The following lists events that happened during 1859 in Australia.
Incumbents Monarch - Victoria
Governors Governors of the Australian colonies: Governor of New South Wales – Sir William Denison Governor of Queensland – Sir George Bowen Governor of South Australia – Sir Richard MacDonnell Governor of Tasmania – Sir Henry Young Governor of Victoria – Sir Henry Barkly Governor of Western Australia as a Crown Colony – Sir Arthur Kennedy
Premiers Premiers of the Australian colonies: Premier of New South Wales – Charles Cowper, William Forster Premier of Queensland – Robert Herbert Premier of South Australia – Richard Hanson Premier of Tasmania – Francis Smith Premier of Victoria – John O'Shanassy, William Nicholson
Events 14 May – Melbourne Football Club is founded. 6 June – The colony of Queensland is established by decree of Queen Victoria. July – Geelong Football Club is founded. 5 August – The passenger steamship SS Admella is shipwrecked on a submerged reef near Mount Gambier South Australia with the loss of 89 lives. 6 October – Thomas Austin takes 24 rabbits and 5 hares to Australia in order to release them there as a game. They will multiply exponentially. The first permanent educational institution for girls, the East Leigh, is founded in Melbourne by Elizabeth Tripp. Undated – A retaliatory mass-slaughter of Indigenous Australians occurs in the Hospital Creek Massacre.
Arts and literature
Births 24 March – Hugh de Largie, Western Australian politician (born in the United Kingdom) (d. 1947) 23 April – Bella Guerin, feminist and suffragist (d. 1923) 25 April – Joseph Maiden, botanist (born in the United Kingdom) (d. 1925) 16 June – John Russell, impressionist painter (d. 1930) 28 November – Richard Godfrey Rivers, artist (born in the United Kingdom) (d. 1925)
References