Keilor in Brimbank, Victoria, Australia — Oceania

Keilor Hotel

1849

— Keilor Heritage Walk —

Keilor Hotel Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Dean Barton-Ancliffe, August 27, 2026

1. Keilor Hotel Marker

Inscription. Keilor Hotel, established in 1849 by James Mitchell, was known then as the Galway Arms Tavern. In 1854, after selling it to an Englishman, James Smith, the name changed to the Red Lion. Mathew Goudie purchased the hotel in 1862 for the sum of £1000 and renamed it the Keilor Hotel. The Gold Rush period of the 1850s meant a prosperous time for the innkeepers along the Mt. Alexander Road, now the Calder Highway. William Kelly, a traveller in 1853, described his coach trip to 'the diggings' and his breakfast stop at the Keilor Hotel. He was amazed at the size of the enormous steaks being served. These he never tasted because they were grabbed from the plates while being brought from the kitchen to the dining room. Troopers, who were sent from Melbourne in late 1854 to quell the Eureka Stockade uprising, stopped here. Only the officers were accommodated inside the tavern. The troops had to sleep under the drays outside. Ownership has been retained within the one family since 1862.

Keilor Hotel Licensees

Galway Arms: James Mitchell - 1849

Red Lion: James Smith - 1854, Mary Ellis - 1861.

Keilor Hotel: Mathew Goudie

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- 1862, Jane Goudie - 1895, Peter Linstedt - 1907, Kate Allen - 1911, Annie Seuling, Elise Bonnell, Mary Allingham - 1916, Alice Lambert, Eleanor Gibbs, Grace Fawkner - 1918, John Allen, Edward O'Farrell - 1919, Leslie Anderson - 1920, Richard Coleman, Catherine Fewster - 1922, Julian Carter, John Rice - 1923, William Richards, Edward Manning, Lillian Yardley - 1924, Edward Manning - 1925, Eric Richards -1926, Roy Crawford - 1927, Ida Ragan, Charles Grey - 1929, Stuart McMahon - 1932, Herbert O'Loughin -1933, Peter Peace- 1934, Molly Murphy - 1935, John Walsh - 1936, Bernard King - 1938, Rachel King - 1944, Jessie Foster - 1945, George Browne - 1947, Eric Baker - 1948, Geoffrey Basham - 1950, Albert Barwick - 1951, Martin Kenny - 1952, Frank Banks - 1959, Ray Dodd - 1974.

Erected 1991 by Keilor Historical Society. (Marker Number 6.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Colonial Era • Industry & Commerce. A significant historical year for this entry is 1849.

Location. 37° 43.197′ S, 144° 50.205′ E. Marker is in Keilor, Victoria, in Brimbank. It is at the intersection of Old Calder Highway and Hunter

Keilor Hotel Marker beside the side fence image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Dean Barton-Ancliffe, August 27, 2026

2. Keilor Hotel Marker beside the side fence

Street, on the left when traveling east on Old Calder Highway. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 670 Old Calder Highway, Keilor VIC 3036, Australia. Touch for directions.

Regionally, it is in Oceania,

in Australasia,

in the Pacific Ocean,

in South Pacific,

on the Pacific Rim,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once a British colony.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 10 kilometers of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Old Iron Bridge (approx. 0.3 kilometers away); St Augustine’s (approx. one kilometer away); Keilor Cemetery (approx. 1.6 kilometers away); Overnewton (approx. 2.1 kilometers away); Woodlands Historic Park (approx. 9.2 kilometers away); Hume and Hovell - 100 Year Memorial Marker (approx. 9.3 kilometers away); Bulla War Memorial (approx. 9.7 kilometers away); Former Bulla Shire Hall (approx. 9.7 kilometers away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Keilor.

Also see . . . Keilor Hotel. Wikipedia

The Keilor Hotel is an Old Colonial Georgian-style single storey bluestone building with a slate
Photographed by Dean Barton-Ancliffe, August 27, 2026

3. Keilor Hotel
roof and two projecting hipped bays on either side of a recessed verandah. The bluestone walls were subsequently rendered and the hotel has retained its original form and, as of 2022, was still in operation.

The hotel, believed to have been constructed in 1848, is located on the main road to Macedon, now called the Old Calder Highway, a site chosen so as to attract passing trade, and was an important stopping place for travellers enroute to squatting runs to the north and west of Melbourne, and later to the Central Victorian goldfields. In 1854, Cobb & Co began running their coaches to the goldfields of Castlemaine and Bendigo, with Keilor as their first main stop. Their practice was to arrange the journey in stretches of approximately sixteen kilometres (ten miles) each, and to change horses at the end of each stretch. The Keilor Hotel was approximately that distance from the Melbourne town centre, and was therefore became a regular coach stop.

Called the Galway Arms Tavern in 1853, and then the Red Lion, the name of the pub was changed to the Keilor Hotel in 1862 when Mathew Goudie bought the hotel for £1,000; and it has been
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retained in the Dodd and Goudie families since 1862 – and as of November 2020, the hotel was owned by Ray Dodd. The pub claims to be Australia's oldest family-owned hotel.

(Submitted on September 27, 2026, by Dean Barton-Ancliffe of Rowville, Victoria.)

Credits. This page was last revised on September 28, 2026. It was originally submitted on September 27, 2026, by Dean Barton-Ancliffe of Rowville, Victoria. This page has been viewed 14 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on September 27, 2026, by Dean Barton-Ancliffe of Rowville, Victoria. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.