Parker ministry

The Parker ministry was the third ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and was led by 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][2]

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
Monarch	Queen Victoria
Governor	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.^[3] Henry Parker narrowly won the by election for Parramatta.^[4] John Darvall comfortably won the by-election for Cumberland North Riding,^[5] and William Manning comfortably won the by-election for Cumberland South Riding,^[6] Stuart Donaldson was defeated at the by election for Sydney Hamlets,^[7] however he re-gained a seat in the parliament at the November by-election for Cumberland South Riding,^[8] Only John Hay (Murrumbidgee) was re-elected unopposed.^[9]

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, with John Darvall promoted to Attorney-General and Edward Wise being appointed to the junior role of Solicitor-General.^[2]

Composition of ministry

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

Notes

1. The NSW Parliamentary Record lists Edward Deas Thomson as having been appointed on 26 May 1857, however the New South Wales Government Gazette notified his appointment at on 3 October with the rest of the ministers.^[10]