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Devenish's hotel
1830s, 10 James Street, Guildford
Tuckfield:
... in 1835 William Devenish started a brewery in conjunction with his inn at Guildford and advertised: 'because of the pureness of the water in his well, the best beer in the colony'. Tuckfield 1971: 73.
Hasluck:
A third inn was established by Mr. Devenish in James-street on the site now occupied by the residence of Mr. Clarke. The old inn originally comprised a pug building standing on the east side of the existing building and another detached pug building at the rear for bedrooms. It was famed for its beer because the water in the well sunk on the premises was supposed to be peculiarly suited to brewing. This inn was opened in 1840 and within a few months of its opening the Agricultural Society again transferred its favours and made it its meeting place. At these Agricultural Society meetings, it will be remembered, business was always followed by a dinner. Of the first meeting at Devenish’s it was reported that the gentlemen present were much pleased with the entertainment provided, which was on a most liberal scale. Hasluck, 1927: 8.
Note re Hasluck's reference to the Agricultural Society: it might be taken to have been the arbiter of taste as to what which was the best hotel in Guildford at any given time. It met first at 'George Williams’ inn at Garden Hill above the town’s public boat-landing place' (Bourke 1987: 114), then the Doddses' Cleikum Inn, then at Jones's hotel (possibly on the Woodbridge Hotel site) and then at Devenish's.
References and Links
Bourke, Michael J. 1987, On the Swan: a History of Swan District, Western Australia, UWAP for the Swan Shire Council.
Hasluck, Paul 1927, 'Guildford: 1827-1842', Early Days, vol. 1, part 2: 1-19.
Tuckfield, Trevor 1971, 'Early colonial inns and taverns', Part 1, Early Days: Journal and proceedings of the Royal Western Australian Historical Society, 7, 3: 65-82; Part 2, Early Days, 7, 7: 98-106.
The building at 10 James Street is shown for sale (in September 2021) on the Elders website, where the agent has provided some historical information.
"This enchanting 2-storey residence is steep[ed] in history with its origins dating back as early as 1830 and being the FIRST Hotel in Guildford (C1836 to C1896) with beers brewed on site and later being used as a School - forming the embryo of Guildford Grammar by Guildford Grammar's former Headmaster, Mr Bennett. ... 10 James Street Guildford is recognised as being the Former Liverpool Arms Hotel & Former Devenish Hotel - State Registered Place No: 04092."
A 14Mb document called the City of Swan Heritage List Place Record Forms (2017) is available from a link on this page. It shows on pp. 125 ff. a detailed entry for this hotel.
First image from Elders website. Second from Google Maps.
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 22 August, 2020 and hosted at freotopia.org/hotels/devenish.html (it was last updated on 28 November, 2023), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.