Guide 3 to NSW State Archives relating to Responsible Government - OCR - Flipbook - Page 215
A Guide to New South Wa/es State Archives relating to Responsible Government
Centenary Celebrations in 1956
This is an occasion of historic interest and of proud celebration, in that today is precisely the onehundredth anniversary of the day on which this great institution, the Parliament of New South
Wales, was brought into existence. One hundred years ago this day, on the 22nd of May, 1856,
the First Session of the First Parliament was opened by Commissioners appointed by the then
Governor of New South Wales, His Excellency Sir William Denison, as the representative of Her
Majesty Queen Victoria. Now, one hundred years later, it is our pride and pleasure to celebrate the
occasion. ...
In celebrating this centennial anniversary of the institution of Parliamentary and Responsible SelfGovernment, you will desire to join me in paying tribute to those earnest and determined men, our
forefathers, who struggled for its attainment and whose efforts were crowned with success on this
day a hundred years ago.
In the Colony of those days, among its quarter-of-a-million inhabitants, there were many who felt
that the proper time had arrived for the right of full self-government to be granted. They believed
and declared that the time had come for the phase of Colonialism to be brought to an end; that
the period of maternal government by the Mother Country should be closed; that this already
adolescent nation was then sufficiently developed to be fit to assume full responsibility for the
conduct of its own affairs.
extract from the speech of the Governor on the opening of the Second Session of the Thirty-eighth
Parliament on 22 May 1956, in [12/2053]
The centenary of the opening of the first Parliament under responsible government was
celebrated on 22 May 1956. The main event was the opening of Parliament by the
Governor Sir John Northcott. This comprised a march past Parliament House by the
Police and Armed Services followed by a mid -day speech by the Governor opening the
Parliament, and a buffet luncheon for Parliamentarians and visitors. On the evening the
State Government held a reception at the Sydney Town Hall, attended by around 1,000
Parliamentarians and representatives of other Australian Governments and of the
community.
Other activities marking the occasion took place not only in Sydney but also throughout
the State. In particular, the celebrations involved the participation of school children. In
addition to an Address of the Governor to school students broadcast on the morning of
22 May, responsible government formed the subject of lessons in schools, articles in
school magazines, and the topic of an illustrated and descriptive booklet distributed to all
secondary school students.
Governor
Subject bundles — Opening of Parliament, 1956
This bundle contains the program of the centenary of the opening
of the first Parliament under responsible government. In addition
to correspondence with the Premier, accompanying
correspondence includes a telegram of congratulations from the
Governor General, Sir William Slim ("Please accept my warm
congratulations and good wishes on today's historic anniversary
stop the people of NSW may be justly proud of the achievement of
their State since the inception of Responsible Government").
212
CGS 4542,
[12/2053]
State Records Authority of New South Wales
