Governors

• Governor of New South Wales – Sir William Denison
  William Denison
  Sir William Thomas Denison, KCB was Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land from 1847 to 1855, Governor of New South Wales from 20 January 1855 to 22 January 1861, and Governor of Madras from 1861 to 1866....
  
  
• Governor of South Australia – Sir Richard MacDonnell
  Richard Graves MacDonnell
  Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell KCMG CB was an Anglo-Irish lawyer, judge and colonial governor...
  
  
• Governor of Tasmania – Sir Henry Young
  Henry Young
  Sir Henry Edward Fox Young, KCMG was the fifth Governor of South Australia, serving in that role from 2 August 1848 until 20 December 1854. He was then the first Governor of Tasmania, from 1855 until 1861.-Early life:...
  
  
• Governor of Victoria – Sir Henry Barkly
  Henry Barkly
  Sir Henry Barkly, GCMG, KCB, FRS, FRGS was a British politician, colonial governor and patron of the sciences.-Early life and education:...
  
  
• Governor of Western Australia as a Crown Colony
  Governor of Western Australia
  The 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;...
  
   – Sir Arthur Kennedy
  Arthur Edward Kennedy
  Sir Arthur Edward Kennedy GCMG CB was a British colonial administrator who served as governor of a number of British colonies, namely Sierra Leone, Western Australia, Vancouver Island, Hong Kong and Queensland....
  
  

Premiers

• Premier of New South Wales – Charles Cowper
  Charles Cowper
  Sir Charles Cowper, KCMG was an Australian politician and the Premier of New South Wales on five different occasions from 1856 to 1870....
  
  
• Premier of South Australia – Richard Hanson
  Richard Hanson (Australian politician)
  Sir Richard Davies Hanson , was the fourth Premier of South Australia, from 30 September 1857 until 8 May 1860, and was a Chief Judge from 20 November 1861 until 4 March 1876 on the Supreme Court of South Australia, which is the highest ranking court in the Australian State of South...
  
  
• Premier of Tasmania – Francis Smith
  Francis Smith (Australian politician)
  Sir Francis Villeneuve Smith was a British lawyer, judge and politician, who was the fourth Premier of Tasmania from 12 May 1857 until 1 November 1860....
  
  
• Premier of Victoria – Dr William Haines
  William Haines (Australian politician)
  Dr William Clark Haines , Australian colonial politician, was the first Premier of Victoria.Haines was born in London, the son of John Haines, a physician. He was educated at Charterhouse School and Caius College, Cambridge, where he graduated in medicine; he later practiced surgery for several years...
  
   (until 10 March), then John O'Shanassy
  John O'Shanassy
  Sir John O'Shanassy, KCMG , Australian colonial politician, was the 2nd Premier of Victoria. O'Shanassy was born near Thurles in County Tipperary, Ireland, the son of a surveyor, and came to the Port Phillip District in 1839...
  
  

Events

• 12 July – The first edition of The Advertiser
  The Advertiser (Australia)
  The Advertiser is a daily tabloid-format newspaper published in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. First published as a broadsheet named "The South Australian Advertiser" on 12 July 1858, it is currently printed daily from Monday to Saturday. A Sunday edition exists under the name of the Sunday...
  
  newspaper is published in Adelaide, South Australia.
• 7 August – The first recorded game of Australian rules football
  Australian rules football
  Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
  
   is played between Melbourne Grammar School
  Melbourne Grammar School
  Melbourne Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, located in South Yarra and Caulfield, suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
  
   and Scotch College
  Scotch College, Melbourne
  Scotch College, Melbourne is an independent, Presbyterian, day and boarding school for boys, located in Hawthorn, an inner-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
  
   at Yarra Park
  Yarra Park, Melbourne
  Yarra Park is part of the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct - the premier sporting precinct of Victoria, Australia. Located in Yarra Park is the Melbourne Cricket Ground and numerous sporting fields and ovals, including the associated sporting complexes of Melbourne & Olympic Parks...
  
  .
• 10 September – Fitzroy, Victoria
  Fitzroy, Victoria
  Fitzroy is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra. Its borders are Alexandra Parade , Victoria Parade , Smith Street and Nicholson Street. Fitzroy is Melbourne's...
  
   becomes a municipality in its own right, after separating from the City of Melbourne
  City of Melbourne
  The City of Melbourne is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central city area of Melbourne. The city has an area of 36 square kilometres and has an estimated population of 93,105 people. The city's motto is "Vires acquirit eundo" which means "She gathers strength as she...
  
  .
• 8 December – The construction of St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne
  St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne
  St Patrick's Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, and seat of its archbishop, currently Denis J. Hart. The building is known internationally as a leading example of the Gothic Revival style of architecture.In 1974 Pope Paul VI...
  
   begins.

Births

• 28 January – Sir Tannatt William Edgeworth David
  Edgeworth David
  Sir Tannatt William Edgeworth David KBE, DSO, FRS, was a Welsh Australian geologist and Antarctic explorer. A household name in his lifetime, David's most significant achievements were discovering the major Hunter Valley coalfield in New South Wales and leading the first expedition to reach the...
  
  , scientist (d. 1934)
• 18 June – Sir Cornthwaite Hector William James Rason
  Cornthwaite Rason
  Sir Cornthwaite Hector William James Rason , better known as Hector Rason, was the seventh Premier of Western Australia....
  
  , Premier of Western Australia
  Premier of Western Australia
  The 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...
  
   (d. 1927).
• 5 September – Victor Daley
  Victor Daley
  Victor James William Patrick Daley was an Australian poet.He was born at the Navan, County Armagh, Ireland, and was educated at the Christian Brothers at Devonport in England. He arrived in Australia in 1878, and became a freelance journalist and writer in both Melbourne and Sydney...
  
  , poet (d. 1905)
• 27 October – Elliott Lewis
  Elliott Lewis
  Sir Neil Elliott Lewis, KCMG , Australian politician, was Premier of Tasmania on three occasions. He was also a member of the first Australian federal ministry, led by Edmund Barton....
  
  , Premier of Tasmania (d. 1935)

Deaths

• 16 February – Charles Augustus FitzRoy
  Charles Augustus FitzRoy
  Sir Charles Augustus FitzRoy, KCH, KCB was a British military officer, politician and member of the aristocracy, who held governorships in several British colonies during the 19th century.-Family and peerage:...
  
  , 10th Governor of New South Wales (b. 1796)
• 2 April – Ralph Darling
  Ralph Darling
  General Sir Ralph Darling, GCH was a British colonial Governor and Governor of New South Wales from 1825 to 1831.-Early career:...
  
  , 7th Governor of New South Wales (b. 1772)