The following lists events that happened during 1879 in Australia.
Incumbents
Governors
Governors of the Australian colonies:
*
Governor of New South Wales
The governor of New South Wales is the viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governors of the ...
–
Sir Hercules Robinson (until 19 March), then
Sir Augustus Loftus
*
Governor of Queensland –
Sir Arthur Kennedy
*
Governor of South Australia
The governor of South Australia is the representative in South Australia of the Monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. The governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the governor-gene ...
–
Sir William Jervois
*
Governor of Tasmania –
Frederick Weld
*
Governor of Victoria –
Sir George Bowen (until 22 February), then
George Phipps, 2nd Marquess of Normanby
George Augustus Constantine Phipps, 2nd Marquess of Normanby (23 July 1819 – 3 April 1890), styled Viscount Normanby between 1831 and 1838 and Earl of Mulgrave between 1838 and 1863, was a British Liberal politician and colonial governor of Nov ...
*
Governor of Western Australia –
Major General The Hon. Sir Harry Ord GCMG CB RE
Premiers
Premiers of the Australian colonies:
*
Premier of New South Wales –
Sir Henry Parkes
*
Premier of Queensland –
John Douglas (until 21 January), then
Thomas McIlwraith
*
Premier of South Australia –
William Morgan
*
Premier of Tasmania –
William Crowther (until 30 October), then
William Giblin
William Robert Giblin (4 November 1840 – 17 January 1887) was Premier of Tasmania ( Australia) from 5 March 1878 until 20 December 1878 and from 1879 until 1884.
Early life
Giblin was born at Hobart, Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania), son of ...
*
Premier of Victoria –
Graham Berry
Sir Graham Berry, (28 August 1822 – 25 January 1904),
Australian colonial politician, was the 11th Premier of Victoria. He was one of the most radical and colourful figures in the politics of colonial Victoria, and made the most determined e ...
Events
*8 February – Bushranger
Ned Kelly and his gang raid the town of
Jerilderie, New South Wales
Jerilderie is a small, rural town in the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the Murrumbidgee Local Government Area. At th Jerilderie had a population of 922 people.
It can be found along the Newell Highway ...
, locking up the town's two policemen, stealing their uniforms, cutting the telegraph lines and robbing the bank. Kelly also pens the famous
Jerilderie Letter.
*19 February – The foundation stone is laid and construction begins on the
Royal Exhibition Building in
Carlton, Victoria.
*6 March – The town of
Cleve, South Australia
Cleve is a small agriculturally based town on Central Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. It is 226 km southwest of Port Augusta and 143 km north of Port Lincoln. At the 2006 census, Cleve had a population of 738.
The town has its origin ...
is officially gazetted.
*17 March – The
Municipality of Canterbury is proclaimed.
*14 April – The first use of a
parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...
in Australia occurs when Henri L 'Estrange's balloon ruptures above Melbourne's Agricultural Showgrounds.
*21 April – From 1879 the
eight-hour day was a public holiday in Victoria; it celebrated the stonemasons' strike in
1856
Events
January–March
* January 8 – Borax deposits are discovered in large quantities by John Veatch in California.
* January 23 – American paddle steamer SS ''Pacific'' leaves Liverpool (England) for a transatlantic voyag ...
.
*26 April – Seventy square kilometres of land in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
's
Sutherland Shire is proclaimed The
National Park
A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...
(later the
Royal National Park).
*1 July – ''
The Daily Telegraph''
newspaper is first published in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
.
*17 September – The
Sydney International Exhibition opens at the
Garden Palace.
*13 November – Bushranger
Captain Moonlite
Andrew George Scott (5 July 1842 – 20 January 1880), also known as Captain Moonlite, though also referred to as Alexander Charles Scott and Captain Moonlight, was an Irish-born New Zealand immigrant to the Colony of Victoria, a bushranger ther ...
take thirty hostages at a farm near
Gundagai, New South Wales. A shoot-out with police ensues, resulting in the death of a policeman and two members of Moonlite's gang.
Exploration and settlement
*1 August –
Queensland annexes
Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...
the
Torres Strait Islands.
*3 September – The town of
Cunnamulla, Queensland is founded as a coach stop for
Cobb & Co stagecoaches.
Arts and literature
* Australian bushranger
Ned Kelly dictates the document that later became known as
The Jerilderie Letter
The handwritten document known as the Jerilderie Letter was dictated by Australian bushranger Ned Kelly to fellow Kelly Gang member Joe Byrne in 1879. It is one of only two original Kelly letters known to have survived.
The Jerilderie Letter is ...
.
Sport
* 8 February – A controversial umpiring decision at an international
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
match results in the
Sydney Riot of 1879.
* 4 November – ''Darriwell'' wins the
Melbourne Cup.
Births
*22 February –
Norman Lindsay
Norman Alfred William Lindsay (22 February 1879 – 21 November 1969) was an Australian artist, etcher, sculptor, writer, art critic, novelist, cartoonist and amateur boxer. One of the most prolific and popular Australian artists of his genera ...
(died
1969
This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon.
Events January
* January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco.
* January 5
**Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...
), artist and writer
*10 May –
James Alexander Allan
James Alexander Allan (10 May 1879 – 22 January 1967) was an Australian poet and local historian.
Allan was born in Melbourne. He studied at Alfred Crescent State School, North Fitzroy and the Model School. Between 1912 and 1918 he worked ...
(died
1967
Events
January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 5
** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
), poet
*22 May –
Warwick Armstrong (died
1947
It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Events
January
* January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...
), cricketer
*19 June –
James Muir Auld
James Muir Auld (19 June 1879 – 8 June 1942) was an Australian artist. His works are signed J. Muir Auld.
Auld was born in Ashfield, New South Wales, third son of Presbyterian minister, Reverend John Auld (–1912) and his wife, Georgina nà ...
(died
1942
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in wh ...
), artist
*26 June –
Charles Leslie Barrett
Charles Leslie Barrett (26 June 1879 – 16 January 1959) was an Australian naturalist, journalist, author and ornithologist.
Born in Hawthorn, Victoria, he was a foundation member of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU) in 1901 a ...
(died
1959
Events January
* January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.
* January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
), naturalist, journalist, author and ornithologist
*24 July –
Robert Clyde Packer
Robert Clyde Packer (24 July 187912 April 1934), known as R. C. Packer, was a journalist, media proprietor and founder of Australia's Australian Consolidated Press, Packer media dynasty, which would later own Publishing and Broadcasting Limited ...
(died
1934
Events
January–February
* January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established.
* January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...
), founder of the Packer media dynasty
*15 September –
Joseph Lyons
Joseph Aloysius Lyons (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was an Australian politician who served as the List of prime ministers of Australia by time in office, 10th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1932 until his death in 1939. He ...
(died
1939
This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history.
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1
** Third Reich
*** Jews are forbidden to ...
), Premier of Tasmania and 10th Prime Minister of Australia
*14 October –
Miles Franklin (died
1954
Events
January
* January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany.
* January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting.
* January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...
), writer
*18 November –
CE.W. Bean (died 1968), war journalist
*26 November –
Denis Lutge
Denis "Dinny" Lutge (26 November 1879 – 18 February 1953) was a pioneer Australian rugby league and rugby union player, a dual-code international. He was the second ever captain of the Australian national rugby league team and the first to le ...
(died
1953
Events
January
* January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma.
* January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo.
* January 14
** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...
), rugby footballer
*27 November –
Chris McKivat (died
1941
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...
), rugby footballer and coach
Deaths
* 15 May –
George Fife Angas, Businessman and politician (b.
1789
Events
January–March
* January – Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès publishes the pamphlet ''What Is the Third Estate?'' ('), influential on the French Revolution.
* January 7 – The 1788-89 United States presidential election a ...
)
* 21 November –
Sir Archibald Burt, first
Chief Justice of Western Australia
The Chief Justice of Western Australia is the most senior judge of the Supreme Court of Western Australia and the highest ranking judicial officer in the Australian state of Western Australia. The chief justice is both the judicial head of the Su ...
(b.
1810
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Major-General Lachlan Macquarie officially becomes Governor of New South Wales.
* January 4 – Australian seal hunter Frederick Hasselborough discovers Campbell Island, in the Subantarctic.
* Janua ...
)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1879 in Australia
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
Years of the 19th century in Australia