The Forster ministry was the fifth ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and was led by William Forster. Forster was elected in the first free elections for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly held in March 1856. He was asked to form Government after the second Cowper ministry lost an educational bill in the Assembly.
Forster ministry | |
|---|---|
 5th Cabinet of the Colony of New South Wales | |
   Premier William Forster and the Colony of New South Wales (1856–1859) | |
| Date formed | 27 October 1859 |
| Date dissolved | 8 March 1860 |
| People and organisations | |
| Monarch | Queen Victoria |
| Governor | William Denison |
| Head of government | William Forster |
| No. of ministers | 6 |
| Member party | unaligned |
| Status in legislature | Minority government |
| Opposition party | unaligned |
| Opposition leader | |
| History | |
| Predecessor | Second Cowper ministry |
| Successor | First Robertson ministry |
The title of Premier was widely used to refer to the Leader of Government, but not enshrined in formal use until 1920.
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.[1] Such ministerial by-elections were usually uncontested and on this occasion William Forster (Queanbeyan) and Saul Samuel (Orange) were re-elected unopposed, while John Black was comfortably re-elected at the East Sydney by-election.[2]
This ministry covers the period of just four months from 27 October 1859 until 8 March 1860, when Forster resigned his commission.[3][4]
Composition of ministry
edit| Portfolio | Minister | Term start | Term end | Term length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premier Colonial Secretary |
William Forster | 27 October 1859 | 8 March 1860 | 133 days |
| Colonial Treasurer | Saul Samuel | |||
| Secretary for Lands | John Black | |||
| Secretary for Public Works Representative of the Government in the Legislative Council |
Geoffrey Eagar MLC | |||
| Attorney General | Edward Wise MLC [a] | 27 October 1859 | 13 February 1860 | 109 days |
| Sir William Manning [b] | 21 February 1860 | 8 March 1860 | 16 days | |
| Solicitor General | John Hargrave MLC | 3 November 1859 [c] | 126 days |
Ministers are members of the Legislative Assembly unless otherwise noted.
- ^ Edward Wise resigned his commission and from parliament in 1860 and was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court.
- ^ Sir William Manning had previously been a member of the Legislative Assembly and was subsequently appointed to the Legislative Council, but was not a member of parliament at the time of this appointment.[5]
- ^ John Hargrave had been Solicitor General since 21 February 1859 in the second Cowper ministry.
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ Twomey, Anne (2004). The Constitution of New South Wales. Federation Press. pp. 442. ISBN 9781862875166. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
- ^ Green, Antony. "1859 East Sydney by-election". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
- ^ Serle, Percival (1949). "Forster, William (1818–1882)". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
- ^ "Part 6 Ministries since 1856" (PDF). NSW Parliamentary Record. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
- ^ "Sir William Montagu Manning (1811–1895)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 15 December 2020.