Elphinstone Hotel
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The Elphinstone Hotel is an Australian pub located in Elphinstone, Victoria, originally named the Commercial Hotel and known over the years as Lonsdale’s Hotel, Doran’s Hotel and Tagell’s Hotel.
In the 1840s Elphinstone was known as Sawpit Gully and was renamed in the early 1800s. Built c. 1860 and first commercially licensed by Sarah Fyans in 1871. In 1875 Sarah Fyans married Friedrick Richard Lonsdale and the licence transferred to him until his death in 1889.
Sarah Lonsdale owned the hotel until approximately 1905 when it was purchased by Newman & Co. Members of Sarah’s family ran the hotel until 1921, (50 years) except for 4 ½ years when it was leased to Joseph Archer. In 1922 a public telephone and exchange were located there as well as a store, which operated from the present day lounge until the 1960s, when it was moved to the newly built Elphinstone Post Office.
Before refrigeration, the hotel cellar was used to store the bodies of deceased locals before burial. Inquests were also held at the hotel.
From the 1920s to the 1950s publicans struggled to make a living from the hotel and by 1955 the hotel was literally falling down. When the Victorian Licensing Board threatened to revoke the licence a group of local graziers (Jim Barty, Alf Fletcher, Alan Finning, Ringan Oliver, Ian MacRae and Louis Smith), fearing the town would die if the hotel closed, pooled 500 pounds each to purchase the freehold and renovate the hotel.