Government Cottage Archaeological Site is the heritage-listed site of a cottage which served alternately as the base for the Colony of New South Wales' commandant of the Hawkesbury district, house of the district's magistrate and an "informal official residence" for the Governor of New South Wales when in the district. It is located at 41 George Street, Windsor, New South Wales, Australia. The original house was built from 1796 to 1815 and demolished 1920-21. It was also known as Commandant's House and Government House. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 4 February 2011.
History Before any European settlement the Hawkesbury region was inhabited by the Dharug people. The riparian area along the Hawkesbury River had been a food source for the local Aboriginal people for over 50,000 years and, with relatively frequent floods that spread enriched alluvium throughout the surrounding land, the region was known to be an abundant and reliable resource for food.(LandArc, Draft Plan of Management, 2009; http://about.nsw.gov.au/view/suburb/Richm ond)
Following European settlement, the new colonists quickly recognised the agricultural potential of the banks of the Hawkesbury River. This led to intensive farming of the area to supply food to the developing colony that was experiencing severe shortages in the early years. However, following flooding in 1799, 1800, 1806 and 1809, life for the colonists farming the flats of the Hawkesbury River was a hard one, fraught with potential devastation with any inundation of the river.
Following the opening of the Hawkesbury district for settlement, the road from Parramatta to Windsor was constructed in 1794. The farming area along the Hawkesbury River, including Green Hills (known as Windsor, from 1810) became the third urban satellite of the colony after Sydney and Parramatta. Windsor grew up as a military and service centre for the Hawkesbury flood-plain and was the location of the colony's richest agricultural land. The Commandant's Cottage, later the Government Cottage was one of a series of buildings constructed under the administration of Governor John Hunter between 1795 and 1800 for military and government purposes, including storehouses, and granaries and soldiers barracks. The location selected was sufficiently high to preclude danger of the building being affected by flood. It replaced a soldier's barracks constructed 1795 which Governor Hunter described in 1796 as a "miserable building".Hendy-Pooley, 1906: 16; Collins p394; Barkley-Jack, 2009:103-05 Its location would also enable a clear view of the area over which the Commandant had oversight.
The Commandant's Cottage (later known as the Government Cottage) was under construction in 1796. David Collins described how in April of that year "a very excellent barrack was erecting for the use of the commandant, on a spot which had been selected sufficiently high to preclude any danger of the building being affected by a flood".Collins I 394 Collins' use of "barrack" to describe the Commandant's House has encouraged confusion with the separate barracks for the soldiers, already in existence by 1796, described as a "miserable building" which was replaced after October 1796 with more substantial accommodation for the troops.HRNSW Vol 3 p89 & Vol 4 p152 The Commandant's House was completed after October 1796 and was described in 1800 in Governor Hunter's list of buildings constructed since 1796 as "a framed and weatherboard house on the Green Hills...for the residence of the commanding officer of that district". The roof was shingled and the building furnished with a cellar, skilling kitchen and other accommodation with a paling fence.HRA Vol 2: p561
The new Commandant's House sat high on a grassy hill facing the principal street to the east. The south side of the house had an extensive view over the river and the valley and beyond to the Blue Mountains. To the west Richmond was visible until .Bertie, 1914: 26; Broadbent & Hughes, 1992: 12 The new building was on a plot of crown land which was by 1795 surrounded by settlers' grants. From June 1795 military commandants were in charge of the Hawkesbury settlement. Commandant Edward Abbott moved in to the cottage when it was completed late in 1796 and subsequent Commandants, Neil McKellar, Anthony Fenn Kemp and Thomas Hobby also lived there. Two significant lawsuits were associated with the Commandant's House. One case brought by the ex-convict John Harris against Fenn Kemp, when the Revd Samuel Marsden brought the two parties together at the House in an unsuccessful attempt at conciliation in 1798: this was the first lawsuit brought by an ex-convict against the military and was a critical stage in the victory of civil law. The other case, in 1799, concerned the murder of two Aboriginal youths, where the accused, Constable Edward Powell, claimed as part of his alibi that he was too tired to be involved, having that day come from Sydney and then spent some time at the Commandant's House.Barkley-Jack 2009: 363-372, 312-313
The land on which the new building now stood marked the end of a row of a series of promises of grants made by 1794. The land was enclosed in 1795 when a promise of grant was made to James Whitehouse. In 1800 Governor King appointed Charles Grimes, deputy surveyor, to be the first resident Hawkesbury magistrate. Grimes also had responsibility for other civic duties previously conducted by the military administrators, including that of superintendent of public works at Hawkesbury and it is believed that he lived at least some of the time in the government cottage. It was around this time that residents were required to assemble to attend musters (a type of census) on the front grounds of the cottageBarkley-Jack, 2009:103-05, 338-339
Governor Bligh noted that in 1806 the roof and foundations of the house had decayed and had become untenantable. A year later he had repaired the building and added two new rooms.HRA Vol 6:97; HRA Vol 9:170 It has been presumed that the cottage was used for either governor's visits or the government administrators from 1807 until 1810.
The Commandant's House was used by Governor Hunter on his many visits to the Hawkesbury. This continued under Governor King, whose familiarity with the area was evident in his far-reaching and long-lasting definition of the river settlements, now hemmed in by the new common lands proclaimed by King in 1804. King's proclamation of three districts at Hawkesbury moreover paved the way for Macquarie's later siting of the towns. Already in 1800 King had ended the period of military residence in the cottage. Instead the House was occupied by the first resident Hawkesbury magistrate. Charles Grimes was appointed in July 1800 with responsibility for civic duties previously conducted by the military, including the superintendence of public works. It was around this time that residents were required to assemble for musters, a type of census, in the grounds of the cottage.Barkley-Jack, 2009: 103-105, 338-339
Lachlan Macquarie and his family arrived in Sydney in January 1810 to accept his commission as Governor of New South Wales. Macquarie's first year as governor was considered a success and set the tone and character for the twelve years of Macquarie's administration. He re-organised government departments and created a strong focus on the construction of quality public works using convict labour that transformed Sydney, Parramatta and the new townships and are still numerous in the twenty-first century.(ADB, Macquarie)
During Macquarie's first tour of the outlying districts in November and December 1810 Macquarie arrived at Green Hills and viewed the cottage for the first time. He recorded the following in relation to the cottage and surrounds in his journals.
"At half past 5,O'Clock we arrived at the ferry on the left bank of the river and at 6 O'Clock landed in the Government Garden on the Green Hills and took possession of the Government House or, more properly speaking, Government Cottage; most beautifully situated on the summit of a very fine bank or terrace rising about fifty feet above the level of the river; of which, and the adjacent Country, there is a very fine view from this sweet delightful spot.....Mrs. M. and myself were quite delighted with the beauty of this part of the Country; its great fertility, and its Picturesque appearance; and especially with the well-chosen and remarkable fine scite [sic] and situation of the Government Cottage and Garden on the Green Hills. We dined soon after our arrival and after dinner our friend and family physician Doctor Redfern took his departure for Sydney.Macquarie, 1 December 1810
Macquarie used the cottage to celebrate with 21 guests the naming of the towns of Windsor, Richmond, Castlereagh, Pitt Town and Wilberforce on Thursday 6 December after he had confirmed their exact sites. This christening was marked by a drinking of a bumper to the success of each town after dinner. He also used it as the base for his expeditions to mark out the five towns. The town sites were marked out a little over a month after the naming of the towns. Castlereagh and Richmond were marked out on Thursday 10 January 1811 and Macquarie held a dinner at the Windsor house to celebrate. Wilberforce and Pitt-town were marked out the next day (Friday) and Windsor on Saturday 12 January.Macquarie, 6 December 1810 & 10–12 January 1811 He would continue to use the cottage as his residence and place of business during visits to the Hawkesbury throughout his governorship and he frequently issued government orders from the cottage. Macquarie also employed a live-in housekeeper, Ann Blady, a successful ex-convict with her own 50-acre grant, who had retired from practising midwifery in the area in 1810. Ann and her constable husband, William Blady, exemplify the connection that the citizens of Hawkesbury from many walks of life had with the Government Cottage. For Macquarie, as for Grose, Hunter, King and Bligh before him, the cottage was an informal official residence in addition to Government House in Sydney (First Government House) and Old Government House in Parramatta.
The cottage was again repaired and improved under Macquarie. The painting by George William Evans of around 1809 shows only a western verandah, on the river-side, whereas Philip Slaeger's drawing and etching of 1812 or 1813 shows a substantial new southern verandah and the end of a new eastern verandah. Neatly furnished with chairs and tables from the workshops of the lumber yard, the expanded cottage became a significant part of the Government Domain at Windsor. The stables were located on the southern boundary of the property, near to what became Thompson Square under Macquarie, opposite the Government Stores. The gates to the garden and domain were located opposite the two-storey Macquarie Arms Hotel.Broadbent & Hughes, 1992:14