Sir Stuart Alexander DONALDSON (1812 - 1867)**

Date of Birth: 16/12/1812 Place of Birth: London, Westminster, England Date of Death: 11/01/1867 Place of Death: 'Carleton Hall', Cumberland, England

Parliamentary Service

Position Start End Period Notes Member of the NSW Legislative Council 1 Feb 1848 31 Jan 1853 5yr(s) 5th Council (1849 - 1851) 6th Council (1851 - 1855) An Elective Member of the first Legislative Council 1843 - 1856 for the County of Durham Member of the NSW Legislative Council 1 Feb 1855 29 Feb 1856 1yr(s) 29day(s) 6th Council (1851 - 1855) An Elective Member of the first Legislative Council 1843 - 1856 for the Sydney Hamlets Member of the NSW Legislative Assembly 11 Mar 1856 11 Apr 1859 3yr(s) 1mth(s) 1day(s) Member for Sydney Hamlets 11 Mar 1856 6 Jun 1856 2mth(s) 27day(s) 1st (1856 - 1857) Member for Sydney Hamlets 16 Jun 1856 3 Oct 1856 3mth(s) 18day(s) 1st (1856 - 1857) Member for Cumberland (South Riding) 4 Nov 1856 19 Dec 1857 1yr(s) 1mth(s) 16day(s) 1st (1856 - 1857) Member for Cumberland (South Riding) 30 Jan 1858 11 Apr 1859 1yr(s) 2mth(s) 13day(s) 2nd (1858 - 1859) Premier 6 Jun 1856 25 Aug 1856 2mth(s) 20day(s) First Premier of New South Wales Colonial Treasurer 3 Oct 1856 7 Sep 1857 11mth(s) 5day(s) Governor General's Opening Speech 23 May 1856 23 May 1856 1day 1st (1856 - 1857) Library Committee No. 4 3 Jun 1856 18 Mar 1857 9mths 16days 1st (1856 - 1857) Standing Order Committee No.3 3 Jun 1856 18 Mar 1857 9mths 16days 1st (1856 - 1857) Petition of Peter Rawlings Committee No.5 4 Jun 1856 18 Mar 1857 9mths 15days 1st (1856 - 1857) Audit of the Revenue Accounts Committee No.6 6 Aug 1856 18 Mar 1857 7mths 13days 1st (1856 - 1857) Additional Ministerial Department Committee No.12 20 Aug 1856 18 Mar 1857 6mths 27days 1st (1856 - 1857) Civil Service Superannuation Fund Committee No.19 11 Nov 1856 18 Mar 1857 4mths 8days 1st (1856 - 1857) Governor General’s Opening Speech 11 Aug 1857 11 Aug 1857 1day 1st (1856 - 1857) Standing Order Committee 12 Aug 1857 18 Dec 1857 4mths 7days 1st (1856 - 1857) The Library Committee 12 Aug 1857 18 Dec 1857 4mths 7days 1st (1856 - 1857) Audit of the Accounts of the Revenues Committee 12 Aug 1857 18 Dec 1857 4mths 7days 1st (1856 - 1857) Scab and Catarrh in Sheep Committee No.9 23 Oct 1857 18 Dec 1857 1mth 26days 1st (1856 - 1857) Navigation of the Murray and its Effluents Committee No.10 27 Oct 1857 18 Dec 1857 1mth 22days 1st (1856 - 1857) Treasury Iron Chest and Accounts Committee No.17 17 Nov 1857 18 Dec 1857 1mth 2days 1st (1856 - 1857) Seizure of Gold Dust on board the “Ethereal” Committee No.18 4 Dec 1857 18 Dec 1857 15days 1st (1856 - 1857) The Library Committee No.3 25 Mar 1858 26 Nov 1858 8mths 2days 2nd (1858 - 1859) Standing Orders Committee No.2 25 Mar 1858 26 Nov 1858 8mths 2days 2nd (1858 - 1859) Treasury Iron Chest and Accounts Committee No.4 30 Mar 1858 26 Nov 1858 7mths 28days 2nd (1858 - 1859) Moreton Bay Judge’s Appointment Bill Committee No.6 31 Mar 1858 26 Nov 1858 7mths 27days 2nd (1858 - 1859) Special Return to Writ Committee No.5 31 Mar 1858 26 Nov 1858 7mths 27days 2nd (1858 - 1859) Navigation of the Murray, & c. Committee No.8 13 Apr 1858 26 Nov 1858 7mths 14days 2nd (1858 - 1859) Question of Privilege – Governor General’s Answer to Address on proposed dispatch of Artillery to Indi 16 Apr 1858 26 Nov 1858 7mths 11days 2nd (1858 - 1859) Customs Department Committee No.12 20 Apr 1858 26 Nov 1858 7mths 7days 2nd (1858 - 1859) Retrenchment in the Public Expenditure Committee No.11 20 Apr 1858 26 Nov 1858 7mths 7days 2nd (1858 - 1859) Scab and Catarrh in Sheep Committee No.14 27 Apr 1858 26 Nov 1858 7mths 2nd (1858 - 1859) Management of the Survey Department Committee No.15 30 Apr 1858 26 Nov 1858 6mths 28days 2nd (1858 - 1859) Irish Female Immigrants (Petition from Celtic Association) Committee No.20 28 May 1858 26 Nov 1858 5mths 30days 2nd (1858 - 1859) Seizure of Gold on board the ‘Ethereal’ and ‘May Nicholson’ Committee No.21 15 Jun 1858 26 Nov 1858 5mths 12days 2nd (1858 - 1859) Murders by the Aborigines on the Dawson River Committee No.22 15 Jun 1858 26 Nov 1858 5mths 12days 2nd (1858 - 1859) Railway Accident Committee No.28 14 Jul 1858 26 Nov 1858 4mths 13days 2nd (1858 - 1859) Standing Orders Committee No.2 10 Dec 1858 9 Apr 1859 4mths 2nd (1858 - 1859) Library Committee No.3 10 Dec 1858 9 Apr 1859 4mths 2nd (1858 - 1859) Irish Female Immigrants Committee No.4 15 Dec 1858 9 Apr 1859 3mths 26days 2nd (1858 - 1859) Colonial Secretary 6 Jun 1856 25 Aug 1856 2mths 20days

Community Activity

Commissioned as a Justice of the Peace in 1838. Leading Founder of the Australian Club (treasurer; trustee; committeeman; vice-president). Member of the University of Sydney Senate from 1851 - 1856. Consul General for Sardinia in 1855. Foundation Member of the Union Club in 1856. With Sir William Burton, Sir Charles Nicholson, Sir George Macleay and W. C. Wentworth was active in the General Association for the Australian Colonies being appointed as Chairman in 1860.

Qualifications, occupations and interests

Pastoralist and merchant. Educated privately. Entered father's firm at 15 and went to Mexico for business training 1831 - 1834. Arrived in Sydney, where father's firm was associated with Alexander Riley and Richard Jones, 5 May 1835. Partner Richard Jones & Co., 1837. Manager on Jones' retirement 1838; agent for Lloyds of London, 1839. Took up runs at Tenterfield and Clifton in New England District, 1840, with 34, 000 sheep on 250, 000 acres. Formed business partnership with William Dawes 1841. To London 1841 - 1844. Suffered severely in depression of early 1840s, but by 1851 had cleared debts and realized over £30, 000. Acquired tweed factory near Newcastle; shareholder in many companies; extensive pastoral interests; trustee New South Wales Savings Bank. Travelled to England 1853 - 1854. A commissioner for railways 1857. Returned to England June 1859, leaving brothers-in-law to manage pastoral holdings. Revisited Australia in 1861 and 1864.

Honours Received

Knighted in 1860

Membership of other Parliaments & Offices Held

In 1860 unsuccessfully contested the seats of Dartmouth and later Barnstaple for the House of Commons in England.

Personal

Son of Stuart Alexander Donaldson, merchant, and his wife Betsy Cundall. Married on 21 February 1854 in England to Amelia Cowper, daughter of Frederick Cowper of Carleton Hall, Cumberland, England (not related to Sir Charles Cowper), and had issue, 4 sons and 1 daughter. Church of England

Additional Information

Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 4 Personal papers in the Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales: Stuart Alexander Donaldson - papers, 1834 - 1857 (A726-A731); photographs in the PICMAN Database. David Clune and Ken Turner (Editors), The Premiers of New South Wales: Volume 1 - 1856 - 1901, The Federation Press, Sydney, 2006 [Chapter 1: "Donaldson, Stuart Alexander", by David Clune, p. 15]

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