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 of Australia, currently King Charles III. The incumbent governor is Barbara Baker, who was appointed in June 2021. The official residence of the ...

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 ...

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

Queens Domain The Queens Domain, also known as The Domain to locals, is a small hilly area of bushland just north-east of the CBD of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, alongside the Derwent River. It is traditionally land that "belongs to the people", as commissi ...

, 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 Garden ...

. There have been three Government Houses, all in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

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

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 French word ''roy'', meaning " ...

residences in the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

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

Gothic Revival 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 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 sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

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

. Furniture was imported from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. 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 symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...

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 are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

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 a ...

s, exceptional

stonework Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, mo ...

, 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 (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...

Functions

On 2 January 1858

Sir Henry Fox Young Sir Henry Edward Fox Young, KCMG (23 April 1803 – 18 September 1870) was the fifth Governor of South Australia, serving in that role from 2 August 1848 until 20 December 1854. He was then the first Governor of Tasmania, from 1855 until 1861. ...

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 Heritage p ...

. 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 highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

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