Government House, Darwin
| Government House | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Official residence |
| Architectural style | Victorian Gothic |
| Town or city | Darwin |
| Country |  Australia |
| Coordinates | 12°28′06″S 130°50′37″E / 12.46833°S 130.84361°E |
| Current tenants | Administrator of the Northern Territory |
| Construction started | 1870 |
| Completed | 1871 |
| Renovated | 1878–1879 |
| Grounds | 13,000 square metres (3.2 acres) |
Government House is the office and official residence of the Administrator of the Northern Territory in Darwin, Australia. Built between 1870 and 1871, with later renovations between 1878 and 1879, the building is set on 13,000 square metres of hillside gardens in the centre of the Darwin business district, on The Esplanade.
History
Government House is the oldest
Of its construction early resident Harriet Douglas Daly said:[1]
Building this house was a matter of great difficulty...In fact the word seems to be the one most frequently associated with every...enterprise connected with the Northern Territory...Robinson Crusoe had nothing like the difficulties in obtaining building material that we had...we literally had to begin at the beginning of everything...from the very laying of the foundationstone...nothing but difficulties and makeshifts attended the work
— Harriet Douglas Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, 1887, p. 109
On 17 December 1918, Government House became the focal point of political turmoil and
Government House was entered on the now-defunct Register of the National Estate on 14 May 1991 and was added to the Northern Territory Heritage Register on 19 March 1996.[3][4]
Some former residents
Some former residents include:
- William Bloomfield Douglas, the first Government Resident of the Northern Territory, and his family.[5] His family included his daughter Harriet Douglas Daly who wrote about the construction of the building and early experiences of living there in her book Digging, squatting and pioneering life in the Northern Territory of South Australia (1887).[1]
- John Anderson Gilruth, Administrator of the Northern Territory from 1912 - 1919, he was there during the Darwin rebellion which sought for his resignation. As a part of this rebellion over 1,000 demonstrators marched on Government House and burnt an effigy of him.[6][7]
- Aubrey Abbott, Administrator of the Northern Territory from 1937 - 1945, and his wife Hilda Abbott who lived there during the Bombing of Darwin when it was partially destroyed.[8] The pair donated the bomb damaged flag to the Australian War Memorial as they believed it to be the first flag to have been damaged on Australian soil by enemy action.[9]
Gallery
-
Darwin's Government House in 1913, with Liberty Square in foreground. -
From left:Sir Walter Barttelot and Administrator John Gilruthin 1912. -
Government House illuminated forthe Queen's Platinum Jubileein 2022
See also
- Government Houses of Australia
- Government Houses in the Commonwealth
- Administrators of the Northern Territory
References
- ^ a b Harriet W. Daly (1887). Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South ... University of California. S. Low, Marston, Searle& Rivington.
- OCLC 27546680.
- ^ "Government House, Flagpole and Cannon, Esplanade, Darwin, NT, Australia - listing on the now-defunct Register of the National Estate (Place ID 16266)". Australian Heritage Database. Australian Government. 14 May 1991. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
- ^ "Government House". Heritage Register. Northern Territory Government. 19 March 1996. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
- ^ Burns, P. L., "William Bloomfield Douglas (1822–1906)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 24 January 2024
- ^ Powell, Alan, "John Anderson Gilruth (1871–1937)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 30 January 2024
- ^ "What was the Darwin rebellion?". ABC News. 11 December 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
- ^ Carment, David, "Charles Lydiard Aubrey Abbott (1886–1975)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 24 January 2024
- ^ "Bomb-damaged Australian flag from the Administrator's Residence, Darwin, 1942". www.awm.gov.au. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
External links
Media related to Government House, Darwin at Wikimedia Commons