Old Government House was the hub of colonial life in the early days of Brisbane. Constructed between 1860 and 1862, shortly after Queensland achieved separation from New South Wales, the House was Queensland’s first public building. A rare surviving example of the domestic work of Queensland’s first Colonial Architect Charles Tiffin, the House was both a private residence and official state office for Governor Bowen, the colony’s first governor, and continued to be the home of Queensland’s governors until 1910.

The elegant interior

The House was built by Joshua Jeays, who punted the huge loads of sandstone used for its construction down the Brisbane River from his Goodna quarry. Jeays was also an alderman in the first Brisbane Municipal Council and later served as mayor. The House was completed in May 1862 at a total cost of £17,000, and was praised as a ‘structure… highly creditable to the colony’.

Eleven governors and their families lived in the House over a period of almost fifty years.he House and its gardens saw some of Brisbane’s most magnificent social events with countless balls, receptions, dinners and garden parties taking place. But as Queensland’s population grew, it became increasingly apparent that the House was simply too small to accommodate the extensive hospitalities demanded of it. In 1909 the controversial decision was made to move the governor out and a chapter in the life of the House came to a close.