Searching for C. J. Dennis' pubs in Adelaide A hundred years ago South Australian-born C. J. Dennis, author of The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke (1915), The Moods of Ginger Mick (1916), Doreen (1917) and The Glugs of Glosh (1917) and others, was arguably Australia's most popular and best known poet. For most of his adult life, "Den" was also known to his close acquaintances to enjoy a drink...or two...or three.., as he himself wrote, "quaffing long and quaffing often" ["A Ridiculous Request", The Gadfly, 14 February 1906] From Dennis' biographies such as Dr Philip Butterss' recent, An Unsentimental Bloke: the life and work of C. J. Dennis (Wakefield Press, 2014) we know something of his drinking habits while he was in Adelaide. We know that, by this time, he was a heavy, binge drinker, indulging in frequent and often prolonged "absences without leave" that Dennis could not later recall. We know that, although he most likely drank in pubs, he often drank alone or at least not in the company of his close friends and colleagues. We know that he preferred whisky, beer and stout (in that order) to rum or wine. And, thanks to a note that he wrote to his friend and colleague, A. E. ("Archie") Martin probably in 1906, we know that Dennis sought inspiration or solace or temporary sanctuary from his demons in a drink or two, or three... and that he definitely did so at Tattersall's Hotel, on the corner of Hindley Street and Gilbert Place and now known as The Little Pub. Dennis lived in Adelaide continuously from 1898 to 1907, residing with his aunts in Norwood, but working in what had by then become the central business district, in the north-central part of Adelaide. He was employed as a journalist and then editor on The Critic ('A' on the map below or in a new window), from 1898 to 1899 and again from 1901 to 1906 and he was co-founder and editor of The Gadfly (B) from early 1906 until he moved to Melbourne at the end of 1907. At this time, the city boasted about 120 pubs, concentrated largely in the same area, and, as Pat Sumerling has written, ranging from respectable family accommodation to traditional 'local' pubs to insalubrious dives that offered whatever distractions customers could afford. Like anyone who lived or worked in the city, Dennis was certainly not limited in his choice of where he drank; he was likely to have preferred pubs that were, primarily, close to where he worked or conducted business or were near tram stops or cab ranks. In addition to proximity, he was likely to have frequented pubs that reflected his interests in sport, literature, the theatre and music and moderate left-wing politics, as well as his 'bohemian' lifestyle. David Low's caricature of C. J. Dennis as a "Bloke", nd Note from C. J. Dennis to A. E. Martin, nd but est 1906 [Source: Josef Lebovic Gallery, accessed 13 September 2019; click for enlargement or full transcript] Tattersall's held other attractions for Dennis and its other patrons. Replacing the old and very dilapidated Blenheim Hotel, the hotel had been completely rebuilt in 1900-1901 and offered all modern conveniences as well as first-class accommodation. Dennis and his colleagues at especially The Gadfly would have also been well known to the management of the pub; the hotel advertised modestly but consistently in the magazine as did the South Australian Brewing Company which held the lease on the hotel property. "The Gadfly Group", October 1906 Left to right: A E ("Archie") Martin, Bill Donald, Beaumont ("Beau") Smith, C J Dennis, Percy Bird, Geoff Burgoyne [Source: Josef Lebovic Gallery, accessed 13 September 2019] When Dennis lived in Adelaide, at least 23 other pubs shared the qualities that would have attracted him to the Tattersall's: proximity, professional and personal interests and some sort of direct connection. From this we can deduce what other pubs Dennis might well have patronised. These are listed and plotted on the map below (or in a new window). Seventeen of the 24 pubs were conveniently close to Dennis' two places of work in north-central Adelaide, 9 of them within a city block (approximately 130 metres) of the offices of The Critic (represented by the blue circle on the map) and 15 of them an equally easy walk from The Gadfly (the yellow circle). Seven were outside these areas, but by only a few steps. In addition, all but one of the pubs (South Australian, 24) were within a city block of tram stops — at the major intersections along King William, Grenfell and Wakefield Streets — for the Kensington and the Marryatville lines on which Dennis would have travelled to and from his residence at his aunts' place in Edwards Street, Norwood. Of course Dennis might well have walked or taken a cab, but his trip home would have started temptingly close to the same 24 pubs.

The Brookman Building (A), offices of The Critic [SLSA PRG-631-2-1428] The Bowman Building (B), offices of The Gadfly The Gadfly was at the back of the building, off Gilbert Place. [SLSA PRG 631/2/374]

King William Street, looking south from the corner with Hindley Street, about 1909 The offices of The Gadfly were in the Bowman Building (B), in mid-distance on the right side of the photograph; Lewis' Southern Cross Hotel (13) is clearly visible towards the left and the Imperial (12) is in the centre of the photograph. Click the image for enlargement in a new window. [SLSA B4462] It is interesting to compare this with a photograph of King William Street in about 1920 and showing Noonan's Southern Cross Hotel on the left, the Bowman Building on the right and a lot of congestion in between. Similarly, at least three of the pubs were on what must have been well trodden paths between the offices of The Critic (A) and Vardon and Pritchard's, its printer/publisher and proprietor - the Imperial (12), the Southern Cross (13) and the Exchange (3) or the Norfolk (15), the Red Lion (14) and the Exchange (3) - and between the offices of The Gadfly (B) and its printer, Hussey and Gillingham's (D), - the White Horse (8) or the United Service Club (9). There were four pubs between The Gadfly (B) and Tyrell's Bookshop (H) where Dennis and his 'bohemian' friends are known to have congregated - the Imperial (12), the Napoleon (11), the Clarence (10) and the Selborne (17). Dennis' involvement in the paper of the Catholic Young Men's Club (I) would have taken him passed many of the same pubs. It is likely that Dennis and his 'bohemian' friends were also attracted to the theatrical and other distractions offered by the three nearby theatres or music-halls that were integrated with pubs: the Theatre Royal Hotel (4) and Theatre Royal (E), the Clarence Hotel (10) and Tivoli Theatre (F) and, a little further away but on the tram route to Norwood, the Sturt Arcade (20) and Queen's Hall (G). It is known that Percy Bird, the business manager of The Gadfly, was charmed by one or more actresses at 'The Tiv' and might well have entertained them and his colleagues at the Clarence (10). In any case, Dennis and other staff at both The Critic and The Gadfly critically reviewed theatrical and musical performances and printed stories about and photographs of performers and would have therefore attended these three theatres and presumably the pubs attached to them.

Plan of the Theatre Royal Hotel (4) and Theatre (E), 1913 From about the 1850s it was not uncommon for hotels to incorporate a meeting room, dance hall or theatre. However, several hotels were integrated closely with theatres; these were typically owned and licensed by the same person.

Theatre Royal Hotel (4) and Theatre Royal (E), about 1881 At this time, the Theatre Royal Hotel hosted the Tattersalls Club. [SLSA B2910]

The Clarence Hotel (10) & Tivoli Theatre (F) about 1909 Click the image for enlargement in a new window. [SLSA B1798] Queen's Hall (G) [left] and Sturt (Arcade) Hotel (20) [right], 1924 Click the image for enlargement in a new window. [SLSA B2242]

As with the theatre pubs and given his early interest in cricket and tennis, Dennis might well have enjoyed a drink in one or more of the recognized 'sportmen's' hotels. These were likely places to source the sporting and horse-racing news and gossip published in the magazines. Two of these were within a city block of Dennis' workplaces: the United Service (Club) Hotel (9) which at the time claimed to be "The Sporting House of South Australia" and the Globe (23) which was a well-recognised 'sportsman's' pub. Both of these pubs advertised, modestly but consistently, in The Gadfly.

The United Service Club Hotel, 1893 This hotel is now the Hotel Ambassadors. Click the image for enlargement in a new window. [SLSA PRG631/2/1284]

The Globe Hotel (23), 1893 The Globe was established in 1845 and demolished in 1909. South Australia's first football club, the Adelaide Football Club, was founded in the Globe in 1860. Click the image for enlargement in a new window. [SLSA PRG631/2/440] Tellingly, at least until Dennis left Adelaide, a significant majority of the 24 pubs within a city block or so of either of his workplaces advertised in one or both of the magazines, suggesting that, as chief editor, Dennis would have been personally acquainted with the pubs, their management and their staff. The Critic did advertise hotels, although these were few, infrequent and were generally more 'advertorials' for respectable, new or recently upgraded establishments such as the South Australian (24) rather than simple adverts for 'local' pubs; (the hotels that advertised in The Critic are shown with '*' below). Moreover, the proprietor of The Critic, Joseph Vardon MP, was a temperance advocate and, therefore, unlikely to encourage drinking in ordinary city pubs. However, a cursory survey of advertisements in The Gadfly suggests, firstly, that pubs represented about a half of the number of advertisements in the magazine especially when Dennis was its editor and, secondly and most significantly, that about three quarters of these pubs were located within or close to two city blocks of the offices of The Gadfly and Dennis' tram routes to Norwood. These included the Tattersalls (1), the White Hart (2), the Exchange (3) the Theatre Royal (4), the Eagle Tavern (5), the White Horse (8), the United Service Club (9), the Imperial (12), the Southern Cross (13), the Red Lion* (14), the Norfolk (15), the Criterion (18), the Freemasons (19), the Sir John Barleycorn (21), the Hamburg* (22), the Globe (23) and the South Australian* (24). There were few pubs that advertised regularly in The Gadfly and that were not a short walk from Dennis' workplaces: the King's Head, the Bijou, the York and the Botanic in the city, the Globe in Hindmarsh, the Railway in Port Adelaide and the Imperial in Orroroo (which "Archie" referred to as "Horroroo"). Both the Imperial in Orroroo, 1906–1911, and, the Kings Head, 1904–1908 were licensed by "Archie" Martin's father, George.

Dennis' last drink in Adelaide? [The Gadfly, 6 November 1907]

Identifying Dennis' pubs Of course Dennis could have satisfied his need for a drink or two or three in any of the 120 or so pubs in Adelaide or in any other suburban pub, perhaps closer to home at the Norwood Hotel or, suffering from asthma, at the Ramsgate Hotel at Henley Beach. Without direct evidence, and therefore with the exception of Tattersall's Hotel, we simply don't know and can only speculate which pubs Dennis visited regularly and why he chose to drink in some pubs and not others. The twenty four pubs nominated here as possible Dennis haunts represent a fairly typical range of the sorts of pubs in Adelaide at that time; there appears to be nothing inherent about the pubs themselves that might have attracted Dennis to drink in any one of them. Based on those extrinsic factors discussed above — proximity to work places and transport, Dennis' professional and personal interests and some sort of connection with pub management or staff — my personal guesses for Dennis' most likely pubs, as well as the Tattersall's (1), are: the Southern Cross (13), the Imperial (12), the Exchange (3) the Theatre Royal (4) the Eagle Tavern (5), the Kings Head as a special case and the Railway Hotel at Port Adelaide (see Why the Railway Hotel...). The Southern Cross Hotel (13), about 1913 [SLSA B757] The Exchange Hotel (3), c1920 [SLSA B27843] The Imperial Hotel (12), about 1910 [Private collection] The Eagle Tavern (5), c1903 [SLSA B8584] Sadly, of Dennis' 24 probable city pubs, all but four have been demolished. Of these, the Eagle Tavern (5) is now a MacDonald's outlet and the Southern Cross (13) is a backpackers' hostel. The United Services Club Hotel (9), now Ambassadors Hotel and Function Rooms, is still a licensed public house but concentrates on gaming and functions. Ironically, then, of the 24, the only pub that Dennis would recognise as a pub in which he enjoyed a drink or two is the Tattersall's Hotel. Dennis' pubs: the map Location of (possible) Dennis-related pubs in Adelaide, 1900–1907 The background map is the north-central part of Robert Frearson's plan of Adelaide "showing tram system", published in about 1906 and therefore contemporary with Dennis' time working on The Critic and The Gadfly in Adelaide. Frearson's map shows hotels as small black rectangles, twenty-four of which (numbered red circles) are possible Dennis-related pubs using the criteria explained above. [SLSA C296]

Tattersalls White Hart Exchange Theatre Royal Eagle Black Horse Wellington White Horse United Services Club Clarence Napoleon Imperial Southern Cross Red Lion Norfolk Young Queen Selborne Criterion Freemasons Sturt Sir John Barleycorn Hamburg Globe South Australian Brookman's Building: offices of The Critic Bowman Building: offices of The Gadfly Offices of Vardon & Pritchard, printer/publishers of The Critic D. Offices of Hussey & Gillingham, printer/publishers of The Gadfly E. Theatre Royal F. Tivoli Theatre ("The Tiv") G. Queen's Hall H. Tyrell's Bookshop I. Catholic Young Men's clubroom J. Wondergraph picture theatre, 1913–1977, where The Sentimental Bloke (silent movie) was shown for the first time in November 1918

South-eastern end of Hindley Street, about 1920 Tattersalls Hotel (1) is in the centre of the photograph, its iconic turret clearly visible; the White Hart (2) is to the left, the Exchange (3) on the far right and the Wondergraph picture theatre (J), with its cupolas, is between the Tattersalls and the White Hart. Click the image for enlargement in a new window. [SLSA B4475] Posted: 25 September 2019. Original content © Craig Hill 2019. Why The Railway Hotel, Port Adelaide?

The Railway Hotel, Port Adelaide, c.1925 [SLSA B-28690/243] At about 14km and about an hour by steam train from Adelaide's central business district, the Railway Hotel at Port Adelaide might seem to be an unlikely contender as one of Dennis' pubs. However, that the pub was one of the very few well outside of the city to advertise in the magazine, modestly but regularly for the period of Dennis' editorship, and that the magazine was unlikely to appeal to the pub's mostly working-class clientele implies a stronger association between The Gadfly and therefore Dennis and The Railway Hotel. There are two such possible connections: the Gattorna family and Dennis' growing interest in a uniquely Australian voice in our literature. From 1906 to 1909, the proprietor of the Railway Hotel was Lino Gattorna, "late of Broken Hill" where he was, amongst other occupations, the licensee of the Imperial Hotel (?–1897) and the Tydvil Hotel (1900?–1906?). He was therefore in Broken Hill at the time, 1900–1901, that Dennis tramped from Laura to the Silver City and worked at various occupations. It is possible that Dennis was well acquainted with Gattorna and, since it was one of the few trades of which he had any real experience, might well have even worked for him as a barman in the Tydvil. Such a pre-existing relationship might explain why a pub such as The Railway would advertise in a magazine such as The Gadfly. Gattorna and his family moved to South Australia in 1903, possibly so that his son, "Johnny", could complete his education at Christian Brothers College, coincidentally the same school that Dennis attended. Even more coincidentally, in 1910 Lino Gattorna licensed the Southern Cross Hotel (13) and in 1913 John Gattorna licensed the Tattersall's (1); by this time, of course, Dennis had left for Melbourne. Although The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke was not published until more than a decade later, by at least as early as the end of 1903 Dennis had started writing poetry with the distinctive Australian working-class male voice that characterised his major works. In November 1903 The Bulletin printed "'Urry" which seems to be the first poem in which 'CJD' used Australianese slang, dropped initial letters, phonetic spelling etc. Dennis continued developing this style in poems in The Gadfly, such as "'Ot", published in just the second edition of the magazine on 21 February 1906. The connection between the Railway Hotel and Dennis' poetry is highly speculative. However, Dennis' new idiom, the vernacular of Bill, "The Bloke's", local pub off Lonsdale Street in Melbourne, was more likely the language of the Railway Hotel at Port Adelaide than of most hotels in Adelaide's central business district. And although there is absolutely no direct evidence that he drank at the pub, let alone that he penned his idiosyncratic poetry while propped up at the bar, Dennis might well have been attracted to the 'low', working-class culture that he found at the Railway Hotel. Posted: 25 September 2019. Original content © Craig Hill 2019.