Stuart ministry

The Stuart ministry was the 20th ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and was led by Sir Alexander Stuart. Stuart was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1874.

Stuart ministry
20th Cabinet of the Colony of New South Wales
Premier Alexander Stuart and the Colony of New South Wales (1863–1900)
Date formed5 January 1883 (1883-01-05)
Date dissolved6 October 1885 (1885-10-06)
People and organisations
MonarchQueen Victoria
GovernorLord Augustus Loftus
Head of governmentAlexander Stuart
No. of ministers10
Member partyunaligned
Status in legislatureMinority government
Opposition partyunaligned
Opposition leaderHenry Parkes
History
PredecessorThird Parkes ministry
SuccessorFirst Dibbs 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.[1] Under the constitution, ministers in the Legislative Assembly were required to resign to recontest their seats in a by-election when appointed.[2] Such ministerial by-elections were usually uncontested and on this occasion a poll was required for East Sydney where George Reid was easily re-elected and Newtown where Henry Copeland was narrowly defeated. Copeland was able to return to the assembly the following week due to a vacancy at East Sydney. The 6 other ministers, Sir Alexander Stuart (Illawarra), George Dibbs (St Leonards), Henry Cohen (West Maitland), James Farnell (New England), Francis Wright (Redfern) and Joseph Abbott (Gunnedah ), were re-elected unopposed. The minister subsequently appointed, William Trickett (Paddington) was also re-elected unopposed.[3]

In January 1884 the Committee of Elections and Qualifications held that an error in the drafting of the constitution meant that George Reid could not be validly appointed Minister of Public Instruction, and declared his seat vacant.[4] Reid was defeated in the resulting by-election in February 1884.[3]

This ministry covers the period from 5 January 1883 until 6 October 1885. Suffering a paralytic stroke whilst in office, William Dalley was acting Premier from late 1884, with Dalley deciding to send a contingent of troops to the Sudan. Stuart resumed his duties in May 1885 before resigning in October due to continued ill health. His Treasurer, George Dibbs, succeeded Stuart as Premier.[5][6][7]

Composition of ministry
Portfolio Minister Term start Term end Term length
Premier
Colonial Secretary		 Sir Alexander Stuart [lower-alpha 1] 5 January 1883 6 October 1885 2 years, 274 days
Colonial Treasurer George Dibbs
Minister of Public Instruction George Reid 6 March 1884 1 year, 61 days
William Trickett 2 May 1884 6 October 1885 1 year, 157 days
Minister of Justice Henry Cohen 5 January 1883 2 years, 274 days
Attorney General
Representative of the Government in Legislative Council		 William Dalley MLC [lower-alpha 1]
Secretary for Lands James Farnell
Secretary for Public Works Henry Copeland 28 March 1883 82 days
Francis Wright 28 May 1883 6 October 1885 862 days
Postmaster-General 5 January 1883 27 May 1883 142 days
William Trickett 28 May 1883 1 May 1884 339 days
James Norton MLC 2 May 1884 6 October 1885 1 year, 157 days
Secretary for Mines Joseph Abbott 5 January 1883 2 years, 274 days
Vice-President of the Executive Council Sir Patrick Jennings 31 July 1883 207 days
  1. Due to the illness of Sir Alexander Stuart, in addition to his other responsibilities, William Dalley was also charged with the duties of Colonial Secretary from 7 October 1884 to 11 May 1885.

Ministers are members of the Legislative Assembly unless otherwise noted.

See also

References
  1. Green, Antony (20 October 2010). "Centenary of the First NSW Labor Government". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012.
  2. Twomey, Anne (2004). The Constitution of New South Wales. Federation Press. pp. 442. ISBN 9781862875166. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  3. Green, Antony. "By-elections 1882-85". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  4. Twomey (2004), pp. 433–4.
  5. Nairn, Bede; Martha Rutledge. "Stuart, Sir Alexander (1824–1886)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  6. Serle, Percival (1949). "Stuart, Sir Alexander (1824–1886)". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  7. "Part 6 Ministries since 1856" (PDF). NSW Parliamentary Record. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 6 March 2021.

 

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