Governors-General
Ms Quentin Bryce AC CVO 2008 - Present
Australia's 25th Governor-General is Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce AC CVO and her husband is His Excellency Mr. Michael Bryce AM AE.
The office of the Governor-General was establised by the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. The Constitution describes the Governor-General as The Queen's representative. The Queen appoints the Governor-General on the advice of The Prime Minister and under the provisions of the Letters Patent relating to the office. The Governor-General is non-political and quite distinct from that of the head of government. The Governor-General fulfills many important roles - constitutional and governmental, community relations, defence and ceremonial.
Since the beginning of The Australiana Fund, the Governor-General's residences have received many items of Australiana acquired by the Fund, with appreciation expressed by Governors-General and their families.
"In a very real sense, the four official residences are in the public domain. To them come people from overseas and from this country. It is fitting that they should be appropriately furnished and adorned so that those who come to them can have a sense that they are living and lived in treasures of Australian art and history. It seems to me, as the present incumbent of two of these houses, that this is a worthy object and I hope it will command strong support."
Sir Zelman Cowan, Governor-General, 1978.
As well as items of Australiana, the Fund collects memorabilia related to Governors-General. For example, the Portraits of Lord and Lady Northcote at Admiralty House. Items relating both to the houses and to the previous incumbents are high priorities in the Fund's collection programme.
Major General Philip Michael Jeffery AC CVO MC 2003 - 2008
The Right Reverend Archbishop Peter Hollingworth AC OBE 2001 - 2003
The Honourable Sir William Patrick Deane AC KBE KStJ QC 1996 - 2001
The Honourable William George Hayden AC KStJ 1989 - 1996
The Right Honourable Sir Ninian Martin Stephen PC KG AK GCMG CGVO KBE QC 1982 - 1989
The Right Honourable Sir Zelman Cowen AK GCMG GCVO QC PC DCL DUniv 1977 – 1982
The Right Honourable Sir John Robert Kerr KCMG LStJ PC AK GCMG GCVO 1974 - 1977
The Right Honourable Sir Paul Hasluck KG GCMG GCVO KStJ 1969 - 1974
The Right Honourable The Lord Richard Gardiner Casey KG GCMG CH DSO MC KStJ PC 1965 - 1969
The Right Honourable The Viscount De L'Isle VC KG GCMG GCVO KStJ PC 1961 - 1965
The Right Honourable The Viscount Dunrossil GCMG MC KStJ PC QC 1960 – 1961
Field Marshal The Right Honourable The Viscount Slim KG GCB GCMG GCVO GBE DSO MC KStJ
1953 – 1960
The Right Honourable Sir William John McKell GCMG 1947 – 1953
Prince Henry William Frederick Albert, Duke of Gloucester, Earl of Ulster and Baron Culloden KG KT KP GCB GCMG GCVO GCStJ 1945 – 1947
The Right Honourable Brigadier General Alexander Hore-Ruthven, The Earl of Gowrie VC GCMG CB DSO & Bar PC 1936 – 1945
The Right Honourable Sir Isaac Alfred Isaacs GCB GCMG KC 1931 – 1936
The Right Honourable John Lawrence Baird, The Viscount Stonehaven GCMG DSO PC JP DL 1925 – 1931
The Right Honourable Henry William Forster, The Lord Forster GCMG PC DL 1920 – 1925
The Right Honourable Ronald Craufurd Munro Ferguson, The Viscount Novar KT GCMG PC 1914 – 1920
The Right Honourable Thomas Denman, The Lord Denman GCMG KCVO PC 1911 – 1914
The Right Honourable William Humble Ward, The Earl of Dudley KP GCB GCMG GCVO KStJ PC TD DL 1908 – 1911
The Right Honourable Henry Stafford Northcote, The Lord Northcote GCMG, GCIE, CB, PC 1904 – 1908
The Right Honourable Hallam Tennyson, The Lord Tennyson GCMG PC 1903 – 1904
The Most Honourable John Adrian Louis Hope, The Marquess of Linlithgow KT GCMG GCVO PC
1901 – 1903