Old Government House in Auckland
Channel: Difficult Histories: The New Zealand Wars
Date: 2022-05-14

Old Government House in central Auckland was constructed in 1856 as the official residence for governors and was the place from where Sir George Grey and his ministers planned their invasion of Waikato in 1863 (though Grey had also purchased a private residence on Kawau Island a year earlier). Today, the building serves as the staff common room for the University of Auckland. In this short video, Joanna Kidman visits Old Government House – one of several places around the central city campus with ties to the New Zealand Wars (including the stone wall remains of Albert Barracks, where British troops were stationed, complete with loopholes through which muskets could be fired).