Morning Tea with members of the Embroiderers' Guild, Queensland

Secretary of the Embroiderers Guild of Queensland, Mrs Denise Collins; Embroiderers; Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a pleasure for Kaye and me to welcome you to Government House this morning, and to thank you for the magnificent embroidery which – literally and figuratively – has become part of the fabric of Government House.

I was delighted to be told about a woman waiting in the foyer during a Reception on Tuesday night, who exclaimed in great surprise, after running her hand across their face, that the seats were embroidered - they were so richly detailed and lifelike she assumed them to be printed. 

Of course the Cooktown Orchid embroidered on the chairs is Queensland’s floral emblem, chosen by popular vote on the State’s Centenary in 1959, known and loved from its natural span between the Johnston River and Iron Range, to far beyond, through its cultivation throughout our State.

Government House is made up of layers of history, much like our fascinating and multi-faceted State. These chairs were brought to Brisbane by Sir Henry Abel Smith, whose wife, Lady May, was a close cousin of Her Majesty The Queen – in fact, the young Princess Elizabeth served as bridesmaid when her cousin married the dashing officer who would one day serve as Queensland’s Governor. And the chairs with the Cooktown Orchid proudly embroidered on their seats are placed in the historic foyer, in a line of sight from the portrait of the Queen’s grandmother, Queen Mary, depicted in her richly embroidered state robes.

You might say a historic thread runs from one to the other, weaving together the Embroiderers Guild of Queensland and the enduring fabric of Government House.

I pay tribute to the artistry, skill and patient perseverance of master embroiderers Mrs Margaret Young and Mrs Alana Wegner, acknowledging with awe the more than 1000 hours of work that went into stitching; I thank Mrs Gina McMonagle for her assistance with ensuring botanical accuracy and I thank Mrs Kerry Lightfoot for contributing her expertise with thread and canvas selection. I hope you all get a great deal of satisfaction – as do Kaye and I – of seeing the finished work proudly displayed here at Fernberg, the people’s House, in the knowledge that the thousands of our fellow Queenslanders will see this exquisite work, and appreciate it, every year.