The Forster ministry was the fifth 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 William Forster. Forster 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 March 1856. He was asked to form Government after the second Cowper ministry lost an educational bill in the Assembly. 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 of just four months from 27 October 1859 until 8 March 1860, when Forster resigned his commission.

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. William Forster MLA	27 October 1859	8 March 1860	days
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. Saul Samuel Saul Samuel Sir Saul Samuel CMG, KCMG, CB was an Australian colonial merchant, member of parliament, pastoralist, and prominent Jew...  MLA
Secretary for Lands	Hon. John Black MLA
Secretary for Public Works Representative of the Government in Legislative Council	Hon. Geoffrey Eagar Geoffrey Eagar Geoffrey Eagar was an accountant and Treasurer of the Government of New South Wales, Australia.Eagar was born in Sydney, son of Edward, an emancipated convict who helped found the Westpac Bank, then known as the Bank of New South Wales. Edward left Australia to take a legal battle over the rights...  MLC
Attorney-General	Hon. Edward Wise Edward Wise Edward Wise was a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.Wise was born in England, educated at Rugby School, and called to the bar in 1844. He went to Sydney, Australia in 1855 and soon afterward entered politics...  MLA	27 October 1859	13 February 1860	days
	Hon. Sir William Manning William Montagu Manning Sir William Montagu Manning KCMG LLD was an English-born Australian politician, judge and University of Sydney chancellor.-Early life:...  MLA	21 February 1860	8 March 1860	days
Solicitor-General	Hon. John Hargrave John Hargrave (jurist) John Fletcher Hargrave was an Australian politician and judge.Hargrave was born to Joshua Hargrave and Sarah Hargrave at Greenwich, England. His father was a hardware merchant. He was educated at King's College, London in 1830 winning a certificate of honour for rhetoric...  MLA	3 November 1859		days

Edward Wise resigned his commission in 1860 and was appointed a Justice

Judge

A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...

 of the Supreme Court of New South Wales

Supreme Court of New South Wales

The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales...

.

See also

• William Forster - fourth Premier of New South Wales
• Self-government in New South Wales
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1859–1860
  Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1859–1860
  This is a list of members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1859 to 1860:This is a list of members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1859 to 1860:...