After marrying in Sydney, at St Philip's Church of England, in July 1838, George Mawbey, a religious dissenter who arrived in New South Wales in 1832, moved to Adelaide. Advertisements in the Southern Australian newspaper on the 22nd and 26th June 1839 announced he had opened Refreshment Rooms in Rundle Street. He served soups, tea, coffee, chocolate and chops at any hour of the day there, and also catered for gentlemen wanting soups and luncheons served at their own residences. In October 1839, he placed two advertisements for a cook 'with testimonials of character and ability'. It appears that he may have been too sophisticated for Adelaide in its rough and ready early days, because he sold his business and returned to Sydney.

While in Adelaide, in August 1839, he contributed one guinea to the subscription to raise money for a Congregational Church under the ministry of the Rev. T.Q. Stow. The total raised at that time was 607 pounds, 13 shillings and sixpence with the final cost of the chapel in Freeman Street, now Gawler Place, blowing out to 361,000 pounds! George Mawbey returned to Sydney on the Christina which also carried some convicts accompanied by several policemen. This information has been obtained from digitalised newspapers available on the National Library of Australia TROVE web site.