Former Speakers of the Legislative Assembly

The following is a list of the Speakers of the Legislative Assembly from 1856 to current:

Name	Date When First Elected	Date of Expiration of Office
The Hon Sir Daniel Cooper, Kt	22 May 1856	31 January 1860 – Resigned
The Hon Sir Terence Aubrey Murray	31 January 1860	13 October 1862 – Appointed President of the Legislative Council
The Hon Sir John Hay	14 October 1862	31 October 1865 – Resigned
The Hon William Munnings Arnold	1 November 1865	1 March 1875 – Deceased
The Hon Sir George Wigram Allen, Kt	23 March 1875	23 November 1882 – Parliament dissolved
The Hon Sir Edmund Barton	3 January 1883	31 January 1887* – Parliament dissolved, 26 January 1887
The Hon James Henry Young	8 March 1887	21 October 1890 – Resigned
The Hon Sir Joseph Palmer Abbott, K.C.M.G	22 October 1890	12 June 1900 – Resigned
The Hon William McCourt	13 June 1900	14 November 1910* – Parliament dissolved, 14 September 1910
The Hon John Henry Cann	15 November 1910	31 July 1911 – Resigned
The Hon Henry Willis	24 August 1911	22 July 1913 – Resigned
The Hon Henry Douglas Morton	22 July 1913	22 December 1913* – Parliament dissolved, 6 November 1913
The Hon Richard Denis Meagher	23 December 1913	16 April 1917* – Parliament dissolved, 21 February 1917
The Hon John Jacob Cohen	17 April 1917	30 January 1919 – Resigned
The Hon Sir Daniel Levy, B.A., LL.B.	19 August 1919	12 December 1921 – Resigned
The Hon Simon Hickey	13 December 1921	20 December 1921 – Resigned
The Hon Sir Daniel Levy, B.A., LL.B.	20 December 1921	23 June 1925* – Parliament Expired, 18 April 1925
The Hon James Thomas Dooley	24 June 1925	2 November 1927* – Parliament dissolved, 7 September 1927
The Hon Sir Daniel Levy, Kt., B.A., LL.B.	3 November 1927	24 November 1930* - Parliament dissolved, 18 September 1930
The Hon Francis Michael Burke	25 November 1930	23 June 1932* - Parliament dissolved, 18 May 1932
The Hon Sir Daniel Levy, Kt., B.A., LL.B.	24 June 1932	20 May 1937 – Deceased
William Whaley Hedges		Acting Speaker during absence from State of Sir Daniel Levy, 25 March to 29 October 1936 (See Constitution Act 1902, Sec. 31A)
The Hon Reginald Walter Darcy Weaver	4 August 1937	27 May 1941* - Parliament dissolved, 18 April 1941
The Hon Daniel Clyne	28 May 1941	27 May 1947* - Parliament dissolved, 29 March 1947
The Hon William Henry Lamb	28 May 1947	20 April 1959* - Parliament dissolved, 16 February 1959
George Booth		Acting Speaker during absence from State of the Hon William Henry Lamb, 16 June to 29 June 1955, also from 30 November to 6 December 1956 (See Constitution Act 1902, Sec. 31A)
The Hon Ray Septimus Maher, B.A.	21 April 1959	29 January 1965 – Resigned
Howard Thomas Fowles		Acting Speaker during absence from State of the Hon Ray Septimus Maher, 29 May to 29 August 1962. (See Constitution Act 1902, Sec. 31A)
The Hon Sir Kevin Ellis, LL.B., B.Ec., (later the Hon Sir Kevin Ellis, K.B.E., LL.B., B.Ec.)	26 May 1965	3 December 1973* - Parliament dissolved, 19 October 1973
The Hon Geoffrey Robertson Crawford, D.C.M.		Acting Speaker during absence from State of the Hon Kevin Ellis, 27 July to 3 August 1965, also from 22 January to 25 January 1968. (See Constitution Act 1902, Sec. 31A)
The Hon Leon Ashton Punch		Acting Speaker during absence from State of the Hon Kevin Ellis, 8 April to 10 April 1969, also from 12 May to 5 July 1972. (See Constitution Act 1902, Sec. 31A)
The Hon James Alexander Cameron, LL.M.	4 December 1973	24 May 1976* - Parliament dissolved, 2 April 1976
James Hill Brown		Acting Speaker during absence from State of the Hon James Alexander Cameron, 27 February to 24 April 1975. (See Constitution Act 1902, Sec. 31A)
The Hon Lawrence Borthwick Kelly	25 May 1976	26 April 1988* - Parliament dissolved, 22 February 1988
The Hon Kevin Richard Rozzoli	27 April 1988	1 May 1995* - Parliament dissolved, 3 March 1995
The Hon John Henry Murray	2 May 1995	28 April 2003* - Parliament expired, 28 February 2003
The Hon John Joseph Aquilina, B.A., Dip.Ed., Dip.Mu.(H.C.), F.A.C.E.	29 April 2003	7 May 2007
The Hon George Richard Torbay	8 May 2007	2 May 2011

*In 1885, it was decided that the Speaker should hold office for the period between the dissolution and the reassembling of Parliament.

For further information and facts on the Presiding Officers of the Parliament of New South Wales, please visit the Facts about NSW Presiding Officers page.