaide gentry 1880-1915 - a study of a colonial upper class', MA thesis, University of , 1973.

The text in this Information Sheet was copied from the Heritage of the City of Adelaide: An Illustrated Guide, (1996). The photographs contained in this Information Sheet are a selection of those held by Heritage Services, in digital format.

The property described in this Information Sheet is included in the Register of State Heritage places. A heritage listing does not mean or imply right of access by the public to such properties.

The heritage related Principles of Development Control as well as the Precinct specific objectives and Principles of Development Control are contained in the Adelaide (City) Development Plan. These should be referred to in whole when contemplating any development. Further information on the Heritage Incentives Scheme, an initiative of Council to sponsor timely and appropriate conservation action is available upon request of the Customer Service Centre.

 Corporation of the City of Adelaide Heritage of the City of Adelaide

Image scanned - not to stated scale. This Curtilage Map has been prepared as a guide only and no warranty or assurance is given about the accuracy of the content as it may contain obsolete information. The Corporation excludes all liability [including for negligence] in relation to your use of these documents.

 Corporation of the City of Adelaide Heritage of the City of Adelaide

 Corporation of the City of Adelaide