Entrance Staircase

Location: Entrance staircase across a threshold of history.

Imagine the dust, heat and clatter of gold rush Ballarat. Fortune-seekers arrive from across the world as a pastoral landscape becomes a bustling settlement. In 1853, gold miners George Howe and Francis Herring secure a licence and open the wooden George Inn: Ballarat’s second licensed venue. By May 1854, central Ballarat already has 22 hotels.

Crossing this threshold meant finding a meal, a drink, a bed and company. Miners, pioneers, businesspeople and authorities gathered to exchange news, conduct business and debate the issues of the day. This pioneer site has offered more than 170 years of continuous hospitality.

In late 1854, tensions over mining licences and colonial authority reached breaking point during the Eureka Rebellion. The George Inn served as a rendezvous point for civil and military authorities. Eliza Hannah Forster, wife of publican Charles Forster, had arrived in Ballarat in 1853 and lived through these stirring times as a hostess at the hotel.

The inn also helped a community organise itself. Regional groups formed here, including the Agricultural Society and the first Coursing Club in 1856. Its rooms became gathering places for the ambitions of a growing city.

Pause beside the grand staircase. Major fires in the 1980s extensively damaged parts of the dining room and rear wing, but important original features, including this staircase, survived. Careful restoration preserved the building’s character. Imagine craftspeople studying old photographs, repairing timberwork and recreating damaged plasterwork so these spaces could welcome guests again.

The George’s heritage value lies in both surviving original fabric and faithful restoration. Its significance is recognised on the Victorian Heritage Register as VHR H0113. Look closely at the joinery and mouldings: history is also the work of preserving, rebuilding and caring for what remains.

Generations have carried that responsibility. Alongside the early publicans, the hotel’s custodians included the Lauders and Delaney, whose stewardship continued until 1998. Gary and Jan Browning took over that year; Lawrence and Kerryn Gallager also form part of its continuing ownership story. Each generation has helped the hotel adapt while keeping its welcome alive.