Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II is Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms. Elizabeth was born in London as the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, she was educated at home, her father acceded to the throne on the abdication of his brother King Edward VIII in 1936, from which time she was the heir presumptive. She began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. In 1947, she married Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, a former prince of Greece and Denmark, with whom she has four children: Charles, Prince of Wales; when her father died in February 1952, she became head of the Commonwealth and queen regnant of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Ceylon. She has reigned as a constitutional monarch through major political changes, such as devolution in the United Kingdom, Canadian patriation, the decolonisation of Africa. Between 1956 and 1992, the number of her realms varied as territories gained independence and realms, including South Africa and Ceylon, became republics.
Her many historic visits and meetings include a state visit to the Republic of Ireland and visits to or from five popes. Significant events have included her coronation in 1953 and the celebrations of her Silver and Diamond Jubilees in 1977, 2002, 2012 respectively. In 2017, she became the first British monarch to reach a Sapphire Jubilee, she is the longest-lived and longest-reigning British monarch as well as the world's longest-reigning queen regnant and female head of state, the oldest and longest-reigning current monarch and the longest-serving current head of state. Elizabeth has faced republican sentiments and press criticism of the royal family, in particular after the breakdown of her children's marriages, her annus horribilis in 1992 and the death in 1997 of her former daughter-in-law Diana, Princess of Wales. However, support for the monarchy has been and remains high, as does her personal popularity. Elizabeth was born at 02:40 on 21 April 1926, during the reign of her paternal grandfather, King George V.
Her father, the Duke of York, was the second son of the King. Her mother, the Duchess of York, was the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, she was delivered by Caesarean section at her maternal grandfather's London house: 17 Bruton Street, Mayfair. She was baptised by the Anglican Archbishop of York, Cosmo Gordon Lang, in the private chapel of Buckingham Palace on 29 May, named Elizabeth after her mother, Alexandra after George V's mother, who had died six months earlier, Mary after her paternal grandmother. Called "Lilibet" by her close family, based on what she called herself at first, she was cherished by her grandfather George V, during his serious illness in 1929 her regular visits were credited in the popular press and by biographers with raising his spirits and aiding his recovery. Elizabeth's only sibling, Princess Margaret, was born in 1930; the two princesses were educated at home under the supervision of their mother and their governess, Marion Crawford.
Lessons concentrated on history, language and music. Crawford published a biography of Elizabeth and Margaret's childhood years entitled The Little Princesses in 1950, much to the dismay of the royal family; the book describes Elizabeth's love of horses and dogs, her orderliness, her attitude of responsibility. Others echoed such observations: Winston Churchill described Elizabeth when she was two as "a character, she has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant." Her cousin Margaret Rhodes described her as "a jolly little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved". During her grandfather's reign, Elizabeth was third in the line of succession to the throne, behind her uncle Edward and her father. Although her birth generated public interest, she was not expected to become queen, as Edward was still young. Many people believed he would have children of his own; when her grandfather died in 1936 and her uncle succeeded as Edward VIII, she became second-in-line to the throne, after her father.
That year, Edward abdicated, after his proposed marriage to divorced socialite Wallis Simpson provoked a constitutional crisis. Elizabeth's father became king, she became heir presumptive. If her parents had had a son, she would have lost her position as first-in-line, as her brother would have been heir apparent and above her in the line of succession. Elizabeth received private tuition in constitutional history from Henry Marten, Vice-Provost of Eton College, learned French from a succession of native-speaking governesses. A Girl Guides company, the 1st Buckingham Palace Company, was formed so she could socialise with girls her own age, she was enrolled as a Sea Ranger. In 1939, Elizabeth's parents toured the United States; as in 1927, when her parents had toured Australia and New Zealand, Elizabeth remained in Britain, since her father thought her too young to undertake public tours. Elizabeth "looked tearful", they corresponded and she and her parents made the first royal transatlantic telephone call on 18 May.
In September 1939, Britain entered the Second World War. Lord Hailsham suggested that the two princesses should be evacuated to Canada to avoid the frequent aerial bombing; this was rejected by Elizabeth's mother. I won't leave wit
Responsible government
Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments in Westminster democracies are responsible to parliament rather than to the monarch, or, in a colonial context, to the imperial government, in a republican context, to the president, either in full or in part. If the parliament is bicameral the government is responsible first to the parliament's lower house, more representative than the upper house, as it has more members and they are always directly elected. Responsible government of parliamentary accountability manifests itself in several ways. Ministers account for the performance of their departments; this requirement to make announcements and to answer questions in Parliament means that ministers must have the privileges of the "floor", which are only granted to those who are members of either house of Parliament. Secondly, most although ministers are appointed by the authority of the head of state and can theoretically be dismissed at the pleasure of the sovereign, they concurrently retain their office subject to their holding the confidence of the lower house of Parliament.
When the lower house has passed a motion of no confidence in the government, the government must resign or submit itself to the electorate in a new general election. Lastly, the head of state is in turn required to effectuate their executive power only through these responsible ministers, they must never attempt to set up a "shadow" government of executives or advisors and attempt to use them as instruments of government, or to rely upon their "unofficial" advice. They are bound to take no decision or action, put into effect under the colour of their executive power without that action being as a result of the counsel and advisement of their responsible ministers, their ministers are required to counsel them and to form and have recommendations for them to choose from, which are the ministers' formal, recommendations as to what course of action should be taken. An exception to this is Israel. In the Canadian system, responsible government was developed between 1846 and 1850, with the executive Council formulating policy with the assistance of the legislative branch, the legislature voting approval or disapproval, the appointed governor enacting those policies that it had approved.
It was a transition from the older system whereby the governor took advice from an executive Council, used the legislature chiefly to raise money. After the formation of elected legislative assemblies starting with Nova Scotia in 1758, governors and their executive councils did not require the consent of elected legislators in order to carry out all their roles, it was only in the decades leading up to Canadian Confederation in 1867 that the governing councils of those British North American colonies became responsible to the elected representatives of the people. Responsible government was a major element of the gradual development of Canada towards independence; the concept of responsible government is associated in Canada more with self-government than with parliamentary accountability. It did not regain responsible government until it became a province of Canada in 1948. In the aftermath of the American Revolution, based on the perceived shortcomings of virtual representation, the British government became more sensitive to unrest in its remaining colonies with large populations of European-descended colonists.
Elected assemblies were introduced to both Upper Canada and Lower Canada with the Constitutional Act of 1791. Many reformers thought that these assemblies should have some control over the executive power, leading to political unrest between the governors and assemblies in both Upper and Lower Canada; the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada Sir Francis Bond Head wrote in one dispatch to London that if responsible government were implemented "Democracy, in the worst possible Form, will prevail in our Colonies." After the 1837 Lower Canada Rebellion led by Louis-Joseph Papineau, the 1837–1838 Upper Canada Rebellion led by William Lyon Mackenzie, Lord Durham was appointed governor general of British North America and had the task of examining the issues and determining how to defuse tensions. In his report, one of his recommendations was that colonies which were developed enough should be granted "responsible government"; this term meant the policy that British-appointed governors should bow to the will of elected colonial assemblies.
The first instance of responsible government in the British Empire outside of the United Kingdom itself was achieved by the colony of Nova Scotia in January–February 1848 through the efforts of Joseph Howe. The plaque in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly erected by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada reads: First Responsible Government in the British Empire; the first Executive Council chosen from the party having a majority in the representative branch of a colonial legislature was formed in Nova Scotia on 2 February 1848. Following a vote of want of confidence in the preceding Council, James Boyle Uniacke, who had moved the resolution, became Attorney General and leader of the Government. Joseph Howe, the long-time campaigner for this "Peaceable Revolution"
HMS Supply (1759)
Launched in 1759, the third HMS Supply was a Royal Navy armed tender that played an important part in the foundation of Australia. The Navy sold her in 1792, she served commercially until c. 1806. Supply was designed in 1759 by shipwright Thomas Slade, as a yard craft for the ferrying of naval supplies. Construction was contracted to Henry Bird of Rotherhithe, for a vessel measuring 168 20⁄94 tons to be built in four months at £8.80 per ton. In practice, construction took five months from the laying of the keel on 1 May 1759 to launch on 5 October; as built the vessel was larger than designed, measuring 174 76⁄94 tons and with a length overall of 79 ft 4 in, a beam of 22 ft 6 in and a hold depth of 11 ft 6 in. She had two masts, was fitted with four small 3-pounder cannons and six 1⁄2-pounder swivel guns, her armament was increased in 1786 with the addition of four 12-pounder carronades. Her initial complement was 14 men, rising to 55 when converted to an armed tender for the First Fleet voyage in 1788.
Supply was used to transport naval supplies between the Thames and Channel ports from 1759 to 1786. Throughout this period she was based at Deptford Dockyard, undergoing minor repairs as required to maintain seaworthiness, she left Spithead on 13 May 1787, arrived at Botany Bay on 18 January 1788 with the First Fleet under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip. She was captained by Henry Lidgbird Ball, the master was David Blackburn, the surgeon was James Callam. Supply was the first ship to sail into Port Jackson after the original Botany Bay landing was found unsuitable for settlement. After the establishment of the initial settlement at Port Jackson, Supply was the link between the colony and Norfolk Island, making 10 trips. Following the loss of Sirius in 1790 she became the colony's only link with the outside world. On 17 April 1790 she was sent to Batavia for supplies, returning on 19 September, her captain having chartered a Dutch vessel, Waaksamheid, to follow with more stores. Supply left Port Jackson on 26 November 1791 and sailed via Cape Horn reaching Plymouth on 21 April 1792.
A number of David Blackburn's letters to family and friends have survived. These letters describe the events of the voyage and the early days of settlement, including Blackburn's participation in the expedition to Norfolk Island to establish a settlement there in February 1788; the Admiralty sold her at auction in July 1792 and her new owners renamed her Thomas and Nancy. She carried coal in the Thames area until 1806; the Admiralty in October 1793 purchased the American mercantile ship New Brunswick, named her HMS Supply, sent her out to Botany Bay to replace her predecessor. An Urban Transit Authority First Fleet ferry was named after Supply in 1984. Journals of the First Fleet Winfield, Rif. British Warships of the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 9781844157006. Winfield, Rif. British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1-86176-246-1. Marquardt, Karl Heinz; the Global Schooner: Origins, Design & Construction 1695-1845.
Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1591143284. Retrieved 23 January 2013. David Morgan. "HMS Supply". Dictionary of Sydney. Retrieved 2 October 2015
Sydney Cove
Template:Sydney Cove Sydney Cove is a small bay on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour Australia, Sydney New south wales. The Aboriginal name for Sydney Cove, as recorded in a number of First Fleet journals and vocabularies, was Warrane War-ran and Wee-rong; this place is significant to both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people as a site of first contact between the Eora and the Berewalgal. Warrane was integral to the everyday lives of the Eora people; the men speared fish from the shoreline. Sydney Cove was named after the 1st Baron Sydney, it was the site chosen by Captain Arthur Phillip, RN between 21 and 23 January 1788 for the British penal settlement, now the city of Sydney, where possession of New South Wales was formally declared on 26 January. Today, the exact site is unmarked, beneath buildings of Circular Quay. Phillip's instructions were to establish the settlement at Botany Bay, a large bay further south of Sydney Cove, discovered by Lieutenant James Cook during his voyage of discovery in 1770, was recommended by the eminent botanist Sir Joseph Banks, who had accompanied Cook, as a suitable site for a settlement.
But Phillip discovered that Botany Bay offered neither a secure anchorage nor a reliable source of fresh water. Sydney Cove offered both of these, being serviced by a freshwater creek, soon to be known as the Tank Stream, it must have been like entering paradise on that summer afternoon when the sea-won convoy passed through the dun and barren headlands into the untouched harbour – the water brilliantly blue, the shores high and wooded without being precipitous, a scattering of islands, sandy beaches, the trees shimmering under the sun. The site of the settlement was Sydney Cove, it was one of the smaller inlets, chosen because it had fresh water and good anchorage for ships close into the land. The Governor's working party had cleared a camping ground beside the creek, which stole silently along through a thick wood, the stillness of which had for the first time since the Creation, been interrupted by the rude sound of the labourer's axe. Today the Tank Stream is encased in a concrete drain beneath the streets of the central business district and all native bushland has been cleared.
The head of the cove is occupied by the Circular Quay ferry terminal. On Bennelong Point at the northern end of the eastern shore of the cove stands the Sydney Opera House. On the western shore is the historic district known as The Rocks. A sample of the dark grey clay of Sydney Cove was collected by Governor Phillip and given to Sir Joseph Banks, who gave it to pottery maker Josiah Wedgwood to test for suitability for making pottery. Wedgwood found it excellent and made a commemorative medal that became known as the Sydney Cove Medallion. Sydney Cove is a focal point for community celebrations, due to its central Sydney location between the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge, it is one of the main congregation points for Sydney New Year's Eve. Sydney punchbowls D. Manning Richards. Destiny in Sydney: An epic novel of convicts and Chinese embroiled in the birth of Sydney, Australia. First book in Sydney series. Washington DC: Aries Books, 2012. ISBN 978-0-9845410-0-3 Geographic coordinates: 33°51′31″S 151°12′42″E
Chief secretary (British Empire)
Chief secretary was the title of a senior civil servant in various colonies of 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 Governor termed the colonial secretary and an office held by the premier or a similar politically elected minister, with a portfolio which were equivalent to what was termed the Home Secretary's office; the secretary to the governor as well as secretary of the colony this office was at first known as the colonial secretary or principal secretary outside British North America, where the equivalent title was provincial secretary. In 1821, Governor of New South Wales Philip Gidley King wrote that the colonial secretary: "Has the custody of all official papers and records belonging to the colony; the colonial secretary in the Colony of New South Wales and most of the other Australian colonies during the nineteenth century was a political position and not the position of a civil servant.
The colonial secretary was thus a government minister and politician, the position was fundamentally equivalent to the term home secretary, it was held by the colonial prime minister referred to as premier. The function of colonial secretary and secretary to the governor were thus separated in 1824, several Australian colonies renamed their'colonial secretary' as'home secretary' during the 1890s and just before separation. After the grant of responsible government, this office like its British equivalent, the First Lord of the Treasury was the formal position held by the colonial premier because the office of premier was not mentioned in any legislation; the Cape Colony was unusual in giving the colonial secretary at the Cape responsibility for defence. Several of the Australian states and territories retained the title for many decades, the chief secretary's departments evolving into the modern Premier's Departments in those states, although the chief secretary position itself became separate from that of the Premier, evolved differently in different jurisdictions: in some places it became the equivalent of the British Home Secretary or a Minister of the Interior elsewhere.
New Zealand abolished the office in 1907. Territories with chief secretaries included Nigeria and Tanganyika. Smaller territories, like British Guiana, used the term colonial secretary instead. Provincial Secretary Secretary of State for the Colonies Chief Secretary’s Building in Sydney Secretary of State for Canada
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state on the east coast of Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, South Australia to the west, its coast borders the Tasman Sea to the east. The Australian Capital Territory is an enclave within the state. New South Wales' state capital is Sydney, Australia's most populous city. In September 2018, the population of New South Wales was over 8 million, making it Australia's most populous state. Just under two-thirds of the state's population, 5.1 million, live in the Greater Sydney area. Inhabitants of New South Wales are referred to as New South Welshmen; the Colony of New South Wales was founded as a penal colony in 1788. It comprised more than half of the Australian mainland with its western boundary set at 129th meridian east in 1825; the colony included the island territories of New Zealand, Van Diemen's Land, Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island. During the 19th century, most of the colony's area was detached to form separate British colonies that became New Zealand and the various states and territories of Australia.
However, the Swan River Colony has never been administered as part of New South Wales. Lord Howe Island remains part of New South Wales, while Norfolk Island has become a federal territory, as have the areas now known as the Australian Capital Territory and the Jervis Bay Territory; the prior inhabitants of New South Wales were the Aboriginal tribes who arrived in Australia about 40,000 to 60,000 years ago. Before European settlement there were an estimated 250,000 Aboriginal people in the region; the Wodi Wodi people are the original custodians of the Illawarra region of South Sydney. Speaking a variant of the Dharawal language, the Wodi Wodi people lived across a large stretch of land, surrounded by what is now known as Campbelltown, Shoalhaven River and Moss Vale; the Bundjalung people are the original custodians of parts of the northern coastal areas. The European discovery of New South Wales was made by Captain James Cook during his 1770 survey along the unmapped eastern coast of the Dutch-named continent of New Holland, now Australia.
In his original journal covering the survey, in triplicate to satisfy Admiralty Orders, Cook first named the land "New Wales", named after Wales. However, in the copy held by the Admiralty, he "revised the wording" to "New South Wales"; the first British settlement was made by. After years of chaos and anarchy after the overthrow of Governor William Bligh, a new governor, Lieutenant-Colonel Lachlan Macquarie, was sent from Britain to reform the settlement in 1809. During his time as governor, Macquarie commissioned the construction of roads, wharves and public buildings, sent explorers out from Sydney and employed a planner to design the street layout of Sydney. Macquarie's legacy is still evident today. During the 19th century, large areas were successively separated to form the British colonies of Tasmania, South Australia and Queensland. Responsible government was granted to the New South Wales colony in 1855. Following the Treaty of Waitangi, William Hobson declared British sovereignty over New Zealand in 1840.
In 1841 it was separated from the Colony of New South Wales to form the new Colony of New Zealand. Charles Darwin visited Australia in January 1836 and in The Voyage of the Beagle records his hesitations about and fascination with New South Wales, including his speculations about the geological origin and formation of the great valleys, the aboriginal population, the situation of the convicts, the future prospects of the country. At the end of the 19th century, the movement toward federation between the Australian colonies gathered momentum. Conventions and forums involving colony leaders were held on a regular basis. Proponents of New South Wales as a free trade state were in dispute with the other leading colony Victoria, which had a protectionist economy. At this time customs posts were common on borders on the Murray River. Travelling from New South Wales to Victoria in those days was difficult. Supporters of federation included the New South Wales premier Sir Henry Parkes whose 1889 Tenterfield Speech was pivotal in gathering support for New South Wales involvement.
Edmund Barton to become Australia's first Prime Minister, was another strong advocate for federation and a meeting held in Corowa in 1893 drafted an initial constitution. In 1898 popular referenda on the proposed federation were held in New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania. All votes resulted in a majority in favour, but the New South Wales government under Premier George Reid had set a requirement for a higher "yes" vote than just a simple majority, not met. In 1899 further referenda were held in the same states as well as Queensland. All resulted in yes votes with majorities increased from the previous year. New South Wales met the conditions; as a compromise to the question on where the capital was to be located, an agreement was made that the site was to be within New South Wales but not closer than 100 miles from Sydney, while the provisional capital would be Melbourne. The area that now forms the Australian Capital Territory was ceded by New South Wales when Canberra was selected.
In the years after World War I, the high prices enjoyed durin
Parliament of New South Wales
The Parliament of New South Wales, located in Parliament House on Macquarie Street, Sydney, is the main legislative body in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is a bicameral parliament elected by the people of the state in general elections; the parliament shares law making powers with the Australian Federal Parliament. It is Australia's oldest legislature; the New South Wales Parliament follows the Westminster parliamentary traditions of dress, Green–Red chamber colours and protocol. The Parliament derives its authority from the Queen of Australia, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, represented by the Governor of New South Wales, who chairs the Executive Council of New South Wales, it consists of a lower house, the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, an upper house, the New South Wales Legislative Council. Each house is directly elected by the people of New South Wales at elections held every four years; the Parliament of New South Wales is Australia's oldest legislature. It had its beginnings.
A small, appointed Legislative Council began meeting in 1824 to advise the Governor on legislative matters. By 1843, this had been enlarged with two-thirds of its members elected by adult males who met certain property requirements. In 1856, under a new Constitution, the Parliament became bicameral with a elected Legislative Assembly and an appointed Legislative Council with a Government taking over most of the legislative powers of the Governor; the right to vote was extended to all adult males in 1858. In 1850 the Australian Colonies Government Act was passed by the Imperial Parliament; this expanded the New South Wales Legislative Council so that by 1851 there were 54 members – again, with two-thirds elected. In 1853, a select committee chaired by William Wentworth began drawing up a Constitution for responsible self-government; the Committee’s proposed Constitution was placed before the Legislative Council in August that year and, for the most part, accepted. The Constitution, with an upper house whose members were appointed for life, was sent to the Imperial Parliament and was passed into law on 16 July 1855.
The new Parliament of New South Wales was to be a bicameral legislature, similar to that of the United Kingdom. On 22 May 1856, the newly constituted New South Wales Parliament sat for the first time. With the new 54-member Legislative Assembly taking over the council chamber, a second meeting chamber for the 21 member upper house had to be added to the Parliament building in Macquarie Street. In 1859 Queensland was made a colony separate from New South Wales; the Legislative Assembly was reduced from 80 to 72 members by the loss of the Queensland seats. In 1901, New South Wales became a state of the Commonwealth of Australia and many government functions were transferred to the new Commonwealth government; the current Constitution of New South Wales was adopted in 1902: the Constitution Act 1902. Women gained the right to vote in Commonwealth elections in April 1902 and in New South Wales state elections in August 1902. In 1918, reforms permitted women to be Members of Parliament, although no woman was elected until 1925 when Millicent Preston-Stanley was elected to represent Eastern Suburbs.
That same year, a proportional representation system was introduced for the Legislative Assembly with multiple representatives from each electorate. Women were not able to be appointed to the Legislative Council until 1926; the first two women appointed to the Legislative Council were both ALP members proposed on 23 November 1931: Catherine Green, who took her seat the following day, Ellen Webster, who joined her two days later. In 1925, 1926 and 1929, Premier Jack Lang made attempts at abolishing the Legislative Council, following the example of the Queensland Legislative Council in 1922, but all were unsuccessful; the debate did, result in another round of reforms, in 1933, the law was changed so that a quarter of the Legislative Council was elected every three years by members of the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council, rather than being appointed by the Governor. In 1962 Indigenous Australians gained the right to vote in all state elections. In 1978, the Council became a directly elected body in a program of electoral reform introduced by the Wran Labor government.
The number of members was reduced to 45, although transitional arrangements meant that there were 43 members from 1978 to 1981, 44 from 1981 to 1984. Further reform in 1991 by the Greiner Liberal-National government saw the size of the Legislative Council cut to 42 members, with half being elected every 4 years. In 1991, the Legislative Assembly was reduced from 109 to 99 Members and to 93 members in 1999; the Parliament building was built on the orders of Governor Lachlan Macquarie to be Sydney's second major hospital because, when he arrived in Sydney, he recognised the need for a new hospital. In 1810, he awarded the contract to Alexander Riley and Dr. D'Arcy Wentworth; the contract gave the builders the right to import 45,000 gallons of rum, for which they paid a duty of 3 shillings a gallon. They were able to sell it for a huge profit and in turn the government refunded them the duty as a payment for their work, thereby gaining for their construction the title of the'Rum Hospital'. Consisting of three buildings, the central main building was demolished in 1879 to make way for the new Sydney Hospital, completed in 1885.
The first building, now known as the Sydney Mint, was given to the Royal Mint in 1851 to become the
