Martin ministry (1870–72)

Third Martin ministry
13th cabinet of the Colony of New South Wales
Premier Sir James Martin and the Colony of New South Wales (1863–1900)
Date formed	16 December 1870
Date dissolved	13 May 1872
People and organisations
Head of government	Sir James Martin
Head of state	Queen Victoria (represented by The Earl Belmore)
Number of ministers	7
Member party	unaligned
Status in legislature	Minority government
Opposition party	unaligned
Opposition leader	Charles Cowper John Robertson
History
Predecessor	Fifth Cowper ministry
Successor	First Parkes ministry

The third Martin ministry was the thirteenth ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and the third and final occasion of being led by the Honourable Sir James Martin, KCB, QC.

Martin was elected in the first free elections for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly held in 1856. He came to power as Premier on the first occasion after Charles Cowper's government fell in October 1863.^[1] Martin was asked to form government on the second occasion, this time in coalition with his former rival, Henry Parkes, after Cowper again lost the conifidence of the Assembly in December 1865.^[1] Martin came to power on this occasion, after Cowper again lost confidence of the Assembly.

The title of Premier 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 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 December 1870 until 13 May 1872, when Martin retired.^[2] Upon retirement from politics, he was appointed as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.^[1]

Composition of ministry

Portfolio	Minister	Term start	Term end	Term length
Premier Attorney-General	Hon. Sir James Martin KCB MLA	16 December 1870	13 May 1872	1 year, 149 days
Colonial Secretary	Hon. John Robertson MLA
Colonial Treasurer	Hon. George Lord MLA
Secretary for Lands	Hon. John Wilson MLA
Secretary for Public Works	Hon. James Byrnes MLA
Solicitor-General	Hon. William Windeyer MLA
Postmaster-General Representative of the Government in Legislative Council	Hon. Joseph Docker MLC

See also

• Sir James Martin - sixth Premier of New South Wales
• Self-government in New South Wales
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1869–1872
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1872–1874
• First Martin ministry (1863–1865)
• Second Martin ministry (1866–1868)

References

1. Serle, Percival. "Martin, James (1820-1886)". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Project Gutenberg Australia. 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. Retrieved 2010-01-02.