Old Government House was the hub of colonial life in the early days of Brisbane. Constructed between 1860 and 1862, shortly after Queensland achieved separation from New South Wales, the House was Queensland's first public building. A rare surviving example of the domestic work of Queensland's first Colonial Architect Charles Tiffin, the House was both a private residence and official state office for Governor Bowen, the colony's first governor, and continued to be the home of Queensland's governors until 1910.
More than simply serving as a vice-regal residence, Old Government House played an important symbolic role in the early years of the colony. Its grand design and location high on the promontory at Gardens Point made it an impressive sight for visitors and immigrants arriving by ship: as they circled the point, it came into view as a stately palace against the backdrop of Brisbane's ramshackle wooden huts scattered throughout the bush. It was a bold exemplar of the colony's potential prosperity.
Contessa Diamantina Roma married Sir George Bowen on 28/04/1856 at Corfu, Ionian Islands. He was appointed first Governor of Queensland and they arrived in Brisbane on December 10, 1859 and declared Queensland a separate state. Lady Bowen was a beautiful, caring, conscientious lady who stimulated the formation of benevolent and charitable organizations in Queensland (eg Lady Bowen Lying-In Hospital, Diamantina Orphanage). The Orphanage became run-down and a new one opened at Woolloongabba, Brisbane. Then in 1901, it was translated into the Diamantina Hospital for Chronic Disease, 1943 the South Brisbane Auxiliary Hospital and ultimately the new Princess
Alexandra Hospital in 1956.
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/bowen-diamantina-12812
Virtual Rewards 2.0 - 2019/2020
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog.
Logging requirements
To claim a find of this cache, you need to perform a couple of tasks before you post your log:-
1. Find the name of the "Foundry" on Lady Diamantina
2. Now walk over to the Governor's home. Looking through the glass panel how many steps are there to go down to the lower level?
3. On the ground floor go into the middle of the building. How many taps are there at the historic wash basin?
4. (Alternate Question to Number 3.)Walk to the opposite side of the building to where Lady Diamantina is standing. This are is called the Kidney Lawn. What is the Room Number on the sign attached to the Flood Light Box in the middle of the lawn?
Note, you must send an email or a message to the Cache owner before submitting your "found it" log. Failure to do so will result in deletion of your log.
You don't need to wait for the reply, however you do need to submit the email first, the CO may seek clarification if your response is incomplete.
Note: Occasionally GZ is unavailable for events or the like. If you are unfortunate enough to experience this, please understand that you may not claim a find.
You also need to post a photo
The detail of the photo IS UP TO YOU.