Sir Stuart Alexander Donaldson (16 December 1812 – 11 January 1867) was the first

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 ...

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 ...

Early life

Donaldson was born in London, England. He entered his father's firm at the age of 15 and was sent first to Mexico (1831-1834), for business training. After returning to England in May 1834, Donaldson travelled to Sydney, New South Wales, aboard the ''Emma Eugenia'' where he arrived on 5 May 1835. He returned to London between 1841 and 1844.

Career

In 1848, Donaldson was elected a member of the original unicameral Legislative Council of New South Wales, representing the

County of Durham The County Palatine of Durham and Sadberge, commonly referred to as County Durham or simply Durham, is a historic county in Northern England. Until 1889, it was controlled by powers granted under the Bishopric of Durham. The county and Northum ...

from February 1848 to January 1853. Comments made while running for re-election in 1851, led

Sir Thomas Mitchell Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell (15 June 1792 – 5 October 1855), surveyor and explorer of Southeastern Australia, was born at Grangemouth in Stirlingshire, Scotland. In 1827 he took up an appointment as Assistant Surveyor General of New Sout ...

to demand a public apology. While Donaldson complied Mitchell was not satisfied and challenged Donaldson to a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...

with

pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, an ...

s. Both men missed but they remained antagonised. He supported the development of steam ship services to Australia and the work of

Caroline Chisholm Caroline Chisholm (born Caroline Jones; 30 May 1808 – 25 March 1877) was a 19th-century English humanitarian known mostly for her support of immigrant female and family welfare in Australia. She is commemorated on 16 May in the calendar of ...

. In 1852 he achieved the carriage of a motion recommending that £10,000 should be applied to supporting Chisholm's work. He travelled to England in 1853–1854. From 1 February 1855 to 29 February 1856, Donaldson represented Sydney Hamlets in the council. In March 1856, Donaldson was elected to the newly created Legislative Assembly of the first Parliament, representing Sydney Hamlets. The first Legislative Assembly had trouble forming a Government. Eventually Governor Denison invited Donaldson to be Premier and he took up the offices of Premier and Colonial Secretary on 6 June 1856. Two months and 20 days later, on 25 August 1856, his Government lost a vote and he resigned. He was criticised for standing down so readily but he said, "my colleagues and myself are all too independent of office to cling to it", a somewhat prophetic remark. Donaldson was succeeded as Premier by Charles Cowper and Donaldson served as Colonial Treasurer (1856-1857) and was a Commissioner for Railways in 1857. He was elected unopposed to Cumberland (South Riding) in October 1856, representing it to 1859. He was a member of the Senate of the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

from 1851 to 1861 and his brother John helped to select its academic staff.

Late life

Donaldson returned to England for the last time in June 1859 and was

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

ed there in 1860. Following his return, he unsuccessfully sought election to the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

for Dartmouth in 1860 and later for

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

. He had four sons and one daughter. The eldest son

Stuart Alexander Donaldson Stuart Alexander Donaldson (born 4 December 1854 in Sydney, Australia, died 29 October 1915) was a schoolmaster, clergyman and Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge. Life Donaldson was born in Sydney, the oldest son of Sir Stuart Alexander Don ...

, a distinguished scholar, became

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

, Vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge in 1912 and died in 1915; another son was

St Clair Donaldson St Clair George Alfred Donaldson (11 February 1863 – 7 December 1935) was an English Anglican bishop. He was the first Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane, Australia. Early life Donaldson was the third son of Sir Stuart Alexander Donaldson and hi ...

– archbishop of Brisbane. A third son, Sir

Hay Frederick Donaldson Brigadier-General Sir Hay Frederick Donaldson (7 July 1856 – 5 June 1916) was an Colony of New South Wales-born English mechanical engineer. He was born at Sydney, Colony of New South Wales, son of Sir Stuart Alexander Donaldson, the first ...

, who became an eminent engineer, went with Lord Kitchener on a special mission to Russia in 1916 and died when their ship, , struck a German mine off the

Orkney Islands Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

. Stuart Donaldson died at

Carleton Hall Carleton is a suburb of the town of Penrith, Cumbria, England, that has seen a huge growth in housing since the 1960s and is, of 2018, still expanding due to the Carleton Meadows, Carleton Manor and Woodberry Heights developments. It was former ...

, near Penrith in

Cumberland, England Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 1 ...

on 11 January 1867.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donaldson, Stuart 1812 births 1867 deaths Australian pastoralists Premiers of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian Knights Bachelor Businesspeople from London English people of Scottish descent Treasurers of New South Wales Colonial Secretaries of New South Wales 19th-century Australian politicians Australian people in whaling Australian ship owners British emigrants to Australia 19th-century English businesspeople 19th-century Australian businesspeople

Early life

Career

Late life

See also

References