1869 in Australia

"See also:"
1868 in Australia,
other events of 1869,
1870 in Australia and the
Timeline of Australian history.

Incumbents

Governors

Governors of the Australian colonies:
*Governor of New South Wales – Somerset Lowry-Corry, 4th Earl Belmore
*Governor of Victoria – Sir John Manners-Sutton
*Governor of Queensland – Colonel Sir Samuel Blackall
*Governor of Western Australia – Sir Benjamin Pine (appointed, but not sworn in), Sir Frederick Weld (from September 18)
*Governor of South Australia – Sir James Fergusson, 6th Baronet (from February 16)
*Governor of Tasmania – Charles Du Cane (from January 15)

Premiers

Premiers of the Australian colonies:
*Premier of New South Wales – John Robertson
*Premier of Victoria – James McCulloch (until September 20), then John Alexander MacPherson
*Premier of Queensland – Charles Lilley
*Premier of South Australia – Henry Strangways
*Premier of Tasmania – Sir Richard Dry (until August 1), then James Milne Wilson (from August 4)

Events

*January 9 – The British clipper ship "Thermopylae" arrives in Melbourne, having sailed from London in the record time of 64 days.
*February 5 – A large gold nugget, named The Welcome Stranger, is found at Moliagul, Victoria.
*February 5 - George Goyder establishes a settlement of 135 people at Port Darwin.
*March 3 – William Lanne, known as "King Billy", the last full-blood Tasmanian Aboriginal dies. His body is secretly dismembered and his skull removed while in the morgue, and Dr William Crowther, future Premier of Tasmania, is suspected as the culprit.
*March 5 – The New South Wales government declares that Saint Patrick's Day, St. Andrew's Day and St George's Day are no longer public holidays.
*March 24 – A fatal case of cholera is reported in Sydney.
*May 8 – The bushranger Captain Moonlite holds up a bank in Mount Egerton, Victoria.
*June 22 – Prince Alfred College opens in Adelaide, South Australia.
*October 18 – The Lithgow Zig Zag Railway was opened.

cience and technology

*May 1 – A submarine telegraph cable is completed, joining Tasmania to the mainland.

port

*November 2 – "Warrior" wins the Melbourne Cup.

Births

*January 20 – F. Matthias Alexander, actor (d. 1955)
*February 21 – Ernest Roberts, politician (d. 1913)
*March 10 – John Longstaff, war artist (d. 1941)
*March 23 – William Robson, politician (d. 1951)
*April 11 – John Patrick McGlinn, soldier (d. 1946)
*April 13 – Vida Goldstein, feminist and politician (d. 1949)
*April 27 – May Moss, feminist and suffragette (d. 1948)
*May 2 – Mark Davidson, politician (d. 1949)
*May 2 – Florence Stawell, classical scholar (d. 1936)
*May 14 – Percy Abbott, soldier and politician (d. 1940)
*May 15 – John Storey, Premier of New South Wales (d. 1921)
*May 18 – Harold William Grimwade, soldier (d. 1949)
*May 19 – William Gibson, politician (d. 1955)
*May 23 – George Beeby, judge, politician and author (d. 1942)
*July 11 – Peter McAlister, cricketer (d. 1938)
*July 21 – John McDonald, politician (d. 1934)
*August 6 – Marie Pitt, poet (d. 1948)
*August 7 – E. J. Brady, poet (d. 1952)
*August 8 – George James Coates, artist (d. 1930)
*August 28 – Albert Fuller Ellis, prospector (d. 1951)
*September 28 – John Hutton Bisdee, soldier and Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1930)
*October 24 – Charlie McLeod, cricketer (d. 1918)
*September 30 – Ernie Jones, cricketer (d. 1943)
*December 7 – Frank Laver, cricketer (d. 1919)
*December 13 – John Shirlow, artist (d. 1936)
*December 21 – Albert Green, politician (d. 1940)
*December 29 – Bill Howell, cricketer (d. 1940)

Deaths

*March 3 – William Lanne, Tasmanian Aboriginal (b. 1835)
*May 9 – John Plunkett, Attorney-General of New South Wales (b. 1802)
*June 16 – Charles Sturt, explorer (b. 1795)
*September 4 – John Pascoe Fawkner, pioneer (b. 1792)
*November 6 – Charles Flaxman, chief clerk of South Australia (b. 1806)

ee also

*1869
*1860s