The Green Dragon Brewery

The Green Dragon Brewery

Chambers and Blades Brewery Ltd was founded in 1871 by F.J. Blades with his Brothers-in-law, William and Charles Chambers.

Chambers and Blades bought the Green Dragon Hotel, The Tanner’s Arms in Unley and the Queens Head Hotel and South Australian Hotel (of which they paid 28, 500 pounds for the freehold lease) in Adelaide. The men also owned vacant land on Surflen Street, Adelaide.

The Green Dragon Brewery located behind the hotel was first occupied by Chambers and Blade Brewers Ltd. who used the building until 1901.
Green Dragon Brewery was merged with the Walkerville Co-operative Brewing Company in 1901. William Chambers remained on the board of the new company as did Frederick Blades.

For the following six years the former Green Dragon Brewery building remained empty until, in 1907, it was taken over by Richard Mitchell & Co. Carriers. In 1916, the Adelaide Motor Bus Company used the building for storage of its double-decker buses for a year. From 1917, Richard Mitchell & Co. again used the large building for storage.
In 1926 a fire broke out in the old building gutting much of the building.
In 1931 the building was offered for sale.

Green Dragon Brewery 1901

SLSA: [PRG 631/2/1241]

In 1952, the Green Dragon Brewery building still stood as a local landmark. It was noted in The News, that the buildings name had influenced local nomenclature with a Green Dragon Furniture Storage House operating nearby, and a new Green Dragon Service Station, operated by ex-servicemen about to open.

Mr Frederick James Blades (1829 - 1895) came to South Australia in 1849 from Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. Blades married Mary Chambers (1846 –1925) in 1869.

Blades died at his estate, “Lyndhurst” on South Terrace on 16 November 1895, aged 65. He left a wife and seven children. F.J. Blades is buried in West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide.

Charles Chambers (1843-1877) and William Chambers (1849-1930) were sons of John Chambers, a wealthy pastoralist and mining speculator who had stations at Cherry Gardens, Cobdogla, and near present-day Renmark and mining interests near Blinman.

Charles was married for only four years to Mary Ransford (1849-1925) before his death in 1877. The pair had one child, Edgar, who managed the West End Brewery in Broken Hill. Charles died at his sheep station at Brimbago (near Keith). Mount Charles (near Keith) and Charles Creek (near Alice Springs) were named in Charles honour. Charles and Mary Chambers are buried at the North Road Cemetery, Nailsworth.

William Chambers was born at Cherry Gardens. He was educated at Young’s School, and later at St Peters College before working on one of his father's many cattle stations. He married Clara Bailey (1854-1937) in 1877. Together they had three children. William retired in 1912 due to his failing health. William died at his home on Fitzroy Terrace, Thorngate in 1930, aged 80. William and Clara Chambers are buried in the North Road Cemetery, Nailsworth.


Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2019

Sources:


'Advertising', South Australian Register, (27 August 1877), p. 2

'Advertising', The Advertiser, (5 July 1937), p. 12.

Ancestry.com. Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

'ASSIGNMENT.', Evening Journal, (25 September 1872), p. 2.

'BIG CITY PROPERTY TO BE AUCTIONED', Advertiser and Register, 20 June 1931, p. 10.

'Death Of Mr W. Chambers, Pioneer Brewer', The Register News-Pictorial, (24 May 1930), p. 22.

Donovan, Marsden & Stark, City of Adelaide Heritage Survey 1982, Adelaide City Archives.

'Family Notices', Evening Journal, (20 November 1895), p. 2.

'FIRE IN ADELAIDE.', Recorder, (22 November 1926), p. 4.

'OBITUARY', The Advertiser, (24 May 1930), p. 17.

Roberts, Mick, Early taverns of South Australia, Time Gents, (21 August 2017), https://timegents.com/2017/08/21/early-taverns-of-south-australia/

'THE LATE MR. F. J. BLADES.', The Express and Telegraph, (18 November 1895), p. 3.

'The odd spot', News, (15 August 1952), p. 3.