Robert Herbert
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The Honourable Sir Robert Herbert GCB |
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| 1st Premier of Queensland | |
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In office 10 December 1859 – 1 February 1866 |
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| Succeeded by | Arthur Macalister |
| Constituency | Leichhardt, West Moreton |
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In office 20 July 1866 – 7 August 1866 |
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| Preceded by | Arthur Macalister |
| Succeeded by | Arthur Macalister |
| Constituency | West Moreton |
| Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Leichhardt |
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In office 4 May 1860 – 12 June 1863 Serving with Charles Royds |
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| Preceded by | New seat |
| Succeeded by | Gordon Sandeman |
| Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for West Moreton |
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In office 13 June 1863 – 7 August 1866 Serving with Benjamin Cribb, Joshua Peter Bell |
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| Preceded by | Henry Challinor |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Fleming |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
12 June 1831 Brighton, Sussex, England |
| Died | 6 May 1905 (aged 73) Ickleton, Cambridgeshire England |
| Nationality | English |
Sir Robert George Wyndham Herbert, GCB (12 June 1831 – 6 May 1905), was the first Premier of Queensland, Australia.
Born in Brighton, England on 12 June 1831, Herbert was the only son of the Hon. Algernon Herbert, a younger son of the first Earl of Carnarvon. He was educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford. He won a Balliol scholarship in 1849 and subsequently the Hertford and Ireland scholarships. He took a first class in classical moderations, won the Latin verse prize in 1852, and obtained second-class final honours in the classical school. He was elected Fellow of All Souls in 1854 and was Eldon law scholar. In 1855 he was private secretary to William Ewart Gladstone and was called to the bar of the Inner Temple in 1858.
When Queensland was formed into a separate colony Sir George Bowen was appointed the first governor. He arrived at Brisbane on 10 December 1859 and brought Herbert with him as his private secretary. On the day of the governor's arrival, Herbert was gazetted as colonial secretary with Ratcliffe Pring as attorney-general. These with the governor formed an executive council to which additions were made afterwards. At the election held early in 1860 Herbert was returned unopposed for one of the Leichhardt seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland and became the first Premier of Queensland. He showed himself to be a good leader and held office from December 1859 to February 1866.
During his time as Premier four land acts were passed, and the education question was also the subject of early measures. The governor, in writing to the secretary of state, stated that the Queensland parliament "had passed a greater number of really useful measures than any other parliament in any of the Australian colonies". Certainly the first Queensland government was in marked contrast to those of the other colonies, each of which averaged half a dozen ministries in the same period. Herbert, however, fell into some disfavour when financial difficulties arose. He resigned in February 1866 and was succeeded by Arthur Macalister who was premier until 20 July 1866. Herbert was anxious to return to England on account of private business, but at the request of the governor formed a ministry which lasted less than three weeks and was merged in the second Macalister ministry. Herbert then left for England, having gained much experience which was to be very useful to him in later years.
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