1909 in Australia

* 1908
* 1907
* 1906
*   *

|  | 1909

Australia |

* 1910
* 1911
* 1912
*   *

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Decades:|

* 1880s
* 1890s
* 1900s
* 1910s
* 1920s

See also:|

* 1909 in Australian literature
* Other events of 1909
*   * Timeline of Australian history

1909 in Australia

Monarch| Edward VII
Governor-General| William Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley
Prime minister| Alfred Deakin
Population| 4,272,439
Elections| Queensland, Tasmania

The following lists events that happened during 1909 in the Commonwealth of Australia.

## Incumbents

[edit]

Andrew Fisher

Alfred Deakin

* Monarch – Edward VII
* Governor-General – William Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley
* Prime Minister – Andrew Fisher (until 2 June), then Alfred Deakin
* Chief Justice – Samuel Griffith

### State premiers

[edit]

* Premier of New South Wales – Charles Wade
* Premier of South Australia – Thomas Price (until 5 June), then Archibald Peake
* Premier of Queensland – William Kidston
* Premier of Tasmania – John Evans (until 19 June), then Sir Elliott Lewis (until 20 October), then John Earle (until 27 October), then Sir Elliott Lewis
* Premier of Western Australia – Sir Newton Moore
* Premier of Victoria – Sir Thomas Bent (until 8 January), then John Murray

### State governors

[edit]

* Governor of New South Wales – Admiral Sir Harry Rawson (until 24 March), then Frederic Thesiger, 3rd Baron Chelmsford (from 28 May)
* Governor of South Australia – Sir George Le Hunte (until 2 January), then Sir Day Bosanquet (from 29 March)
* Governor of Queensland – Frederic Thesiger, 3rd Baron Chelmsford (until 26 May), then Sir William MacGregor (from 2 December)
* Governor of Tasmania – Sir Gerald Strickland (until 20 May), then Sir Harry Barron (from 29 September)
* Governor of Western Australia – Admiral Sir Frederick Bedford (until 23 April), then Sir Gerald Strickland (from 31 May)
* Governor of Victoria – Sir Thomas Gibson-Carmichael

## Events

[edit]

* 8 January – Sir Thomas Bent retires as Premier of Victoria, and is replaced by John Murray.
* 9 March – Electric trams begin operation in Adelaide.
* 31 March – Victoria is the last Australian state to grant women's suffrage.
* 30 April – Tasmania begins to use the Hare-Clark single transferable vote method in the 1909 general election.
* 26 May – The Protectionist Party and the Free Trade Party merge to form the Fusion Party, led by Alfred Deakin.
* 2 June – The Labor government of Andrew Fisher is ousted from office by Alfred Deakin's Fusion Party, and Deakin becomes Prime Minister for the third time.
* 5 June – Steam trams begin operation in Rockhampton, Queensland.
* 18 to 21 August – Disastrous floods strike Victoria.
* 6 October – Martha Rendell becomes the last woman to be hanged in Western Australia.
* 9 October – John Earle becomes Premier of Tasmania, leading Tasmania's first Labor government, however Earle's minority government only lasts a week.
* 6 December - the Newcastle–Bolgart Railway was opened.
* 10 December – The University of Queensland is established.
* 14 December – New South Wales passes law ceding land to the Commonwealth for construction of the national capital, Canberra.
* 21 December – British Field Marshal Lord Kitchener arrives in Darwin after an invitation from Alfred Deakin to review Australia's military and defence plans.
* 24 December – Former Prime Minister Sir George Reid resigns from Parliament to become Australia's first High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.

## Science and technology

[edit]

* 16 July – The first powered aeroplane flight in Australia is made.

## Arts and literature

[edit]

Main article: 1909 in Australian literature

## Sport

[edit]

* 29 January – New South Wales wins the Sheffield Shield
* 15 June – Representatives from England, Australia and South Africa meet at Lord's and form the Imperial Cricket Conference.
* 21 August – Andrew Wood wins the inaugural men's national marathon title, clocking 2:59:15 in Brisbane. Though billed as the Australasian Championships, the Australian Athletic Union did not consider it to be the official championship.
* 31 August – The first interstate ice hockey competition is held in Melbourne.
* 14 September - The 1909 NSWRFL season culminates in the grand final which was forfeited by Balmain to make South Sydney back-to-back premiers
* 29 October – The South Melbourne Swans defeat the Carlton Blues 4.14 (38) to 4.12 (36) in the 1909 VFL Grand Final.
* 2 November – Prince Foote wins the Melbourne Cup.

## Births

[edit]

* 19 January – Leon Goldsworthy, explosives expert (died 1994)
* 8 February – Elisabeth Murdoch, philanthropist (died 2012)
* 13 February – Reginald Ansett, businessman and aviator (died 1981)
* 2 March – Percival Bazeley, scientist (died 1991)
* 19 March – Nell Hall Hopman, tennis player (died 1968)
* 26 March – Chips Rafferty, actor (died 1971)[1]
* 9 April – Robert Helpmann, dancer and choreographer (died 1986)
* 23 May – William Sidney, 1st Viscount De L'Isle, Governor General of Australia (died 1991)
* 15 June – Cyril Walsh, High Court judge (died 1973)
* 20 June – Errol Flynn, Australian actor (died 1959)
* 23 June – Keith Virtue, aviator (died 1980)
* 6 July – Eric Reece, Premier of Tasmania (died 1999)
* 13 August – Brian Lawrance, bandleader (died 1983)[2]
* 9 September – Decima Norman, athlete (died 1983)
* 10 September – Dorothy Hill, geologist (died 1998)
* 3 December – Stanley Burbury, Governor of Tasmania (died 1995)

## Deaths

[edit]

Thomas Price

* 9 February – Charles Conder, artist (born and died in the United Kingdom) (b. 1868)
* 4 March – Max Hirsch, Victorian politician, businessman and economist (born in Prussia and died in Russia) (b. 1852)
* 14 March – William Charles Kernot, engineer (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1845)
* 6 April – Sir Julian Salomons, 5th Chief Justice of New South Wales (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1835)
* 18 April – William Saumarez Smith, Anglican archbishop (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1836)
* 28 April – Henry D'Esterre Taylor, banker and federationist (b. 1853)
* 23 May – Elias Solomon, Western Australian politician (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1839)
* 31 May – Thomas Price, 24th Premier of South Australia (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1852)
* 29 June – Sir George Shenton, Western Australian politician (died in the United Kingdom) (b. 1842)
* 4 July – Alfred Compigne, Queensland politician (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1818)
* 23 July – Sir Frederick Holder, 19th Premier of South Australia (b. 1850)
* 8 August – Mary MacKillop, religious sister (b. 1842)
* 18 September – Mary Lee, suffragette and social reformer (born in Ireland) (b. 1821)
* 6 October – Martha Rendell, convicted murderer (b. 1871)
* 10 November – George Essex Evans, poet (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1863)
* 6 December – Sir William Henry Bundey, South Australian politician and judge (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1838)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ A. F. Pike (1996). John Ritchie (ed.). Goffage, John William Pilbean (1909–1971). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 14\. Melbourne University Press. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
2. ^ The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1939 Register; Reference: RG 101/464K

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Timeline of Australian history

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1909 in Oceania

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