- 1879 in Australia
"See also:"
1878 in Australia ,
other events of 1879,1880 in Australia and theTimeline of Australian history .Incumbents
Governors
Governors of the Australian colonies:
*Governor of New South Wales - Sir Hercules Robinson until 19 March, then Sir Augustus Loftus
*Governor of Queensland - Sir Arthur Kennedy
*Governor of South Australia - Sir William Jervois
*Governor of Tasmania -Frederick Weld
*Governor of Victoria - Sir George Bowen until 22 February thenGeorge Phipps, 2nd Marquess of Normanby
*Governor of Western Australia - "(office first formed in 1890)"Premiers
Premiers of the Australian colonies:
*Premier of New South Wales - Sir Henry Parkes
*Premier of Queensland - John Douglas until 21 January thenThomas McIlwraith
*Premier of South Australia - William Morgan
*Premier of Tasmania - William Crowther until 30 October thenWilliam Giblin
*Premier of Victoria -Graham Berry
*Premier of Western Australia - "office first formed in 1890"Events
*
February 8 - BushrangerNed Kelly and his gang raid the town ofJerilderie, New South Wales , locking up the town's two policemen, stealing their uniforms, cutting the telegraph lines and robbing the bank. Kelly also pens the famous .
*February 19 - The foundation stone is laid and construction begins on theRoyal Exhibition Building inCarlton, Victoria .
*March 6 - The town ofCleve, South Australia is officially gazetted.
*March 17 - The Municipality of Canterbury is proclaimed.
*April 14 - The first use of aparachute in Australia occurs when Henri L 'Estrange's balloon ruptures above Melbourne's Agricultural Showgrounds.
*April 21 - From 1879 theeight-hour day was a public holiday in Victoria; it celebrated the stonemasons' strike in 1856.
*April 26 - Seventy square kilometres of land inSydney 'sSutherland Shire is proclaimed The National Park (later theRoyal National Park ).
*July 1 - "The Daily Telegraph"newspaper is first published in Sydney.
*September 17 - The Sydney International Exhibition opens at theGarden Palace .
*November 13 - BushrangerCaptain Moonlite take thirty hostages at a farm nearGundagai, 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
*
August 1 -Queensland annexes theTorres Strait Islands .
*September 3 - The town ofCunnamulla, Queensland is founded as a coach stop for Cobb & Co stagecoaches.port
*
February 8 - A controversial umpiring decision at an internationalcricket match results in theSydney Riot of 1879 .* "Darriwell" wins the
Melbourne Cup Births
*
February 22 -Norman Lindsay (d. 1969), artist and writer
*May 22 -Warwick Armstrong (d. 1947), cricketer
*June 19 -James Muir Auld (d. 1942), artist
*June 26 -Charles Leslie Barrett (d. 1959), naturalist, journalist, author and ornithologist
*July 24 -Robert Clyde Packer (d. 1934), founder of the Packer media dynasty
*September 15 -Joseph Lyons (d. 1939), Premier of Tasmania and 10th Prime Minister of Australia
*October 14 -Miles Franklin (d. 1954), writer
*November 18 - C.E.W. Bean (d. 1968), war journalistDeaths
*
November 21 - Sir Archibald Burt (b. 1810), first Chief Justice of Western Australiaee also
*
1879
*1870s
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