Image: Governor's Residence, Brisbane, c 1981

Description: Johann Heussler, a wealthy Brisbane merchant purchases 22 acres of land from the Government in 1862 and made plans to build a house there. Local architect Benjamin Backhouse designed a house in 1865, to be constructed from stone excavated on site combined with a cement and lime mixture. The Heussler family lived at Fernberg from 1865 until 1872 when the high cost of upkeep forces foreclosure on the property by the mortgagee. Sir Arthur Palmer, Premier of Queensland (1870-1874), and later Lieutenant Governor resided in Fernberg from 1872 to 1881. John Stevenson MP purchased Fernberg and commissioned the addition of a fine frontage to the building and considerably extended the grounds by purchasing adjacent land. He also installed the stained glass window depicting Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland (1306-1329) on the main internal stairway of the house. The title to Fernberg was transferred in 1894 to Stevenson’s mortgagees, two directors of the Mount Morgan gold mine in Central Queensland—William Pattison and Walter Hall. Upon Pattison’s death in 1899, Hall became the sole owner of Fernberg. He did not appear to live in the house, and Stevenson and his wife continued to occupy the home. The title to Fernberg was transferred from Hall to Adelaide Palmer, Stevenson's sister-in-law, in 1901. Governor Sir William MacGregor moved to Fernberg as a temporary measure in 1910, after the former Government House was handed over by the Government to form the nucleus of Queensland's first university. Plans were formulated to build a new Government House in Victoria Park. The Queensland Government purchases Fernberg as a permanent Governor's Residence for £10,000 in 1911. Queensland State Archives Item ID436357, Photographic material
Title: Governor's Residence, Brisbane, c 1981
Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/queenslandstatearchives/35411152632/
Author: Queensland State Archives
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No