The following lists events that happened during 1879 in Australia.

Incumbents

Governors

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

. *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 n� ...

(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