Government House, Wellington, is the principal residence of the governor-general of New Zealand, the representative of the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

head of state,

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

. Dame

Cindy Kiro Dame Alcyion Cynthia Kiro (; Simpson; born 1958) is a New Zealand public health academic, administrator, and advocate, who has served as the 22nd governor-general of New Zealand since 21 October 2021. Kiro is the first Māori woman, the third ...

, who has been Governor-General since October 2021, currently resides there with her spouse, Richard Davies. The present building, the third Government House in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

, was completed in 1910. It is located in the Newtown suburb of the city. As well as being an official residence and workplace, Government House is also the main venue where the governor-general entertains members of the public, and receives visiting heads of state and other dignitaries and the credentials of ambassadors to New Zealand. Government House is likewise the location of many award presentations and investitures, and where prime ministers and other

ministers of the Crown Minister of the Crown is a formal constitutional term used in Commonwealth realms to describe a minister of the reigning sovereign or viceroy. The term indicates that the minister serves at His Majesty's pleasure, and advises the sovereign or ...

are sworn in, among other ceremonial and constitutional functions.

History

First Government Houses

When Auckland was the

capital of New Zealand Wellington has been the capital of New Zealand since 1865. New Zealand's first capital city was Old Russell ( Okiato) in 1840–41. Auckland was the second capital from 1841 until 1865, when Parliament was permanently moved to Wellington after a ...

from 1841 until 1865, the provision of an official residence for the governor was initially not a priority. It was only during the period of the fourth governor,

George Grey Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Go ...

, that an official property was provided. The first Wellington Government House was Colonel

William Wakefield William Hayward Wakefield (1801 – 19 September 1848) was an English colonel, the leader of the first colonising expedition to New Zealand and one of the founders of Wellington. As a leader, he attracted much controversy. Early life William W ...

's villa, located where the

Beehive A beehive is an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species of the subgenus '' Apis'' live and raise their young. Though the word ''beehive'' is commonly used to describe the nest of any bee colony, scientific and professional literature ...

now stands. Wakefield was the Agent for the

New Zealand Company The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model focused on the systematic colonisation of New Zealand. The company was formed to carry out the principl ...

; he had built the house in 1840, but died in 1848. The residence was then used as a hospital for a short period in 1848 after the Marlborough earthquake. Wakefield's house was a very plain Regency styled building with verandahs, (Auckland Libraries, 4-1028) it stood on a hill overlooking the harbour. There is a record of the first Government House Ball being held in it, on 10 February 1849 during George Grey's first period as governor. Grey was succeeded by

Robert Wynyard Robert Henry Wynyard (24 December 1802 – 6 January 1864) was a New Zealand colonial administrator, serving at various times as Lieutenant Governor of New Ulster Province, Administrator of the Government, and was the first Superintendent ...

, then by Thomas Gore Browne (and then Wynyard again). It is possible that neither of these men visited or resided in Wellington during their terms and thus the official status of the Wakefield Villa is uncertain. Grey became governor for a second time in 1861 and he certainly used Wakefield House as his Official Wellington Residence.

Second Government House

In 1865 the capital was transferred from Auckland to Wellington. The need to provide accommodation for the various branches of Government resulted in a flurry of construction and prompted the replacement of the rather plain Government House with a more appropriate building. In 1868 this was embarked upon. As the new Parliament Buildings were directly adjacent it was unsurprising that it was mooted that the new Government House should be in a similar

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style . As it happened an

Italianate style The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

was chosen, probably because it was the cheaper option. Despite being built of wood, the second Government House was an imposing structure distinguished by a tower; it was one of several mid-century houses influenced by Queen Victoria's Osbourne House. Designed by William Henry Clayton (1823-1877) and completed around 1871 the second Government House commanded expansive views over the city and harbour and provided a picturesque contrast with the adjacent Gothic styled Parliament Building complex. Its first occupant was Sir George Ferguson Bowen in 1873. All the succeeding governors resided in the new Clayton building, from Sir James Fergusson to Lord Plunkett from 1904. The social climate of the late 19th century required the governor to spend part of the year in other areas of the country – predominately Auckland, although for a while a third Government House was maintained in Christchurch. This pattern doubtless lent longevity to the fabric and decoration of each of the official residences, but relatively little furniture and other items were provided by the government – each successive governor had to provide his household with furniture, linen, china etc. from his own pocket (today the pattern is quite different - with each new incumbent only being required to provide personal items). During its 34-year career as Government House the Clayton building was redecorated and added to but it entered the 20th century largely unaltered. Following the fire in the wooden Parliament Buildings in 1907, the then Governor General Lord Plunket offered the use of Government House to house both houses of Parliament until a replacement building could be built. In the interim the Plunketts decamped to Palmerston North between 1908 and 1910 where they resided in a house now called Caccia-Birch. Plunkett had been lobbying for a larger and more up-to-date residence to be provided by the Government, hopefully more distant from Parliament and with more private grounds.

Present Government House

The Parliament Building fire nudged the government into commissioning a new Government House to be built. John Dickson-Poynder, 1st Baron Islington was the first governor-general to occupy in Government House, residing there from 1910 to 1912. Government House closed in October 2008 for a major conservation and rebuilding project, and was reopened in March 2011. During the refurbishment the Governor General lived at Vogel House in Lower Hutt while in Wellington.

Grounds

The house's grounds are much more private than the previous residence totalling . On one side the gardens border Alexandra Park and the Mt Victoria Town Belt giving the impression of even greater expansiveness. The scale of the ground has allowed a range of different landscapes to be developed; rockeries, flower gardens, lawn areas, and a splendid collection of mature trees. All this contributes to it now being considered a garden of National significance, although there are few ornaments or sculptures to be seen. The extensive grounds contain tennis and squash courts, a bomb shelter, four cottages and a visitor centre.

Residence

The current residence, in Newtown, was designed in an eclectic style in the manner of a half-timbered Tudor mansion. As it was intended to evoke a large English country house, the house's rooms were designed in a range of styles—from Elizabethan to Tudor, to Georgian and

Regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

. Throughout the house are examples of what was considered good taste at the time: marble fireplaces, parquet floors, oak panelling, Mahogany doors, leadlight windows, bronze electric light fixtures and neo-Georgian plasterwork ceilings. Various portraits of successive governors and other significant people are displayed along with a collection of New Zealand art, some of which has been donated by previous governors. The house covers . Many of the rooms are set aside for official state occasions—for example, two dining rooms, a ballroom, a conservatory and drawing rooms. Government House is where the governor-general confers with the leader of the New Zealand Government, hosts foreign dignitaries, and performs the functions of New Zealand's head of state, as the representative of the

monarch of New Zealand The monarchy of New Zealand is the Constitution of New Zealand, constitutional system of government in which a Hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarch is the sovereign and head of state of New Zealand. The current monarch, King Charles III, as ...

. The residence is also open to the public, running free tours of the state rooms throughout the year. As a result of renovations undertaken in the early 2000s, new carpets were provided for the public reception rooms. These are large artworks in their own right. The Carpets and rugs were designed by several New Zealand artists; Gavin Chilcott, Andrew McLeod, Tim Main and John Bevan Ford. The weaving was done by the carpet manufacturer Dilana, in association with Athfield Architects. The design of the Drawing Room carpet by Gavin Chilcott is derived from the

silver fern ''Alsophila dealbata'', synonym ''Cyathea dealbata'', commonly known as the silver fern or silver tree-fern, or as ponga or punga (from Māori or ),The Māori word , pronounced , has been borrowed into New Zealand English as a generic term fo ...

. Of particular interest is the spectacular kowhaiwhai pattern, composed into a huge single composition x without a repeat, was designed by Andrew McLeod and inspired by

Theo Schoon Theodorus Johannes Schoon (31 July 1915 – 14 July 1985) was a New Zealand artist, photographer and carver of Dutch descent. Biography Theo Schoon was born at Kebumen, Java in the East Indies, the son of Dutch parents, Johannes Theodorus S ...

's drawings of Māori designs. This pattern was produced in three different colour-ways and appears in several of the Reception Rooms.

References

External links

* {{official, https://gg.govt.nz/government-house/government-house-wellington
The Governor-General of New Zealand - Biography
Buildings and structures in Wellington City Official residences in New Zealand NZHPT Category I listings in the Wellington Region Government Houses of the British Empire and Commonwealth 1910s architecture in New Zealand