Sir Charles Cowper | |
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| 2nd Premier of New South Wales | |
| In office 26 August 1856 – 2 October 1856 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Governor | Sir William Denison |
| Preceded by | Stuart Donaldson |
| Succeeded by | Henry Parker |
| In office 7 September 1857 – 26 October 1859 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Governor | Sir William Denison |
| Preceded by | Henry Parker |
| Succeeded by | William Forster |
| In office 10 January 1861 – 15 October 1863 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Governor | Sir William Denison Sir John Young |
| Preceded by | John Robertson |
| Succeeded by | James Martin |
| In office 3 February 1865 – 21 January 1866 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Governor | Sir John Young |
| Preceded by | James Martin |
| Succeeded by | James Martin |
| In office 13 January 1870 – 15 December 1870 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Governor | The Earl Belmore |
| Preceded by | John Robertson |
| Succeeded by | Sir James Martin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1807-04-26)26 April 1807 Kingston upon Hull,Yorkshire, England |
| Died | 19 October 1875(1875-10-19) (aged 68) Kensington, London, England |
| Spouse | Eliza Sutton |
Sir Charles Cowper (/ˈkaʊpər/),[1]KCMG (26 April 1807 – 19 October 1875) was an Australian politician and thePremier of New South Wales on five occasions from 1856 to 1870.[2]
Cowper did useful work but does not rank among the more distinguished Australian politicians. Cowper's governments had a fairly coherentliberal tendency, a trend which continued with the governments ofHenry Parkes and later developed into theFree Trade Party. In 1852, Parkes referred in public to his "mild, affable and benignant character". In later years he spoke of his "quick insight in dealing with surrounding circumstances, and much good humour and tact in dealing with individuals". His political adroitness was such that it secured for him the popular sobriquet of "Slippery Charley". Cowper probably deserved this title no more thanBishop Wilberforce deserved his of "Soapy Sam", butRusden[3] speaks of Cowper as "ever anxious to link himself with a majority" and frequently shows animus when speaking of him. He was personally popular, and towards the end of his life the estate of Wivenhoe was purchased by public subscription and settled on his wife.[4]
Charles was the third son of the Rev.William Cowper and his first wife Hannah. He was born inDrypool,Hull,Yorkshire, England and was brought toSydney by his father in 1809.[2] Educated by his father, in 1825 he joined the public service, and when 19 years of age was appointedclerk of the Clergy and School Lands Corporation. He held this position for some years.[4]
In 1831 Charles married the second daughter of Daniel Sutton. When the Clergy and School Lands Corporation was dissolved in 1833, Cowper went on the land and held extensive properties inCumberland andArgyle counties.[4]
Cowper was first elected as the member of theLegislative Council for theCounty of Cumberland in 1843 after a bitter contest againstJames Macarthur and held his seat until 1850.[2] In September 1848 he sent out a circular convening a meeting to consider the establishment of a railway company. This became the firstrailway in New South Wales started on 3 July 1849. As it proved impossible for the company to finance the railway, it was taken over by the government six years later.[4]
After coming last in the election for theCity of Sydney and failing to win County of Cumberland, at the end of 1851, Cowper was elected forCounty of Durham. He had opposedtransportation since the 1840s and had presided at a public meeting protesting plans to revive transportation in October 1846. He also fought transportation vigorously in the Council and in May 1851 he became president of theAustralasian League for the Abolition of Transportation, which included representatives of New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia and New Zealand. The association actively campaigned in Britain and, partly as a result, the British Government announced in December 1852 that there would be no more transportation to eastern Australia.[2]
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When responsible government was established, Cowper was elected a member of the firstLegislative Assembly in 1856 forSydney City, which he represented until its abolition in 1859.[5]
Although Cowper was popular in 1856, his open association with the radicals, including Parkes,James Wilshire andRobert Campbell ruled him out from being considered for the premiership. He was offered and declined the position of Colonial Secretary in the first ministry under the leadership ofS. A. Donaldson. Following Donaldson's resignation in August, Cowper was asked to form Government, but he had no more success than Donaldson in establishing majority support, and was in particular attacked over his choice forAttorney General,James Martin, who had not yet been admitted as abarrister. He was beaten in ano confidence motion and resigned on 2 October.[2]
Cowper turned down a place in theParker ministry. He subsequently opposed Parker's proposal to create 40 new members in the House, and distribute them according to population, because it did not widen thefranchise.
In September 1857, the Parker Government was defeated and resigned, and Cowper became Premier again. This was a ministry of many changes, no fewer than 13 men holding the seven positions in its life of just over two years.[4] In December, his Government lost a vote on a proposal to increase the rents of pastoralists and to levy an assessment on their stock, but this time GovernorDenison agreed to call an election, held in January 1858. Cowper did well enough to remain Premier, but he did not have a reliable majority. His Government amended the Electoral Act to provide vote bysecret ballot,universal manhood suffrage, representation primarily by population and more equal electoral districts. It also created 40 new municipalities, established district courts and prohibited grants to support public religious activity. At the June 1859 election, Cowper was returned forEast Sydney. His government was beaten on a vote on his educational bill on 26 October 1859 and Cowper resigned from the Assembly the next day.William Forster became Premier andJohn Robertson became leader of the Opposition. In March 1860, Cowper was appointed to a five-year term in the Legislative Council.[2]
Robertson formed Government in March 1860 with Cowper as Chief Secretary, and proceeded to bring forward his radicalland legislation, involving free selection ofcrown land before survey and, when blocked in the Assembly, he called an election on the land issue in December. At the election, Cowper returned to the Assembly representing East Sydney. All the candidates who publicly opposed land reform and the abolition of state aid for religious purposes were defeated.
Robertson handed over the Premiership to Cowper on 10 January 1861, while Robertson concentrated on the land bills as Secretary for Lands. Cowper simplified the political situation by sending Parkes to England to recruit immigrants on £1,000 per year.[6] Early in this year Cowper introduced a bill intended to substitute elected members for the nominee members of the Legislative Council. The Council suggested amendments which Cowper could not accept.[4] Robertson had his land bills passed by the Assembly on 27 March and resigned from the Assembly so that he could be appointed to the Council on 3 April to complete the process. As the Council was resolutely opposed to the land bills, Robertson persuaded Cowper to ask the new GovernorSir John Young to swamp the Council with 21 new members.[6] Before administering the oath to the new members the President of the Council, SirW. W. Burton, announced his resignation and left the chamber. Other members followed his example, there was no quorum, and on the same day Parliament wasprorogued.[4] The five-year terms of the 1856 Council appointments had run out and the Governor appointed a new Council to life terms, including Robertson. The land bills were passed again by the Assembly in September and by the Council in October 1861.[6] Subsequently, the Cowper Government also passed theTorrens title legislation and the abolition of state aid to religion, although it did not succeed in passing Cowper's education bill, which would have amalgamated the religious and government ("national") school systems. In October 1863, Cowper's government was defeated amidst criticism of its financial management and Martin became Premier.[2]
Cowper's party won the February 1865 election and he became Premier for the fourth time, but he had difficulty in maintaining control of the Assembly. In January 1866 Martin and Parkes, who had returned from London, defeated him and he resigned his seat to look after his private interests in February 1867.[2]
In the December 1869 election, he recontested East Sydney unsuccessfully, but was elected to representLiverpool Plains.[2] Cowper was Premier for the last time in January 1870 and was appointedAgent-General for New South Wales in London at the end of that year.[4][7]
He died in London on 19 October 1875 and was survived by Lady Cowper and children.[4][7] He is buried in a family grave on the western side ofHighgate Cemetery.
Cowper was made aCompanion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1869,[8] and aKnight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in 1872.[5][9]
The federalDivision of Cowper inNew South Wales was created in 1900, and named after Sir Charles Cowper.
Sir Charles Cowper (pronounced Cowper) was Premier and Colonial Secretary of New South Wales.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chichester, Henry Manners (1887). "Cowper, Charles". InStephen, Leslie (ed.).Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 12. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Premier of New South Wales (first term) 1856 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Premier of New South Wales (second term) 1857–1859 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Premier of New South Wales (third term) 1861–1863 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Premier of New South Wales (fourth term) 1865–1866 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Premier of New South Wales (fifth term) 1870 | Succeeded by |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by | Agent-General for New South Wales 1871 – 1876 | Succeeded by |
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| People | |
