1908 in Australia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following lists events that happened during 1908 in Australia.
Population4,190,692
| 1908 in Australia | |
|---|---|
| Monarch | Edward VII |
| Governor-General | Henry Northcote, 1st Baron Northcote, then William Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley |
| Prime minister | Alfred Deakin, then Andrew Fisher |
| Population | 4,190,692 |
| Elections | Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia |
Incumbents
- Monarch â Edward VII
- Governor-General â Henry Northcote, 1st Baron Northcote (until 9 September), then William Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley
- Prime Minister â Alfred Deakin (until 13 November), then Andrew Fisher
- Chief Justice â Samuel Griffith
State premiers
- Premier of New South Wales â Charles Wade
- Premier of South Australia â Thomas Price
- Premier of Queensland â Robert Philp (until 18 February), then William Kidston
- Premier of Tasmania â John Evans
- Premier of Western Australia â Newton Moore
- Premier of Victoria â (Sir) Thomas Bent
State governors
- Governor of New South Wales â Admiral Sir Harry Rawson
- Governor of South Australia â Sir George Ruvthen Le Hunte
- Governor of Queensland â Frederic Thesiger, 3rd Baron Chelmsford
- Governor of Tasmania â Sir Gerald Strickland
- Governor of Western Australia â Admiral Sir Frederick Bedford
- Governor of Victoria â Major General Sir Reginald Talbot (until 6 July), then Sir Thomas Gibson-Carmichael (from 27 July)
Events
- 10 March â Australians Douglas Mawson and Edgeworth David accompanied by Ernest Shackleton and others are the first people to scale Mount Erebus in Antarctica.
- 30 March â Commonwealth Quarantine service came into operation and took over quarantine stations in every state.
- 20 April â 44 are killed and 400 injured in the Sunshine train disaster.
- 7 May â The coat of arms of Australia are granted Royal Assent.
- August â Boys in Australia first participated in the scouting movement, within a year of scouting starting in England[1]
- 20 August â The Great White Fleet, the first visit by the U.S. Navy to Australia, arrives in Sydney.[2]
- 8 October â The capital of Australia is chosen, settling a feud between rivals Melbourne and Sydney.
- 13 November â The Australian Labor Party withdraws its support for the minority government of Prime Minister Alfred Deakin, forcing his replacement with Andrew Fisher.[2]
- 18 November â The Victorian government passes the Adult Suffrage Bill 1908, granting female suffrage for the first time.[3]
- 15 December â The Invalid and Old Age Pensions Act is passed, which sets up a national aged pension scheme (except for aliens, Aboriginals and naturalized Asiatics not born in Australia)
- 29 December â A general election is held in Victoria. The government of Sir Thomas Bent is returned to power.[3]
Science and technology
- 1 January â The Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology formally commences operation.
- 3 February â first trans-Tasman radio transmission (via HMS Powerful in Tasman Sea)
Arts and literature
- 16 May â The Commonwealth Literary Fund is established.[2]
- Henry Handel Richardson's first novel Maurice Guest is published
- We of the Never Never by Mrs Aeneas Gunn is published
- The poem My Country by Dorothea Mackellar first published
Film
- 2 February â The Limelight Department of the Salvation Army films Grand Memorial Service, a film of the funeral of Major Kenneth McLeod, the Director of the Bayswater Boys' Home. The funeral was held at the Kew Cemetery in Melbourne.[6]
Sport
- 31 January â Victoria wins the 1907â08 Sheffield Shield.
- 11 February â Australia regains The Ashes with a 308 run victory over England.
- 20 April â The first New South Wales Rugby League premiership begins in Sydney.
- July - The 1908 Interstate rugby league series sees the first ever matches between New South Wales and Queensland
- 29 August â South Sydney win the grand final to become the first NSWRFL premiers
- 3 November â Lord Nolan wins the Melbourne Cup.
- At the 1908 Summer Olympics held in London, Australia forms a team with New Zealand and competes as Australasia. They win a gold medal for rugby football, a silver medal for middleweight boxing, and in swimming a silver medal for men's 400-metre freestyle and bronze medal for men's 1500 metre freestyle â both won by Frank Beaurepaire.
- Australia's national rugby league team sets sail for England on the 1908â09 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain.
Births
- 23 February â William McMahon, 20th Prime Minister of Australia (died 1988)
- 15 May â Kevin Ellis, NSW politician (died 1975)
- 20 May â Henry Bolte, Premier of Victoria (died 1990)
- 10 July â John Armstrong, ALP senator (died 1977)
- 5 August â Harold Holt, 17th Prime Minister of Australia (died 1967)
- 10 August â Rica Erickson, Australian botanist (died 2009)
- 26 August â Alexandra Hasluck, author and social historian (died 1993)
- 27 August â Donald Bradman, cricketer (died 2001)
- 10 September â Angus Bethune, Premier of Tasmania (died 2004)
- 17 October â Wally Prigg, rugby league player (died 1980)
- 3 November â Eddie Scarf, boxer and wrestler (died 1980)
Deaths
.jpg)
- 14 February â David Syme, newspaper proprietor (b. 1827)
- 29 February â John Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun, 1st Governor-General of Australia (born in the United Kingdom and died in France) (b. 1860)
- 7 March â Alfred William Howitt, anthropologist, explorer, and naturalist (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1830)
- 23 March â Alexander Paterson, Queensland politician (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1844)
- 11 May â Charles Kingston, 20th Premier of South Australia (b. 1850)
- 20 October â Vaiben Louis Solomon, 21st Premier of South Australia (b. 1853)
- 14 November â Ernest Favenc, explorer, journalist and author (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1845)
- 18 November â Pierce Galliard Smith, cleric (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1826)