• • A HOUSE FULL OF ARTEFACTS OR • ARTEFACTS FOR THE HOUSE ? • papers from a semlnar about the interpretation and presentation of Old Government House, Parramatta • 14 & 15 February, 1985. • • • TH1e National Must of Australia (N SW) • • • ARTEFACTS • o~ • . ~ pa er~. fro~a seminar about the inter et~(}on and presentation of Old Govern~nt House, Parramatta 14 & 15 February, 1985. • • • • rue NationaR Must ofp\U]stnilia (NSW) • • • • • A HOUSE FULL OF ARTEFACTS • OR ARTEFACTS FOR THE HOUSE ? • papers from a seminar about the interpretation and presentation of Old Government House, Parramatta 14 & 15 February, 1985. • • • • The National Trust of Australia (NSW) • • .' • A HOUSE FULL OF ARTEFACTS OR ARTEFACTS FOR THE HOUSE? • papers from a seminar about the interpretation and presentation of Old Government House, Parramatta. CONTENTS. • FOREWORD Richard Rowe? OPENING Pat McDonald • PART 1. OLD GOVERNMENT HOUSE TODAY 1.1 BACKGROUND PAPER Meredith Walker • 1.2 CURRENT INTERPRETATION AND PRESENTATION OPERATION AND VISITORS Chris Levins 1.3 CURRENT "INTERPRETATION AND PRESENTATION THE DISPLAY Patricia McDonald • 1.4 HISTORY OF THE DISPLAY Kevin Fahy 1.5 HISTORICAL INTERIORS AND THE FURNITURE Kevin Fahy • 1.6 HISTORICAL INVENTORIES AND ROOM USAGE AT OLD GOVERNMENT HOUSE James Broadbent 1.7 BUILDING CONDITIONS AND PROBLEMS Alan Croker • PART 2. THE CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE OF OLD GOVERNMENT HOUSE AND ITS INTERPRETATION AND PRESENTATION. • 2.1 ON RECONSIDERING THE SIGNIFICANCE OF OLD GOVERNMENT HOUSE Helen Proudfoot 2.2 THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF OLD GOVERNMENT HOUSE Richard Mackay • 2.3 THE ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE OF OLD GOVERNMENT HOUSE James Broadbent 2.4 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FURNITURE Kevin Fahy • 2.5 THE HISTORY OF THE GARDEN AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE Joanna Capon • • 2.6 THE FUTURE OF THE PAST IN NEW GOVERNMENT HOUSE, PARRAMATTA: • PRESENTING THE INTERIOR Jessie Serle 2.7 PRESERVING AND PRESENTING THE ARTEFACTS Donna Midwinter • 2.8 DRAFT STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Ian Stapleton '. PART 3. OLD GOVERNMENT HOUSE IN ITS CONTEXT 3.1 OLD GOVERNMENT HOUSE AND PARRAMATTA PARK e Meredith Walker 3.2 OLD GOVERNMENT HOUSE EDUCATIONAL AND TOURIST.POTENTIAL • Chris Levins 3.3 OLD GOVERNMENT HOUSE AND OTHER HOUSE MUSEUMS Peter Watts • PART 4. DISCUSSION 4.1 TOWARDS A CONSERVATION PLAN • John Wade APPENDICES. 1. National Trust Listing Proposal for Old Government House and • Parramatta Park (1978) 2. List of ideas and suggestions put forward at the Seminar 14 & 15 February, 1985. • 3. List of Participants 4. Seminar Program. • , I I I- I - r • • • FOREWORD - RICHARD ROWE? PAPER YET TO COME. • • • • • • • • • • OPENING. I feel we should begin by reminding ourserves of the broad object­ • ives of the Trust, and these objectives are incorporated in the National Trust Act of 1960 and they are summarised in the report. 'To acquire, protect and preserve for the benefit of the public lands and buildings of beauty and of national, historic, scientific and architectural cultural significance~ to safeguard natural features and to conserve wildlife and to encourage and promote public apprec­ • iation, knowledge and enjoyment of these things.' We may also be reminded that,the Trust was formed in 1945 and forty years on in 1985, though it has been working within the scope of these objectives enorm6USE changes have taken place in the entire heritage scene. The Trust membership has grown from the original handful of • people in 1945 to over 33,000 now, and this reflects the increasing awareness among the general public of the value of heritage and the need to conserve it. We have an enormous increase in professional expertise, expanded beyond belief in many areas, much of which will provide the basis of our discussion. I might mention the commercial • production of a whole host of historic items which were simply unheard of before and I should also like to draw your attention to the pro­ duction of books and periodicals which make the latest information accessible to all. So all of these avenues and a great many others have improved the standard over the last forty years. • Now - what.has not expanded to such an extent is - as it were - the theoretical aspects of heritage matters and of course this is the particular concern of this seminar. What we are looking at is a philosophy for Old Government House. The house was acquired by the Trust in 1967 and after three years of • restoration it was opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth 11 on 30 April 1970. Amid all the rhetoric of such a royal occasion there shines through the ideal that this was the most important step the Trust had taken to date: that this is the most significant and important property that the Trust owns and that it will become the centre and showplace • of the National Trust of Australia (NSW) properties. These high ideals have been cherished by those associated with the house and over the years another factor has crept into the pattern and that factor is affection. More so than any property I know Old Govern­ ment House seems to have developed a personality of its own, seems to have a spirit, a powerful mana which envelops those who work with it • and for it: the Old Government House Committee, staff and managers, full time staff and part-time staff, volunteers and guardians, so all of them develop a great love of the property and a great pride in it and, with this, a desire to maintain it and keep it in the light of the ideals as seen at that opening. • For the past fifteen years of deep affection and plain hard work in maintaining the house they deserve our gratitude. • • • But things do change. Fifteen years on since 1970 it is time to • take stock of what we are doing and where we are going and this, of course, is the purpose of this seminar. We look forward to a fascin­ ating two days, we look forward to learning a great deal, to taking part in the development of proposals for the next stage in the life of Old Government House. So, let us hope that .this powerful mana of which I spoke before will have a benign influence on the deliberations • and that our discussions will be profitable and we will reach a successful conclusion. EAT McDONALD. • • • • • • • • • I . I • A HOUSE FULL OF ARTEFACTS OR ARTEFACTS FOR THE HOUSE? A background paper for the seminar about the interpretation and presentation of Old Government House. • CONTENTS. 1.0 Introduction - The Preparation of a Conservation Plan for Old Government House and the Purpose of this Seminar. 1.1 The Colour Change at Old Government House • 1.2 A Conservation Plan for Old Government House and this Seminar. 1.3 What this seminar is not about. 1.4 The Seminar Title~ 1.5 Good-will and Old Government House. • 2.0 The Ideals and Theory of House Museums. 2.1 The Ideals of House Museums. 2.2 The Theory of House Museums. • 3.0 Old Government House Now. 3.1 The Use of Old Government House Now. 3.2 The POssible Use of Old Government House 3.3 The Interpretation of Old Government House Now. 3.4 Some Comments on the Interpretation and Display. • 4.0 The Objectives of this Seminar. 5.0 A Schema for the Interpretation and Use of Old Government House. • REFERENCES ATTACHMENTS. • • • • • 1 INTRODUCTION - THE PREPARATION OF A CONSERVATION PLAN FOR OLD GOVERNMENT HOUSE AND THE PURPOSE OF THE SEMINAR • 1.1 The Colour Change at Old Government House (OGH) Over the past couple of years some members of the Curatorial Co~~ittee of the National Trust and its predecessors have been considering changes to (OGH). Some of these changes have been to the building itself - such as the recent repainting, and others to the interior, including changes to • the arrangement and display of furniture and furnishings. Understandably, these changes have met with opposition from people who are attached to the concepts and the view of history embodied in the current display. The most obvious change has been the repainting of the exterior from green and white to golden-beige, cream and green. The exterior walls are now • lime washed. The choice of the colour scheme was described in the National Trust Journal, February 1984, as follows: -- - - -- --- ---- - -- - - -------- Painstaking research has uncovered the exterior colour schemes of Old Govern­ ment House at two different periods in • its early history, and has prompted the Trust's Curatorial Committee to under­ take a meticulous "facelift" for the property, authentic for the period when Governor FitzRoy lived there. This particular period was chosen, above the second scheme researched which was • that of Governor Macquarie, because it shows the house as' it was at the end of the era when our early governors made Old Government House their country home. The earlier (Macquarie) scheme is essential- -ly grey, with black, ochre and umber • variations and is believed to have been selected by Mrs. Macquarie from the very few colours available in the Colony at the time, 1815-17. The second (FitzRoy) scheme comprises variations of beige, grey, cream and green, and is believed to have been applied before 1847 when • Lady Mary FitzRoy was killed in a carriage accident in front of the house. When complete, the change in colour scheme and other changes were reported in an article in the Journal in June 1984 (copy attached). • The change in colour scheme was no doubt accompanied by much thinking and agonising (TVhat would the Guardians say? etc). A similar change - from a 1950/60s colour scheme to an historic scheme - was attempted several years ago, at Como, the property of the National Trust in Victoria. A very detailed examination of the fabric of the building was undertaken by Peter Lovell, and a scheme replicating exactly an historic scheme was proposed-.