Sepia photograph of NSW Government House from the 1930s. A group of women dressed in white cloths walk towards a car being manned by a driver.

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Playing Their Part: Vice-Regal Consorts of NSW

Playing their Part: Vice Regal Consorts of New South Wales, 1788–2019 examines the lives of the women (and one man) who were the wives, daughters, sisters (and husband) of the governors of New South Wales over the past two hundred and thirty years. In 2020 the RAHS published the stories of the thirty-eight consorts. Their lives were researched and written by twenty-two dedicated volunteer authors whose commitment, and that of the three volunteer editors (Joy Hughes, Carol Liston and Christine Wright), has resulted in a publication that adds to the understanding of the consorts’ service and survival. Thank you to all our contributors who willingly gave their time to research and write the biographical entries. Read the RAHS President’s foreword.

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Playing Their Part: The Book

Joy Hughes, Carol Liston, and Christine Wright (eds), Playing Their Part: Vice-Regal Consorts of New South Wales, 1788-2019, Sydney: Royal Australian Historical Society, 2020.

The consort is the companion to the governor, a position usually filled by the governor’s wife (or more recently the governor’s husband), daughter or sister. This is not an official role and it comes with no job description, nor salary. Young or old, with or without children, noble or commoner, all consorts found themselves supporting spouse and family, sovereign, empire or nation.

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A 'her-story' rather than a 'his-story'

“In October 2014, on my arrival at Government House, I found that there was not a training course or manual for the role of governor’s wife or consort: neither was there any training protocol. It was a steep learning curve as I tried to understand the role.”

So began Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley’s historical journey into the lives and careers of the women who came before her. However, her search turned up very little. Except for the first vice-regal wives to accompany their husbands to the Antipodes, little was known of the women (and one man) who held the role of vice-regal consort in New South Wales and resolved “to uncover their stories, and if possible, publish a ‘her-story’ rather than a ‘his-story’ of the women (and one man) who worked behind the scenes of the governors.”

‘The Governor’s Wife’ rose, commissioned by Linda Hurley, bred by Richard and Ruth Walsh and planted in 2017.

Oral History Project

A companion oral history project supported the research into the lives of surviving consorts, their families, and their staff. The State Library of New South Wales commissioned these interviews.

Professional historian Roslyn Burge conducted the interviews, which provided important information about what life at Government House was like, how each consort managed their public role, and what they contributed to public life in New South Wales.

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The Women in Arthur Phillip’s Life

Arthur Phillip, the first governor of New South Wales from 1788-1792, married twice. As an aspiring naval lieutenant of 24, he married Charlotte Denison née Tibbott, a wealthy widow of 42. Thirty-one years later, at 55, he married Isabella Whitehead, a wealthy single woman of 43. Neither of these women ever came to New South Wales, but their stories are intertwined with that of the colony’s first governor and shed light on his enigmatic character. Phillip, the ambitious son of a German immigrant and an ordinary Londoner, chose to marry two ‘women of fortune’ who remained childless. Their wealth, manorial estates, social position and connections helped make his career a success.

The Lamentable Death of Lady Mary FitzRoy

In Australian historical surveys, the life and work of Sir Charles FitzRoy, the tenth governor of New South Wales, occupies the best part of a column. If there is an entry for his wife, it merely notes ‘FitzRoy, Lady Mary, death of’. Yet the ‘lamentable’ death of Lady Mary is constantly brought to the historian’s attention because it is often mentioned by contemporary diarists and journalists. This article contends that what made Lady Mary’s death significant and continues to intrigue today is the light it sheds on the changing constructs of masculinity and femininity in the middle of the nineteenth century.

Enid and Elaine de Chair: Government House and Modernism in Sydney

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