1909 in Australia

List of events

←

1908
1907
1906

1909
in
Australia

→

1910
1911
1912

Decades:

1880s
1890s
1900s
1910s
1920s

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

Incumbents

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

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

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

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

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

Arts and literature

Sport

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

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)
9 September – Decima Norman, athlete (died 1983)
10 September – Dorothy Hill, geologist (died 1998)
3 December – Stanley Burbury, Governor of Tasmania (died 1995)

Deaths

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

^ 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.

Years in Australia (1788–present)

18th century

19th century

20th century

21st century

Timeline of Australian history

v t e 1909 in Oceania
Sovereign states	Australia Hawaii
Associated states of New Zealand
Dependencies, colonies and other territories	American Samoa Cook Islands French Polynesia Fiji Gilbert and Ellice Islands Guam Marshall Islands New Caledonia New Hebrides New Zealand Niue Northern Mariana Islands Papua New Guinea Pitcairn Islands Samoa Solomon Islands Tokelau Tonga