surrounds in his journals. "At half past 5,O'Clock we arrived at the ferry on the left bank of the river and at 6 O'Clock landed in the Government Garden on the Green Hills and took possession of the Government House or, more properly speaking, Government Cottage; most beautifully situated on the summit of a very fine bank or terrace rising about fifty feet above the level of the river; of which, and the adjacent Country, there is a very fine view from this sweet delightful spot.....Mrs. M. and myself were quite delighted with the beauty of this part of the Country; its great fertility, and its Picturesque appearance; and especially with the well-chosen and remarkable fine scite [sic] and situation of the Government Cottage and Garden on the Green Hills. We dined soon after our arrival and after dinner our friend and family physician Doctor Redfern took his departure for Sydney. Macquarie used the cottage to celebrate with 21 guests the naming of the towns of Windsor, Richmond, Castlereagh, Pitt Town and Wilberforce on Thursday 6 December after he had confirmed their exact sites. This christening was marked by a drinking of a bumper to the success of each town after dinner. He also used it as the base for his expeditions to mark out the five towns. The town sites were marked out a little over a month after the naming of the towns. Castlereagh and Richmond were marked out on Thursday 10 January 1811 and Macquarie held a dinner at the Windsor house to celebrate. Wilberforce and Pitt-town were marked out the next day (Friday) and Windsor on Saturday 12 January. He would continue to use the cottage as his residence and place of business during visits to the Hawkesbury throughout his governorship and he frequently issued government orders from the cottage. Macquarie also employed a live-in housekeeper, Ann Blady, a successful ex-convict with her own 50-acre grant, who had retired from practising midwifery in the area in 1810. Ann and her constable husband, William Blady, exemplify the connection that the citizens of Hawkesbury from many walks of life had with the Government Cottage. For Macquarie, as for Grose, Hunter, King and Bligh before him, the cottage was an informal official residence in addition to Government House in Sydney (First Government House) and Old Government House in Parramatta. The cottage was again repaired and improved under Macquarie. The