The Cowper ministry or Second Cowper ministry was the fourth ministry of the Colony of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, and second occasion of being led by the Premier

Premiers of New South Wales

The Premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature...

, the Honourable Charles Cowper

Charles Cowper

Sir Charles Cowper, KCMG was an Australian politician and the Premier of New South Wales on five different occasions from 1856 to 1870....

.
Cowper was elected in the first free elections for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly

New South Wales Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

 held in March 1856, and fought unsuccessfully with Stuart Donaldson

Stuart Donaldson

Sir Stuart Alexander Donaldson 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 to Mexico , for business training, and then to Sydney, where he arrived in 1835...

 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. Henry Parker formed Government, lasting a little under twelve months, until it lost an electoral bill, when Cowper was again asked to form Government.

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 7 September 1857 until on 26 October 1859, when Cowper resigned his commission, having lost an educational bill. Cowper resigned from the Assembly on the next day. During the period of this ministry, there were a large number of arrangements, with no fewer than 13 men holding the seven positions in its life of just over two years.

Composition of ministry

Portfolio	Minister	Term commence	Term end	Term of office
Premier Colonial Secretary Chief Secretary The Chief Secretary is the title of a senior civil servant in members of the Commonwealth of Nations, and, historically, in the British Empire. Prior to the dissolution of the colonies, the Chief Secretary was the second most important official in a colony of the British Empire after the...	Hon. Charles Cowper Charles Cowper Sir Charles Cowper, KCMG was an Australian politician and the Premier of New South Wales on five different occasions from 1856 to 1870....  MLA	7 September 1857	26 October 1859
Colonial Treasurer Treasurer of New South Wales The Treasurer of New South Wales, known from 1856–1959 as the Colonial Treasurer of New South Wales, is the minister in the Government of New South Wales responsible for government expenditure and revenue raising and is the head of the New South Wales Treasury. The Treasurer plays a key role in...	Hon. Richard Jones, MLA		3 January 1858	days
	Hon. Robert Campbell Robert Campbell (Australian politician) Robert Campbell was an early opponent of penal transportation and an Australian politician, elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly....  MLA	4 January 1858	30 March 1859
	Hon. Elias Weekes Elias Weekes Elias Weekes was an Australian ironmonger and politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council between 1865 and 1880. He was also a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly between 1856 and 1864...  MLA	18 April 1859	26 October 1859	days
Secretary for Lands and Works	Hon. Terence Murray MLA	7 September 1857	12 January 1858	days
	Hon. John Robertson John Robertson (Australian politician) Sir John Robertson, KCMG was an Australian politician and Premier of New South Wales on five occasions. Robertson is best remembered for land reform and in particular the Robertson Land Acts of 1861, which sought to open up the selection of Crown land and break the monopoly of the...  MLA	13 January 1858	30 September 1859
Secretary for Lands		1 October 1859	26 October 1859
Secretary for Public Works	Hon. Edward Flood Edward Flood Edward Flood was an Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council between 1851 and 1856 and again from 1879 until his death. He was also a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly between 1856 and 1872...  MLA			days
Attorney-General	Hon. James Martin James Martin (Australian politician) Sir James Martin, KCB, QC was three times Premier of New South Wales, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales from 1873 to 1886.-Early career:...  MLA	7 September 1857	8 November 1858
	Hon. Lyttelton Bayley MLA	21 February 1859	26 October 1859	days
	Hon. Alfred Lutwyche MLA	15 November 1858	21 February 1859
Solicitor-General		7 September 1857	14 November 1858
	Hon. William Dalley MLA	15 November 1858	11 February 1859	days
	Hon. John Hargrave John Hargrave (jurist) John Fletcher Hargrave was an Australian politician and judge.Hargrave was born to Joshua Hargrave and Sarah Hargrave at Greenwich, England. His father was a hardware merchant. He was educated at King's College, London in 1830 winning a certificate of honour for rhetoric...  MLA	21 February 1859	26 October 1859	days
Representative of the Government in Legislative Council	Hon. John Dickson, MLC

See also

• Charles Cowper
  Charles Cowper
  Sir Charles Cowper, KCMG was an Australian politician and the Premier of New South Wales on five different occasions from 1856 to 1870....
  
   - second Premier of New South Wales
• Self-government in New South Wales
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1856–1858
  Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1856–1858
  This is a list of members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1856 to 1858:This is a list of members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1856 to 1858:...
  
  
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1858–1859
  Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1858–1859
  This is a list of members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1858 to 1859:...
  
  
• First Cowper ministry (1856)
  Cowper ministry (1856)
  The Cowper ministry or First Cowper ministry was the second ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and was led by the Premier, the Honourable Charles Cowper. It was the first of five occasions that Cowper was Premier...
  
  
• Third Cowper ministry (1861–1863)
  Cowper ministry (1861–1863)
  The Cowper ministry or Third Cowper ministrywas the seventh ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and third occasion of being led by the Premier, the Honourable Charles Cowper....
  
  
• Fourth Cowper ministry (1865–1866)
  Cowper ministry (1865–1866)
  The Cowper ministry or Fourth Cowper ministry was the ninth ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and fourth occasion of being led by the Premier, the Honourable Charles Cowper....
  
  
• Fifth Cowper ministry (1870)
  Cowper ministry (1870)
  The Cowper ministry or Fifth Cowper ministry was the twelfth ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and the fifth and final occasion of being led by the Premier, the Honourable Sir Charles Cowper, CMG, MLA....