The following lists events that happened during 1854 in Australia.
Incumbents
Governors Governors of the Australian colonies: Governor of New South Wales – Sir Charles Augustus FitzRoy Governor of South Australia – Sir Henry Young (term ended 20 December) Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land – Sir William Denison Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria – Charles La Trobe (until 5 May), then Sir Charles Hotham (from 22 June) Governor of Western Australia as a Crown Colony – Captain Charles Fitzgerald
Events This was a year of intense political agitation by miners on the Victorian goldfields. 3 March – The first telegraph line in the southern hemisphere begins operating in Victoria.McGowan, Samuel Walker (1829–1887), Australian Dictionary of Biography. 4 July – Anti-Chinese riots occur in Victoria. 5 July – The Mercury was first published in Hobart. 17 October – The Melbourne daily newspaper The Age was first published. 29 November – The Eureka Flag was flown for the first time during the Eureka Stockade rebellion in Ballarat. 3 December – battle suppressing the rebellion at Eureka Stockade
Exploration and settlement 4 January – Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang discovers the McDonald Islands. 12 September – Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria Charles Hotham opens Flinders Street station, the first city railway station in Australia.
Arts and literature
Sport 30 September – The first game of cricket is played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Births 12 February – Edward Wittenoom, Western Australian politician (d. 1936) 24 March – Sir Henry Lefroy, 11th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1930) 12 April – William Maloney, Victorian politician and doctor (d. 1940) 20 May – George Prendergast, 28th Premier of Victoria (d. 1937) 25 June – Andrew Lang Petrie, Queensland politician (d. 1928) 5 August – William Aitcheson Haswell, zoologist (born in the United Kingdom) (d. 1925) 18 October – Billy Murdoch, cricketer (d. 1911) 30 November – James Wilkinson, Queensland politician (d. 1915) Unknown, possibly December – Ned Kelly, bushranger (d. 1880)
Deaths 7 October – James Scobie, gold miner (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1826) Unknown – Jackey Jackey (b. 1833)
References