Government House, Hobart, is the home and official residence of the

governor of Tasmania The governor of Tasmania is the representative in the Australian state of Tasmania of the monarch, currently King Charles III. The incumbent governor is Barbara Baker, who was appointed in June 2021. The official residence of the governor is Gov ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The palatial house is located on Lower Domain Road in the

Queens Domain The Queens Domain, also known as The Domain to locals, is an expansive area of bushland, parkland, and cultural sites located just north-east of the Hobart City Centre, bordering the Derwent River, Tasmania, River Derwent in the state capital ...

, near the

Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens The Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens (RTBG), which cover an area of approximately 14 hectares (34.6 acres), in Hobart located within the Queens Domain. History The gardens were established in 1818 and is the second oldest Botanical Gardens ...

. There have been three Government Houses, all in

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

Earlier residences

In 1805, after two years in a tent at

Sullivans Cove Sullivans Cove is on the River Derwent adjacent to the Hobart City Centre in Tasmania. It was the site of initial European settlement in the area, and the location of the earlier components of the Port of Hobart. History The cove was the init ...

, Governor Collins moved into the first Government House – a new wooden hut in Barrack Square. As local bricks gradually became available the hut was extended, but it was a primitive three-room home that let in the wind and rain. The second Government House was built in 1817 at the junction of Macquarie Street and what is now Elizabeth Street. It had 14 rooms on two storeys and had servants' quarters, a coach house and stables, but it was badly built – of brick, wood and stucco, with later extension of sandstone – and was demolished in 1858.

Architecture

View from the tower at Government House in Hobart 02

Tasmania's Government House is today regarded as one of the best

vice regal A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman_language, Anglo-Nor ...

residences in the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

. Designed by the Director of Public Works and colonial architect William Porden Kay, it is a fine example of an early

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

country house in

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style and is one of the largest of its type in

.Architecture of Hobart
blog, 2018 Work eventually started in 1855 on a hill of the grounds that overlooks the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens and the Derwent estuary.

Sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

was quarried on site (the excavated holes were made into ornamental pools), cedar and teak were recycled from an old ship, and slate for the roof was imported from

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. Furniture was imported from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Construction was completed in 1857 The House consists of 73 rooms, some of which are

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female per ...

and Jacobean Revival styles. The finest rooms are the Main Hall, the Dining Room, the Ante-Drawing Room, the Drawing Room, the French Room, the Ballroom, and the Conservatory. Apart from the Conservatory, which was rebuilt to original designs in 1991, Government House remains as it was when it was first occupied. The scale, detail and finish of the entrance hall, grand corridor and state rooms together with their furniture are unequalled in Australia. Much of the furniture ordered especially for the house and shipped out from England is still in daily use. Outstanding exterior features of the house include

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

architectural sculpture Architectural sculpture is the use of sculptural techniques by an architect and/or sculptor in the design of a building, bridge, mausoleum or other such project. The sculpture is usually integrated with the structure, but freestanding works that ...

s, exceptional

stonework Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using rock (geology), stone as the primary material. Stonemasonry is the craft of shaping and arranging stones, often together with Mortar (masonry), mortar ...

, and individually carved sandstone chimney pots. The House also features ornately designed

English garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (, , , , ), is a style of "landscape" garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal ...

Functions

On 2 January 1858 Sir Henry Fox Young became the first governor to take up residence, moving to the capital from Government Cottage,

Port Arthur, Tasmania Port Arthur is a town and former convict settlement on the Tasman Peninsula, in Tasmania, Australia. It is located approximately southeast of the state capital, Hobart. The site forms part of the Australian Convict Sites, a World Heritag ...

. Apart from being the venue of a busy round of annual receptions, dinners and other events, Government House has since 1990 had an annual open day, an initiative of the then governor of Tasmania,

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Sir Phillip Bennett.

References

External links

Government House Homepage
{{Coord, display=title, -42.867567, 147.333415, type:landmark_region:AU Buildings and structures in Hobart Gothic Revival architecture in Hobart Official residences in Australia

Government of Tasmania 1857 establishments in Australia

Earlier residences

Architecture

Functions

See also

References

External links