The following lists events that happened during 1885 in Australia.

Incumbents

Governors

Governors of the Australian colonies: * Governor of New South Wales –

Lord Augustus Loftus Lord Augustus William Frederick Spencer Loftus, (4 October 1817 – 7 March 1904) was a British diplomat and colonial administrator. He was Ambassador to Prussia from 1865 to 1868, to the North German Confederation from 1868 to 1871 and to the ...

(until 9 November), then Lord Carrington (from 12 December) *

Governor of Queensland The governor of Queensland is the representative in the state of Queensland of the monarch of Australia. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governor performs constitutional and ceremonial func ...

– Sir Anthony Musgrave * Governor of South Australia – Sir William Cleaver Francis Robinson, GCMG *

Governor of Tasmania The governor of Tasmania is the representative in the Australian state of Tasmania of the Monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. The incumbent governor is Barbara Baker, who was appointed in June 2021. The official residence of the ...

– Major Sir George Strahan *

Governor of Victoria The governor of Victoria is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria. The governor is one of seven viceregal representatives in the country, analogous to the governors of the other states, and th ...

– Sir Henry Loch

Premiers

Premiers of the Australian colonies: *

Premier of New South Wales The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislatu ...

– Alexander Stuart (until 6 October), then

George Dibbs Sir George Richard Dibbs KCMG (12 October 1834 – 5 August 1904) was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales on three occasions. Early years Dibbs was born in Sydney, son of Captain John Dibbs, who 'disappeared' in the ...

(until 9 October), then John Robertson (from 22 December) *

Premier of Queensland The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is ap ...

–

Samuel Griffith Sir Samuel Walker Griffith, (21 June 1845 – 9 August 1920) was an Australian judge and politician who served as the inaugural Chief Justice of Australia, in office from 1903 to 1919. He also served a term as Chief Justice of Queensland and t ...

Premier of South Australia The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier is ...

– John Colton (until 16 June), then

John Downer Sir John William Downer, KCMG, KC (6 July 1843 – 2 August 1915) was an Australian politician who served two terms as Premier of South Australia, from 1885 to 1887 and again from 1892 to 1893. He later entered federal politics and served as ...

Premier of Tasmania The premier of Tasmania is the head of the executive government in the Australian state of Tasmania. By convention, the leader of the party or political grouping which has majority support in the House of Assembly is invited by the governor of ...

–

Adye Douglas Sir Adye Douglas (31 May 1815 – 10 April 1906) was an Australian lawyer and politician, and first class cricket player, who played one match for Tasmania. He was Premier of Tasmania from 15 August 1884 to 8 March 1886. Early life The so ...

Premier of Victoria The premier of Victoria is the head of government in the Australian state of Victoria. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria, and is the leader of the political party able to secure a majority in the Victorian Legislative Assemb ...

–

James Service James Service (27 November 1823 – 12 April 1899), Australian colonial politician, was the 12th Premier of Victoria, Australia. Biography Service was born in Kilwinning, Ayrshire, Scotland, the son of Robert Service. As a young man James wor ...

Events

* 3 March – The

New South Wales Contingent The New South Wales Contingent served in Sudan with British forces as part of the Suakin Expedition in 1885. Consisting of an infantry battalion, an artillery battery, and a small field ambulance detachment, it departed from Sydney on 3 March ...

, consisting of an infantry battalion and an artillery battalion, leaves Sydney to fight in the

Sudan Campaign The Mahdist War ( ar, الثورة المهدية, ath-Thawra al-Mahdiyya; 1881–1899) was a war between the Mahdist Sudanese of the religious leader Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided On ...

. * 28 March – HMQS ''Gayundah'' arrives in Brisbane. * 1 April – The Cabinet of South Australia meets to discuss the "Russian scare"—the fear that South Australia would come under attack from Russian warships should hostilities between Russia and Britain over Afghanistan result in war. * 10 August –

BHP BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...

, later to become the world's largest mining company, is registered as a company in Victoria. * 4–7 October – Third Intercolonial Trades Union Congress held in Sydney. * The

Geographical Society of Australasia On 22 June 1883, the Geographical Society of Australasia started at a meeting in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. A branch was formed in Victoria (Australia), Victoria in the same year. In July 1885, both the Queensland and the South Australia, ...

sent an expedition to the

Fly River The Fly River is the third longest river in the island of New Guinea, after the Sepik River and Mamberamo River, with a total length of and the largest by volume of discharge in Oceania, the largest in the world without a single dam in its cat ...

region of

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

, naming and exploring the

Strickland River The Strickland River is a major river in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea. It is the longest and largest tributary of the Fly River with a total length of including the Lagaip River the farthest distance river source of the Strickland ...

Science and technology

*24 March –

Hugh Victor McKay Hugh Victor McKay (21 August 1865 – 21 May 1926) was an Australian industrialist who is known for heading the company that developed the Sunshine Harvester, arguably the first commercially viable combine harvester. He subsequently establishe ...

patents stripper-harvester.

Arts and literature

*Tom Roberts paintings: **'' Winter morning after rain, Gardiner's Creek'' **'' The Artists Camp''

Sport

*20 February – The Richmond Football Club is formed. *3 November – Sheet Anchor wins the

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melb ...

. *17 October –

Caulfield Cup The Caulfield Cup is a Melbourne Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held under handicap conditions, although the Melbourne Racing Club is in the process of turning the race into weight for age (WFA) conditions. This is for all horses ...

when 16 of the 44 horses competing fell, resulting in the death of 25-year-old jockey Donald Nicolson.

Births

*8 January –

John Curtin John Curtin (8 January 1885 – 5 July 1945) was an Australian politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Australia from 1941 until his death in 1945. He led the country for the majority of World War II, including all but the last few ...

(died 1945), Australian Prime Minister *26 January – Michael Considine (died 1959), Australian politician *29 January – Arthur Halloway (died 1961), rugby league footballer and coach *20 March – Vernon Ransford (died 1958), cricketer *1 July –

Dorothea Mackellar Isobel Marion Dorothea Mackellar, (1 July 1885 – 14 January 1968) was an Australian poet and fiction writer. Her poem ''My Country'' is widely known in Australia, especially its second stanza, which begins: "''I love a sunburnt country/ ...

(died 1968), poet *12 August –

Keith Murdoch Sir Keith Arthur Murdoch (12 August 1885 – 4 October 1952) was an Australian journalist, businessman and the father of Rupert Murdoch, the current Executive chairman for News Corporation and the chairman of Fox Corporation. Early life Murdoc ...

(died 1952), journalist and newspaper publisher *15 August – Beaumont Smith (died 1950), film director and producer *18 August ** Bede Fanning (died 1970), public servant **

Nettie Palmer Janet Gertrude "Nettie" Palmer (née Higgins) (18 August 1885 – 19 October 1964) was an Australian poet, essayist and Australia's leading literary critic of her day. She corresponded with women writers and collated the Centenary Gift Book which ...

(died 1964), poet and literary critic (wife of Vance Palmer) *28 August –

Vance Palmer Edward Vivian "Vance" Palmer (28 August 1885 – 15 July 1959) was an Australian novelist, dramatist, essayist and critic. Early life Vance Palmer was born in Bundaberg, Queensland, on 28 August 1885 and attended the Ipswich Grammar School. With ...

(died 1959), novelist, essayist and critic (husband of Nettie Palmer) *22 September –

Ben Chifley Joseph Benedict Chifley (; 22 September 1885 – 13 June 1951) was an Australian politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Australia from 1945 to 1949. He held office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1945, follow ...

(died 1951), Australian Prime Minister *15 October –

Frank Hurley James Francis "Frank" Hurley (15 October 1885 – 16 January 1962) was an Australian photographer and adventurer. He participated in a number of expeditions to Antarctica and served as an official photographer with Australian forces durin ...

(died 1962), photographer and adventurer *7 November –

Frank Cheadle Frank Cheadle (7 November 1885 – 12 May 1916) was an Australian pioneering rugby league footballer and AIF soldier who fell in World War I. A New South Wales interstate and Australian international representative centre, he was reputedly t ...

, rugby league footballer and World War I soldier (died 1916).

Deaths

*28 January –

Edward Davy Edward Davy (16 June 1806 – 26 January 1885) was an English physician, scientist, and inventor who played a prominent role in the development of telegraphy, and invented an electric relay. Davy was born in Ottery St Mary, Devonshire, England, ...

(born 1806), scientist

Notes

{{Oceania topic, 1885 in, countries_only=yes Australia Years of the 19th century in Australia