1861 in Australia

The following lists events that happened during 1861 in Australia.

← 1860 1859 1858 1861 in Australia → 1862 1863 1864
Decades:	1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s
See also:	Other events of 1861 Timeline of Australian history

Incumbents

Governors

Governors of the Australian colonies:

• Governor of New South Wales – Sir William Denison, then John Young, 1st Baron Lisgar[1]
• Governor of Queensland – Sir George Bowen[2]
• Governor of South Australia – Sir Richard G. MacDonnell[3]
• Governor of Tasmania – Sir Henry Young[4]
• Governor of Victoria – Sir Henry Barkly[5]

Premiers

Premiers of the Australian colonies:

• Premier of New South Wales – John Robertson, then Charles Cowper[6]
• Premier of Queensland – Robert Herbert[7]
• Premier of South Australia – Thomas Reynolds, then George Waterhouse[8]
• Premier of Tasmania – William Weston, then Thomas Chapman[9]
• Premier of Victoria – Richard Heales, then John O'Shanassy[10]

Events

• 13 May – The Great Comet of 1861 is discovered by John Tebbutt of Windsor, New South Wales.[11]
• 30 June – Lambing Flat riots of Lambing Flat (Young), New South Wales[12]
• 6 July – Robert Palin is hanged in Western Australia following the use of Ordinance 17 Victoria Number 7 to secure the capital punishment of a convict for a crime not normally punishable by death.[13]
• 8 July – The Geelong College is established by Reverend Alexander James Campbell in Newtown, Victoria.[14]
• October – Robertson land acts passed by Parliament of New South Wales.[15]

Arts and literature

• 24 May – National Gallery of Victoria founded[16]

Sport

• 7 November – The first Melbourne Cup is held. It is won by Archer. (List of Melbourne Cup winners).[17]

Births

• 2 August – Edith Cowan, the first Australian woman elected as a representative in an Australian parliament (d. 1932)[18]

Deaths

• 15 March – James Clow, Presbyterian minister and settler (b. 1790)[19]
• 28 June (estimated) – William John Wills (b. 1834) and Robert O'Hara Burke (b. 1821), explorers[20][21]
• 21 October – Hannibal Hawkins Macarthur, New South Wales politician and businessman (b. 1788)[22]

References

1. Ward, John M. "Young, Sir John (1807–1876)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
2. "Governors of Queensland - Government House Queensland". www.govhouse.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
3. Manhood, C. C. "MacDonnell, Sir Richard Graves (1814–1881)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
4. "Previous Governors and Lieutenant-Governors of Tasmania". Government House Tasmania. 31 January 2017. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
5. "Sir Henry Barkly | British colonial administrator". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
6. Ward, John M. "Cowper, Sir Charles (1807–1875)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
7. Moore, Tony (30 September 2017). "Queensland's first premier in 1859 was most likely gay". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
8. Tregenza, Jean F. "Waterhouse, George Marsden (1824–1906)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
9. "Premiers of Tasmania". www.parliament.tas.gov.au. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
10. Ingham, S. M. "O'Shanassy, Sir John (1818–1883)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
11. "Young man who saw stars". www.dailytelegraph.com.au. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
12. "Lambing Flat Riots | Summary & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
13. Erickson, Rica (1983). "The Unwanted". In Erickson, Rica (ed.). The Brand on His Coat: Biographies of some Western Australian Convicts. Nedlands, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press. pp. 157–223. ISBN 0-85564-223-8.
14. "Municipality of Newtown, Victoria". Museums Victoria Collections. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
15. Boucher, Leigh; Russell, Lynette (2015). Settler Colonial Governance in Nineteenth-Century Victoria. ANU Press. p. 192. ISBN 9781925022353.
16. Edwards, Geoffrey Robert; Victoria, National Gallery of (1998). Art of Glass: Glass in the Collection of the National Gallery of Victoria. Macmillan Education AU. p. 11. ISBN 9780958574310.
17. "National Museum of Australia - Melbourne Cup". www.nma.gov.au. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
18. "Edith Cowan". Royal Bank of Australia. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
19. Bradshaw, F. Maxwell. "Clow, James (1790–1861)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
20. "William John Wills". monumentaustralia.org.au. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
21. Fitzpatrick, Kathleen. "Burke, Robert O'Hara (1821–1861)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
22. Nairn, Bede. "Macarthur, Hannibal Hawkins (1788–1861)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 1 March 2019.