Ezekiel Alexander Baker (1 December 1823 – 28 January 1912) was a member of 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 House ...

. Baker was born in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, to Ezekiel John Baker and Elizabeth, . He trained in his father's business of manufacturing firearms and also studied mineralogy and mining. He emigrated to

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

in 1853 as mineralogist to a mining company. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly for Goldfields South at the 1869-70 election, and was also a member of the Goldfields Committee. In June 1870 he was appointed to a

Royal Commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...

into the goldfields and water supply. His seat was declared vacant in November 1870 as he had accepted an office of profit under the crown. He comfortably regained it at the by-election in December 1870. He retained the seat at the elections in

1872 Events January * January 12 – Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first ruler crowned in that city in over 500 years. *January 20 – The Cavite mutiny was an uprising of Filipino military personnel of Fort S ...

, and

1875 Events January * January 1 – The Midland Railway of England abolishes the Second Class passenger category, leaving First Class and Third Class. Other British railway companies follow Midland's lead during the rest of the year (Third C ...

. When

Thomas Garrett Thomas Garrett (August 21, 1789 – January 25, 1871) was an American abolitionist and assisted in the Underground Railroad movement before the American Civil War. He helped more than 2,500 African Americans escape slavery. For his effort ...

, the Secretary for Lands in the third Robertson Ministry, resigned his office, in February 1877, Baker was appointed to succeed him, but the Government only held office till March. He was appointed

Secretary for Mines The position of Secretary for Mines was an office in the United Kingdom Government, associated with the Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for ...

in the fourth Robertson ministry, in August 1877, exchanging that post for Secretary for Lands in November, and going out of office with his colleagues in December. Baker was again Minister of Mines in the third Parkes ministry from December 1878 to August 1881. The Goldfields districts were abolished as a result of the 1880 redistribution, and Baker was the first elected of two members for the expanded district of Carcoar. In August 1881 Baker resigned as Secretary for Mines following allegations concerning his conduct as a trustee of the Milburn Creek Copper Mining Co Ltd.

Julian Salomons Sir Julian Emanuel Salomons (formerly Solomons) (4 November 1835 – 6 April 1909) was a barrister, royal commissioner, Solicitor General, Chief Justice and member of parliament. He was the only Chief Justice of New South Wales to be appointed ...

was appointed a

royal commissioner A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equiv ...

to inquire into inquire into the expenditure and distribution of £17,100, paid by the Government, under the authority of a Parliamentary vote, to the company. Salomons reported that "there was an appropriation by the trustees to themselves ... under circumstances of concealment and false statement" and that there was an inference that one of the trustees, George Waddell, had bribed a member of the Legislative Assembly, Thomas Garrett, to vote in favour of the payment. Following publication of the report, on 8 November Parkes moved that Baker was guilty "of conduct unworthy of a member of this House, and seriously reflecting upon the honour and dignity of Parliament", a motion that was carried by 71 votes to 2 and the assembly then voted to expel him. Two days later, Parkes moved a similar motion in relation to Garrett, which was defeated by 40 votes to 38. Baker was a candidate at the resulting by-election in December 1881, but was defeated. Charges against him were subsequently dropped and Baker petitioned parliament to rescind its censure of him, which was agreed in May 1884. He was again elected as the member for Carcoar at the November 1884 by-election, retaining the seat at the 1885 election, retiring at the election in January 1887. Baker died in Hurstville,

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, on .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Ezekiel Alexander 1823 births 1912 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Expelled legislators English emigrants to colonial Australia