Government House

Government House is the official residence of the Governor-General (formerly Governor) of the Bahamas and the third incarnation on this site, Mount Fitzwilliam, a hill overlooking Nassau.  The first Government House was built here in 1737 for the Governor, Richard Fitzwilliam (d. 1744).  It was rebuilt between 1803 and 1806, and the first Governor to occupy the house was Charles Cameron (1766-1820).  It was placed there as part of the 1790s plan for the town of Lord Dunmore, who was sure no Governor would wish to live in the town.  At the time it was considered ‘the best building’ in the European style throughout the West Indies.  It was constructed in stone while most Bahamian buildings were then made of wood.  The old house, decayed and neglected, was destroyed in the hurricane of 1929.  A new house was built after the 1929 hurricane, and the front façade was added in 1932, with a pedimented entrance, supported by four stout Ionic columns.  By the late 1930s this was in a poor state of disrepair.

The East Wing was added in 1909, now known as the Windsor Wing after the island’s most famous Governor, HRH The Duke of Windsor (1894-1972), who was sent here during the Second World War (1940-45).  The house was greatly modernised by the American architect, Sidney Neil under the direction of the Duchess of Windsor (1896-1986) in 1940 and 1941, with interiors decorated by Mrs Winthrop Curtis Bradley.  A further reminder of the Duke’s governorship is his cypher surrounded by the motto of the Order of the Garter – ‘Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense’, on the glass of the front doors.

There is a statue of Christopher Columbus (imported by Sir James Carmichael Smyth in 1830) at the harbour-side entrance.

A rare compliment was paid to the Duchess of Windsor by Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, who stayed there in 1946: ‘Government House had been much improved since the Cliffords’ days by the Duchess of Windsor.’

The eastern wing including the ball-room was built between 1907 and 1910. It was a badly damaged building, but after the 1929 hurricane it had to be pulled down.

Earlier Governors lived in a house situated on a ridge west of Fort Nassau and at Dunmore House, West Street.