Government House is the heritage-listed vice-regal residence of the governor of New South Wales. It is located on Conservatorium Road in the Sydney central business district, adjacent to the Royal Botanic Garden, and is situated south of the Sydney Opera House, overlooking Sydney Harbour. Constructed between 1837 and 1843, the property has been the primary vice-regal residence of the Governor since Sir George Gipps, except for two brief periods; the first between 1901 and 1914, when the property was leased to the Commonwealth of Australia as the residence of the Governor-General of Australia, and the second from 1996 to 2011.
The property was returned as the Governor's residence in October 2011 and was managed by the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales from March 1996 to December 2013. Completed in 1847 and constructed in the Gothic revival style, the building is listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register.
History 1845–1901
In 1835 the British Government agreed that a new Government House in Sydney had become a necessity, and the royal architect, Edward Blore, was instructed to draw up plans. Construction commenced in 1837 and was supervised by colonial architect Mortimer Lewis and Colonel Barney of the Royal Engineers. Stone, cedar, and marble for the construction were obtained from various areas of New South Wales. A ball in honour of the birthday of Queen Victoria was held in the new building in 1843, although construction was not complete. The first resident, Governor George Gipps, did not move in until 1845.
Government House, with its setting on Sydney Harbour, has a garden area of and is located south of the Sydney Opera House, overlooking Farm Cove. It was designed in a romantic Gothic revival stylecastellated, crenellated, turreted and is decorated with oil portraits and the coats of arms of its successive occupants. Additions have included a front portico in 1873, an eastern verandah in 1879 and extensions to the ballroom and governor's study in 1900–1901. From 1845 until 1901, the building served as the Governor's residence, office and official reception space.
1901–1914 Between 1901 and 1914, the building was used to house the new role of Governor-General, created by the Federation of Australia. During this period, three Governors of New South Wales occupied Cranbrook, namely Harry Rawson, Frederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford and Gerald Strickland, 1st Baron Strickland.
In 1913, the decision was taken to establish a residence for the Governor-General at Admiralty House.
1914–1996
From 1914 to 1996, the building again served as the residence, office and official reception space for the Governor of New South Wales.
1996–2011
However, in 1996, at the direction of the then Premier of New South Wales, Bob Carr, the property ceased to be used as a residence; the Governor's day office was relocated to the historic Chief Secretary's building nearby, at 121 Macquarie Street. On 16 January 1996 Carr announced that the next Governor, Gordon Samuels, would not live or work at Government House. On these changes, Carr said "The Office of the Governor should be less associated with pomp and ceremony, less encumbered by anachronistic protocol, more in tune with the character of the people". Carr later quipped that his decision had been "for Jack Lang", referring to the Premier of a former state Labor Government that was dismissed by a Governor, Air Vice-Marshal Sir Philip Game, in 1932 during a constitutional crisis.
The state's longest-serving governor, Sir Roden Cutler, was also reported as saying:
This move generated further controversy, as the proclaimed cost savings of over $2 million never materialised. The Auditor-General found it cost $600,000 more to maintain the building without a resident Governor; and public attendance decreased (resident Governors had maintained public access during their tenures). This led the group Australians for Constitutional Monarchy to organise a protest, resulting in one of the largest marches in Sydney history: a crowd of 15,000 protested outside Parliament House, blocking Macquarie Street. On the day before Gordon Samuels's swearing-in, a petition bearing 55,000 signatures was handed in, calling on the Premier to reconsider. During the hiatus of resident governor, Government House was consistently used for vice-regal purposes and remained the official reception space of the state, including as a key meeting venue of APEC Australia 2007 in September 2007, at which time the political leaders of the 21 member states of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation met.
2011–present
In October 2011, the then Premier Barry O'Farrell announced that the then Governor, Marie Bashir, had agreed with O'Farrell's offer to move back into Government House: "A lot of people believe the Governor should live at Government House. That's what it was built for ... [A]t some stage a rural or regional governor will be appointed and we will need to provide accommodation at Government House so it makes sense to provide appropriate living areas". However, because Government House had not been a residence for fifteen years, O'Farrell also announced that the Governor would initially move into a smaller adjacent building, called the chalet, while refurbishments of the main wing occurred, with a proposed move into the main house "before Christmas". From December 2013, management of Government House was returned to the Office of the Governor from the managers since 1996, the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales.
Description Grounds Much of the 19th-century character of the grounds remains. The grounds include private gardens as well as formal open areas. Near the house (on its south-east side) is a giant Moreton Bay fig (Ficus macrophylla), planted soon after the house's construction was completed. This tree is the surviving one of a former pair which stood either side of the terrace.Beattie, 2017. The formal grounds of sweeping annual displays, manicured lawns, exotic trees and shrubs as well as the carriageways, paths and terraces provide a strong link with Sydney's colonial and Victorian heritage.AHC, undated.
The garden maintains a distinctly 19th-century character, drawing on Regency and Italianate styles, and featuring a collection of native and exotic species. Most changes to the garden were at the initiative of past governors and their wives, including Denison's five acre vegetable garden and Lady Game's much-loved project, the "Spring Walk". Some areas of the garden are true to their 19th-century design, while others are more modern. Thousands of visitors enjoy the garden every year, both as public visitors and guests at functions ranging from garden parties for Royal visits, open days, award ceremonies and charity events. The garden is a crucial part of Government House – chef Christine Ware regularly sources honey (the current governor keeps bees), herbs and flowers for food served at functions. Florist Marjan Medhat has also been known to use flowers and natural ephemera from the grounds in her floral displays, alongside potted plants grown in the greenhouse.
The first private garden – the Western Terrace – sits around a rocky outcrop and knoll and features an extensive sandstone wall and plantings of olive trees.
Western terrace, 1836-1845 Lies inside the entrance gates to the left of the drive. This is the oldest part of the garden, established when the house was being built (1836–45) to provide screening and privacy for the house.Stuart Read, pers.comm., 26/5/2017 The evergreen trees planted here – many of them native species – were chosen to block out "disagreeable scenery", but the large two-level terrace also functioned as a pleasure garden. The original sandstone walls, some of the gravel paths and plantings of olive trees and hedges survive. An evergreen or southern magnolia or bull bay (M. grandiflora) dating from the 1859s is at the northern end of the terrace. The terrace was restored in 2000 by Sydney Living Museums (fmr. Historic Houses Trust of NSW).
Eastern terrace, 1869 The eastern terrace's design was laid out in 1869 and remains the main feature of the garden. From the house's arcade (colonnade) you can view across bisecting pathways lined with flowerbeds to a view of Sydney Harbour. Through Cook's pines (Araucaria columnaris) and other trees you can see Fort Denison, Mrs Macquarie's Chair, Garden Island and beyond. Originally the view was wider to the east including towards the heads of the harbour).Stuart Read, pers.comm, 26/5/2017 The Eastern Terrace has a central sandstone pond with its original stone fountain. Various garden schemes have been installed in the eastern terrace's formal garden borders flanking the central path.Stuart Read, pers.comm., 27/8/2014
Palm Grove, 1870s North of the Eastern Terrace is the palm grove, established in the 1870s for the Countess of Belmore, wife of the 13th governor Somerset Lowry-Corry, 4th Earl Belmore. Here native and exotic palms including the Lord Howe Island's Kentia (Howea fosteriana) and curly (H.belmoreana) (named for the governor) can be found.Beattie, 2017, names and attribution: Stuart Read, 26/5/2017
Spring Walk, 1930s Governor and Lady Game were both keen gardeners and Lady Game "set out to produce an outstanding array of trees, shrubs and planters". She established the Spring Walk on the southern end of the Eastern Terrace, where she supplemented surviving 19th century Camellia japonica cv's with new plantings of modern varieties. Surviving very old camellias include C.j.'Cleopatra Rosea' (pink) and "Wellbankiana" (white), some of which are over 100 years old. Wife of Governor Game's private secretary, writer Ethel Anderson, had this to say about Lady Game's garden: 'under the grey green olives, late daffodils still star the grass. Watsonias, double cherries, magnolias, spireas, purple eupatoriums and primulas, set in a spring border among standard white wisterias form, like a sea... Lady Game's border - so lovely with pomegranates, bougainvilleas, cistus and Madonna lilies - keeps its date with beauty.' The entrance stones to the Spring Walk are said to be convict-made blocks from the first Government House built for Arthur Philip, now the site of the Museum of Sydney. Like many houses of the time, Government House was self sufficient with kitchen gardens, orchards and farm animals. The kitchen garden is now part of the Royal Botanic Gardens.
Official plantings To the west of the driveway is a large paperbark (Melaleuca leucadendra) and peppermint (Eucalyptus nicholli) planted by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in 1954 during the first visit of a reigning monarch to Australia. Many of the garden's trees are ceremonial plantings. Among the roses on the Eastern Terrace the "Dame Marie Bashir Rose" can be found (bred in that Governor's honour), as well as the "Governor Macquarie" rose Dame Bashir planted in 2009 as patron of the Rose Society of New South Wales. Dame Marie Bashir was just one of the many governors past and present with a passion for plants and their pollinators.
The Lodge One of two Gothic style buildings to have survived around Government House. It is a copy of a guardhouse at Windsor Castle.
Gatehouse c.1937 Brick gatehouse replacing an earlier timber one.
The Chalet c.1890 Designed by Colonial Architect W. L. Vernon, the chalet breaks with the Gothic style of Government House. However, it has Tudor Gothic elements such as half timbered gables and broad brick chimneys.
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