1937 In Australia

The following lists events that happened during 1937 in Australia.

Incumbents

*Monarch – George VI
*Governor-General – Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie
*Prime Minister – Joseph Lyons
* Chief Justice – Sir John Latham

State Premiers

*Premier of New South Wales – Bertram Stevens
*Premier of Queensland – William Forgan Smith
*Premier of South Australia – Richard L. Butler
*Premier of Tasmania – Albert Ogilvie
*Premier of Victoria – Albert Dunstan
*Premier of Western Australia – John Willcock

State Governors

*Governor of New South Wales – John Loder, 2nd Baron Wakehurst (from 8 April)
*Governor of Queensland – Sir Leslie Orme Wilson
*Governor of South Australia – Sir Winston Dugan
*Governor of Tasmania – Sir Ernest Clark
*Governor of Victoria – William Vanneck, 5th Baron Huntingfield
*Governor of Western Australia – ''none appointed''

Events

*9 February – Cairns is hit by a tropical cyclone.
*15 February – An explosion kills 13 men at the State Coal Mine in Wonthaggi, Victoria.
*20 February – A general election is held in Tasmania. The incumbent Labor government led by Albert Ogilvie is returned to power.
*1 March – Bernard O'Reilly locates the wreckage of an Airlines of Australia Stinson airliner, VH-UHH ''City of Brisbane'', in the McPherson Range in southern Queensland. Two survivors are rescued, five others did not survive.
* 20 April – Regular airmail services begin between Australia and the USA.
* 23 October – The ACTU calls on the government to boycott trade with Japan, following the Japanese invasion of China.

Arts and literature

* 24 June – The Commonwealth Literature Censorship Board replaces the Book Censorship Advisory Committee, and temporarily lifts the ban on ''Ulysses'' by James Joyce.
* '' Sunbaker'' by photographer Max Dupain

Sport

*3 March – Captained by Don Bradman, Australia defeats England in the Fifth Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, retaining The Ashes.
*25 September – Geelong become premiers of the 1937 VFL season, defeating Collingwood 18.14 (122) to 12.18 (90).
*19 November – Hubert Opperman completes an epic bicycle ride from Fremantle, Western Australia to Sydney, taking 13 days, 10 hours and 11 minutes.
*Eastern Suburbs win the premiership in a shortened 1937 NSWRFL season. University finish in last place for the fourth year in a row, and voluntarily withdraw from the premiership at the end of the season.

Births

*16 January – Lorraine Bayly, actor
*19 January – John Lions, computer scientist and academic (died 1998)
*21 January
**Peter Gallagher, rugby league footballer (died 2003)
**Michael Beahan, Labor Senator for Western Australia (died 2022)
*25 January – John Watson, Liberal Senator for Tasmania
*4 February – John Devitt, Olympic swimmer
*19 February
**Lee Harding, science fiction writer
** Colin Ridgway, NFL American footballer (died 1993)
*20 February – Robert Evans, minister and amateur astronomer
*21 February – Ron Clarke, Olympic athlete (died 2015)
*3 March – Kevin O'Halloran, Olympic swimmer (died 1976)
*7 April – Louise Faulkner, missing woman
*13 April – Col Joye, entertainer
*19 April – Lindsay Fox, businessman
*27 May – Peter Pinne, writer and composer
*1 June – Colleen McCullough, novelist (died 2015)
*11 June – Robin Warren, Nobel Prize-winning pathologist
*7 July Jocelyn Newman, politician (died 2018)
*26 July
**Alan Cadman, politician
** Guy Green, Governor of Tasmania (1995–2003)
*28 August – Tony Marchant, Olympic track cyclist
*1 September – Ian Callinan, High Court judge
*4 September – Dawn Fraser, Olympic swimmer
*17 September – Gary Chapman, Olympic swimmer (died 1978)
*18 September – Barry Muir, rugby league footballer
*3 October – John Hodges, Minister for Immigration (1982–1983)
*7 October – Colin Guest, cricketer (died 2018)
*10 October – Bruce Devlin, golfer
*21 November – John Kerin, politician (died 2023)
*12 December
**Michael Jeffery, Governor-General of Australia (died 2020)
**Judy Tegart, tennis player
*17 December – Kerry Packer, businessman (died 2005)

Deaths

* 11 February – Walter Burley Griffin, architect of Canberra (born in the United States and died in India) (b. 1876)
* 18 March – Walter Wilson Froggatt, geologist and economic entomologist (b. 1858)
* 7 May – Christina Jane Corrie, Queensland politician and suffragette (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1867)
* 9 June – Charles Chewings, geologist and anthropologist (b. 1859)
* 10 July – Thomas Brentnall, accountant and musician (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1846)
* 22 July – Ted McDonald, cricketer and Australian rules footballer (Essendon, Fitzroy) (died in the United Kingdom) (b. 1891)
* 28 July – Sir George Hyde, 7th Naval Member and Chief of the Australian Naval Staff (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1877)
* 14 August – Bruce Smith, New South Wales politician (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1851)
* 28 August – George Prendergast, 28th Premier of Victoria (b. 1854)
* 28 September – William Ramsay Smith, physician and anthropologist (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1859)
* 2 October – Sir Granville Ryrie, New South Wales politician, diplomat and soldier (b. 1865)
* 8 October – Dame Eadith Walker, philanthropist and heiress (b. 1861)
* 4 November – Alfred Walter Campbell, neurologist (b. 1868)
* 6 November – William Moore, art and drama critic (b. 1868)
* 17 November – Jack Worrall, cricketer and Australian rules footballer (Fitzroy) (b. 1861)
* 19 November – Rayner Hoff, sculptor (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1894)
* 27 November – Walter Howchin, geologist (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1845)
* 11 December – Godfrey Irving, 8th Chief of the General Staff (b. 1867)
* 16 December – Sir Murray Bourchier, 5th Deputy Premier of Victoria and soldier (died in the United Kingdom) (b. 1881)

See also

* List of Australian films of the 1930s

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1937 in Australia

Australia
Years of the 20th century in Australia