Cowper ministry (1870)

Fifth Cowper ministry
12th cabinet of the Colony of New South Wales
Premier Charles Cowper and the Colony of New South Wales (1863–1900)
Date formed	13 January 1870
Date dissolved	15 December 1870
People and organisations
Head of government	Charles Cowper
Head of state	Queen Victoria (represented by The Earl Belmore)
Number of ministers	8
Member party	unaligned
Status in legislature	Minority government
Opposition party	unaligned
Opposition leader	John Robertson James Martin
History
Predecessor	Second Robertson ministry
Successor	Third Martin ministry

The fifth Cowper ministry was the twelfth ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and the fifth and final occasion of being led by the Honourable Sir Charles Cowper, CMG, MLA.

Cowper was elected in the first free elections for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly held in March 1856, and fought unsuccessfully with Stuart Donaldson to form Government. When Donaldson's Government faltered a little over two months after it was formed, Cowper formed Government on the first occasion, but he also lost the confidence of the Assembly a few months later. Cowper formed Government on the second occasion between 1857 and 1859; but it also lost the confidence of the Assembly. On the third occasion, Cowper formed Government following the decision by the Leader of the Government, John Robertson, to step aside and focus on land reform,^[1] however Cowper then lost confidence to James Martin.^[2] Cowper retained government on the fourth occasion by defeating Martin at the 1864–65 general election.^[3] Following the resignation of his colleague, Robertson, who lost the confidence of the Assembly, Cowper became Premier on the fifth and final occasion in 1870.

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 13 January 1870 until 15 December 1870, when Martin was asked to form government after Cowper again lost the confidence of the Assembly.^[4]

Composition of ministry

Portfolio	Minister	Term start	Term end	Term length
Premier Colonial Secretary	Hon. Sir Charles Cowper, CMG, MLA	13 January 1870	15 December 1870	336 days
Colonial Treasurer	Hon. Saul Samuel MLA
Secretary for Lands	Hon. William Forster MLA		14 April 1870	91 days
	Hon. John Robertson MLA	13 August 1870	15 December 1870	124 days
Secretary for Public Works	Hon. John Sutherland MLA	13 January 1870		336 days
Attorney-General	Hon. Sir William Manning MLC
Solicitor General	Hon. Julian Salomons MLA
Postmaster-General	Hon. Daniel Egan MLA
Representative of the Government in Legislative Council	Hon. Robert Owen MLC ^a		1 August 1870	200 days

:^a A Member of the Government with a Seat in the Cabinet.

See also

• Sir Charles Cowper, CMG, MLA - second Premier of New South Wales
• Self-government in New South Wales
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1869–1872
• First Cowper ministry (1856)
• Second Cowper ministry (1857–1859)
• Third Cowper ministry (1861–1863)
• Fourth Cowper ministry (1865–1866)

References

1. Nairn, Bede. "Robertson, Sir John (1816 - 1891)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
2. Serle, Percival. "Martin, James (1820-1886)". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Project Gutenberg Australia. Retrieved 2007-02-18.
3. Ward, John M. "Cowper, Sir Charles (1807 - 1875)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved 2007-02-20.
4. "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 2010-01-02.