The Governors

Grey, Jervois, Fergusson, Bledisloe – their names adorn buildings, streets, entire towns, even hills and rivers. But little has been written about the occupants of Government House. The Governors tracks the evolution of an office that says much about New Zealand’s constitutional journey. In Crown colony days, governors ruled personally; with responsible government came uneasy adjustment and, from the late 1880s, a new breed of aristocratic governors who presided ceremonially. Since 1972, all governors-general have been New Zealand residents, two have been female and more recently the office has acquired a new international dimension.

With the job came ceremonial and community roles, which governors performed according to their differing personalities. You will meet the governor who complained about being ‘highly paid, well housed and well fed, for performing the functions of a stamp’ and another, all monocle, medals and plumed helmet, who spoke Māori.