The Farnell ministry was the eighteenth 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 was 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 James Farnell

James Farnell

James Squire Farnell 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 for the regulation of contagious diseases.-Early years:Farnell was born in St Leonards,...

. Farnell was elected to 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...

 in 1860. 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 18 December 1877 until 20 December 1878, when Farnell resigned following his inablity to gain safe passage of a land bill through Parliament. Henry Parkes

Henry Parkes

Sir Henry Parkes, GCMG was an Australian statesman, the "Father of Federation." As the earliest advocate of a Federal Council of the colonies of Australia, a precursor to the Federation of Australia, he was the most prominent of the Australian Founding Fathers.Parkes was described during his...

 succeeded Farnell as Premier.

Composition of ministry

Portfolio	Minister	Term commence	Term end	Term of office
Premier Secretary for Lands	Hon. James Farnell MLA	18 December 1877	20 December 1878	days
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. Michael Fitzpatrick MLA
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. Henry Cohen MLA
Minister for Justice and Public Instruction	Hon. Joseph Leary Joseph Leary Joseph Leary , Australian politician, elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.Leary was born in 1831 in Sydney, and was educated at St. Mary's Seminary, at Sydney College under Mr. Cape, and for two years at the Sydney University...  MLA
Secretary for Public Works	Hon. John Sutherland MLA
Attorney-General	Hon. William Foster MLA
Secretary for Mines	Hon. William Suttor, Jnr. MLA
Postmaster-General	Hon. John Burns MLA
Vice-President of the Executive Council Representative of the Government in Legislative Council	Hon. John Marks John Marks (Australian politician) John Marks was an Australian farmer and politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council between 1878 and 1885...  MLC

See also

• James Farnell
  James Farnell
  James Squire Farnell 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 for the regulation of contagious diseases.-Early years:Farnell was born in St Leonards,...
  
   - eighth Premier of New South Wales
• Self-government in New South Wales
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1877–1880
  Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1877–1880
  This is a list of members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1877 to 1880. Elections for the ninth Legislative Assembly were held between 24 October and 12 November 1877 with parliament first meeting on 27 November 1877. There were 73 members elected for 53 single member electorates,...