1845–1901 In 1835 the British Government agreed that a new Government House in Sydney had become a necessity, and the royal architect,
Edward Blore, was instructed to draw up plans. Construction commenced in 1837 and was supervised by colonial architect
Mortimer Lewis and Colonel Barney of the
Royal Engineers. Stone, cedar, and marble for the construction were obtained from various areas of
New South Wales. A ball in honour of the birthday of
Queen Victoria was held in the new building in 1843, although construction was not complete. The first resident, Governor George Gipps, did not move in until 1845. In 1913, the decision was taken to establish a residence for the Governor-General at
Admiralty House.
1914–1996 (1924–1930) outside Government House, 17 March 1925. From 1914 to 1996, the building again served as the residence, office and official reception space for the Governor of New South Wales.
1996–2011 However, in 1996, at the direction of the then
Premier of New South Wales,
Bob Carr, the property ceased to be used as a residence; the Governor's day office was relocated to the historic
Chief Secretary's building nearby, at 121
Macquarie Street. On 16 January 1996 Carr announced that the next Governor,
Gordon Samuels, would not live or work at Government House. On these changes, Carr said
"The Office of the Governor should be less associated with pomp and ceremony, less encumbered by anachronistic protocol, more in tune with the character of the people". Carr later quipped that his decision had been "for
Jack Lang", referring to the Premier of a former state Labor Government that was dismissed by a Governor,
Air Vice-Marshal Sir
Philip Game, in 1932 during a constitutional crisis. The state's longest-serving governor, Sir
Roden Cutler, was also reported as saying: This led the group
Australians for Constitutional Monarchy to organise a protest, resulting in one of the largest marches in Sydney history: a crowd of 15,000 protested outside
Parliament House, blocking Macquarie Street. On the day before Gordon Samuels's swearing-in, a petition bearing 55,000 signatures was handed in, calling on the Premier to reconsider. During the hiatus of resident governor, Government House was consistently used for vice-regal purposes and remained the official reception space of the state, including as a key meeting venue of
APEC Australia 2007 in September 2007, at which time the political leaders of the 21 member states of the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation met.
2011–present in 2022 In October 2011, the then Premier
Barry O'Farrell announced that the then Governor,
Marie Bashir, had agreed with O'Farrell's offer to move back into Government House: ''"A lot of people believe the Governor should live at Government House. That's what it was built for ... [A]t some stage a rural or regional governor will be appointed and we will need to provide accommodation at Government House so it makes sense to provide appropriate living areas"''. However, because Government House had not been a residence for fifteen years, O'Farrell also announced that the Governor would initially move into a smaller adjacent building, called the chalet, while refurbishments of the main wing occurred, with a proposed move into the main house "before Christmas". From December 2013, management of Government House was returned to the Office of the Governor from the managers since 1996, the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales. == Description ==