Devonshire Arms, Fitzroy
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| Devonshire Arms Hotel | |
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| Established | 1843 |
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| Address | Fitzroy Street, Fitzroy, VIC 3068. |
The Devonshire Arms Hotel was a public house located in Fitzroy, in the state of Victoria, Australia.
[edit] History
The Devonshire Arms was located on Fitzroy Street, south of Gertrude Street. It opened in 1843, and although ceases to operate as a hotel, is currently Fitzroy's oldest surviving building. It is also Melbourne's oldest known extant hotel.
The hotel was erected and owned for 50 years by local entrepreneur Francis Clarke. Clarke had arrived in Melbourne in 1840, and became manager of James Palmer's lemonade & soda factory. He opened a butcher's shop near the corner of Bourke Street and Elizabeth Street in 1845, and later another shop in Richmond. He bought speculative property around Fitzroy and Alphington, and lived a prosperous life. Although he hailed from Essex, the hotel was given the name Devonshire Arms, owing to the pre-goldrush population of the area being principally from the south-west England.
The building is now part of St Vincent's Hospital.
