Governors

• Governor of New South Wales
  Governors of New South Wales
  The Governor of New South Wales is the state viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who is equally shared with 15 other sovereign nations in a form of personal union, as well as with the eleven other jurisdictions of Australia, and resides predominantly in her...
  
   – Lord Augustus Loftus
• Governor of Queensland
  Governors of Queensland
  The Governor of Queensland is the representative in the state of Queensland of the Queen of Australia. The Governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the Governor-General of Australia at the national level....
  
   – Arthur Edward 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....
  
  
• Governor of South Australia
  Governors of South Australia
  The Governor of South Australia is the representative in the Australian state of South Australia of Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia. The Governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the Governor-General of Australia at the national level.In...
  
   – Sir William Jervois
  William Jervois
  Sir William Francis Drummond Jervois, GCMG, CB was a British military engineer who saw service, as Second Captain, in South Africa...
  
  
• Governor of Tasmania
  Governors of Tasmania
  The Governor of Tasmania is the representative in the Australian state of Tasmania of Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia. The Governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as the Governor-General of Australia does at the national level.In accordance with the...
  
   – Major Sir George Strahan
  George Strahan
  Major Sir George Cumine Strahan KCMG was a British military officer and colonial administrator, best known as the Governor of Tasmania from 1881 to 1886.-Early life and military career:...
  
  
• Governor of Victoria
  Governors of Victoria
  The Governor of Victoria is the representative in the Australian state of Victoria of its monarch, Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia. The Governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the Governor-General of Australia at the national level...
  
   – George Phipps, 2nd Marquess of Normanby
  George Phipps, 2nd Marquess of Normanby
  George Augustus Constantine Phipps, 2nd Marquess of Normanby, GCB, GCMG, PC , styled Viscount Normanby between 1831 and 1838 and Earl of Mulgrave between 1838 and 1863, was a British Liberal politician and colonial governor.-Background:Normanby was born in London, the son of Constantine Phipps, 1st...
  
  
• Governor of Western Australia
  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;...
  
   – (office first formed in 1890)

Premiers

• Premier of New South Wales
  Premiers of New South Wales
  The Premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature...
  
   – Henry Parkes
  Henry Parkes
  Sir Henry Parkes, GCMG was an Australian statesman, the "Father of Federation." As the earliest advocate of a Federal Council of the colonies of Australia, a precursor to the Federation of Australia, he was the most prominent of the Australian Founding Fathers.Parkes was described during his...
  
  
• Premier of Queensland
  Premiers of Queensland
  Before the 1890s, there was no developed party system in Queensland. Political affiliation labels before that time indicate a general tendency only. Before the end of the first decade of the twentieth century, political parties were more akin to parliamentary factions, and were fluid, informal and...
  
   – Thomas McIlwraith
  Thomas McIlwraith
  Sir Thomas McIlwraith KCMG was for many years the dominant figure of colonial politics in Queensland. He was Premier of Queensland from 1877 to 1883, again in 1888, and for a third time in 1893...
  
  
• Premier of South Australia
  Premiers of South Australia
  Before the 1890s when there was no formal party system in South Australia, MPs tended to have historical liberal or conservative beliefs. The liberals dominated government from 1893 to 1905 with Labor support, with the conservatives mostly in opposition. Labor took government with the support of...
  
   – John Cox Bray
  John Cox Bray
  Sir John Cox Bray KCMG JP was a prominent South Australian politician and the first native-born Premier of South Australia .-Early life:...
  
  
• Premier of Tasmania
  Premiers of Tasmania
  The Premier of Tasmania is the head of the executive government in the Australian state of Tasmania. By convention, the party or political grouping which has majority support in the House of Assembly will nominate its leader to be Premier. The nominated politician is then invited by the Governor of...
  
   – William Giblin
  William Giblin
  William Robert Giblin was Premier of Tasmania from 5 March 1878 until 20 December 1878 and from 1879 until 1884.-Early life:...
  
  
• Premier of Victoria
  Premiers of Victoria
  The Premier of Victoria is the leader of the government in the Australian state of Victoria. The Premier is appointed by the Governor of Victoria, and is the leader of the political party able to secure a majority in the Legislative Assembly....
  
   – Sir Bryan O'Loghlen
  Bryan O'Loghlen
  Sir Bryan O'Loghlen, 3rd Baronet , Australian colonial politician, was the 13th Premier of Victoria.-Biography:...
  
  
• 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...
  
   – office first formed in 1890

Events

• 1 January – Bilateral conventions for the exchange of money order
  Money order
  A money order is a payment order for a pre-specified amount of money. Because it is required that the funds be prepaid for the amount shown on it, it is a more trusted method of payment than a cheque.-History of money orders:...
  
  s come into effect between the United States of America
  United States
  The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
  
   and the colonies of New South Wales
  New South Wales
  New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
  
   and Victoria
  Victoria (Australia)
  Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
  
  .
• 2 February – A cyclone
  Cyclone
  In meteorology, a cyclone is an area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the Earth. This is usually characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth. Most large-scale...
  
   causes considerable damage to the town of Cardwell, Queensland
  Cardwell, Queensland
  Cardwell is a tropical coastal town in northeastern Queensland. It is located at the southern extremity of the Cassowary Coast. At the 2006 census, Cardwell had a population of 1,250. The Bruce Highway National Highway 1 and the North Coast railway line are the dominant transport routes;...
  
  .
• 8 May – Planning begins on the Working Men's College in Melbourne (now RMIT University
  RMIT University
  RMIT University is an Australian public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. It has two branches, referred to as RMIT University in Australia and RMIT International University in Vietnam....
  
  ).
• 31 May – The steamer Pretty Jane is wrecked on the Ninety Mile Beach
  Ninety Mile Beach
  Ninety Mile Beach may refer to:*Ninety Mile Beach , in Australia*Ninety Mile Beach, Western Australia*Ninety Mile Beach, New Zealand de:Ninety Mile Beach...
  
  , 30 km west of Lakes Entrance
  Lakes Entrance, Victoria
  Lakes Entrance is a tourist resort and fishing port in eastern Victoria, Australia. It is situated approximately east of Melbourne, near a managed, man-made channel connecting the Gippsland Lakes to the Bass Strait. At the 2006 census, Lakes Entrance had a population of 4,094.The township was...
  
  . No lives were lost.

Science and technology

• 6 December – A rare Transit of Venus
  Transit of Venus
  A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and Earth, becoming visible against the solar disk. During a transit, Venus can be seen from Earth as a small black disk moving across the face of the Sun...
  
   across the disc of the Sun
  Sun
  The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
  
   is visible from Australia, and many scientific parties arrive from around the world to observe and record the transit. The next time this will occur will be in June 2004.^{http://outreach.atnf.csiro.au/events/transit.html}

Sport

• 17 February – The first cricket Test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground
  Sydney Cricket Ground
  The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
  
   begins.
• 29 August – The Australian cricket team
  Australian cricket team
  The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
  
   beats England
  English cricket team
  The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
  
   for the first time in a test match at The Oval
  The Oval
  The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
  
   in London
  London
  London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
  
  . A mock obituary appears in the next day's Sporting Times, mourning "the death of English cricket", which leads to the creation of The Ashes
  The Ashes
  The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
  
  .
• The Assyrian wins the Melbourne Cup
  Melbourne Cup
  The 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...
  
  
• 30 December – The first Test of the 1882–83 Ashes tour begins at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
  Melbourne Cricket Ground
  The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
  
  .

Births

• 19 January – John Cain snr.
  John Cain (senior)
  John Cain was an Australian politician, who became the 34th premier of Victoria, and was the first Australian Labor Party leader to win a majority in the Victorian Legislative Assembly. He was the only premier of Victoria whose son also served as premier.-Early life:Cain was born, one of 18...
  
   (d. 1957), Premier of Victoria
• 18 February – Harvey Sutton
  Harvey Sutton
  Harvey Vincent Sutton was an Australian athlete and public health physician. He competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics in London on the Australasia team, a combined squad of competitors from Australia and New Zealand.In the 800 metres, Sutton placed third in his initial semifinal heat and did not...
  
   (d. 1963), track and field athlete
• 24 March – Enid Derham
  Enid Derham
  Enid Derham was an Australian poet and academic.-Life:Derham was born in Hawthorn, Melbourne, Victoria, the eldest daughter of Thomas Plumley Derham, solicitor, and his wife Ellen Hyde, née Hodgson, of Melbourne. Derham was educated at Hessle College, Camberwell, then at Presbyterian Ladies'...
  
   (d. 1941), poet
• 29 April – Tom Richards (d. 1935), Australian rugby union player
• 5 May – Sir Douglas Mawson
  Douglas Mawson
  Sir Douglas Mawson, OBE, FRS, FAA was an Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer and Academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Ernest Shackleton, Mawson was a key expedition leader during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.-Early work:He was appointed geologist to an...
  
  , geologist and explorer (born in England)
• 8 July – Percy Grainger
  Percy Grainger
  George Percy Aldridge Grainger , known as Percy Grainger, was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist. In the course of a long and innovative career he played a prominent role in the revival of interest in British folk music in the early years of the 20th century. He also made many...
  
   (d. 1961), composer and pianist
• 26 July – Albert Dunstan
  Albert Dunstan
  Sir Albert Arthur Dunstan, KCMG was an Australian politician. A member of the Country Party , Dunstan was the 33rd Premier of Victoria. His term as Premier was the second-longest in the state's history, behind Sir Henry Bolte...
  
  , (d. 1950), Premier of Victoria
• 6 December – Warren Bardsley
  Warren Bardsley
  Warren "Curly" Bardsley was an Australian Test cricketer. An opening batsman, Bardsley played 41 Tests between 1909 and 1926 and over 200 first-class games for New South Wales...
  
  (d. 1954), cricketer