Fernberg Quarterly OCTOBER 2016
A QUARTERLY UPDATE FOR STAFF AND VOLUNTEER GUIDES
IN THIS ISSUE Behind the scenes at an Investiture Ceremony
New Government House publication
Heritage Quarters improves accommodation options
Updates from the gardens and House
Behind the scenes during Investiture Week
Police Recruit Dog Gavel wears his ceremonial coat, consistent with the pomp and formality of Investiture Ceremonies
The Investiture Ceremonies for honours and awards under the Australian honours system are a highlight of the vice-regal calendar, and are the culmination of many months of meticulous planning. Ceremonies are held over two one-week blocks each year – the first block in May, and the second in September. Additional ceremonies are also held in Cairns and Townsville for residents of North and Far North Queensland, and in early October, the Governor hosted a special ceremony at the Bundaberg retirement village of Medal of the Order of Australia recipient, Mr Eric Cullen, who was unable to travel to Brisbane.
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Official Secretary’s Welcome It has been another busy few months for Government House, and next week will be no exception, with the Governor and Mrs de Jersey relocating from Fernberg to Longreach for an entire week from 26 October to 2 November 2016. The regional Government House initiative was instigated last year – with the first program held in Cairns in October 2015 – to enable a level of community engagement not able to be achieved during shorter regional visits. This is a major undertaking for the Office. In this edition of the ‘Fernberg Quarterly’, we are going behind-the-scenes at Government House to see what goes in to preparing to host another major undertaking for the Office, Investiture Ceremonies. These are signature events, at which the Governor fulfils the crucial ceremonial role of presenting Australian honours and awards to worthy Queenslanders.
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The Office continues to identify opportunities for Queenslanders to visit Government House, and, fresh from participating in Brisbane Open House in early October – where more than 540 people toured Government House – I am very pleased to confirm that the popular Christmas Lights Display will occur again this year – details are contained on the back page. We hope to see many of you at the estate for that. Finally, there are some updates contained herein on important recent additions to the estate. By the time the next edition of the ‘Fernberg Quarterly’ comes out next year, there will have been further changes to many of the public areas of the House as part of the most significant internal refurbishment in decades – I look forward to updating you on these in due course. Best wishes for the upcoming festive season. Air Commodore Mark Gower OAM Official Secretary
GOVERNMENT HOUSE QUEENSLAND
Heritage Quarters UPDATE REVEALS BUILDING’S PAST Almost 80 years after it was first built, the Staff Quarters at Government House have been extensively refurbished as guest accommodation now known as the Heritage Quarters. The Quarters greatly enhance the capacity of the Governor to support Queensland’s trade, business and cultural interests by accommodating dignitaries and guests. To date, the Heritage Quarters has, for example, hosted Queenslanders invited to formals dinners including in support of the Far North Queensland and the Gulf of Carpentaria regions. Fittingly, the Heritage Quarters was officially opened at the end of 2015 during Fernberg’s 150th year and its six suites have been named in honour of Governors who have resided at Government House since 1910 – Sir John Goodwin, Sir John Lavarack, Colonel Sir Henry Abel Smith, Sir Alan Mansfield, Sir James Ramsay, and Sir Walter Campbell.
were undertaken not just to the quarters, but to Fernberg itself, by the Queensland Government while the Governor, Sir Leslie Wilson, and his wife were in England on six months’ extended leave. That project cost £20,000, employed 110 men, and produced not only a new three-storey eastern wing for Fernberg but “fresh and spacious quarters for the staff”. As well as bed- and bath-rooms, the two-storey brick staff quarters included a glassed-in sitting room and was connected to the main house by “a covered passage set high above the drive and underneath which motor cars can pass”.
FAR LEFT: The recently repurposed Heritage Quarters, officially opened in late 2015. BELOW: The original Staff Quarters, completed in 1937.
Wherever possible, each suite features furniture made from local timber and the plaques identifying the suites were made by Government House staff from silk oak recycled from the original door frames. The new quarters are a far cry from those occupied by staff in 1937, the year in which major improvements
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ABOVE: Honorary Aides-de-Camp add dignity to Investiture Ceremonies; medals are meticulously laid out in correct order and individually transferred to the Governor via a ceremonial pillow. RIGHT: More than 3,000 people used livestreaming to watch the May 2015 Investiture Ceremonies.
BELOW: EntrĂŠe cards and invitations are issued on special Government House crested stationery.
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GOVERNMENT HOUSE QUEENSLAND
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Behind the scenes at Investiture Ceremonies Preparations for each ceremony begin months in advance. Invitations are sent out, followed by an entrée card to awardees and their guests on Government House’s distinctive crested stationery. Citations are painstakingly checked, and then re-checked, to ensure recipients are accurately and appropriately recognised for their contributions.
And who are these honoured guests? At the Investiture Ceremony on Wednesday 21 September 2016, His Excellency said: “they represent three of the attributes that we admire and value most highly as a nation – courage, commitment, and community service”. It is our honour to recognise them at Government House.
The horticultural staff expertly time flowers, like azaleas, to bloom around Investiture Ceremonies.
As soon as the dates are set, the highly skilled horticultural team begin their countdown. Two months out the annual displays are planned and planted, then fed a fortnight beforehand so that on the day the gardens are bursting with colour. The hedges are clipped and the Investiture Lawn upon which guests enjoy their morning or afternoon tea is mown as late as possible, ensuring the grass is fresh with crisp, straight edges. On the morning of each ceremony, the gardeners are out with the blowers, tidying away any fallen leaves and palm fronds. Our chefs take pride in showcasing the very best of seasonal Queensland produce. For the September Investi tures, their menu included tempura of Mooloolaba prawn tails with preserved lemon mayonnaise, Mount Tamborine chicken and bacon sausage rolls and pineapple and crystallised ginger cake. The House staff focus on ensuring that the Investiture Room is immaculately fit for purpose, including polishing the parquetry floor to a high shine, and ensuring that guests experience a warm and convivial atmosphere.
FERNBERG QUARTERLY • OCTOBER 2016
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‘Birds of Fernberg’ book a tribute to decades of staff observations View ‘Birds of Fernberg Estate’ free on the Government House website
BELOW LEFT: An Australian Brushturkey nesting at Government House. BELOW: RIGHT: The weathervane on the roof of the Ponds gazebo is a whimsical nod to the prevalent species of turkey.
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In 1928, at the instigation of the then Governor, Sir John Goodwin, the 41 acres, 3 roods, 9.7 perches of the Fernberg estate were first declared a sanctuary under the now historical Animals and Birds Act of 1921. Sanctuary status and the current Bushland Management Plan have contributed significantly to ensuring that the Fernberg estate today is one of the most valued inner-city wildlife habitats, with more than 50 species of resident or migrant birds now recorded. On 10 June 2016, Government House celebrated almost 90 years as a sanctuary by launching a pocket guide for visitors, based on the records maintained over many years by staff. Recording and photographing birds on the estate has been a passion of successive generations of Government
House, and horticultural staff today maintain those records. Indeed, just as the final proof of the guide was about to go to print, Government House horticulture staff announced the exciting news that a Striated Heron Butorides striata had been sighted on the estate for the first time. The varied population of water-birds in the Ponds area and the resident families of kookaburras, magpies and lorikeets are particular favourites, but the species which invariably fascinates international visitors is the Australian Brush-turkey. Unafraid, the turkeys boldly patrol the roads and pathways of the estate and, in a whimsical tribute, the wind-vane on the roof of the Ponds gazebo features the unmistakable silhouette of Alectura lathami.
GOVERNMENT HOUSE QUEENSLAND
From around the estate New William Robinson artwork The artwork at Government House falls into three broad categories: Royal portraits on loan from the Royal Collection Trust; artwork of the Government House Collection; and those works on-loan from Queensland’s cultural institutions, namely the Queensland Art Gallery I Gallery of Modern Art and the State Library of Queensland. One new work on display at Government House, which falls into the latter category, is acclaimed Queensland artist William Robinson’s ‘William and Shirley, flora and fauna’. Proudly hanging in Fernberg’s original 1865 Entry, the oil on canvas work was inspired by the wild, rolling hills and eucalypt and subtropical forests of the Gold Coast hinterland.
‘William and Shirley, flora and fauna’ joins a number of significant works by Queensland artists which provide visitors to Fernberg with multiple viewpoints of the vast State.
“William and Shirley, flora and fauna” by William Robinson
Rainforest Retreat The recently opened ‘Rainforest Retreat’, inset into the subtropical garden which borders the Lower Lawn, provides Fernberg’s visitors with an elegant space conducive to quiet contemplation.
Officially opened by Mrs Kaye de Jersey in late August, the ‘Rainforest Retreat’ continues the proud tradition of Governors and their spouses lending their name, and officially opening, additions to the estate gardens.
The ‘Rainforest Retreat’ features a refurbished heritage garden bench, brought to Fernberg when it became Government House in 1910, surrounded by modern screens laser-cut with a philodendron leaf motif. The area is bookended by Eucharis lilies – descendants from plants grown by the Governor’s mother, and surrounded by Native violets and exotic Clivias.
FERNBERG QUARTERLY • OCTOBER 2016
Mrs de Jersey at the Rainforest Retreat
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Christmas lights More than 1600m of lights and over 10,000 bulbs will illuminate Queensland’s historic Government House and gardens for the annual Christmas Lights display. The gates will open to the public between 7 and 8pm from 8 – 12 December 2016. Entrance will be via the Service Gate at 168 Fernberg Road, Paddington (pedestrian access only, there is no onsite parking). Around 4,000 people visited Fernberg for last year’s Christmas Lights display.
www.govhouse.qld.gov.au www.facebook.com/QldGovernor @QldGovernor @QldGovernor PAGE 8
GOVERNMENT HOUSE QUEENSLAND
Photography by Best