Among the many homes Stanley Melbourne Bruce and Ethel Bruce shared during their 54 years of marriage was The Lodge, the brand-new and ‘temporary’ official residence of Australia’s prime ministerial family.

The Bruces moved to The Lodge on 4 May 1927, leaving their own 16-room mansion ‘Pine Hill’ in Frankston, in the Flinders electorate. Most other Canberra households were also newly establishing their homes and gardens. 1000s of people were relocated from Melbourne to Canberra as part of the official transfer of the seat of government on 9 May 1927, the day of the formal opening of the provisional Parliament House.

The Lodge was designed by architectural firm Oakley & Parkes, and furnished by Myers of Melbourne interior designer Ruth Lane-Poole. Among the items the Bruces brought to The Lodge were the official gifts they had received in England in 1923.

From the outset, it was clear that running The Lodge was one of many unpaid duties of a prime ministerial spouse. Mrs Bruce, responsible for the hire of staff, brought Maude Holskamp and Myrtle Wood from Melbourne to work as cook and housemaid. Paying their wages presented a lengthy challenge as the various departments sorted out a procedure. Mrs Bruce made these payments herself for some time, creating a further complication over departmental process for refunding this amount to the Prime Minister’s spouse.

From the National Archives of Australia collection

• Prime Minister’s Lodge Staff, 1926–50, Part 1, NAA: A461, G4/1/12 PART 1
• Residence for the Governor-General and the Prime Minister, 1926, NAA: A6006, 1926/07/05
• Construction of Prime Minister’s Residence at Canberra, 1925–31, NAA: A1, 1930/8156