Robertson ministry (1877)

Fourth Robertson ministry
17th cabinet of the Colony of New South Wales
Premier John Robertson and the Colony of New South Wales (1863–1900)
Date formed	17 August 1877
Date dissolved	17 November 1877
People and organisations
Head of government	John Robertson
Head of state	Queen Victoria (represented by Sir Hercules Robinson)
Number of ministers	9
Member party	unaligned
Status in legislature	Minority government
Opposition party	unaligned
Opposition leader	Henry Parkes James Farnell
History
Outgoing election	1877
Predecessor	Second Parkes ministry
Successor	Farnell ministry

The fourth Robertson ministry was the seventeenth ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and was led by the Honourable John Robertson. It was the fourth of five occasions that Robertson led the Government. Robertson was elected in the first free elections for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly held in March 1856.

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 17 August 1877 until 17 December 1877, when Robertson was defeated by James Farnell at the December 1877 election.^[1][2]

Composition of ministry

Portfolio	Minister	Term start	Term end	Term length
Premier Colonial Secretary	Hon. John Robertson MLA	17 August 1877	17 December 1877	122 days
Colonial Treasurer	Hon. William Long MLA
Minister for Justice and Public Instruction	Hon. John Lackey MLA
Secretary for Lands	Hon. Thomas Garrett MLA		19 November 1877	94 days
	Hon. Ezekiel Baker MLA	20 November 1877	17 December 1877	27 days
Secretary for Mines		17 August 1877	19 November 1877	94 days
	Hon. Archibald Jacob MLA	20 November 1877	17 December 1877	27 days
Secretary for Public Works	Hon. Edward Combes MLA	17 August 1877		122 days
Attorney-General	Hon. William Dalley MLC
Postmaster-General	Hon. John Davies[3] MLA
Vice-President of the Executive Council Representative of the Government in Legislative Council	Hon. Joseph Docker MLC

See also

• John Robertson - fifth Premier of New South Wales
• Self-government in New South Wales
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1874–1877
• First Robertson ministry (1860–1861)
• Second Robertson ministry (1868–1870)
• Third Robertson ministry (1875–1877)
• Fifth Robertson ministry (1885–1886)

References

1. Serle, Percival. "Robertson, Sir John (1816-1891)". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Project Gutenberg Australia. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
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 20 March 2011.
3. "Mr John DAVIES (1839 - 1896)". Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 31 March 2013.