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SUMMARY: Previously attributed to Governor George Gawler, this is a key work by Gill in his South Australian catalogue. Not only is it a rare early work (pre-1844), it is also significant in demonstrating his evolution as an artist. It shows an earlier style before he developed his typical foreground doodling and busyness of characters. The work is 1840/1841. Contemporary Adelaide works by F R Nixon suggest Gill's doodling may have been influenced by Nixon.
Article type: CATALOGUE & ANALYSIS
In this article ...
A new Government House was built in Adelaide under Governor George Gawler's direction and was reported as almost complete in September 1839.
This splendid building, which is fast approaching completion, is erected in a most commanding and delightful spot on the Park Land, on the north side of South Adelaide. It is built of stone two stories high, and contains, we believe, twelve large and commodious rooms. The principal fronts face the south and east, but it is intended at some future period to build another wing facing to the west. Behind the principal building is a long suite of offices built in the most complete style. On the whole, when the building is completed, (and we believe there is only the inside finishing now to do,) the new Government House will be one of the best buildings of the kind in the Southern Hemisphere,–quite a palace.1
With the new building complete, Gawler then planned an expedition to Lake Alexandrina, the River Murray and further north, with the intention of returning by Christmas. The party included Charles Sturt and, atypically, "ladies" – Gawler's daughter and Sturt's wife are named. The trip included a sailing leg from Currency Creek, across Lake Alexandrina and then up the Murray. Reaching the north-west corner of the Murray and meeting up with horses brought from Adelaide, a smaller group (Gawler, Sturt, Inman, Bryan and others) continued north but with little success. The five week trip terminated in Adelaide on 28 December. An extensive report by Sturt appeared soon after in the newspaper.2
There are several images of this expedition by John Michael Skipper in a collection of Gawler family watercolours – Paintings by George Gawler and J.M. Skipper [SLSA PRG 50/34]. Although Skipper was not mentioned in the party, his scenes suggest they were sketched on the spot. In one Skipper shows boats and two ladies: "Extreme point at the junction of the Murray with Lake Alexandrina / Victoria" [PRG 50/34/6] (in reference to the lake's changed name).
I suspect the nine picture collection came from Gawler's eldest surviving son, Henry, who died in South Australia in 1894.3
The collection includes a watercolour of Government House which is attributed (at the time of writing - see References) to George Gawler. Unsigned, it is clearly by S T Gill, although it lacks some characteristics for which Gill would become well recognised. As such, this is a key work in this catalogue.
S T Gill arrived in South Australia just before Christmas 1839 and advertised his services as a professional artist in March 1840.4 We can confidently date this painting to between 1840 and the Governor's departure on 25 June 1841 after being recalled to England. Given the dating, the two figures, an officer and his lady, are very likely Lieutenant E C Frome.
S.T. Gill and E.C. Frome
The Gill pictures of Captain E.C. Frome, Surveyor General and Colonial Engineer.
Nothing more is known of how Gill got to paint Government House. Gawler may have become aware of Gill through Skipper, as the two younger men would have been well known to each other. Another possible connection to the evangelical Gawler may have been through Gill's minister father, Samuel Gill, senior.
Gill later often painted Government House and from several angles. The Gawler picture (SLSA PRG 50/34/1) is very similar to the one linked with James Allen (AGSA 0.34), noticeably:
But the Gawler picture is less characteristic of Gill's work than the "Allen" picture in that:
It would seem Gill made the Gawler picture before he had embedded these typical characteristics in his work.
Could Gill's doodling have been influenced by surveyor and amateur artist Frederick Robert Nixon (1817 - 1860)? This could be suggested by Nixon's South Australia 1841 : military sketches and cartoons [B 3241/1-18].
Despite the catalogue title the content of this album is not the regular Army but the South Australian Militia, a creation of George Gawler in March 1840 and which effecively ended after the Governor's departure. One of the pictures (no. 12) is dated 1840. So Nixon's militia sketches are contemporaneous with Gill's Gawler picture.
Yet it is Nixon who shows mastery of foreground doodling as can be seen in the example (no. 10) below. Did Nixon influence Gill to develop his "doodling" of foreground vegetation (in 1840/1841). Gill embraced the technique in his "Allen" Government House.
It's worth mentioning another artistic influence. Nixon's militia sketches seem to have been inspired by caricatures in "My Sketch Book" (1834) by the famous George Cruikshank (1792 - 1878). The same book also clearly inspired Gill in so many ways – the "Volume 1" title page (nailed up letters [see NLA PIC/20927/1], artist's portfolio in foreground); various heads of the people; vignette panels and "Pit Boxes & Gallery" (Gill's "Dress Circle boxes Queens Theatre..." SLV H330).
This is a key work in Gill's South Australian catalogue. It is one of his earliest dateable pictures and reveals development of his charactertistic style. This articles suggests the possible stylistic influence of F R Nixon on Gill. It is the earliest known picture of the new Government House completed in late 1839.
SLSA Government House [PRG 50/34/1] Artwork, Internet archive, 1 March 2024. <https://web.archive.org/web/20240301040348/https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/PRG+50/34/1>
Cruikshank, George. My Sketch Book. London, 1834. Online: <https://archive.org/details/mysketchbookv1pe01cruiuoft>
1. Southern Australian, 18 September 1839: 3. <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71685519>
2. Southern Australian, 9 January 1840: 5. <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71618912>
3. R. Hetherington, 'Gawler, George (1795-1869)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, <https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/gawler-george-2085/text2615>, published first in hardcopy 1966, accessed online 1 March 2024.
4. South Australian Register, 7 March 1840: 1. <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27441257>
You can scroll down to see all pictures along with detailed notes or click a link to jump to a specific work from the list.
Government House | State Library of South Australia PRG 50/34/1
Artist: Gill, S.T. | Date: 1840~/1841-06~ | Appleyard cat. n/a
Catalogue: S. T. Gill's Government House for George Gawler
Government House is on the Park Land above North Terrace and to the east of King William Street. Here it is viewed from the south-east from within the grounds.
This work is in a collection of paintings from the Gawler family. At time of research this work was attributed in SLSA to Governor George Gawler (who departed Adelaide in June 1841 the month after he was replaced as governor by George Grey). Several scenes and works in this collection are dated December 1839 to 1840 including a few by J.M. Skipper. This picture is likely contemporaneous. The new Government House was built during Gawler's governorship and it's likely this work was for him. This is the earliest known picture of the new Government House completed in late 1839.
This work is almost identical to another by Gill - AGSA 0.34 - in particular in viewpoint, extent, building detail and significant (gum) trees. The military officer and lady are Gill's in style. In contrast this view has fewer characters and so lacks the greater busyness of the AGSA work. The foreground vegetation technique is more subtle than Gill's later works.
The 96th Regiment only arrived in October 1841, so if this picture indeed dates to Gawler's governorship, who is the officer and lady? Most likely it's Lieutenant E C Frome in army uniform. "Our new Surveyor-General, Lieut. Frome R.E, arrived last Wednesday by the Recovery, from London. He is accompanied by twelve of the corps of Sappers and Miners, to assist in the survey. Their appearance at first startled some of our good townsfolk, who thought that a party of soldiers had been sent out to assist his Excellency in keeping us in order."
Southern Australian, 25 September 1839: 3. <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71685532>
Map | S. T. Gill - Adelaide
766
Government House, North Terrace, Adelaide | Art Gallery of South Australia 0.34
Artist: Gill, S.T. | Date: 1841~/1845-11 | Appleyard cat. 42 | 27.1(H) x 39.7(W) cm
Catalogue: S.T. Gill and James Allen, 1845
Government House is on the Park Land above North Terrace and to the east of King William Street. Here it is viewed from the south-east from within the grounds. The Governor's four-wheeled carriage is at the entrance.
This work is almost identical to another of his for George Gawler- SLSA PRG 50/34/1 - in particular in viewpoint, extent, building detail and significant (gum) trees. Given the SLSA work is 1840-1841 and the gum trees are the same, either this work was executed close in time or was based on the same original sketch. This work has the foreground vegetation doodling and greater busyness characteristic of Gill.
The was a tender for gardening tools for Government House in 1844! (South Australian, 6 December 1844: 3.
This is also the same view as NLA NK2038/23.
For more detail see the catalogue / main entry.
Map | S. T. Gill - Adelaide
30
The passage of the Torrens by the "Light Horse" | State Library of South Australia B 3241/10
Artist: Nixon, F.R. | Date: 1841~
One watercolour of an album of comic sketches of the South Australian militia by F.R. Nixon. Captioned: The passage of the Torrens by the "Light Horse" - (Vulgarly Leather Heads - after the manner of "Green Horse" - "Black Horse" ...
This work shows Nixon's conspicuous vegetation foregrounding - a technique often used by S.T. Gill.
Nixon's militia sketches are influenced by George Cruikshank's "My Sketch Book" (1834) https://archive.org/details/mysketchbookv1pe01cruiuoft/page/17/mode/1up?view=theater.
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David Coombe. 2024-2025. Original 6 March 2024. Updated 3 October 2025. | text copyright (except where indicated)
CITE THIS: David Coombe, 2024-2025, S T Gill's Government House for George Gawler, accessed dd mmm yyyy, <http://coombe.id.au/S_T_Gill/S_T_Gill_Government_House_for_George_Gawler.htm>