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First Government House, in a detail from painting 'A direct north general view of Sydney Cove' 1794

From the collections of the
State Library of New South Wales
[DG 60 (detail)]
(Dixson Galleries)

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The first Government House: building on Phillip’s ‘good foundation’
Subjects
Colonial architecture Private gardens
Buildings
First Government House
Natural features
Sydney Cove

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State Library of New South Wales

The first Government House: building on Phillip’s ‘good foundation’

The first Government House was not a simple singular structure but a complex with a yard, outbuildings, guardhouse, garden and greater domain. It was a home, an office and a venue for public and private entertaining, but also a symbol of British authority, with all that that meant to different people, both then and now.

Colonial architecture

Private gardens

First Government House

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Residence for the first nine Governors of NSW, which was the first major building in the colony. The first permanent building in the colony, it had two storeys built of bricks and stone comprising six rooms, two cellars and a rear staircase. In front of the house was a garden where many imported plant species were grown and the first orchard planted. The Museum of Sydney, on the corner of Bridge and Phillip Streets, was built on its site.

Sydney Cove

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Small bay on the southern shore of Port Jackson, which became the site for the European settlement in Sydney.