The Adelaide Club is an exclusive gentlemen's club situated on North Terrace in the

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...

n capital city of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. Founded in 1863, the club comprises members of the

Adelaide Establishment The Adelaide Establishment is the name given to the group of wealthy landowners and industrialists who have played a considerable role in the history of South Australia since its foundation in 1836. Based primarily in South Australia's capital Ad ...

South Australian Club (1838–1843)

An earlier club with similar aims and membership was the South Australian Club, founded in 1838, which purchased the Victoria Hotel from William Williams on Hindley Street for their premises. Members included Sturt, Morphett and

Fisher Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral. Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to: Places Australia *Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland *Elect ...

. Membership was by ballot; joining fee 10 gns., membership 2 gns. ''per annum''. It folded in 1843 after failing financially.

History and description

The club's headquarters are at the club house at 165 North Terrace in the

city centre A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...

. The club house was built in the same year as the club's establishment in 1864, after 14 prominent colonists, including John Baker, John Morphett and

Arthur Blyth Sir Arthur Blyth (19 March 1823 – 7 December 1891) was Premier of South Australia three times; 1864–65, 1871–72 and 1873–75. Early life The son of William Blyth and his wife, Sarah Wilkins, he was born at Birmingham, England on 21 ...

, raised £4000 for the building. The building was designed by one of the founding members,

Edward Angus Hamilton Edward Angus Hamilton (born 27 February 1831) was an architect and politician in colonial South Australia. Hamilton was the son of George Ernest Hamilton, a civil engineer, and arrived in South Australia on 5 December 1849. In April 1852 he bega ...

, and the club adopted the grass tree as their crest. The majority of the founding members were pastoralists, with a large number of businessmen, and there were many lawyers and government officials among them. Most were

Anglicans Anglicanism is a Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia ...

. In 1891 extensive additions were made to the rear. In 1980, the club house was listed on the now-defunct

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Herita ...

. Facilities include a library, mixed accommodation for members and reciprocal club members, dining rooms,

billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . There are three major subdivisions ...

room, function rooms and office facilities.Day, Chris. For whom the bell tolls. ''

City Messenger ''City Messenger'' is a weekly suburban newspaper in Adelaide, part of the Messenger Newspapers group. The ''City'' covers the Adelaide CBD and surrounding suburbs and has recently experimented with targeting public transport commuters, similar ...

'', 21 February 2008.

Equivalent women's club

The equivalent elite club for women, the

Queen Adelaide Club The Queen Adelaide Club is an exclusive women's club, similar to a gentlemen's club, in the South Australian capital city of Adelaide. It is named for Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, after whom the city of Adelaide was named. Founded in 1909, the c ...

, is located a short distance to the east along North Terrace.

Notable members

Members of the Adelaide Club have included: *

George Fife Angas George Fife Angas (1 May 1789 – 15 May 1879) was an English businessman and banker who, while residing in England, played a significant part in the formation and establishment of the Province of South Australia. He established the South Au ...

* John Howard Angas * Henry Ayers * John Baker * Robert Barr Smith *

* David Brookman *

Roy Burston Major General Sir Samuel Roy Burston, (21 March 1888 – 21 August 1960) was an Australian soldier, physician, and horse racing identity. The son of James Burston, a prominent Melbourne soldier and businessman, Burston graduated from the ...

* George W. Cotton * Darcy Rivers Warren Cowan *

Alexander Downer Alexander John Gosse Downer (born 9 September 1951) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 1995, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and High Commissioner to the United King ...

John Huxley and Maryann Stenberg, (26 May 1994), Meanwhile, The Adelaide Club Snores On, ''Sydney Morning Herald''
Retrieved 23 February 2016] * Lloyd Dumas * Thomas Elder *

William Everard William Everard may refer to: * Wiliam Everard (14th century MP) for Norwich (UK Parliament constituency) *William Everard (Digger) (c. 1602 – d. in or after 1651), early leader of the Diggers *William Everard (Victorian politician) (1869–1950 ...

James Hurtle Fisher Sir James Hurtle Fisher (1 May 1790 – 28 January 1875) was a lawyer and prominent South Australian pioneer. He was the first Resident Commissioner of the colony of South Australia, the first Mayor of Adelaide and the first resident Sou ...

* Michael Harbison * Edward Hamilton *

* George Hamilton * Walter Hughes * Walter Watson Hughes *

Roland Ellis Jacobs Sir Roland Ellis "Raoul" Jacobs (28 February 1891 – 28 June 1981) was a South Australian businessman, for many years at the head of South Australia's largest brewery and hotel chain, and an active supporter of many high-profile cultural, sporting ...

* Philip Levi * G. C. Ligertwood * Charles Mann *

George Mayo George Mayo (8 January 1807 – 16 December 1894) was a medical practitioner in the colony of South Australia. Dr. Mayo was born in England the fourth son of Rev. Joseph Mayo, M.A., of Ozleworth Church, Gloucestershire. He studied medicine at ...

Ian McLachlan Ian Murray McLachlan (born 2 October 1936) is a former Australian politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1990 to 1998, representing the Liberal Party. He was Minister for Defence in the Howard Government from ...

* John Morphett * Hugo Carl Emil Muecke *

Angas Parsons Sir Herbert Angas Parsons, KBE, KC (23 May 1872 – 2 November 1945), generally known as Sir Angas Parsons, was a Cornish Australian lawyer, politician and judge. Early life and education Parsons was born in North Adelaide on 23 May 1872, ...

* A. E. V. Richardson *

George Riddoch George Riddoch (10 August 1842 – 23 April 1919) was an Australian pastoralist and politician. He was a member of the South Australian House of Assembly from 1893 to 1896, representing Victoria, and a member of the South Australian Legislative ...

John Riddoch John Riddoch (27 October 1827 – 15 July 1901) was a pastoralist and politician in the State of South Australia, brother and business partner of George Riddoch. History Riddoch was born at Turriff, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and arrived in V ...

Arthur Rymill Sir Arthur Campbell Rymill (8 December 1907 – 27 March 1989) was a businessman, solicitor and Lord Mayor of Adelaide, South Australia. History Born in Adelaide, the son of businessman Arthur Graham Rymill (9 May 1868 – 10 September 1934) ...

* William John Sowden *

Samuel Tomkinson Samuel Tomkinson J.P. (25 April 1816 – 30 August 1900) was a South Australian banker and politician. He was a member of the South Australian Legislative Council from 1885 to 1894, representing Southern District, and from 1897 to 1900 represen ...

* William Wigley

References

External links

* Retrieved 15 January 2021.
Virtual Tour of the Club (requires Flash)

History
Buildings and structures in Adelaide 1863 establishments in Australia Organizations established in 1863 Organisations based in Adelaide Gentlemen's clubs in Australia South Australian places listed on the defunct Register of the National Estate Adelaide Establishment {{Australia-org-stub