1856 in Australia

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|

* 1855
* 1854
* 1853
*   *

|  | 1856

Australia |

* 1857
* 1858
* 1859
*   *

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|
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Decades:|

* 1830s
* 1840s
* 1850s
* 1860s
* 1870s

See also:|

* Other events of 1856
* Timeline of Australian history

The following lists events that happened during 1856 in Australia.

## Incumbents

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### Governors

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Governors of the Australian colonies:

* Governor of New South Wales – Sir William Denison
* Governor of South Australia – Sir Richard MacDonnell
* Governor of Tasmania – Sir Henry Young
* Governor of Victoria – Sir Henry Barkly
* Governor of Western Australia as a Crown Colony – Sir Arthur Kennedy.

### Premiers

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Premiers of the Australian colonies:

* Premier of New South Wales – Stuart Donaldson from 6 June to 25 August then Charles Cowper to 2 October then Henry Parker
* Premier of Queensland – office not created until 1859
* Premier of South Australia – Boyle Travers Finniss from 24 October
* Premier of Tasmania – William Champ from 1 November
* Premier of Victoria – Dr William Haines
* Premier of Western Australia – office not created until 1890

## Events

[edit]

* 6 January - French musician and composer Nicolas-Charles Bochsa dies in Sydney.
* 7 February – Tasmanian Electoral Act introduced the secret ballot, which was known elsewhere, in particular in the United States as the "Australian ballot"
* 19 March – The Electoral Act 1856 introduced the secret ballot in Victoria
* 2 April – South Australia introduced the secret ballot
* 11 April – At a public meeting in Melbourne, Dr Thomas Embling repeated the slogan "eight hours labour, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest".
* 22 May – First Parliament of New South Wales opened by the governor, Sir William Denison
* 24 June – Queen Victoria makes Norfolk Island a separate settlement from Tasmania to be administered by the Governor of New South Wales.
* 23 September – The town of Perth, Western Australia, is proclaimed a City by letters patent from Queen Victoria.
* 25 November – The first Parliament of Victoria is officially opened by the Acting Governor Edward Macarthur.[1]

## Exploration and settlement

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* 1 January – The name Tasmania officially adopted to replace Van Diemen's Land which was felt to have too many convict connotations.
* 8 June – Pitcairn Islanders arrived on Norfolk Island; the last convict had left and the island was no longer a penal colony. Queen Victoria granted the island to the Pitcairners as a home. Bounty Day is celebrated each year in Norfolk Island to commemorate the event.
* Suburb of Goodna founded in Queensland, Australia – Originally part of NSW, its 150-year anniversary was celebrated in 2006.

## Arts and literature

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Main article: 1856 in Australian literature

## Births

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Alfred Deakin

* 25 January – Sir John Hoad, 4th Chief of the General Staff (d. 1911)
* 8 March – Tom Roberts, artist (born in the United Kingdom) (d. 1931)
* 12 March – Rosetta Jane Birks, suffragist (d. 1911)
* 11 April – Sydney Smith, New South Wales politician (d. 1934)
* 15 June – William Henry O'Malley Wood, banker, public servant and surveyor (d. 1941)
* 18 June – Sir Robert Best, Victorian politician and lawyer (d. 1946)
* 3 August – Alfred Deakin, 2nd Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1919)
* 19 September – Sir Arthur Morgan, 16th Premier of Queensland (d. 1916)
* 9 October – Sir Thomas Ewing, New South Wales politician (d. 1920)
* 3 December – George Leake, 3rd Premier of Western Australia (d. 1902)

## Deaths

[edit]

* 30 January – William Buckley, convict (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1780)
* 3 May – John Wollaston, settler and clergyman (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1791)
* 17 October – William Allen, philanthropist and businessman (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1790)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "THE NEW PARLIAMENT". The Argus. Melbourne. 26 November 1856. p. 4. Retrieved 16 February 2012 - via National Library of Australia.

* v
* t
* e

Years in Australia (1788–present)

18th century|

* 1788
* 1789
* 1790
* 1791
* 1792
* 1793
* 1794
* 1795
* 1796
* 1797
* 1798
* 1799
* 1800

19th century|

* 1801
* 1802
* 1803
* 1804
* 1805
* 1806
* 1807
* 1808
* 1809
* 1810
* 1811
* 1812
* 1813
* 1814
* 1815
* 1816
* 1817
* 1818
* 1819
* 1820
* 1821
* 1822
* 1823
* 1824
* 1825
* 1826
* 1827
* 1828
* 1829
* 1830
* 1831
* 1832
* 1833
* 1834
* 1835
* 1836
* 1837
* 1838
* 1839
* 1840
* 1841
* 1842
* 1843
* 1844
* 1845
* 1846
* 1847
* 1848
* 1849
* 1850
* 1851
* 1852
* 1853
* 1854
* 1855
* 1856
* 1857
* 1858
* 1859
* 1860
* 1861
* 1862
* 1863
* 1864
* 1865
* 1866
* 1867
* 1868
* 1869
* 1870
* 1871
* 1872
* 1873
* 1874
* 1875
* 1876
* 1877
* 1878
* 1879
* 1880
* 1881
* 1882
* 1883
* 1884
* 1885
* 1886
* 1887
* 1888
* 1889
* 1890
* 1891
* 1892
* 1893
* 1894
* 1895
* 1896
* 1897
* 1898
* 1899
* 1900

20th century|

* 1901
* 1902
* 1903
* 1904
* 1905
* 1906
* 1907
* 1908
* 1909
* 1910
* 1911
* 1912
* 1913
* 1914
* 1915
* 1916
* 1917
* 1918
* 1919
* 1920
* 1921
* 1922
* 1923
* 1924
* 1925
* 1926
* 1927
* 1928
* 1929
* 1930
* 1931
* 1932
* 1933
* 1934
* 1935
* 1936
* 1937
* 1938
* 1939
* 1940
* 1941
* 1942
* 1943
* 1944
* 1945
* 1946
* 1947
* 1948
* 1949
* 1950
* 1951
* 1952
* 1953
* 1954
* 1955
* 1956
* 1957
* 1958
* 1959
* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000

21st century|

* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024

Timeline of Australian history

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* e

1856 in Oceania

Sovereign states|

* Australia
* Federated States of Micronesia
* Fiji
* Kiribati
* Marshall Islands
* Nauru
* New Zealand
* Palau
* Papua New Guinea
* Samoa
* Solomon Islands
* Tonga
* Tuvalu
* Vanuatu

Associated states
of New Zealand|

* Cook Islands
* Niue

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