Parkes ministry (1877)

Second Parkes ministry
16th Cabinet of the Colony of New South Wales
Premier Henry Parkes and the Colony of New South Wales (1863–1900)
Date formed	22 March 1877 (1877-03-22)
Date dissolved	16 August 1877 (1877-08-16)
People and organisations
Head of state	Queen Victoria (represented by Hercules Robinson)
Head of government	Henry Parkes
No. of ministers	8
Member party	unaligned
Status in legislature	Minority government
Opposition party	unaligned
Opposition leader	John Robertson
History
Predecessor	Third Robertson ministry
Successor	Fourth Robertson ministry

The second Parkes ministry was the sixteenth ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and was led by Sir Henry Parkes. It was the second of five occasions that Parkes was Leader of the Government.

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 Leader of the Government between 1875 and 1877, before Robertson's supply bill was defeated in the Assembly and the Governor had refused to dissolve the parliament without supply. ^[2] 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. ^[3]

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 re-contest their seats in a by-election when appointed. ^[4] Such ministerial by-elections were usually uncontested and on this occasion a poll was required for The Hawkesbury (William Piddington) and he was comfortably re-elected. The six other ministers, Henry Parkes (East Sydney), Francis Suttor (Bathurst), Richard Driver (Windsor), James Hoskins (The Tumut), William Windeyer (University of Sydney) and George Lloyd (Newcastle), were re-elected unopposed. ^[5]

This ministry covers the period from 22 March 1877 until 16 August 1877, when Parkes was in turn unable to obtain supply and resigned when Robertson indicated that he was able to form a government. ^{[6] [7]}

Composition of ministry

Portfolio	Minister	Term start	Term end	Term length
Premier Colonial Secretary	Sir Henry Parkes	22 March 1877	16 August 1877	147 days
Colonial Treasurer	William Piddington
Minister of Justice and Public Instruction	Francis Suttor
Secretary for Lands	Richard Driver
Secretary for Public Works	James Hoskins
Attorney General	William Windeyer   [lower-alpha 1]
Secretary for Mines	George Lloyd
Postmaster-General Representative of the Government in Legislative Council	Saul Samuel MLC

Ministers are members of the Legislative Assembly unless otherwise noted.

1. A member of the government without a seat in the Executive Council.

See also

• New South Wales portal
• Politics portal

• • Members of Parliament
  • 1874–1877 Legislative Assembly
  • Legislative Council
• • Parkes ministries
  • First (1872–1875)
  • Third (1878–1883)
  • Fourth (1887–1889)
  • Fifth (1889–1891)

References

1. Martin, A W. "Parkes, Sir Henry (1815–96)". Australian Dictionary of Biography . Melbourne University Press. ISSN   1833-7538 . Retrieved 28 December 2020– via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
2. "Legislative Assembly". The Sydney Morning Herald . 22 March 1877. p. 5. Retrieved 18 February 2021– via Trove.
3. Serle, Percival (1949). "Parkes, Sir Henry (1816–1896)". Dictionary of Australian Biography . Sydney: Angus and Robertson. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
4. Twomey, Anne (2004). The Constitution of New South Wales. Federation Press. pp.  442. ISBN   9781862875166 . Retrieved 24 November 2020.
5. Green, Antony. "By-elections 1875-77". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales . Retrieved 18 February 2021.
6. "In the Legislative Assembly". The Sydney Morning Herald . 15 August 1877. p. 4. Retrieved 18 February 2021– via Trove.
7. "Part 6 Ministries since 1856" (PDF). NSW Parliamentary Record. Parliament of New South Wales . Retrieved 18 February 2021.

 

Preceded by Third Robertson ministry	Second Parkes ministry 1877	Succeeded by Fourth Robertson ministry