1855 in Australia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following lists events that happened during 1855 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 Richard MacDonnell (from 8 June)
- Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land â Henry Young (from 8 January)
- Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria (Governor of Victoria from 22 May) â Sir Charles Hotham (until 10 November)
- Governor of Western Australia as a Crown Colony â Captain Charles Fitzgerald, then Sir Arthur Kennedy.
Events
- 5 January â The War of Southern Queensland ends with the hanging of Dundalli.
- 12 June â the Victorian parliament passed the Chinese Restriction Act in an effort to restrict Chinese immigration.[1] These restrictions, including a £10 poll tax on Chinese and a limit to Chinese passengers per tonnage of shipping.
- 8 September â Queen Victoria signs an Order in Council to change the name of Van Diemen's Land to Tasmania.
- 26 September â Sydney to Parramatta railway opened[2]
Arts and literature
Births
- 30 January â George Edwards, New South Wales politician (d. 1911)
- 16 February â Henry Saunders, Western Australian politician (born in the United Kingdom) (d. 1919)
- 28 May â Sir William Portus Cullen, New South Wales politician and 7th Chief Justice of New South Wales (d. 1935)
- 18 June â George Lewis Becke, trader and writer (d. 1913)
- 6 August â Sir Isaac Isaacs, 9th Governor-General of Australia and 3rd Chief Justice of Australia (d. 1948)
- 13 August â William Astley, short story writer (born in the United Kingdom) (d. 1911)
- 25 August â Paddy Glynn, South Australian politician (born in Ireland) (d. 1931)
- 28 October â Francis James Gillen, anthropologist and ethnologist (d. 1912)
- 22 November â Pharez Phillips, Victorian politician (d. 1914)
Deaths
- 5 January â Dundalli, Aboriginal lawman, murderer and resistance fighter (c. 1820)
- 23 January â John Burdett Wittenoom, clergyman (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1788)
- 19 March â Thomas Bock, artist (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1790)
- 3 April â John Bateman, merchant and whaler (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1789)
- 31 December â Sir Charles Hotham, 1st Governor of Victoria (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1806)