Name: Queensland Government House at Southport
Start: 2026-06-10T12:30:00+10:00
End: 2026-06-10T13:30:00+10:00
Location: The Commissariat Store Museum

Mr Lindsay Close speaks to the history of Queensland Government House at Southport!
About this Event

Abstract:

During the early years of the 1880s, a group of local tourist entrepreneurs in the Queensland town of Southport sought ways to market the burgeoning seaside resort. Securing the summer residence for the newly arrived colonial governor of the colony Sir Anthony Musgrave was seen as a major step forward for the development of the region. The governor's presence at Government House (Southport) during the summer months of the year, had a dramatic effect on the economic, social, and political life of the town. The result was that the resort attracted some of the most influential and affluent people of the colony of Queensland. As a direct consequence, the town prospered.By the early 1890s the new colonial governor Sir Henry Norman had moved the summer residence to Toowoomba. This coupled with the economic depression of the 1890s and the changing social demographic that was facilitated by the opening of the railway line to Brisbane necessitated altering the marketing focus for the region. The new tourist population was more numerous but could not afford the type of accommodation that Government House offered. The decline in occupancy resulted in the slow deterioration of the governor’s former residence. The same residence that had spurred development in the town only a decade before. Finally, the paper looks at the resurgence of Government House (Southport) and its return to prominence within the state as part of The Southport School.

Speaker Bio:

Lindsay Close, MHist., MEd., BEd., GCertDispResol., GCertArts (Research), has been recently retired after a 30 year career as a teacher at The Southport School. He has taught every year level from Year 1 to 12. Over the last decade he has taught Senior Modern and Ancient History, under the both the ATAR and OP assessment systems. Lindsay has lived in south east Queensland for most of his life and is interested in the preservation of historic buildings.