1854 in Australia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following lists events that happened during 1854 in Australia.
Incumbents
Governors
Governors of the Australian colonies:
- Governor of New South Wales â Sir Charles Augustus FitzRoy
- Governor of South Australia â Sir Henry Young (term ended 20 December)
- Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land â Sir William Denison
- Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria â Charles La Trobe (until 5 May), then Sir Charles Hotham (from 22 June)
- Governor of Western Australia as a Crown Colony â Captain Charles Fitzgerald
Events
This was a year of intense political agitation by miners on the Victorian goldfields.
- 3 March â The first telegraph line in the southern hemisphere begins operating in Victoria.[1]
- 4 July â Anti-Chinese riots occur in Victoria.
- 5 July â The Mercury was first published in Hobart.
- 17 October â The Melbourne daily newspaper The Age was first published.[2]
- 29 November â The Eureka Flag was flown for the first time during the Eureka Stockade rebellion in Ballarat.
- 3 December â battle suppressing the rebellion at Eureka Stockade
Exploration and settlement
- 4 January â Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang discovers the McDonald Islands.
- 12 September â Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria Charles Hotham opens Flinders Street station, the first city railway station in Australia.
Arts and literature
Sport
- 30 September â The first game of cricket is played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Births
- 12 February â Edward Wittenoom, Western Australian politician (d. 1936)
- 24 March â Sir Henry Lefroy, 11th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1930)
- 12 April â William Maloney, Victorian politician and doctor (d. 1940)
- 20 May â George Prendergast, 28th Premier of Victoria (d. 1937)
- 25 June â Andrew Lang Petrie, Queensland politician (d. 1928)
- 5 August â William Aitcheson Haswell, zoologist (born in the United Kingdom) (d. 1925)
- 18 October â Billy Murdoch, cricketer (d. 1911)
- 30 November â James Wilkinson, Queensland politician (d. 1915)
- Unknown, possibly December â Ned Kelly, bushranger (d. 1880)
Deaths
- 7 October â James Scobie, gold miner (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1826)
- Unknown â Jackey Jackey (b. 1833)