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1900 in Australia
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November 2019
February 2012
October 2022
1900 Australia Template:Year in Australia: Parameter 1=year required! Flag of the United Kingdom.svg 90px
Other events of 1900
Timeline of Australian history
The following lists events that happened during 1900 in Australia.
Incumbents
Monarch – Queen Victoria
Governor-General – John Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun (from 29 October 1900)
Note: Legislation enabling the federation of Australia had been passed in the colonies and the United Kingdom, but proclamation of the Commonwealth of Australia was not set to occur until 1 January 1901. Although this meant that there was no Prime Minister of Australia in 1900, the role of Governor-General was established prior to proclamation through letters patent.http://foundingdocs.gov.au/item-did-13.html Letters Patent constituting the office of Governor-General 29 October 1900 (UK) Documenting a Democracy Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House 17 April 2026
Governors of the Australian colonies
Governor of New South Wales – William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp
Governor of Queensland – Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington
Governor of South Australia – Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson
Governor of Tasmania – Jenico Preston, 14th Viscount Gormanston (until 14 August)
Governor of Victoria – Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey (until 31 March)
Premier of New South Wales – William Lyne
Premier of South Australia – Frederick Holder
Premier of Queensland – Robert Philp
Premier of Tasmania – Elliott Lewis
Premier of Western Australia – John Forrest
Premier of Victoria – Allan McLean (until 19 November), then George Turner
Events
3 January – Electric lighting is installed on Adelaide streets.
25 January – State Labour politicians meet in Sydney to formally found the federal Labour party.
25 March – The S.S. Glenelg is wrecked off the Victorian coast, resulting in 31 deaths.
March to May – Record rainfall and flooding affect the Pilbara and Gascoyne regions of Western Australia
9 May – The Sierra Nevada is wrecked off Portsea, Victoria; 23 lives are lost.
2 July – Snow falls to extremely low levels in New South Wales, being recorded as low as Forbes.
5 July – The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act (UK) is passed.
24 July – Neville Howse rescues a fallen ally under heavy fire during the Second Boer War, becoming the first Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross.
8 August – The first Australian contingents of naval volunteers set sail for China to assist British and international troops during the Boxer Rebellion.
17 October – Natural gas is found at Roma in Queensland
27 October – Notorious murderer Jimmy Governor is apprehended near Wingham, New South Wales.
15 December – Upon his arrival in Australia, the first Governor-General, Lord Hopetoun, commits the so-called Hopetoun Blunder.
Film
14 September – The film Soldiers of the Cross is shown in Melbourne, one of the first films shown in Australia. (IMDb entry)
Literature
1900 in Australian literature
Births
8 January – Merlyn Myer, Australian philanthropist (died 1982)
25 January – Harold Raggatt, public servant (died 1968)
12 February – Sir Ragnar Garrett, army officer (died 1977)Sir Alwyn Ragnar Garrett (1900–1977)
7 March – Sir Lorimer Dods, medical pioneer (died 1981)
29 March – John McEwen, caretaker Prime Minister (1967–1968) (died 1980)
26 April – Alice Berry, social activist (died 1978)https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/berry-dame-alice-miriam-9496 https://web.archive.org/web/20160305152309/http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/berry-dame-alice-miriam-9496 live 2016-03-05 Biography - Dame Alice Miriam Berry - Australian Dictionary of Biography 2016-03-05 2017-10-22
29 April – Amelia Best, politician (died 1979)besta521 1900 25 August 2022
4 July – Belinda Dann, centenarian, longest-lived member of the Stolen Generation (died 2007).http://www.abc.net.au/news/2007-10–25/pilbara-woman-dies-at-107/709046 Pilbara woman dies at 107 25 October 2007 ABC News 27 June 2018
29 July – Mary V. Austin, community worker and political activist (died 1986)http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/IMP0008b.htm Austin, Mary Valentine Hall - Woman - The Australian Women's Register Melbourne National Foundation for Australian Women and The University of womenaustralia.info en-gb 2017-10-20 October 21, 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20171021111452/http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/IMP0008b.htm live
1 August – Otto Nothling, rugby union and cricket player (died 1965)Otto Ernest Nothling (1900–1965)
16 August – Ida Browne, geologist and palaeontologist (died 1976)https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/browne-ida-alison-10004 https://web.archive.org/web/20170216021835/http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/browne-ida-alison-10004 live 2017-02-16 Biography - Ida Alison Browne - Australian Dictionary of Biography 2017-02-16 2017-10-22
9 October – Frank O'Grady, Australian public servant (d. 1981)https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ogrady-francis-phillip-15400 https://web.archive.org/web/20141121104408/http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ogrady-francis-phillip-15400 21 November 2014 live O'Grady, Francis Phillip (1900–1981) Peter Putnis Australian National University Australian Dictionary of Biography
19 October – Bill Ponsford, cricketer (died 1991)
20 October – Jack Lindsay, writer (died 1990)
3 December
Karna Maria Birmingham, artist, illustrator and print maker (died 1987)https://www.daao.org.au/bio/karna-marie-birmingham/personal_details/ Karna Marie Birmingham - biography at Design and Art Australia Online daao.org.au en 2017-10-22 October 22, 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20171022141829/https://www.daao.org.au/bio/karna-marie-birmingham/personal_details/ live
Albert Hawke, Premier of Western Australia (1953–1959) (died 1989)
10 December – Eric Costa, politician (died 1976)
Deaths
17 July – Thomas McIlwraith, former Queensland premier (born 1835)
22 August – Dagmar Berne, medical doctor and the first female student to study medicine in Australia (born 1866)
17 November – John Ferris, Australian cricketer (born 1867)
Population
3,765,3392024-07-16 Historical population, 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/historical-population/latest-release 2026-04-17 www.abs.gov.au en
See also
List of Australian films before 1910
References
1900
Australia
Category:Years of the 19th century in Australia
Australia
Australia