The fifth Cowper ministry was the twelfth ministry of the

Colony of New South Wales The Colony of New South Wales was a colony of the British Empire from 1788 to 1901, when it became a State of the Commonwealth of Australia. At its greatest extent, the colony of New South Wales included the present-day Australian states of New ...

, and the fifth and final occasion of being led by Sir Charles Cowper. Cowper was elected in the first free elections for the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

held in March 1856, and fought unsuccessfully with

Stuart Donaldson Sir Stuart Alexander Donaldson (16 December 1812 – 11 January 1867) was the first Premier of the Colony of New South Wales. Early life Donaldson was born in London, England. He entered his father's firm at the age of 15 and was sent first t ...

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 John, Jon, or Jonathan Robertson may refer to: Politicians United Kingdom politicians * J. M. Robertson (John Mackinnon Robertson, 1856–1933), British journalist and Liberal MP for Tyneside 1906–1918 *John Robertson (Bothwell MP) (1867–1926) ...

, to step aside and focus on land reform, however Cowper then lost confidence to James Martin. Cowper retained government on the fourth occasion by defeating Martin at the 1864–65 general election. 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 Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

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. Because the majority of the ministers retained their appointments from the Robertson ministry, the only by-election that was initially required was for

Liverpool Plains The Liverpool Plains are an extensive agricultural area covering about of the north-western slopes of New South Wales in Australia. These plains are a region of prime agricultural land bounded to the east by the Great Dividing Range, to the s ...

with Charles Cowper comfortably re-elected. When John Robertson was subsequently appointed Secretary for Lands, he was re-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.

Composition of ministry

Ministers are members of the Legislative Assembly unless otherwise noted.

References

{{Ministries of New South Wales New South Wales ministries 1870 establishments in Australia 1870 disestablishments in Australia

Composition of ministry

See also

References