Parker ministry

The Parker ministry was the third ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and was led by the Honourable Henry Parker. Parker was elected in the first free elections for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly held in March 1856 and, following the failure of the Donaldson and Cowper Governments to maintain the confidence of the Assembly, was asked to form Government.[1]

Parker ministry
3rd Cabinet of the Colony of New South Wales
Premier Henry Parker and the Colony of New South Wales (1856–1859)
Date formed	3 October 1856 (1856-10-03)
Date dissolved	7 September 1857 (1857-09-07)
People and organisations
Head of state	Queen Victoria (represented by William Denison)
Head of government	Henry Parker
No. of ministers	6
Member party	unaligned
Status in legislature	Minority government
Opposition party	unaligned
Opposition leader	Charles Cowper
History
Predecessor	First Cowper ministry
Successor	Second Cowper 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. These by-elections are only noted when the minister was defeated; in general, he was elected unopposed.

This ministry covers the period from 3 October 1856 until on 7 September 1857, when Parker resigned his commission, having lost an electoral bill.[1] During this period, there was a slight re-arrangement to the ministry, following the resignation of William Manning on account of ill-health.[2]

Composition of ministry

Portfolio	Minister	Term start	Term end	Term length
Premier Colonial Secretary	Hon. Henry Parker MLA	3 October 1856	7 September 1857	339 days
Colonial Treasurer	Hon. Stuart Donaldson MLA
Secretary for Lands and Works	Hon. John Hay MLA
Attorney-General	Hon. William Manning MLA	3 October 1856	25 May 1857	234 days
	Hon. John Darvall MLA	26 May 1857	7 September 1857	339 days
Solicitor-General		3 October 1856	23 May 1857
	Hon. Edward Wise MLA	23 May 1857	7 September 1857	107 days
Vice-President of the Executive Council	Hon. Edward Deas Thomson MLC

See also

• Henry Parker - third Premier of New South Wales
• Self-government in New South Wales
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1856–1858

References

1. Serle, Percival. "Parker, Sir Henry Watson (1808-1881)". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Project Gutenberg Australia. Retrieved 26 February 2007.
2. "Former Members - Chronological List of Ministries 1856 to 2009 (requires download)". Project for the Sesquicentenary of Responsible Government in NSW. Parliament of New South Wales. Archived from the original (Excel spreadsheet) on 15 March 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2010.

Preceded by First Cowper ministry	Parker ministry 1856–1857	Succeeded by Second Cowper ministry