Tuesday, 18 June 2024
Government House, Sydney
Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC, Governor of New South Wales

Bujari gamarruwa, Diyn Babana Gamarada Gadigal Ngura

In the language of the Gadigal, Traditional Owners of this land, I am delighted to welcome you as I say: “Good day, Women, Men, Friends, here we are on Gadigal Country.”

I pay my respects to Gadigal Elders, past, present and emerging.

It is a great pleasure for Dennis and I to welcome each Centenarian as a special guest today at Government House.

Today continues a tradition of more than 20 years of celebrating Centenarians here at the House, something that is a highlight for each member of our staff. It follows another highlight last week, when I was pleased to invest a sprightly Centenarian^[1] with her Order of Australia Medal a recognition of the strong community culture which we are proud to honour here at Government House.

There is a saying that you will all know which goes: “if these walls could speak, what stories they would tell”. It is a very apt one when talking about places of history.

Like many heritage sites around the State, this House, which dates back to 1845, creaks and groans; its wooden floorboards have echoed to the tread of hundreds of thousands of visitors.

Among its famous footsteps are people like the opera singer Dame Nellie Melba, who recuperated - and possibly even tested her vocal chords - here at Government House following a bout of Spanish influenza in 1921,^[2] which – for those Centenarians who are 103 – was the year you were born. Other famous people of note include the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova who visited the House in 1926.^[3]

Witness to almost 180 years of history and the lives of 30 Governors  who have made it their office and home, Government House has seen more than its fair share of excitement and drama.

• The first Government House Ball was held here in the Ballroom in 1843^[4], to honour the birthday of Queen Victoria, well before the first resident Governor, Governor Gipps, moved in
• The first royal visitor to NSW, Prince Alfred, son of Queen Victoria, was medically treated here at Government House,^[5] after falling victim to an assassination attempt during a picnic at Clontarf in Sydney in 1868. There are rumors that a bullet may have been removed in this room or the one adjoining. Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred’s Hospital was later built as a memorial to his safe recovery.^[6]
• Our nation’s first constitutional crisis occurred here, when Governor Sir Philip Game sacked then Premier Jack Lang and his government in 1932,^[7], just weeks after the completion and opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

And something I think many of you may remember:

• The first visit to Australia by a reigning British monarch, the 1954 Royal Tour saw the young Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh welcomed by hundreds and thousands of well-wishers, staying here in this House during their time in Sydney.

One of our Centenarians has special memories – and no doubt, stories - of this House – for whom today represents a ‘trip down memory lane’:

Patricia Joyce Gillespie is here today with her daughter and carer Asri Kerthyasa.^[8] Patricia’s husband, Asri’s father, Lieutenant Colonel Rollo Gillespie^[9] served as Private Secretary^[10] to the 32nd Governor of NSW, the Honourable Sir Roden Cutler VC, who welcomed the Royal Family, including a young Prince Charles and Princess Anne, and hosted a Reception in their honour in 1970.  Lieutenant Colonel Gillespie wrote a history of this House and Governors’ residences titled Vice Regal Quarters, with a Foreword by Sir Roden Cutler.^[11]

Each of you has extraordinary stories to share and today is the perfect occasion to share them.

Collectively, you have a total cumulative life span approaching 3000 years - 16.66 times the age of this House! - representing a great wealth of experience, wisdom and contributions to society.

Your presence today, tells of a life “well-lived”. Of change and continuity; of moving countries or towns and navigating a new culture; of making new friends and learning a new skill or language; of love, loss and laughter; of children, grandchildren; great grandchildren and families. Among you, too, are diverse stories of careers, of achievement and of community.

Today is testimony not only to your good health and vitality, but to the care you have given and received from families, friends and carers, and the wonderful support of Sydney Host Lions Club, of which I am proud to be Patron.

As the representative of His Majesty The King – King Charles III - in New South Wales, it is my great honour to convey my best wishes:

Congratulations, to each of our Centenarians! May you continue to live well - at 100-plus years young!

As our musicians lead us in singing ‘Happy Birthday’, I invite Mr Geoffrey Thorne, a youngster at just 100 and Mrs Hilda Canham, who is one of our ‘ever-green eldest’ at 104 - to join me as we cut our very special Centenarians’ Cake.

[1] Mrs Anne Bell Knight

[2] https://www.governor.nsw.gov.au/government-house/stories/in-famous-footsteps-dame-nellie-melba-at-government-house/

[3] https://www.governor.nsw.gov.au/government-house/stories/in-famous-footsteps-anna-pavlova-at-government-house/

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_House,_Sydney#:

[5] SMH, 13 March 1868 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13154858

[6] https://www.slhd.nsw.gov.au/rpa/history.html

[7] 13 May 1932:https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/51738264

[8] See image from 1973 : https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C325797

Jane Gillespie (Asri Kerthyasa daughter) married Prince Raka Kerthyasa of Ubud in a royal wedding in Bali, in 1977, becoming a Princess, thereafter living in the Ubud Palace: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/52764626

[9] See image from 1973: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C325797

[10] It is thought 1965-74

[11] Rollo Gillespie: Viceregal Quarters: an account of the various residences of the Governors of New South Wales from 1788 until the present day, Angus and Robertson, 1975