1915 in Australia
Encyclopedia
See also:
1914 in Australia
,
other events of 1915,
1916 in Australia
and the
Timeline of Australian history
.
1914 in Australia
1914 in Australia
1914 in Australia was dominated by the outbreak of World War I. Andrew Fisher, who became Prime Minister a month after Australia entered the war vowed that Australia would "stand beside our own to help and defend Britain to the last man and the last shilling." In 1914, the Australian war effort...
,
other events of 1915,
1916 in Australia
1916 in Australia
See also:1915 in Australia,other events of 1916,1917 in Australia and theTimeline of Australian history.-Incumbents:*Monarch – King George V*Governor-General – The Right Hon. Sir Ronald Munro-Ferguson*Prime Minister – Billy Hughes-State premiers:...
and the
Timeline of Australian history
Timeline of Australian history
This is a timeline of Australian history.-BC:*c. 68,000–40,000 BC: Aboriginal tribes are thought to have arrived in Australia.*c. 13,000 BC: Land bridges between mainland Australia and Tasmania are flooded. Tasmanian Aboriginal people become isolated for the next 12,000 – 13,000 years.*c...
.
Incumbents
- MonarchMonarchy in AustraliaThe Monarchy of Australia is a form of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign of Australia. The monarchy is a constitutional one modelled on the Westminster style of parliamentary government, incorporating features unique to the Constitution of Australia.The present monarch is...
– King George VGeorge V of the United KingdomGeorge V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936.... - Governor-GeneralGovernor-General of AustraliaThe Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia at federal/national level of the Australian monarch . He or she exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth...
– The Right Hon. Sir Ronald Munro-FergusonRonald Munro-Ferguson, 1st Viscount NovarRonald Craufurd Munro Ferguson, 1st Viscount Novar KT GCMG PC , was a Scottish politician and colonial governor. He served as the sixth Governor-General of Australia , and is considered as probably the most politically influential holder of this post... - Prime MinisterPrime Minister of AustraliaThe Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
– Andrew FisherAndrew FisherAndrew Fisher was an Australian politician who served as the fifth Prime Minister on three separate occasions. Fisher's 1910-13 Labor ministry completed a vast legislative programme which made him, along with Protectionist Alfred Deakin, the founder of the statutory structure of the new nation...
(until 27 October), then Billy HughesBilly HughesWilliam Morris "Billy" Hughes, CH, KC, MHR , Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923....
State premiers
- Premier of New South Wales – William HolmanWilliam HolmanWilliam Arthur Holman was an Australian Labor Party Premier of New South Wales, Australia, who split with the party on the conscription issue in 1916 during World War I, and immediately became Premier of a conservative Nationalist Party Government.-Early life:Holman was born in St Pancras, London,...
- Premier of Queensland – Digby DenhamDigby DenhamDigby Frank Denham was an Australian politician, businessman and leading Queensland Orangeman. He was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 1902 until 1915 representing the seat of Oxley, and was Premier of Queensland from 7 February 1911 to 1 June 1915...
(until 1 June), then T. J. RyanT. J. RyanThomas Joseph "T.J." Ryan was Premier of Queensland, Australia from May 1915 until October 1919 when he resigned to enter Federal politics.-Early life:Thomas Joseph Ryan was born at Port Fairy, Victoria... - Premier of South Australia – Archibald PeakeArchibald PeakeArchibald Henry Peake was an Australian politician and the 25th Premier of South Australia, serving on three separate occasions in the 1910s.-Early life and career:...
(until 2 April), then Crawford VaughanCrawford VaughanCrawford Vaughan , was Premier of South Australia between 3 April 1915 and 14 July 1917.Vaughan unsuccessfully campaigned for a seat in the Australian House of Representatives in 1901, and for the Australian Senate in 1903... - Premier of Tasmania – John EarleJohn EarleJohn Earle may refer to:*John Earle , English bishop*John Earle *John Earle , Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at the University of Oxford...
- Premier of Victoria – Sir Alexander PeacockAlexander PeacockSir Alexander James Peacock, KCMG , Australian politician, was the 20th Premier of Victoria.Peacock was born of Scottish descent at Creswick, the first Victorian Premier born after the gold rush of the 1850s and the attainment of self-government in Victoria. He was distantly related to the family...
- Premier of Western AustraliaPremier of Western AustraliaThe Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Australia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Australia at the national level, subject to the different Constitutions...
– John ScaddanJohn ScaddanJohn Scaddan, CMG , popularly known as "Happy Jack", was Premier of Western Australia from 7 October 1911 until 27 July 1916.- Biography :...
State governors
- Governor of New South Wales – Sir Gerald StricklandGerald Strickland, 1st Baron StricklandGerald Strickland, 1st Baron Strickland, 6th Count of Catena, GCMG was a Maltese and British politician and peer, who served as Prime Minister of Malta, Governor of the Leeward Islands, Governor of Tasmania, Governor of Western Australia and Governor of New South Wales.-Early...
- Governor of Queensland – Major Sir Hamilton Goold-AdamsHamilton Goold-AdamsMajor Sir Hamilton John Goold-Adams, GCMG, CB was an Irish soldier and colonial administrator who was Governor of Queensland in Australia from 1915 to 1920.-Biography:...
(from 15 March) - Governor of South Australia – Lieutenant Colonel Sir Henry GalwayHenry GalwayLieutenant-Colonel Sir Henry Lionel Galway, KCMG, DSO was the Governor of South Australia from 18 April 1914 until 30 April 1920....
- Governor of Tasmania – Sir William Ellison-MacartneyWilliam Ellison-MacartneySir William Grey Ellison-Macartney, KCMG was a British politician, who also served as the Governor of the Australian states of Tasmania and Western Australia.-Early life:...
- Governor of Victoria – Sir Arthur Stanley
- Governor of Western AustraliaGovernor of Western AustraliaThe Governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of Australia's Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The Governor performs important constitutional, ceremonial and community functions, including:* presiding over the Executive Council;...
– Major-General Sir Harry BarronHarry BarronMajor General Sir Harry Barron KCMG, CVO was Governor of Tasmania from 1909 to 1913, and Governor of Western Australia from 1913 to 1917....
Events
- 25 April – The AnzacAustralian and New Zealand Army CorpsThe Australian and New Zealand Army Corps was a First World War army corps of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force that was formed in Egypt in 1915 and operated during the Battle of Gallipoli. General William Birdwood commanded the corps, which comprised troops from the First Australian Imperial...
tradition begins during World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
with a landing at GallipoliGallipoliThe Gallipoli peninsula is located in Turkish Thrace , the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles straits to the east. Gallipoli derives its name from the Greek "Καλλίπολις" , meaning "Beautiful City"...
on the TurkishTurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
coast. - 30 April – AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n submarineSubmarineA submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
AE2 sunk in Sea of MarmaraSea of MarmaraThe Sea of Marmara , also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, and in the context of classical antiquity as the Propontis , is the inland sea that connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea, thus separating Turkey's Asian and European parts. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Black...
. - 6 June – The BHPBHP BillitonBHP Billiton is a global mining, oil and gas company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia and with a major management office in London, United Kingdom...
steelworks opens in Newcastle, New South WalesNewcastle, New South WalesThe Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
. - 19 July – Albert JackaAlbert JackaAlbert Jacka VC, MC & Bar was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces...
becomes the first Australian to win the Victoria CrossVictoria CrossThe Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
during the First World War. - 9 August – Alexander BurtonAlexander BurtonAlexander Stewart Burton VC was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces....
died at Lone PineBattle of Lone PineThe Battle of Lone Pine was a battle between Australian and Turkish forces that took place during the Gallipoli campaign from 6–10 August 1915. It was part of a diversion to draw attention from the main assaults of 6 August against the Sari Bair peaks of Chunuk Bair and Hill 971, which became...
, GallipoliGallipoliThe Gallipoli peninsula is located in Turkish Thrace , the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles straits to the east. Gallipoli derives its name from the Greek "Καλλίπολις" , meaning "Beautiful City"...
, TurkeyTurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. He was awarded the Victoria CrossVictoria CrossThe Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
. - 24 August – The town of Holbrook, New South WalesHolbrook, New South WalesHolbrook is a small town in Southern New South Wales, Australia. It is on the Hume Highway, 356 km North-East of Melbourne and 491 km south-west of Sydney between Tarcutta and Albury. The town is in the Greater Hume Shire Council area which was established in May 2004 from the merger of...
was renamed from GermantonAustralian place names changed from German namesDuring World War I, many German-sounding place names in Australia were changed because of Anti-German sentiment. The new names were often Anglicized , given Aboriginal names , names of famous people , or battlefields . This was done through an Act of Parliament, as well as by petition...
. - 10 October – Twenty six men left Gilgandra, New South WalesGilgandra, New South WalesGilgandra, is a town and Local Government Area in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the junction of the Newell Highway, Oxley Highway and Castlereagh Highway. It can be reached in about six hours by car from Sydney. Like Coonabarabran, Gilgandra can be...
on the Cooee March; the first of the World War I Snowball marchesSnowball marchesDuring World War I, recruitment marches or snowball marches to Sydney were a feature of volunteer recruiting drives for the Australian Imperial Force in rural New South Wales, Australia. Between October 1915 and February 1916, nine marches were held starting from various points in the state; the...
. At each town on the route they shouted "cooeeCooeeCooee! is a shout used in Australia, usually in the Bush, to attract attention, find missing people, or indicate one's own location. When done correctly - loudly and shrilly - a call of "cooee" can carry over a considerable distance....
" to attract recruits; the march arrived in Sydney on 12 November with 263 recruits. - 27 October – Billy HughesBilly HughesWilliam Morris "Billy" Hughes, CH, KC, MHR , Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923....
becomes the seventh Prime Minister of AustraliaPrime Minister of AustraliaThe Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
and the first to serve consecutive terms in office. - 20 December – Completion of ANZAC evacuation from GallipoliBattle of GallipoliThe Gallipoli Campaign, also known as the Dardanelles Campaign or the Battle of Gallipoli, took place at the peninsula of Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire between 25 April 1915 and 9 January 1916, during the First World War...
before dawn.
Science and technology
- 10 December – Father and son scientists William Henry BraggWilliam Henry BraggSir William Henry Bragg OM, KBE, PRS was a British physicist, chemist, mathematician and active sportsman who uniquely shared a Nobel Prize with his son William Lawrence Bragg - the 1915 Nobel Prize in Physics...
and William Lawrence BraggWilliam Lawrence BraggSir William Lawrence Bragg CH OBE MC FRS was an Australian-born British physicist and X-ray crystallographer, discoverer of the Bragg law of X-ray diffraction, which is basic for the determination of crystal structure. He was joint winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1915. He was knighted...
win the Nobel Prize in PhysicsNobel Prize in PhysicsThe Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and...
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Sport
- Patrobas wins the Melbourne CupMelbourne CupThe Melbourne Cup is Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race. Marketed as "the race that stops a nation", it is a 3,200 metre race for three-year-olds and over. It is the richest "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races...
- 1914/15 the Sheffield ShieldPura CupThe Sheffield Shield is the domestic cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Prior to the Shield being established, a number of intercolonial matches were played. The Shield, donated by Lord Sheffield, was first contested during...
was won by the Victorian BushrangersVictorian BushrangersThe Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
; after this season it was not contested due to the war. - The 1915 NSWRFL Premiership is won by BalmainBalmain TigersThe Balmain Tigers are a rugby league football club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in the history of the premiership, with eleven titles...
.
Births
- 6 February – Donald FriendDonald FriendDonald Stuart Leslie Friend was an Australian artist, writer and diarist.- Early life :Born in Sydney, precociously talented both as an artist and a writer, Friend grew up in the artistic circle of his bohemian mother...
(d. 1989), artist, writer and diarist - 2 March – John Wear BurtonJohn Wear BurtonDr John Wear Burton AM was an Australian public servant, High Commissioner and academic.-Early life:Burton was born in Melbourne, the son of the Reverend John Wear Burton Methodist Minister...
(d. 2010), public servant and diplomat - 3 March – Manning ClarkManning ClarkCharles Manning Hope Clark, AC , an Australian historian, was the author of the best-known general history of Australia, his six-volume A History of Australia, published between 1962 and 1987...
(d. 1991), historian - 22 March – Charlotte AndersonCharlotte AndersonCharlotte Morrisson Anderson AM was an Australian professor of pediatrics and children's health....
(d. 2002), professor of paediatrics - 9 April – Bob QuinnBob Quinn (Australian footballer)Robert Berrima Quinn MM was a champion Australian rules footballer with Port Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League and war hero.-Biography:...
(d. 2008), SANFL footballer (Port AdelaidePort Adelaide Football ClubThe Port Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, which plays in the Australian Football League and the South Australian National Football League...
) - 30 May – Michael ThwaitesMichael ThwaitesMichael Rayner Thwaites, AO was an Australian academic, poet, intelligence officer, and activist for Moral Rearmament.-Early life and education:...
(d. 2005), poet, academic and intelligence officer - 31 May – Judith WrightJudith WrightJudith Arundell Wright was an Australian poet, environmentalist and campaigner for Aboriginal land rights.-Biography:...
(d. 2000), poet - 3 June – Jim McClelland (d. 1999), senator and government minister
- 16 July – David CampbellDavid Campbell (poet)David Watt Ian Campbell was an Australian poet who wrote over 15 volumes of prose and poetry.-Life:Campbell was born on 16 July 1915 at Ellerslie Station, near Adelong, New South Wales...
(d. 1979), poet - 3 August – Arthur John Birch (d. 1995), organic chemist
- 26 October – Lindsay PryorLindsay PryorLindsay Dixon Pryor AO was an Australian botanist noted for his work on Eucalyptus taxonomy and his role in the landscape design of Canberra, including the foundation of the Australian National Botanic Gardens....
(d. 1998), botanist - 2 November – May CampbellMay CampbellMay Emma Campbell MBE was a field hockey player who represented Australia in the sport from 1935 to 1948. From the tiny wheatbelt town of Moulyinning, her career spanned 50 years as a player, coach, selector and administrator in several Australian states as well as national duties...
(d. 1981), field hockey player - 25 November – Ron HamenceRon HamenceRonald Arthur Hamence was a cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. A short and compact right-handed batsman, Hamence excelled in getting forward to drive and had an array of attractive back foot strokes...
(d. 2010), cricketer - 29 November – Bob Cotton (d. 2006), senator and government minister
- 31 December – John MurrayJohn Murray (Queensland politician)John Murray, MBE was an Australian politician. He attended state schools before serving in the military 1939-45. He returned to become a farmer and grazier at Ingham, Queensland...
(d. 2009), politician
Deaths
- 11 January – James WilkinsonJames Wilkinson (Australian politician)James Wilkinson was an Australian politician.Wilkinson was born and raised in Ipswich, Queensland, attending both state and grammar schools...
(b. 1854), Queensland politician - 11 March – Thomas Alexander BrowneThomas Alexander BrowneThomas Alexander Browne was an Australian writer, who sometimes published under the pseudonym Rolf Boldrewood and best known for his novel Robbery Under Arms.-Biography:...
(b. 1826), author (Robbery Under ArmsRobbery Under ArmsRobbery Under Arms is a classic Australian novel by Rolf Boldrewood . It was first published in serialised form by The Sydney Mail between July 1882 and August 1883, then in three volumes in London in 1888...
) - 4 April – Sir Francis Bathurst SuttorFrancis Bathurst SuttorSir Francis Bathurst Suttor was an Australian pastoralist, politician, and sheep and horse breeder.-Early life:...
(b. 1839), pastoralist and politician - 19 April – Thomas Playford IIThomas Playford IIThomas Playford served as Premier of South Australia from 11 June 1887 to 26 June 1889 and 8 August 1890 to 20 June 1892, as well as serving as the Australian Federal Minister for Defence from 1905 to 1907....
(b. 1837), Premier of South Australia (1890–1892) and federal Minister for Defence (1905–1907) - 2 June – George RandellGeorge RandellGeorge Randell was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 1873–1875 and 1880–1890, then when representative self-government was achieved in 1890, won the seat of Moore in the new Legislative Assembly...
(b. 1830), West Australian politician - 25 June – Frederick Manson BaileyFrederick Manson BaileyFrederick Manson Bailey CMG was a botanist active in Australia, who made valuable contributions to the characterisation of the flora of Queensland.-Early life:...
(b. 1827), botanist - 28 June – Victor TrumperVictor TrumperVictor Thomas Trumper was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found unplayable. Archie MacLaren said of him, "Compared to Victor I was a cab-horse to a Derby...
(b. 1877), cricketer - 18 July – Marshall HallMarshall Hall (musician)George William Louis Marshall-Hall was an English-born musician, composer, conductor, poet and controversialist who lived and worked in Australia from 1891 till his death in 1915...
(b. 1862), musician - 2 August – John DownerJohn DownerSir John William Downer, KCMG was the Premier of South Australia from 16 June 1885 until 11 June 1887 and again from 1892 to 1893. He was the first of three Australian politicians from the Downer family dynasty.-Early life:...
(b. 1843), Premier of South Australia (1885–1887, 1892–1893) - 8 October – E. Phillips FoxE. Phillips Fox- Education :Fox was born on 12 March 1865 to Alexander Fox and Rosetta Phillips at 12 Victoria Parade in Fitzroy, Melbourne, into a legal family whose firm, DLA Phillips Fox, still exists. He studied art at the National Gallery School in Melbourne from 1878 until 1886 under G. F...
(b. 1865), painter - 20 November – Robert Barr SmithRobert Barr SmithRobert Barr Smith was an Australian businessman and philanthropist.Smith was born at Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, Scotland, the son of the Rev...
(b. 1824), businessman and philanthropist - 4 December – George RichardsGeorge Richards (Australian politician)George Richards was an Australian politician, elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly on a platform promising trams down Lyons road in Drummoyne...
(b. 1865), NSW politician - 21 December – Thomas Sergeant HallThomas Sergeant HallThomas Sergeant Hall was an Australian geologist and biologist, recipient of The Murchison Fund in 1901.-Early life:...
(b. 1858), geologist and biologist