Richard Bourke
Videos
Sir Richard Bourke was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of New South Wales from 1831 to 1837. As a lifelong Whig, he encouraged the emancipation of convicts
Portrait by Martin Archer Shee, c. 1837–1850
Bourke c. 1835
A statue of General Sir Richard Bourke, the first public statue ever erected in Australia, stands outside the State Library of New South Wales in Sydney.
Governor of New South Wales
Videos
The governor of New South Wales is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the Governor-General of Australia at the national level,
Richard Bourke
…Sir Richard Bourke (4 May 1777 – 12 August 1855) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of New South Wales from 1831 to 1837. As a lifelong Whig (liberal), he encouraged the emancipation of convicts and helped bring forward the ending of penal transportation…
Margaret Beazley 2025
Sir John Northcott, the first Australian-born governor (1946–57).
Lord Wakehurst takes the oath of office upon his arrival in Sydney in 1937.
The First Fleet in Botany Bay at voyage's end in 1788. Its arrival marked the establishment of the colony of New South Wales and the office of the governor.