638 Queensberry Street

The Butcher ‘s Arms 1869-1876, renamed Thorn’s Hotel 1876-1881, renamed The Young Australian Hotel [12] 1881-1911, renamed North Melbourne Club Hotel 1911-1912, closed as a hotel in 1912, now used as a commercial building.

The building

For over 40 years, various hotels on this site attracted custom and a clientele that changed with the times. The original building had a street frontage of 33 feet (about I0 metres) and was of brick on dressed bluestone foundations with a right of way from Little Provost Street. The old pub building lurks behind the more recent brick facade.

The name

Pubs with ‘Arms’ in their names reflect Australia’s English heritage. English villages were frequently associated with the coat of arms of the lord of the manor and so were their pubs. Later, some pubs used the names of craft guilds that met on their premises and also had coats of arms. The original connections faded but the use of ‘Arms’ in the names of hotels remained.

In North Melbourne we have had the Volunteer Arms, the Munster Arms (Munster is one of the four provinces of Ireland). The Staffordshire Arms (Staffordshire is an English county. Stafford is close to Manchester), the King’s Arms, the Butcher’s, the Carrier’s and the Builders’ Arms.

In keeping with this naming tradition, in 2000 the Robert Peel Hotel in Peel Street was rebadged as The Keeper’s Arms.

Historic Pubs of North Melbourne by Hotham History Project.