Cowper ministry (1856)

The first Cowper ministry was the second ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and was led by Charles Cowper. It was the first of five occasions that Cowper was Leader of the Government. 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.^[1]

First Cowper ministry
2nd Cabinet of the Colony of New South Wales
Premier Charles Cowper and the Colony of New South Wales (1856–1859)
Date formed	25 August 1856 (1856-08-25)
Date dissolved	2 October 1856 (1856-10-02)
People and organisations
Monarch	Queen Victoria
Governor	William Denison
Head of government	Charles Cowper
No. of ministers	6
Member party	unaligned
Status in legislature	Minority government
Opposition party	unaligned
Opposition leader	Stuart Donaldson Henry Parker
History
Predecessor	Donaldson ministry
Successor	Parker 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.^[2] Charles Cowper and Robert Campbell were comfortably re-elected in the by election for Sydney City.^[3] James Martin (Cook and Westmoreland)^[4] and Terence Murray (Southern Boroughs)^[5] were re-elected unopposed.

This ministry covers the period from 26 August 1856 until on 2 October 1856, when Cowper resigned his commission, having lost the confidence of the Assembly.^[1][6]

Composition of ministry

Portfolio	Minister	Term start	Term end	Term length
Premier Colonial Secretary	Charles Cowper	26 August 1856	2 October 1856	37 days
Colonial Treasurer	Robert Campbell
Attorney General	James Martin
Solicitor General Representative of the Government in the Legislative Council	Alfred Lutwyche MLC
Secretary for Lands and Works	Terence Murray
Auditor-General			17 September 1856	23 days

  Ministers are members of the Legislative Assembly unless otherwise noted.

See also

• New South Wales portal
• Politics portal

• Self-government in New South Wales
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1856–1858
• Second Cowper ministry (1857–1859)
• Third Cowper ministry (1861–1863)
• Fourth Cowper ministry (1865–1866)
• Fifth Cowper ministry (1870)