Hawkesbury People & Places
Government Cottage (Old Government House)
Building name
Government Cottage also known as Old Government House was located at 41 George Street, North in the Peninsula area of Windsor, New South Wales.
Constructed in 1796, Government Cottage Windsor remained on the riverbank overlooking the Hawkesbury at Windsor, NSW until 1922.
In April 1796 a cottage was constructed for the commanding officer of the garrison of soldiers stationed at Green Hills (later Windsor) and was mentioned by Governor Hunter in a list of public buildings erected since 1796. Although often referred to as the government house, it was never intended as an official residence for the governor of the colony of New South Wales although Governor Lachlan Macquarie and his party did stay in the cottage while exploring the district. The structure was built of timber with a shingle roof and included a cellar and a separate kitchen. Occupants have included Lieutenant Neil McKellar (1797-99), Lieutenant Thomas Hobby and Police Magistrate, Samuel North (1829-1844). The house was sold into private ownership in 1855 and was demolished in 1922.
Reference: Wednesday 9 January 1811
Wednesday 9th. Jany. Set out from Parramatta at a quarter past 6 o’clock this morning, and arrive at Government Cottage at Windsor at a quarter past 9 o’clock to Breakfast. Governor Macquarie and his party which often included Mrs Macquarie stayed at the Government Cottage in Windsor during his expeditions around the Hawkesbury-Nepean District.
Reference: 5 May 1922, p 8.
OLDEST BUILDING. RELIC OF, 18th CENTURY. WINDSOR COTTAGE GOES. Settlement in Australia was scarcely ten years old when a building which has recently been swept away to make room for a concrete cottage with a galvanised iron roof, was put up. This is the old Government cottage at Windsor, on the Hawkesbury, probably the oldest building in the Commonwealth, which dated back to the 18th century. The old house is mentioned by Governor Hunter in a list, drawn up in 1800, of buildings erected since October, 1796. It is described as a framed and weather-boarded house on the Green Hills (renamed Windsor by Macquarie in 1811) for the residence of the commanding officer of the district. It was shingled, and had a cellar (an elaborate affair, with 12 wine-bins), a ‘skilling kitchen’ and other accommodation…
The house and the ground around it remained the property of the Crown till 1855, when the place was sold. The old cottage went back to the days when red cedar, now nearly extinct, was common and cheap on the Hawkesbury. The weatherboards and interior fittings, and even, it is said, the flooring boards, were of splendid cedar. When the place was pulled down the cedar was in an excellent state of preservation…
Photographs of this building are available online at Hawkesbury Library - https://aurora.hawkesbury.nsw.gov.au/library/Gallery.aspx??showall=true
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