The Parkes ministry or Third Parkes ministry was the nineteenth 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 seventh 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 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...

. It was the third of five occasions that Parkes was Premier.

Having served in the New South Wales Legislative Council

New South Wales Legislative Council

The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...

 between 1854 and 1856, Parkes 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 1856, however resigned from Parliament later that year. He served in the Assembly on several occasions, between 1858 and 1870, being forced to resign on at least one occasion due to his personal insolvency. He came to power as Premier on the first occasion in 1872, serving as Premier for a period of three years. However, Parkes lost the confidence of the Assembly following Governor Robinson

Hercules Robinson, 1st Baron Rosmead

Hercules George Robert Robinson, 1st Baron Rosmead, GCMG, PC was a British colonial administrator who became the 5th Governor of Hong Kong...

's decision to release of the bushranger

Bushranger

Bushrangers, or bush rangers, originally referred to runaway convicts in the early years of the British settlement of Australia who had the survival skills necessary to use the Australian bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities...

 Frank Gardiner

Frank Gardiner

Frank Gardiner was a noted Australian bushranger of the 19th century. He was born in Scotland about 1827 and migrated from to Australia as a child with his parents in 1834,. His real name was Francis Christie, though he often used one of several other aliases including Gardiner, Clarke or Christie...

 led to the defeat of the ministry in 1875.

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...

 served as Premier between 1875 and 1877, before Robertson was defeated at the 1877 election. Parkes formed his second ministry in a challenging environment where both Parkes and Robertson shared equal representation in the Legislative Assembly and business was sometimes at a standstill. Parkes' second term as Colonial Premier lasted just 147 days, with the Farnell ministry

Farnell ministry

The Farnell ministry was the eighteenth ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and was led by the Premier, the Honourable James Farnell. Farnell was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1860....

 giving both Parkes and Robertson reprieve for 12 months, prior to Parkes and Robertson forming an alliance government in this ministry.

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. In the table below, these by-elections are only noted when the minister was defeated; in general, he was elected unopposed.

This ministry covers the period from 21 December 1878 until 4 January 1883.

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. 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...  MLA	21 December 1878	4 January 1883
Vice-President of the Executive Council Representative of the Government in Legislative Council	Hon. Sir John Robertson KCMG, MLC		10 November 1881
Secretary for Lands		29 December 1881	4 January 1883
	Hon. James Hoskins MLA	21 December 1878	28 December 1881
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. James Watson MLA		4 January 1883
Minister of Justice and Public Instruction	Hon. Francis Suttor Francis Bathurst Suttor Sir Francis Bathurst Suttor was an Australian pastoralist, politician, and sheep and horse breeder.-Early life:...  MLA		30 April 1880
Minister of Public Instruction Minister for Education (New South Wales) The New South Wales Minister for Education has responsibilities which includes all schools and TAFE colleges in NSW.The current Minister for Education is Adrian Piccoli...		14 November 1881	4 January 1883
Minister of Justice		1 May 1880	10 August 1880	days
	Hon. Sir Joseph Innes MLA	11 August 1880	13 October 1881	days
	Hon. William Foster MLA	14 October 1881	4 January 1883
Minister of Public Instruction	Hon. Sir John Robertson KCMG, MLC	1 May 1880	10 November 1881
Attorney-General	Hon. William Windeyer MLA	21 December 1878	10 August 1879	days
	Hon. Robert Wisdom MLA	13 August 1879	4 January 1883
Secretary for Public Works	Hon. John Lackey MLA	21 December 1878
Postmaster-General	Hon. Saul Samuel Saul Samuel Sir Saul Samuel CMG, KCMG, CB was an Australian colonial merchant, member of parliament, pastoralist, and prominent Jew...  MLC		10 August 1880
	Hon. Francis Suttor MLA	11 August 1880	13 November 1881	days
	Hon. Stephen Brown MLC	14 November 1881	22 August 1882	days
	Hon. Alexander Campbell MLC	30 August 1882	4 January 1883	days
Secretary for Mines	Hon. Ezekiel Baker MLA	21 December 1878	11 October 1881
	Hon. Arthur Renwick Arthur Renwick Sir Arthur Renwick was an Australian physician, politician and philanthropist.-Early life:Renwick was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the son of George Renwick, a bricklayer, and his wife Christina, née Condie. His parents travelled as bounty immigrants aboard the Helen, arriving in Sydney, Australia...  MLA	12 October 1881	4 January 1883
Vice-President of the Executive Council Representative of the Government in Legislative Council	Hon. Frederick Darley MLC	14 November 1881	4 January 1883

See also

• 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...
  
   – seventh 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,...
  
  
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1880–1882
  Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1880–1882
  This is a list of members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1880 to 1882. Elections for the tenth Legislative Assembly were held between 17 November and 10 December 1880 with parliament first meeting on 15 December 1880...
  
  
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1882–1885
  Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1882–1885
  This is a list of members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1882 to 1885. Elections for the eleventh Legislative Assembly were held between 30 November and 21 December 1882 with parliament first meeting on 3 January 1983...
  
  
• First Parkes ministry (1872–1875)
  Parkes ministry (1872–1875)
  The Parkes ministry or First Parkes ministry was the fourteenth ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and the first of five occasions of being led by the Premier, the Honourable Henry Parkes....
  
  
• Second Parkes ministry (1878–1883)
  Parkes ministry (1877)
  The Parkes ministry or Second Parkes ministry was the sixteenth ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and was led by the Premier, the Honourable Henry Parkes...
  
  
• Fourth Parkes ministry (1887–1889)
  Parkes ministry (1887-1889)
  The Parkes ministry or Fourth Parkes ministry was the 24th ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and was led by the seventh Premier, the Honourable Sir Henry Parkes, KCMG...
  
  
• Fifth Parkes ministry (1889–1891)
  Parkes ministry (1889-1891)
  The Parkes ministry or Fifth Parkes ministry was the 26th ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and was led by the seventh Premier, the Honourable Sir Henry Parkes, GCMG...