Originally when John Ballance lived here there was no electricity in the House so all the lighting was either by oil lamps or candles and winter warmth was provided by the fire as seen in the restored Parlour.

The restored 19th century Parlour

This room has been furnished in the style of 1850 when the young John Ballance would have been living here. Over the fireplace hangs a photograph of Ballance at the age of fourteen. On the mantlepiece is a photograph of his mother, Mary McNeice, the whereabouts of the original is unknown.

The room is quite sparsely furnished with a sofa, a sideboard, tables and chairs of the period, much as it would have been in John’s lifetime. As his mother was a Quaker, the style would probably have been particularly plain. Only the wall-mounted book cupboard is a replica. Although some of the books which John Ballance might have used are thought still to be in existence, none of the books in the cupboard were actually used by him.

The present Mr Ballance, a great-nephew of the Premier, described in detail the design of the ceiling (as can be seen above) before the House had deteriorated and it has been restored to his specifications. The existing mantlepiece of painted slate has been retained and the badly rusted cast-iron fireplace replaced with a similar one of the period.

There is a small tapestry to the left of the sideboard and a sampler to the right. Both were worked by Jane Ballance (1841-1880) at the age of fifteen. She was the second child in the family and it was her son Robert McNeice McKnight who followed his Uncle John to New Zealand in 1879.

Robert’s son John visited Lakeview during the First World War in which he served in the Medical Corps. He was given the framed tapestry (of the church and the stag) to take back to New Zealand. It was subsequently presented to the Chairman Mrs Jill McIvor in 1994 by Mr Ian & Mrs Catherine Holford. Ian is another great nephew of the Premier. So 150 years and 2400 miles later it is back in the House in which it was worked!

The sampler was in the possession of Mrs Suzanne Thompson of Brisbane, a great-niece. It was handed to the Trust in July 2005 by her daughter Joy Thompson when she visited the House. It is on permanent loan. The engraving of the Very Reverend James Stannus, Rector of Lisburn and agent of the Hertford Estate is the gift of Lisburn Historical Society. The Ballance land formed part of the Marquis of Hertford’s estate.