1919 in Australia
Encyclopedia
See also:
1918 in Australia
,
other events of 1919,
1920 in Australia
and the
Timeline of Australian history
.
1918 in Australia
1918 in Australia
See also:1917 in Australia,other events of 1918,1919 in Australia and theTimeline of Australian history.1918 in Australia was dominated by national participation in World War I...
,
other events of 1919,
1920 in Australia
1920 in Australia
See also:1919 in Australia,other events of 1920,1921 in Australia and theTimeline of Australian history.-Incumbents:*Monarch – King George V*Governor-General – Ronald Munro-Ferguson , then Henry Forster*Prime Minister – Billy Hughes...
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...
– 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...
– 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 – T.J. Ryan (until 22 October), then Ted TheodoreTed TheodoreEdward Granville Theodore was an Australian politician. He was Premier of Queensland 1919–25, a federal politician representing a New South Wales seat 1927–31, and Federal Treasurer 1929–30.-Early life:...
- 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:...
- Premier of Tasmania – Walter LeeWalter Lee (Australian politician)Sir Walter Henry Lee KCMG was an Australian politician and member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. He was Premier of Tasmania on three occasions: from 15 April 1916 to 12 August 1922; from 14 August 1923 to 25 October 1923; and from 15 March 1934 to 22 June 1934.Lee was born in Longford in...
- Premier of Victoria – Harry LawsonHarry LawsonSir Harry Sutherland Wightman Lawson KCMG , Australian politician, was the 27th Premier of Victoria.Lawson was born in Dunolly, the son of a Presbyterian clergyman of Scottish descent. He was educated at a local school and then briefly Scotch College in Melbourne. He was a noted Australian rules...
- 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...
– Sir Henry LefroyHenry LefroySir Henry Bruce Lefroy KCMG was the eleventh Premier of Western Australia.-Biography:Lefroy was born in Perth, Western Australia on 24 March 1854. His father was Anthony O'Grady Lefroy, Colonial Treasurer of Western Australia for over 30 years...
(until 17 April), then Sir Hal ColebatchHal ColebatchSir Harry Pateshall Colebatch CMG , better known as Sir Hal Colebatch, was a long-serving and occasionally controversial figure in Western Australian politics...
(until 17 May), then James MitchellJames Mitchell (Australian politician)Sir James Mitchell GCMG was the 13th Premier of Western Australia, serving on two occasions, the Lieutenant-Governor of Western Australia for 15 years and the 22nd Governor of Western Australia....
State governors
- Governor of New South Wales – Walter DavidsonWalter Edward DavidsonSir Walter Edward Davidson KCMG was a colonial Administrator and diplomat. He served periods as Governor of the Seychelles, Governor of Newfoundland and as Governor of New South Wales, in which he died in office....
- Governor of Queensland – 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:...
- Governor of South Australia – 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 – Francis NewdegateFrancis NewdegateSir Francis Alexander Newdigate Newdegate GCMG was Governor of Tasmania from 1917 to 1920, and Governor of Western Australia from 1920 to 1924....
- 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;...
– 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:...
Events
- 1 March – The PottsThe PottsThe Potts is said to be the world's longest-running cartoon strip drawn by the same artist. The strip appeared in Australia's The Sun News-Pictorial. It was syndicated in the United States from 1957 to 1962, during which time it was renamed Uncle Dick...
, believed to be the world's longest running cartoon strip drawn by the same artist, is first published in The Sun News-PictorialThe Sun News-PictorialThe Sun News-Pictorial, commonly known as The Sun, was a morning daily tabloid newspaper in Melbourne, Australia established in 1922 and closed in 1990.It was part of The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd stable of Melbourne newspapers...
. - 24 March – one of the most notable incidents of the Red Flag RiotsRed Flag RiotsThe Red Flag Riots were a series of violent demonstrations and attacks that occurred in Queensland, Australia over the course of 1918–19. The attacks were largely undertaken by returned soldiers from the First Australian Imperial Force and were focused upon socialists and other elements of society...
occurred in Brisbane, Queensland, when a crowd of returned servicemen clashed with police. The incident had been sparked the previous day by a socialist demonstration against the continued operation of the War Precautions Act, which had angered many of the returned soldiers. - 1 June – A mutiny occurs on board the Royal Australian NavyRoyal Australian NavyThe Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
battlecruiserBattlecruiserBattlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...
HMAS AustraliaHMAS Australia (1911)HMAS Australia was one of three s built for the defence of the British Empire. Ordered by the Australian government in 1909, she was launched in 1911, and commissioned as flagship of the fledgling Royal Australian Navy in 1913...
shortly after it arrives in Fremantle, Western AustraliaFremantle, Western AustraliaFremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
. - 28 June – The Treaty of Versailles is signed in FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, bringing Australia's involvement in 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...
to an end. - 18 October – Sir Adrian KnoxAdrian KnoxSir Adrian Knox KCMG, KC , Australian judge, was the second Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, sitting on the bench of the High Court from 1919 to 1930.-Education:...
is appointed Chief Justice of the High CourtChief Justice of AustraliaThe Chief Justice of Australia is the informal title for the presiding justice of the High Court of Australia and the highest-ranking judicial officer in the Commonwealth of Australia...
. - 28 October – The Treaty of Peace (Germany) Act 1919 receives Royal AssentRoyal AssentThe granting of royal assent refers to the method by which any constitutional monarch formally approves and promulgates an act of his or her nation's parliament, thus making it a law...
, confirming Australia's membership as a sovereign nation in the new League of NationsLeague of NationsThe League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
, and indicating Australia's independence from the United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. - 10 December – Keith and Ross Smith, piloting a Vickers VimyVickers VimyThe Vickers Vimy was a British heavy bomber aircraft of the First World War and post-First World War era. It achieved success as both a military and civil aircraft, setting several notable records in long-distance flights in the interwar period, the most celebrated of which was the first non-stop...
, reach DarwinDarwin, Northern TerritoryDarwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
at the end of the first England to Australia flightEngland to Australia flightIn 1919 the Australian government offered a prize of £A10,000 for the first Australians in a British aircraft to fly from Great Britain to Australia. Of the six entries that started the race, the winners were two brothers and their two crew in a Vickers Vimy....
. - 19 December – A federal electionAustralian federal election, 1919Federal elections were held in Australia on 13 December 1919. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Nationalist Party of Australia led by Prime Minister of Australia Billy Hughes defeated the opposition Australian...
is held. The incumbent Nationalist PartyNationalist Party of AustraliaThe Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime...
of Billy HughesBilly HughesWilliam Morris "Billy" Hughes, CH, KC, MHR , Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923....
defeats the Australian Labor PartyAustralian Labor PartyThe Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
of Frank TudorFrank TudorFrancis Gwynne "Frank" Tudor was an Australian-born felt hatter and politician. He was the leader of the Australian Labor Party from 1916 till his death.-Early life:...
. - 24 December – The Electrical Trades Union of AustraliaElectrical Trades Union of AustraliaThe Electrical Trades Union of Australia is a trade union in Australia which has a history stretching back over 100 years. In its modern form the ETU is a division of the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union , although it is possibly the most well known of the three divisions...
is federally registered under the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act, 1904. - The worldwide Spanish fluSpanish fluThe 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
epidemic continues, eventually claiming almost 12,000 lives in Australia. - At the Paris Peace Conference, 1919Paris Peace Conference, 1919The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities...
Australian delegates succeed in excluding recognition of the principle of racial equalityRacial equalityRacial equality means different things in different contexts. It mostly deals with an equal regard to all races.It can refer to a belief in biological equality of all human races....
in the League of Nations Covenant.
Arts and literature
- 10 September – J. F. ArchibaldJ. F. ArchibaldJules François Archibald, known as J. F. Archibald, , Australian journalist and publisher, was co-owner and editor of The Bulletin during the days of its greatest influence in Australian politics and literary life...
, founding editor of the The BulletinThe BulletinThe Bulletin was an Australian weekly magazine that was published in Sydney from 1880 until January 2008. It was influential in Australian culture and politics from about 1890 until World War I, the period when it was identified with the "Bulletin school" of Australian literature. Its influence...
dies, bequeathing money which would be used to award the Archibald PrizeArchibald PrizeThe Archibald Prize is regarded as the most important portraiture prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after a bequest from J. F. Archibald, the editor of The Bulletin who died in 1919...
for portraiture.
Births
- 6 January – Geoffrey BinghamGeoffrey BinghamReverend Geoffrey Cyril Bingham AM, MM, was an Australian author and Minister in the Anglican Church of Australia.Geoff Bingham was born in Goulburn, New South Wales...
, author and Anglican minister (d. 2009) - 3 February – Bill AlleyBill AlleyWilliam Edward Alley was a cricketer who played 400 first-class matches for New South Wales, Somerset and a Commonwealth XI....
, cricketer (d. 2004) - 16 February – Keith CarmodyKeith CarmodyDouglas Keith Carmody was an Australian first class cricketer who played during the 1940s and 1950s.He was Western Australia's captain when they won their first ever Sheffield Shield and is credited as being the inventor of the 'umbrella field'.Born in Mosman, Carmody started his career with New...
, cricketer (d. 1977) - 22 February – Mary MaguireMary MaguireMary Maguire was an Australian actress who briefly became a Hollywood and British film star in the late 1930s.-Childhood and Career in Australia:...
, actress (d. 1974) - 1 March – Reg SpriggReg SpriggReginald Claude Sprigg, AO, HonDSc ANU, HonDSc Flinders, MSc Adelaide, FTSE was an Australian geologist and conservationist. At age 17 he became the youngest Fellow of the Royal Society of South Australia. In 1946, in the Ediacara Hills, South Australia he discovered the Ediacara biota, an...
, geologist (d. 1994) - 20 March – Pat NortonPat NortonPatricia "Pat" Norton later Down was an Australian backstroke swimmer who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany....
, backstroke swimmer (d. 2007) - 25 March – William WadeWilliam Wade (Australian politician)Arthur William Wade was an Australian politician, elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.Wade was born in the Newcastle suburb of Carrington and educated at Carrington Public School and Broadmeadow High School. During World War II he served in the Second Australian...
, NSW politician - 28 March – Tom BrooksTom BrooksThomas Francis Brooks OAM was an Australian Test cricket match umpire who was born in Paddington, New South Wales...
, cricketer (d. 2007) - 10 April – Vernon WilcoxVernon WilcoxVernon Francis Wilcox CBE QC was an Australian politician. In a political career spanning twenty years, he represented the electorate of Camberwell in the Victorian Legislative Assembly and held many positions in the Victorian Cabinet...
, politician (d. 2004) - 1 May – Lance BarnardLance BarnardLance Herbert Barnard AO , Australian politician, was Deputy Prime Minister of Australia for most of the Labor government of Gough Whitlam....
, Deputy Prime Minister (d. 1997) - 15 May – Tom Drake-Brockman, politician (d. 1992)
- 22 May – Peter HowsonPeter Howson (Australian politician)Peter Howson, CMG was an Australian politician.-Biography:Howson was born in London, England in 1919 to Jessie and George Arthur Howson, and was educated at Stowe School and Trinity College, Cambridge...
, politician (d. 2009) - 28 May – Olga MastersOlga MastersOlga Masters née Lawler was an Australian journalist, novelist and short story writer.-Life:Olga Masters was born in Pambula, New South Wales, the second of eight children. Her early life was characterised by the poverty of the depression era, her family moving around the South Coast region in...
, writer (d. 1986) - 24 June – Fabian "Fabe" McCarthy, rugby union footballer
- 14 September – Gil LangleyGil LangleyGilbert Roche Andrews "Gil" Langley was an Australian Test cricketer, champion Australian rules footballer and member of parliament, serving as Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly....
, cricketer (d. 2001) - 6 October – Abe SaffronAbe SaffronAbraham Gilbert "Abe" Saffron was an Australian nightclub owner and property developer who was reputed to have been one of the major figures in Australian organised crime in the latter half of the 20th century....
, Sydney crime figure (d. 2006) - 7 October – Zelman CowenZelman CowenSir Zelman Cowen, was the 19th Governor-General of Australia. He is currently the oldest living former Governor-General of Australia.-Early life:...
, Governor General of Australia - 5 November – Thomas O'DwyerThomas O'DwyerThomas Edmund O'Dwyer was an Australian cricketer, also known as The Bowling Baritone....
, cricketer (d. 2005) - 19 November – Margaret WhitlamMargaret WhitlamMargaret Whitlam AO is a prominent Australian personality and the wife of former Prime Minister of Australia Gough Whitlam...
, wife of Gough Whitlam - 7 December – Wilfred ArthurWilfred ArthurWilfred Stanley Arthur DSO, DFC was an Australian fighter ace of World War II. He is officially credited with ten aerial victories...
, World War II fighter ace (d. 2000) - 10 December – Jean LeeJean Lee (murderer)Jean Lee was an Australian woman, convicted of murder, and notable as the last woman to be executed in Australia.- Life :...
, last woman executed in Australia (d. 1951) - 17 December – Geraldine HallsCharlotte JayCharlotte Jay was the pseudonym adopted by Australian mystery writer and novelist, Geraldine Halls . One of the best and most singular authors of the suspense era , she wrote only nine crime books, but their unorthodoxy secured her a high place in Mystery Hall of Fame.Jay was Hall's maiden name and...
(pen name: Charlotte Jay), mystery novelist (d. 1996) - 29 December – Malcolm Mackay, politician (d. 1999)
Deaths
- 4 February – Richard Bowyer SmithRichard Bowyer SmithRichard Bowyer Smith was an Australian inventor.Under R.B. Smith's direction, his brother Clarence Herbert Smith created the first stump-jump plough, entitled the Vixen, in 1876...
(b. 1837), inventor - 20 March – Sir Edward Charles StirlingEdward Charles StirlingSir Edward Charles Stirling was an Australian anthropologist and the first professor of physiology at the University of Adelaide.-Early life:...
(b. 1848), anthropologist - 8 June – Henry Briggs (b. 1844), WA politician
- 21 June – Sir Thomas à BeckettThomas à BeckettSir Thomas à Beckett was an Australian solicitor and judge.-Personal:Thomas à Beckett was born in London, England...
(b. 1836), solicitor and judge - 25 July – Nat GouldNathaniel GouldNathaniel Gould, always known as Nat Gould, was a British novelist.Gould was born at Manchester, Lancashire, the only surviving child of Nathaniel Gould, a tea merchant, and his wife Mary, née Wright. Both parents came from Derbyshire yeomen families. The boy was indulgently brought up and well...
(b. 1857), British novelist - 25 July – Samuel McCaugheySamuel McCaugheySir Samuel McCaughey was an Irish-born pastoralist, politician and philanthropist in Australia.-Early life:McCaughey was born at Tullyneuh, near Ballymena, Ireland, the son of Francis McCaughey, farmer and merchant, and his wife Eliza, née Wilson.McCaughey came to Australia with an uncle, Charles...
(b. 1835), pastoralist - 30 July – Sir Simon FraserSimon Fraser (Australian politician)Sir Simon Fraser , Australian politician, was a member of the Australian Senate and the grandfather of Malcolm Fraser, Prime Minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983....
(b. 1832), politician - 4 August – Dave GregoryDave Gregory (cricketer)David William Gregory was an Australian cricketer of the 19th century. A right-handed batsman, Gregory was the first Australian national cricket captain, leading the side for the first three recognised Test matches between England and Australia in March and April 1877 and January 1879...
(b. 1845), cricketer - 10 September – J.F. Archibald (b. 1856), publisher and journalist
- 12 September – John Mark DaviesJohn Mark DaviesSir John Mark Davies KCMG was an English-born Australian politician.Born in Halstead, England in 1840, Davies was the fifth eldest of the six boys and six girls of Ebenezer Davies and Ruth Bartlett. Two of the younger boys were educated at Geelong Grammar School...
(b. 1840), Victorian politician - 24 September – Frank LaverFrank LaverFrank Jonas Laver Frank Jonas Laver Frank Jonas Laver (7 December 1869, Castlemaine, Victoria 24 September 1919, East Melbourne, Victoria was an Australian cricketer who played in 15 Tests from 1899 to 1909....
(b. 1869), cricketer - 7 October – Alfred DeakinAlfred DeakinAlfred Deakin , Australian politician, was a leader of the movement for Australian federation and later the second Prime Minister of Australia. In the last quarter of the 19th century, Deakin was a major contributor to the establishment of liberal reforms in the colony of Victoria, including the...
(b. 1856), Prime Minister of Australia - 25 October – William KidstonWilliam KidstonWilliam Kidston was an Australian politician and Premier of Queensland, from January 1906 to November 1907 and again from February 1908 to February 1911.-Early life:...
(b. 1849), Premier of Queensland (1906–1907, 1908–1911) - 2 November – Mephan FergusonMephan FergusonMephan Ferguson was an Australian manufacturer, particularly of water supply pipes, notably for the pipleline to the Western Australian goldfields. He was born in Falkirk, Scotland. He immigrated with his parents to Melbourne in the colony of Victoria in Australia arriving in 1854...
(b. 1843), manufacturer - 20 December – Sir Philip FyshPhilip FyshSir Philip Oakley Fysh, KCMG was an Australian politician, Premier of Tasmania and a member of the first federal ministry....
(b. 1835), Premier of Tasmania (1877–1878, 1887–1892) - 25 December – Sir Edwin Thomas SmithEdwin Thomas SmithSir Edwin Thomas Smith KCMG was an English-born South Australian brewer, businessman, councillor, mayor, politician and benefactor.-Early years:...
(b. 1830), SA politician