B(1871) p091 VICTORIA (AUSTRALIA), GOVERNMENT HOUSE, TOORAK, MELBOURNE

Toorak House is a mansion located in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

built in 1849 by well-known Melbourne merchant James Jackson. It is notable for its use as Melbourne's first

Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. The name is also used in some other countries. Gover ...

and having inspired the name for the suburb of Toorak. Jackson is believed to have borrowed from

Woiwurrung language The Woiwurrung, also spelt Woi Wurrung, Woiwurrong, Woiworung, Wuywurung, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin alliance. The Woiwurrung people's territory in Central Victoria extended from north of ...

, with words of similar pronunciation, meaning either ''black crow'' or ''reedy swamp''. Toorak House is owned by the

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sw ...

abroad. The Swedish Church and Cafe and Shop is open for visitors daily except on Mondays and Wednesdays.

History

Toorak House was built in 1849 by well-known Melbourne merchant James Jackson and designed by Samuel Jackson in the

Italianate 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 ...

Victorian architecture Victorian architecture is a series of architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the styles known as Victorian we ...

style.State Library of Victoria photograph of Toorak House
When Jackson died in 1851 it was leased to the

Victorian government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive, the judicial, and th ...

in 1854 for use by the first

Governor of Victoria The governor of Victoria is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria. The governor is one of seven viceregal representatives in the country, analogous to the governors of the other states, and the ...

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

Charles Hotham Sir Charles Hotham, KCB, RN (14 January 180631 December 1855)B. A. Knox,Hotham, Sir Charles (1806–1855), '' Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 4, MUP, 1972, pp 429-430. was Lieutenant-Governor and, later, Governor of Victoria, ...

KCB RN and four of his successors until 1874—Sir

Henry Barkly Sir Henry Barkly (24 February 1815 – 20 October 1898) was a British politician, colonial governor and patron of the sciences. Early life and education Born on 24 February 1815 at Highbury, Middlesex (now London), he was the eldest son of ...

GCMG The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

KCB,

Charles Darling KCB,

John Manners-Sutton, 3rd Viscount Canterbury John Henry Thomas Manners-Sutton, 3rd Viscount Canterbury (27 May 1814 – 24 June 1877), styled The Hon. John Manners-Sutton between 1814 and 1866 and Sir John Manners-Sutton between 1866 and 1869, was a British Tory politician and colonial ad ...

and Sir

George Bowen Sir George Ferguson Bowen (; 2 November 1821 – 21 February 1899), was an Irish author and colonial administrator whose appointments included postings to the Ionian Islands, Queensland, New Zealand, Victoria, Mauritius and Hong Kong.R. B. Joy ...

PC GCMG. The property comprised 47 hectares bounded by Orrong, Kooyong and Toorak Roads, and the Yarra River. In 1874 lease negotiations to enable the Governor to continue to reside at Toorak House while the new Government House was completed broke down. Another temporary residence needed to be found for Governor Bowen. Bishopscourt in

East Melbourne East Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. East Melbourne recorded a population of 4,896 at the 2021 ...

was then used before the present

was finished and occupied in 1876. It reverted to being a private home in 1876, and was used as a

Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) was formed in March 1941 after considerable lobbying by women keen to serve, as well as by the Chief of the Air Staff, who wanted to release male personnel serving in Australia for service ov ...

hostel during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1956 it was purchased by the Church of Sweden, which converted the property into a church and community centre. Exterior shots of the property and grounds have featured in several Australian drama serials. Toorak House was used as the location for Godfrey Carson House in the period drama '' Carson’s Law'', and as the South Yarra/Toorak mansion inherited by Patricia Hamilton in '' Sons and Daughters''.

References

{{coord, display=title, -37.839153, 145.018115, type:landmark_region:AU

Victorian architecture in Victoria (Australia) Official residences in Australia Houses in Melbourne Residential buildings completed in 1849 1849 establishments in Australia Buildings and structures in the City of Stonnington