Secretary for Lands and Works of New South Wales | |
---|---|
Appointer | Governor of New South Wales |
Formation | 8 June 1856 |
First holder | Bob Nichols |
Final holder | John Robertson |
Abolished | 30 September 1859 |
Succession | Secretary for Lands Secretary for Public Works |
The Secretary for Lands and Works was one of the first ministries in the colonial administration of New South Wales following the establishment of responsible government in 1856.[1]
Under the principles of responsible government, the minister was accountable to parliament not only for the decisions personally made by the minister but was also accountable for the performance of the department. While the first minister Bob Nichols was appointed on 6 June 1856, the department of Lands and Public Works was not formally established until 26 August 1856.[2] The department had three main functions:
The diversity of the ministers responsibilities included the government flock of Alpacas and Llamas.[4]
In 1859 the ministry was split into the Secretary for Lands and the Secretary for Public Works.[3]
Title | Minister [1] | Party | Ministry | Term start | Term end | Time in office | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Secretary for Lands and Works | George Nichols | No party | Donaldson | 6 June 1856 | 25 August 1856 | 80 days | [5] |
Terence Murray | Cowper (1) | 25 August 1856 | 2 October 1856 | 38 days | [6] | ||
John Hay | Parker | 3 October 1856 | 7 September 1857 | 339 days | [7] | ||
Terence Murray | Cowper (2) | 7 September 1857 | 12 January 1858 | 127 days | [6] | ||
John Robertson | 13 January 1858 | 30 September 1859 | 1 year, 260 days | [8] |