Governors

• Governor of New South Wales
  Governors of New South Wales
  The Governor of New South Wales is the state viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who is equally shared with 15 other sovereign nations in a form of personal union, as well as with the eleven other jurisdictions of Australia, and resides predominantly in her...
  
   - Sir Charles Augustus FitzRoy
  Charles Augustus FitzRoy
  Sir Charles Augustus FitzRoy, KCH, KCB was a British military officer, politician and member of the aristocracy, who held governorships in several British colonies during the 19th century.-Family and peerage:...
  
  
• Governor of South Australia
  Governors of South Australia
  The Governor of South Australia is the representative in the Australian state of South Australia of Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia. The Governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the Governor-General of Australia at the national level.In...
  
   - Sir Henry Young
  Henry Young
  Sir Henry Edward Fox Young, KCMG was the fifth Governor of South Australia, serving in that role from 2 August 1848 until 20 December 1854. He was then the first Governor of Tasmania, from 1855 until 1861.-Early life:...
  
  
• Governor of Tasmania
  Governors of Tasmania
  The Governor of Tasmania is the representative in the Australian state of Tasmania of Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia. The Governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as the Governor-General of Australia does at the national level.In accordance with the...
  
   - Sir William Denison
  William Denison
  Sir William Thomas Denison, KCB was Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land from 1847 to 1855, Governor of New South Wales from 20 January 1855 to 22 January 1861, and Governor of Madras from 1861 to 1866....
  
  
• Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria
  Governors of Victoria
  The Governor of Victoria is the representative in the Australian state of Victoria of its monarch, Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia. The Governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the Governor-General of Australia at the national level...
  
   - Charles La Trobe
  Charles La Trobe
  Charles Joseph La Trobe was the first lieutenant-governor of the colony of Victoria .-Early life:La Trobe was born in London, the son of Christian Ignatius Latrobe, a family of Huguenot origin...
  
  
• Governor of Western Australia as a Crown Colony
  Governor of Western Australia
  The Governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of Australia's Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The Governor performs important constitutional, ceremonial and community functions, including:* presiding over the Executive Council;...
  
   - Captain Charles Fitzgerald
  Charles Fitzgerald
  Captain Charles Fitzgerald was the Governor of The Gambia from 1844 until 1847, then Governor of Western Australia from 1848 to 1855....
  
  

Events

• 8 January - Victoria Police
  Victoria Police
  Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of Victoria, Australia. , the Victoria Police has over 12,190 sworn members, along with over 400 recruits, reservists and Protective Service Officers, and over 2,900 civilian staff across 393 police stations.-Early history:The Victoria Police...
  
   formally established by Act of Parliament
  Act of Parliament
  An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
  
  
• 22 January - University of Melbourne
  University of Melbourne
  The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
  
   formally established by Act of Parliament
• 17 March - St Kilda Road robberies
  St Kilda Road robberies
  During the first eighteen months of the Victorian gold rush, the section of St Kilda Road between Melbourne and Canvas Town was the scene of frequent hold-ups by armed bandits and bushrangers, mostly former convicts from Van Diemens Land.-The last major offense:On 17 March 1853, gold-buyer Edward...
  
  
• 1 August - The Bendigo Petition
  Bendigo Petition
  The Bendigo Petition was an attempt by miners in the colony of Victoria to demand political representation and reasonable limits to taxation from Governor La Trobe, a representative of the British Government. In particular the miners requested reform of license fees applicable to miners on the...
  
  , 30 metres long with at least 23,000 signatures requesting reform of the license fee system that applied to miners on the gold fields, was sent to Governor La Trobe in Melbourne.
• 10 August - A Jubilee Festival was held in Hobart
  Hobart
  Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
  
   to mark the cessation of convict transportation
  Penal transportation
  Transportation or penal transportation is the deporting of convicted criminals to a penal colony. Examples include transportation by France to Devil's Island and by the UK to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and then to Australia between...
  
   to the colony.
• 15 August - the term Bunyip aristocracy
  Bunyip aristocracy
  The term bunyip aristocracy is an Australian term satirising attempts to develop an aristocracy in the colonies now forming that country.It was first coined in 1853 by Daniel Deniehy who made a speech lambasting the attempt by William Wentworth to establish a titled aristocracy in the New South...
  
   was coined by Daniel Deniehy
  Daniel Deniehy
  Daniel Henry Deniehy was an Australian journalist, orator and politician; and early advocate of democracy in colonial New South Wales.-Early life:...
  
   in a speech attacking the proposal by William Wentworth
  William Wentworth
  William Charles Wentworth was an Australian poet, explorer, journalist and politician, and one of the leading figures of early colonial New South Wales...
  
   to create a system of hereditary peerage
  Peerage
  The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
  
   in Australia
• 3 October - Illawarra Steam Navigation Company
  Illawarra Steam Navigation Company
  The Illawarra Steam Navigation Company was a shipping company that serviced the south coast of New South Wales, Australia from 1858 to the early 1950s...
  
   incorporated
• 1 November - The first postage stamp
  Postage stamp
  A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
  
  s of Tasmania
  Tasmania
  Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
  
   are issued.
• December - Victoria Police Gazette
  Victoria Police Gazette
  The Victoria Police Gazette commenced in December 1853 and was initially published weekly by the Victoria Police.Originally the Gazettes for each state were not available to the public, but were produced for informing members of the police force and government officials...
  
   first published
• Hardy Wine Company
  Hardy Wine Company
  Constellation Wines Australia, formerly Hardy Wine Company, is a wine making company owned by Constellation Brands in Victor, New York, USA, Constellations is the largest wine company in the world. The Hardy Wine Company was founded by Thomas Hardy in 1853 in Adelaide, the business soon became...
  
   established

Exploration and settlement

• European settlement began at:
• Cleve, South Australia
  Cleve, South Australia
  Cleve is a small agriculturally based town on Central Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. It is 226 km southwest of Port Augusta and 143 km north of Port Lincoln...
  
  
• Dongara, Western Australia
  Dongara, Western Australia
  Dongara is a town located 351 km north-northwest of Perth on the Brand Highway. The town is located at the mouth of the Irwin River. In recent years the area has been marketed as the 'Rock lobster capital of Australia'....
  
  
• Nailsworth, South Australia
  Nailsworth, South Australia
  Nailsworth is a suburb located four km north of Adelaide, South Australia. The suburb borders Sefton Park, Prospect, Broadview, Medindie Gardens and Collinswood. The North Road Cemetery is located within the suburb and was founded by Bishop Augustus Short in 1853...
  
  

Science and technology

• 10 January - the Adelaide Philosophical Society founded, predecessor of the Royal Society of South Australia
  Royal Society of South Australia
  The Royal Society of South Australia is a Learned Society whose interest is in Science, particularly, but not only, of South Australia.The Society stems directly from the Adelaide Philosophical Society founded on the 10 January 1853. The title "Royal" was granted by her Majesty Queen Victoria in...
  
  

Sport

• 23 September - occupancy of the present site of the Melbourne Cricket Ground
  Melbourne Cricket Ground
  The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
  
  , which was part of a 'police paddock', was given to the Melbourne Cricket Club by Lieutenant Governor Charles La Trobe. This followed the forced resumption of land from the then-15-year-old Club to build Australia's first steam train railway.