The Stuart ministry was the 20th 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 was led by Sir
Alexander Stuart. Stuart was elected to 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 ...
in
1874
Events
January–March
* January 1 – New York City annexes The Bronx.
* January 2 – Ignacio María González becomes head of state of the Dominican Republic for the first time.
* January 3 – Third Carlist War &n ...
.
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 govern ...
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 in the Legislative Assembly were required to resign to recontest their seats in a by-election when appointed.
Such ministerial by-elections were usually uncontested and on this occasion a poll was required for
East Sydney where
George Reid
Sir George Houston Reid, (25 February 1845 – 12 September 1918) was an Australian politician who led the Reid Government as the fourth Prime Minister of Australia from 1904 to 1905, having previously been Premier of New South Wales f ...
was easily re-elected and
Newtown where
Henry Copeland
Henry Copeland, aka Henry Copland, (c. 1710 – 1754) was an 18th-century English cabinetmaker and furniture designer. In partnership with Mathias Locke during the mid-18th century in London, they produced many furniture designs in the Rococo Fu ...
was narrowly defeated. Copeland was able to return to the assembly the following week due to a
vacancy at East Sydney. The 6 other ministers, Sir Alexander Stuart (
Illawarra
The Illawarra is a coastal region in the Australian state of New South Wales, nestled between the mountains and the sea. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast region. It encompasses the two cities of Wollongo ...
),
George Dibbs
Sir George Richard Dibbs KCMG (12 October 1834 – 5 August 1904) was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales on three occasions.
Early years
Dibbs was born in Sydney, son of Captain John Dibbs, who 'disappeared' in the ...
(
St Leonards),
Henry Cohen (
West Maitland
Maitland () is a city in the Lower Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia and the seat of Maitland City Council, situated on the Hunter River approximately by road north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle. It is on the New England ...
),
James Farnell
James Squire Farnell (25 June 1825 – 21 August 1888) was an Australian politician and Premier of New South Wales. Farnell was a hard-working legislator who gave much study to the land question and also tried hard for some years to pass a bill ...
(
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian province ...
),
Francis Wright (
Redfern) and
Joseph Abbott (
Gunnedah ), were re-elected unopposed. The minister subsequently appointed,
William Trickett (
Paddington
Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...
) was also re-elected unopposed.
In January 1884 the Committee of Elections and Qualifications held that an error in the drafting of the constitution meant that George Reid could not be validly appointed Minister of Public Instruction, and declared his seat vacant. Reid was defeated in the
resulting by-election in February 1884.
This ministry covers the period from 5 January 1883 until 6 October 1885. Suffering a paralytic stroke whilst in office,
William Dalley was acting Premier from late 1884, with Dalley deciding to send a
contingent of troops to the
Sudan. Stuart resumed his duties in May 1885 before resigning in October due to continued ill health. His Treasurer, George Dibbs, succeeded Stuart as Premier.
Composition of ministry
Ministers are members of the
Legislative Assembly unless otherwise noted.
See also
*
Self-government in New South Wales
*
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1882–1885
*
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council, 1882–1885
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council who served from 1882 to 1885 were appointed for life by the Governor on the advice of the Premier. This list includes members between the elections commencing on 30 November 1882 and the electi ...
References
{{Ministries of New South Wales
New South Wales ministries
1883 establishments in Australia
1885 disestablishments in Australia