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Hotel:Carringbush Hotel
226 Langridge Street,
Abbotsford 3067
Australia
Map It
Abbotsford
The Carringbush Hotel (1984 - 2024)
Langridge Family Hotel (1870 - 1889), Friendly Societies Hotel (1889 - 1984)
226 Langridge Street,
Abbotsford 3067
Australia
Map It
1869/1870
N/A
Hotel ceased operating June 2024
1889
N/A
N/A
Part B, pp.309-310
N/A
Individually significant within HO 313
Kearney 1855: N ; Hodgkinson 1858: N ; MMBW: Detail Plan 1312, 1901
The Langridge Family Hotel first occupied this site, with John Grant as licensee for the whole of its life. The Friendly Societies Hotel was built in 1889, designed by architect James Wood, and originally incorporated a shop on the Langridge Street frontage (later the dining area). The owner and publican of the new building, William Nicholls, was a member of six friendly societies as well as being a Freemason and the hotel had a large room (40 feet by 18 feet) for lodge meetings.
“We paid a visit to the Friendly Societies Hotel... and found that brother Nicholls has done his best to provide accommodation for lodges. It is a splendid building from floor to roof. Electric bells and speaking tubes are fitted in the lodge-room, and raised platforms have been erected for the officers. We hope soon to hear that some of our lodges have moved to these commodious premises... a smoke night will be held this evening.”
( The Oddfellow, 2 December 1889, p.11)
The smoke night was reported on in the 6 January 1890 issue, and seemed to consist mainly of the singing of a great many songs, the name of each song, and the singer, being listed.
Nicholls spent the next ten years as the publican and was also an active member of the Licensed Victuallers' Association, serving as committee member or Vice-president. The hotel's current name 'Carringbush' is taken from Frank Hardy's novel Power without glory, in which the author used the term as a fictitious name for Collingwood.
Around 2018 the Carringbush was taken over by a company, FNB Hotel Pty Ltd, which went into liquidation from 4 June 2024, citing excessive costs. However, this had been preceded by disputes between the owner and the tenants.