1872 in Australia

The following lists events that happened during 1872 in Australia.

Incumbents

Governors

Governors of the Australian colonies:

Premiers

Premiers of the Australian colonies:

Premier of New South Wales – Sir James Martin, until 14 May then Henry Parkes
Premier of Queensland – Arthur Hunter Palmer
Premier of South Australia – Arthur Blyth, until 22 January then Henry Ayers
Premier of Tasmania – James Milne Wilson, until 4 November then Frederick Innes
Premier of Victoria – Charles Gavan Duffy, until 10 June then James Francis

Events

13 February to 28 March – An election is held in New South Wales.
19 February – The Municipal District of Dubbo is established, following the approval of the Colonial Secretary.
26 February – The brig Maria is wrecked when it strikes a reef near Cardwell off the coast of Queensland, killing 39 people.
12 June – A Victorian branch of the Royal Australian Mint opens in Melbourne.
24 June – Failure of the Java telegraph cable, linking Australia via Darwin, to the global telegraphy network.
22 August – The Australian Overland Telegraph Line is completed when two telegraph lines are joined at Frew's Ponds in the Northern Territory.
24 September – The General Post Office opens in Brisbane, Queensland.
21 October – With the restoration of the Java telegraph cable, first direct receipt via Adelaide of telegraphs from the UK in the eastern states.
Sidney Cooke Limited founded.

Sport

The Quack wins the Melbourne Cup

Births

1 January – Arthur Manning, New South Wales politician
22 February – Shaw Neilson, poet
26 February – John Holman, Western Australian politician
13 June – Lydia Abell, military nurse, recipient of Royal Red Cross
20 June – George Carpenter, 5th General of The Salvation Army
28 June – John Keating, Tasmanian politician
28 September – David Unaipon, inventor and author
14 October – John Leckie, Victorian politician
Full date unknown:
Possibly September – Douglas Fry, artist
Bertha Schroeder, New Zealand Salvation Army officer, social worker, and probation officer
Joe Slater, composer and publisher

Deaths

4 January – Sir Edward Macarthur, Administrator of Victoria
15 January – John King, explorer
12 February – George Herbert Rogers, actor
20 February – Andrew Petrie, architect
20 March – William Wentworth, New South Wales politician and explorer
28 April – Louisa Atkinson, writer and botanist
19 May – John Baker, 2nd Premier of South Australia
11 June – John Davies, newspaper proprietor
31 December – John McKinlay, explorer and grazier
Unknown – John Dibbs, mariner