The following lists events that happened during 1897 in Australia.

Incumbents

Monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power i ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Premiers

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 ...

George Reid Sir George Houston Reid, (25 February 1845 – 12 September 1918) was an Australian politician who led the Reid Government as the fourth Prime Minister of Australia from 1904 to 1905, having previously been Premier of New South Wales fr ...

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 ...

Charles Kingston Charles Cameron Kingston (22 October 1850 – 11 May 1908) was an Australian politician. From 1893 to 1899 he was a radical liberal Premier of South Australia, occupying this office with the support of Labor, which in the House of Assembly ...

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 ...

- Hugh Nelson *

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 ...

Edward Braddon Sir Edward Nicholas Coventry Braddon (11 June 1829 – 2 February 1904) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of Tasmania from 1894 to 1899, and was a Member of the First Australian Parliament in the House of Representatives. Bradd ...

Premier of Western Australia The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive bra ...

- John Forrest *

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 ...

- George Turner

Governors

* Governor of New South Wales –

Henry Brand, 2nd Viscount Hampden Henry Robert Brand, 2nd Viscount Hampden, (2 May 1841 – 22 November 1906) was Governor of New South Wales from 1895 to 1899. Background Hampden was the son of Henry Brand, 1st Viscount Hampden. He succeeded his father as second Viscount and ...

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 ...

–

Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington Charles Wallace Alexander Napier Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington, (29 July 1860 – 16 September 1940), was a British politician and colonial administrator who served as Governor of Queensland from 1896 to 1901, and Governor of Bombay fro ...

* Governor of South Australia –

Sir Thomas Buxton, 3rd Baronet Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, 3rd Baronet, (26 January 1837 – 28 October 1915), commonly known as Sir Fowell Buxton, was the Governor of South Australia from 29 October 1895 until 29 March 1899. He was the grandson of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, a ...

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 ...

–

Jenico Preston, 14th Viscount Gormanston Jenico William Joseph Preston, 14th Viscount Gormanston, (1 June 1837 – 29 October 1907), was an aristocratic Anglo-Irish colonial administrator. Born at Gormanston Castle, County Meath, he was son and heir of Edward Preston, 13th Visc ...

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 ...

–

Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey (11 February 1836 – 23 February 1918), was a British Liberal Party politician, Governor of Victoria and founder of '' The Naval Annual''. Background and education Brassey was the eldest son of the railway m ...

Governor of Western Australia The governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of the monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. As with the other governors of the Australian states, the governor of Western Australia performs constitutiona ...

– Gerard Smith

Events

* 7 January - Darwin has its highest ever daily rainfall with 296.1 millimetres from its most severe cyclone until Tracy.Daily rainfall for Darwin
/ref> * 22 June - The second Victoria Bridge is opened in Brisbane by the

Lord Lamington Baron Lamington, of Lamington in the County of Lanark, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1880 for Alexander Baillie-Cochrane, a long-standing Conservative Member of Parliament and old friend of Benjamin Disra ...

. The previous bridge was destroyed by floodwaters * 27 October -

St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne The Cathedral Church and Minor Basilica of Saint Patrick (colloquially St Patrick's Cathedral) is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, and seat of its archbishop, currently Peter Comensoli. ...

is consecrated

Arts and literature

* Walter Withers wins the inaugural

Wynne Prize The Wynne Prize is an Australian landscape painting or figure sculpture art prize. As one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, it was established in 1897 from the bequest of Richard Wynne. Now held concurrently with the Sir John Sulman Prize ...

for landscape painting or figure sculpture for his landscape ''The Storm'' Queensland Braille Writing Association was formed in Brisbane - later became Braille House

Sport

* 4 September -

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington * Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport * Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United Ki ...

wins the first

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

premiership. * 8 October - The Australasian Athletic Union is established in Sydney. * ''Gaulus'' 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 ...

* New South Wales wins the

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Marsh Sheffield Shield) is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Sheffield Shi ...

Births

* 10 February -

Judith Anderson Dame Frances Margaret Anderson, (10 February 18973 January 1992), known professionally as Judith Anderson, was an Australian actress who had a successful career in stage, film and television. A pre-eminent stage actress in her era, she won two ...

(died 1992), actress * 6 July -

Frank Walsh Francis Henry Walsh (6 July 1897 – 18 May 1968) was the 34th Premier of South Australia from 10 March 1965 to 1 June 1967, representing the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party. Early life One of eight children, Walsh was b ...

(died 1968), Premier of South Australia * 9 July -

Enid Lyons Dame Enid Muriel Lyons (née Burnell; 9 July 1897 – 2 September 1981) was an Australian politician who was the first woman elected to the House of Representatives and the first woman to serve in federal cabinet. Prior to her own political ca ...

(died 1981), politician * 28 July -

James Fairbairn James Valentine Fairbairn (28 July 1897 – 13 August 1940) was an Australian aviator and politician. A World War I fighter pilot, he represented the United Australia Party (UAP) in federal parliament and served as Minister for Air and Civil ...

(died 1940), politician * 6 August -

William Slim William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

(died 1970), Governor General of Australia * 5 October - Percy Spender (died 1985), politician and diplomat * 7 October - Charles Chauvel (died 1959), film maker

Deaths

* 11 June -

Henry Ayers Sir Henry Ayers (now pron. "airs") (1 May 1821 – 11 June 1897) was the eighth Premier of South Australia, serving a record five times between 1863 and 1873. His lasting memorial is in the name Ayers Rock, also known as Uluru, which was en ...

(born 1821), Premier of South Australia * 11 July -

Patrick Jennings Sir Patrick Alfred Jennings, (20 March 183111 July 1897) was an Irish-Australian politician and Premier of New South Wales. Early life Jennings was born at Newry, Ireland, the son of Francis Jennings, a well-known merchant in that town. He ...

(born 1831), Premier of New South Wales * 15 August -

Lily Poulett-Harris Lily Poulett-Harris (2 September 1873 – 15 August 1897) was an Australian sportswoman and educationalist, notable for being the founder and captain of the first Women's cricket team in Australia. Poulett-Harris continued to play until forced ...

(born 1873), founder of women's cricket in Australia * 15 November - Alfred Kennerley (born 1810), Premier of Tasmania * 20 November - Ernest Giles (born 1835), explorer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1897 in Australia Australia Years of the 19th century in Australia