Governor Bligh's house is drawn from an article in The Illustrated Sydney News, October 1881 and
Governor Phillip's house from an article in The Illustrated Sydney News, July, 1864
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| The arrest of Governor Bligh, 1808, artist unknown |
Governor Bligh's House
Near Belmore Park
The condemnation and demolition of Sydney dwellings unfit for human habitation is being actively proceeded with, and among the number doomed are the so-called houses in Mary Street, Nos. 6 and 8, at the back of Belmore Park.
They had the appearance of old wooden stables in the last stages of decay, with the windows all boarded up, and light and ventilation studiously kept out of the interior.
When visited by the Mayor and other city officials, it was stated by one of the old tenants of one of these wretched sheds that the building was the first house occupied by Governor Bligh, and that in those days it was known as Government House.
This old vice-regal establishment was at once condemned, so that another landmark of the Colony's progress will be speedily removed.
Governor Phillip's House
No person who of late years have passed through Pitt-street can have failed in remarking a rickety looking shanty, situated a few doors from the Union Bank, between King street and Hunter street.
The dimensions of the building were about 24 ft. by 12 ft. and about 6 ft. high; it was, however, only a few weeks ago when the place was about to be pulled down, that the fact became generally known that this humble tenement was once Government House of the Colony, having been erected for Governor Phillip in 1791 (about three years after the arrival of the first fleet), who resided there until his departure from the Colony in December 1792.
What a contrast between the residence of the then Representative of the Crown and the Vice-Regal mansion of the present day - what changes have occurred since the foundations of that humble tenement were laid!
From the few huts then clustered round Sydney Cove, a city has sprung up.
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