In 1861 Thomas Freeman opened a coaching inn on the west side of Heidelberg Road in Alphington. The hotel served travellers moving to and from the Plenty Valley and was one of several hotels in very close proximity.
In 1864 35 year old Joseph Foulkes arrived at Alphington Hotel as the new publican, bring his wife Abigail and their family. Foulkes was to stay there until his death in November 1874.
The Licensing Board was very tolerant of women publicans and Joseph’s wife Abigail became the next licensee. She was to remain there until 1902. After the departure of the Foulkes family and nearly forty years of stability, there seemed a never ending stream of publicans moving through the hotel. Many of these were women and included Mary Senior, Mrs Pearson, Mrs Cochrane and Mrs Brennan.
During the 1960s and 70s A. C. Toussaint was to become the resident publican, finally providing a degree of stability to the hotel. It was not to last, and in the 1980s the hotel was purchased by Dan Murphy. The hotel was then demolished and replaced with Dan Murphy Cellars which still operates from the same site.
- Cole, Robert K. Index of Hotels 1841 – 1949. (Manuscript)
- Darebin Libraries. Local History File: Hotels.
- Edge, Gary. Surviving the six o’clock swill: a history of Darebin’s hotels. Melbourne. Darebin Libraries. 2004.
