Martin ministry (1863–1865)

The Martin ministry (1863–1865) or First Martin ministry was the eighth ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and first occasion of being led by the Premier, the Honourable James Martin, QC.

Colony of New South Wales (1863–1900)

Martin was elected in the first free elections for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly held in 1856. He came to power as Premier after he successfully defeated Charles Cowper at the 1863 general election.^[1]

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. These by-elections are only noted when the minister was defeated; in general, he was elected unopposed.

This ministry covers the period from 16 October 1863 until 2 February 1865, when Cowper retained government by defeating Martin at the 1865 general election.^[2]

Composition of ministry

Portfolio	Minister	Term commence	Term end	Term of office
Premier Attorney-General	Hon. James Martin QC MLA	16 October 1863	2 February 1865	&100000000000000010000001 year, &10000000000000109000000109 days
Colonial Secretary	Hon. William Forster MLA
Colonial Treasurer	Hon. Geoffrey Eagar MLA
Solicitor-General	Hon. Peter Faucett MLA
Secretary for Lands	Hon. John Wilson MLA
Secretary for Public Works	Hon. Arthur Holroyd MLA
Representative of the Government in Legislative Council Vice-President of the Executive Council	Hon. John Plunkett MLC	23 November 1863		&100000000000000010000001 year, &1000000000000007100000071 days

See also

• James Martin - sixth Premier of New South Wales
• Self-government in New South Wales
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1860–1864
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1864–1869
• Second Martin ministry (1866–1868)
• Third Martin ministry (1870–1872)

References

1. ^ Serle, Percival. "Martin, James (1820-1886)". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Project Gutenberg Australia. http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogMa-Mo.html#martin3. Retrieved 2007-02-18. 
2. ^ "Former Members - Chronological List of Ministries 1856 to 2009 (requires download)" (Excel spreadsheet). Project for the Sesquicentenary of Responsible Government in NSW. Parliament of New South Wales. http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/web/common.nsf/key/Archives_MemberPage. Retrieved 2010-01-02. 

Preceded by Cowper ministry (1861–1863)

Martin ministry (1863–1865) 1863–1865

Succeeded by Cowper ministry (1865–1866)