Admiralty House, as seen from a harbour ferry.

Admiralty House is the Sydney residence of the Governor-General of Australia. It is located in Kirribilli, on the northern foreshore of Sydney Harbour adjacent to Kirribilli House, which is the Sydney residence of the Prime Minister. The large Italianate sandstone mansion at Kirribilli Point, once known as “Wotonga”, has commanding views across Sydney Harbour to the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. Its name originates in the fact that it served as the residence for the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Navy’s Australian Squadron. The original house on the site was completed, as a private dwelling, in mid-to-late 1843, by Colonel John George Nathaniel Gibbes, the then Collector of Customs for New South Wales. A portrait of Gibbes, painted in 1808, hangs in the house. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1280 × 960 pixel, file size: 289 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1280 × 960 pixel, file size: 289 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... This article is about the metropolitan area in Australia. ... The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative of Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia. ... Kirribilli is a harbourside suburb of Lower Northern Sydney (the Sydney Lower North Shore), Australia. ... Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge located on Port Jackson Port Jackson is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia, also known as Sydney Harbour and is the largest natural harbour in the world. ... Kirribilli House is the Sydney residence of the Prime Minister of Australia. ... Judicial High Court Lower Courts Constitution State and territory governments Executive Governors and Administrators Premiers and Chief Ministers Legislative Parliaments and Assemblies State electoral systems ACT - NSW - NT - Qld. ... The Sydney Harbour Bridge is the main crossing of Sydney Harbour carrying rail, vehicular, and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district (CBD) and the North Shore. ... The Sydney Opera House is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. ... This article is about the navy of the United Kingdom. ...

Pre–European Kirribilli

Before the arrival of European settlers in Sydney Harbour, the Aboriginal tribe “Cammeraygal” lived along the Kirribilli and Milson's Point foreshores, and in the surrounding bushland. The area was a fertile fishing ground, and thus the name “Kirribilli” is derived from the Aboriginal word "Kiarabilli", which means "Good fishing spot". The name “Cammeraygal” is displayed on the North Sydney Municipal Council emblem, and also gave name to the suburb of Cammeray. The Cammeraygal tribe was an indigenous Aboriginal tribe that inhabited the Lower Northern Sydney area of the present day North Sydney Municipality in Sydney, Australia. ... Australian Aborigines are the indigenous peoples of Australia. ... The Cammeraygal tribe was an indigenous Aboriginal tribe that inhabited the Lower Northern Sydney area of the present day North Sydney Municipality in Sydney, Australia. ... Cammeray is a suburb located on the lower north shore of Sydney, Australia. ...

Beginnings of Admiralty House

In 1794 Thomas Muir, a Scottish constitutional reformer, was sentenced to transportation for sedition. Thomas Muir was granted farmland across the harbour from his cottage on what is now Circular Quay. The farm, which covered all of Kirribilli, was named “Hunter’s Hill” by Thomas Muir, after his father’s home in Scotland. However, in 1796, Thomas Muir escaped with ease from the colony aboard an American brig, never to be seen again. Categories: Suburbs of Sydney | Incomplete Sydney suburbs ... This article is about the country. ...

Four years later, Muir’s “Hunter’s Hill” farm of roughly 120 acres, was granted to a man named Robert Ryan for his services in the Marines and in the New South Wales Corps. By 1801, the property had passed into the hands of Robert Campbell, an esteemed Sydney merchant. Campbell built Australia’s first shipbuilding yards in 1807, at the site that is now the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, Kirribilli.

Campbell’s property in Kirribilli was used for grazing under lease to Campbell’s friend James Milson, hence the name “Milson's Point”. Milson's Point is the next point along from Kirribilli point, where the Sydney Harbour Bridge crosses the harbour. In 1842, the five-acre site where Admiralty House now sits was leased to the Collector of Customs for the Colony, Lieutenant-Colonel (later full Colonel) John George Nathaniel Gibbes, MLC. Colonel Gibbes (1787-1873) intended to build a private home on the site. (Since his arrival in the colony in 1834, Gibbes and his family had been living in Henrietta Villa, also known as the Naval Villa, on Sydney's Point Piper, under a leasehold arrangement.) On the superb Kirribilli Point location, Gibbes erected, between 1842 and 1843, a graceful single-storey house with wide verandahs and elegant French doors. Gibbes designed the house, which he called "Wotonga", himself. The stone for the house's walls was quarried locally and the hardwood and cedar joinery came from George Coleson's timber-yard in George Street, Sydney. Gibbes engaged James Hume, a well-known builder who dabbled in ecclesiastical architecture, to supervise the construction of the building. Gibbes, however, hired his own masons, bricklayers, carpenters, plumbers and ironmongers to work on the project, paying each of them separately as work progressed. Gibbes used the Custom Department's cutter to commute to and from the building site. Once completed, Gibbes' L-shaped residence featured a plain, yet stylish, double facade to maximise the building's sweeping views across Sydney Harbour. These views enabled Gibbes to monitor shipping traffic in and out of Darling Harbour and, more importantly, Circular Quay, where the Sydney Customs House was situated. Today, Wotonga forms the core of Admiralty House and the building's 180-degree views are even more spectacular than they were in Gibbes' day, owing to the subsequent high-rise growth of Sydney's CBD. Point Piper is a small harbourside, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. ...

Colonel Gibbes, incidentally, was said to be the illegitimate child of His Royal Highness Frederick, Duke of York, (King George III's second son). This reputed connection to the British monarchy adds spice to the house on Kirribilli Point's subsequent role as a vice-regal establishment. For more information about Wotonga's genesis, see the North Shore Historical Journal article "John Gibbes: Builder of Admiralty House", Volume 37, Number 1, April 1997, pages 8-12. His Royal Highness The Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (Frederick Augustus) (16 August 1763 - 5 January 1827) was a member of the British Royal Family, the second eldest child, and second son of King George III. From 1820 until his own death in 1827, he was the heir...

Gibbes, Travers & Feez

In 1849, Robert Campbell died and the executors of the estate sold the property, comprising the house and five acres land, to Gibbes for about 1,400 pounds. On 27 December 1851, Gibbes sold the property to James Lindsay Travers, a merchant of Macquarie Place, Sydney, for 1,533 pounds. (Gibbes then leased Greycliffe House at Shark Beach, Vaucluse, from the Wentworth family; he and his wife, Elizabeth, would dwell at Greycliffe until they retired to Yarralumla homestead in 1859.) Wentworth may refer to: // DArcy Wentworth (1762 - 1827), father of William Charles Wentworth, surgeon in the early days of Sydney Australia John Wentworth, several people: John Wentworth (Lieutenant-Governor) (1671-1730), colonial Lt. ... This is a disambiguation page; if one followed a link here, one might want to adjust that link. ...

A small portion of the Kirribilli Point land, a little over an acre was sold in 1854 to a merchant, Adolph Frederic Feez. On this land, Kirribilli House was built. Kirribilli House, next door to Admiralty House, now serves as the Sydney residence of the Australian Prime Minister. 1854 (MDCCCLIV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

The Crimean War

In 1855, during the Crimean War, Governor Denison reclaimed the tip of Kirribilli point, on which fortifications were built. These fortifications, along with Fort Denison, were intended to strengthen the defences of Sydney Harbour, as it was feared that the Russians might attack. In 1856, Lieutenant Colonel George Barney, a one-time officer of the Royal Engineers, lived in “Wotonga“ and designed and supervised the installation of a battery of five 8-inch muzzle-loading guns on Kirribilli Point, as well as the building of the fortifications on Fort Denison. Combatants Allies: Second French Empire British Empire Ottoman Empire Kingdom of Sardinia Russian Empire Bulgarian volunteers Casualties 90,000 French 35,000 Turkish 17,500 British 2,194 Sardinian killed, wounded and died of disease ~134,000 killed, wounded and died of disease The Crimean War (1853–1856) was fought... Fort Denison in Sydney Harbour with the city skyline Fort Denison is a former penal site and defensive facility occupying a small island located north of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia. ... The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army. ...

Lassetter, Wiltshire & Cadell

In 1856, Lt Col Barney bought the house and its grounds; so as he could look out onto all of the sites that he had fortified. In September 1860, Barney sold the house and grounds for 9,000 pounds to George Alfred Lloyd. In 1866, “Wotonga House” was let to Mr Frederick Lassetter and subsequently to Mr Wilshire, Mayor of Sydney.

In April 1874, Wotonga House was auctioned and bought for 10,100 pounds by Mr Thomas Cadell, a Sydney merchant and member of the Legislative Council from 1881 to 1896. At that time, the house was described as containing a wide verandah, a spacious entrance hall, drawing and dining rooms, 10 bedrooms and the usual rooms in the main part of the house, as well as having a large courtyard, servant's rooms, kitchen, stables, etc, with an abundant water supply, which never failed in the driest weather.

The Admiralty

In 1885, the Royal Navy’s Australian Squadron was raised to the status of an Admiral’s command in recognition of the colony’s growing importance. The colonial government bought “Wotonga” as residence for the Admiral of the Navy. The house was renamed “Admiralty House”, and additions were made to the property. A second storey was added to the house, as was a colonnaded verandah. A Neo-Gothic style gate lodge was also added to the grounds, as was a covered Admiral’s Walk leading down to the berth for the Admiral’s barge below.

In 1913, this part of the history of Admiralty House came to a close as the last British Admiral left the house as the Royal Australian Navy took over responsibility of the Naval Defence of Australia. The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. ...

The Governors-General

From the Federation of Australia in 1901, the Government House of New South Wales in Farm Cove was used as the Sydney residence of the Governor-General. In 1912, the Government of New South Wales decided to put the building to public purposes once more, leaving the Governor-General of the period, Lord Denman, without a Sydney Residence. The federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia formed a federation. ... Government House is located in Sydney and was the official residence of the Governor of New South Wales, Australia. ... Farm Cove is a tidal inlet and shallow bay in Sydney Harbour, separated from Sydney Cove by Bennelong Point (site of the Sydney Opera House). ... The form of the Government of New South Wales is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then. ...

With the departure of the last British Admiral from Admiralty House the following year, the Admiralty handed the house back to the NSW Government. This provided Lord Denman’s successor, Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson with a Sydney Residence. Admiralty House was the residence of the Governors-General for the following fifteen years.

In 1930, during the Great Depression, the Scullin Government had Admiralty House closed, and its contents were sold at Auction in 1931. For other uses, see The Great Depression (disambiguation). ...

Governor-General Sir Isaac Isaacs, appointed in 1931, was the first Governor-General to live permanently at Yarralumla, in Canberra. During his term, Admiralty House remained empty and neglected. Sir Isaacs described it in 1934 as being “stripped of its glamour, with no furnishings but a few fine mirrors, its garden wild and overgrown”. Sir Isaac Isaacs Sir Isaac Alfred Isaacs, KBE, PC (6 August 1855 - 12 February 1948) Australian judge and politician, was the ninth Governor-General of Australia, the first Jew, and the first Australian to occupy that post. ... For other uses, see Canberra (disambiguation). ...

In 1936, the state of New South Wales reopened Admiralty House as the Sydney residence for the new Governor-General, Lord Gowrie. The house has been used ever since as the residence for Governors-General as their Sydney home. Brigadier-General Alexander Gore Arkwright Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie, VC, GCMG, CB, DSO, PC (6 July 1872 – 2 May 1955), tenth Governor-General of Australia, was born in Windsor, Berkshire, the second son of the 8th Lord Ruthven of Freeland. ...

Formal title to Admiralty House finally passed from the State Government to the Commonwealth by Crown grant in 1948, on the condition that the house was to be used only as a residence for the Governor-General.

Other uses

Admiralty House, its grounds, and Kirribilli House are usually open to the public once a year, sometime in spring when the gardens are at their best. However, there had not been a public opening since the 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States because of security concerns until 2005, which saw a public opening once again on the 30th October. A history of the garden was published in the Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens. Kirribilli House is the Sydney residence of the Prime Minister of Australia. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Admiralty House is at present the official residence of the Governor-General of Australia, and of important overseas visitors. The Royal Family and other important dignitaries, such as the American President and the Pope, visit Admiralty House when they are in Sydney. Members of the Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after the Trooping the Colour ceremony The British Royal Family is shared between the Commonwealth Realms; this article focuses on the perspective of United Kingdom. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      The Pope (from Latin...

The Interior

The ground floor has two reception rooms, a dining room, a study, and an elaborate central staircase. The residents' private rooms are on the upper floors.

The house is furnished with colonial furniture, porcelain and numerous historical artworks such as portraits of Captain James Cook and former Governors General including Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson. Many were acquired for the nation by the Australiana Fund. This article is about the British explorer. ... Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, GCMG, PC (11 August 1852 - 2 December 1928), second Governor-General of Australia, was born at Chapel House, Twickenham, in Surrey, England. ...

References

• Clifford-Smith, Silas; 'Admiralty House', Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens, South Melbourne, 2002
• Thompson, CJ; Admiralty House, Sydney – Brief History and Catalogue of Contents of State Rooms; Government House, Canberra, 1984
• Kerr, John Semple, Admiralty House: A Conservation Plan Developed for the Department of Housing and Construction, Sydney, 1987
• Steele, Jeremy, Sydney Cove to the Heads; The University of Sydney, 1978
• Stephensen, PR & Kennedy, Brian; The History and Description of Sydney Harbour; Reed Publishing, 1966 & 1980
• Messent, David & McGonigal, David; The Complete Guide to Sydney Harbour; David Messent Photography, 1994
• The Governor General of the Commonwealth of Australia: The History of Admiralty House: 1794-1948
• The Australiana Fund: Admiralty House
• North Sydney Council: The Face of North Sydney Image Library

See also

• Government Houses of Australia
• Government Houses of the British Empire
• Governor-General of Australia

This is a list of Government Houses of Australia. ... Government House is the name usually given to the residence of Governors-General, Governors and Lieutenant-Governors in the Commonwealth and the British Empire. ... The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative of Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia. ...

External links

• Official Site of Admiralty House
• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: -33.851735° 151.218245°
  • WikiSatellite view at WikiMapia
  • Street map from Google Maps or Multimap.
  • Satellite image from Google Maps