Parkes ministry (1877)

The Parkes ministry (1877) or Second Parkes ministry was the sixteenth ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and was led by the Premier, the Honourable Henry Parkes. It was the second of five occasions that Parkes was Premier.

Having served in the New South Wales Legislative Council between 1854 and 1856, Parkes was elected in the first free elections for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly held in 1856, however resigned from Parliament later that year. He served in the Assembly on several occasions, between 1858 and 1870, being forced to resign on at least on occasion due to his personal insolvency. He came to power as Premier on the first occasion in 1872, serving as Premier for a period of three years. However, Parkes lost the confidence of the Assembly following Governor Robinson's decision to release of the bushranger Frank Gardiner led to the defeat of the ministry in 1875.[1]

John Robertson served as Premier between 1875 and 1877, before Robertson was defeated at the 1877 election. Parkes formed his second ministry in a challenging environment where both Parkes and Robertson shared equal representation in the Legislative Assembly and business was sometimes at a standstill.[2]

There was no party system in New South Wales politics until 1887. Under the constitution, ministers were required to resign to recontest their seats in a by-election when appointed. These by-elections are only noted when the minister was defeated; in general, he was elected unopposed.

This ministry covers the period from 22 March 1877 until 16 August 1877.[3]

Composition of ministry

Portfolio Minister Term commence Term end Term of office
Premier
Colonial Secretary		 Hon. Henry Parkes MLA 22 March 1877 16 August 1877 147 days
Colonial Treasurer Hon. William Piddington MLA
Minister for Justice and Public Instruction Hon. Francis Suttor MLA
Secretary for Lands Hon. Richard Driver MLA
Secretary for Public Works Hon. James Hoskins MLA
Attorney-General Hon. William Windeyer MLA1
Secretary for Mines
Representative of the Government in Legislative Council		 Hon. George Lloyd MLA
Postmaster-General Hon. Saul Samuel MLC
1 A Member of the Government without a seat in the Executive Council

See also

References

  1. ^ Martin, A. W.. "Parkes, Sir Henry (1815–96)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A050455b.htm. Retrieved 2007-04-06. 
  2. ^ Serle, Percival. "Sir Henry Parkes (1816–1896)". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Project Gutenberg Australia. http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogP-Q.html#parkes1. Retrieved 2007-03-29. 
  3. ^ "Former Members - Chronological List of Ministries 1856 to 2009 (requires download)" (Excel spreadsheet). Project for the Sesquicentenary of Responsible Government in NSW. Parliament of New South Wales. http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/web/common.nsf/key/Archives_MemberPage. Retrieved 2011-03-14. 
Preceded by
Robertson ministry (1875–1877)		 Parkes ministry (1877)
1877		 Succeeded by
Robertson ministry (1877)
New South Wales ministries
Colonial government (1856-1900)
State government (1901-present)
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