1906 in Australia
Encyclopedia
See also: 1905 in Australia
, other events of 1906, 1907 in Australia
, Timeline of Australian history
.
1905 in Australia
See also:1904 in Australia,other events of 1905,1906 in Australia and theTimeline of Australian history.-Incumbents:*Monarch – King Edward VII...
, other events of 1906, 1907 in Australia
1907 in Australia
See also: 1906 in Australia, other events of 1907, 1908 in Australia, Timeline of Australian history.-Incumbents:*Monarch – King Edward VII*Governor-General – The Right Hon...
, Timeline of Australian history
Timeline of Australian history
This is a timeline of Australian history.-BC:*c. 68,000–40,000 BC: Aboriginal tribes are thought to have arrived in Australia.*c. 13,000 BC: Land bridges between mainland Australia and Tasmania are flooded. Tasmanian Aboriginal people become isolated for the next 12,000 – 13,000 years.*c...
.
Incumbents
- MonarchMonarchy in AustraliaThe Monarchy of Australia is a form of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign of Australia. The monarchy is a constitutional one modelled on the Westminster style of parliamentary government, incorporating features unique to the Constitution of Australia.The present monarch is...
– King Edward VIIEdward VII of the United KingdomEdward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910... - Governor GeneralGovernor-General of AustraliaThe Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia at federal/national level of the Australian monarch . He or she exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth...
– Henry Northcote, 1st Baron NorthcoteHenry Northcote, 1st Baron NorthcoteHenry Stafford Northcote, 1st Baron Northcote GCMG, GCIE, CB, PC , known as Sir Henry Northcote, Bt, between 1887 and 1900, was a Conservative politician and colonial administrator... - Prime MinisterPrime Minister of AustraliaThe Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
– Alfred DeakinAlfred DeakinAlfred Deakin , Australian politician, was a leader of the movement for Australian federation and later the second Prime Minister of Australia. In the last quarter of the 19th century, Deakin was a major contributor to the establishment of liberal reforms in the colony of Victoria, including the...
State premiers
- Premier of New South Wales – Joseph CarruthersJoseph CarruthersSir Joseph Hector McNeil Carruthers KCMG was an Australian politician and Premier of New South Wales.According to Percival Serle, few premiers of New South Wales succeeded in doing so much distinguished work...
- Premier of South Australia – Thomas PriceThomas PriceThomas Price was a stonecutter, teacher, lay preacher, businessman, stonemason, clerk-of-works, union secretary, union president and politician...
- Premier of Queensland – Arthur MorganArthur Morgan (Queensland politician)Sir Arthur Morgan was the Premier of Queensland, Australia from 1903 to 1906.Morgan was born in Warwick, Queensland, the fourth son of James Morgan and his wife Kate, née Barton...
(to 19 January), then William KidstonWilliam KidstonWilliam Kidston was an Australian politician and Premier of Queensland, from January 1906 to November 1907 and again from February 1908 to February 1911.-Early life:... - Premier of Tasmania – John EvansJohn Evans (Australian politician)Sir John William Evans, CMG was an Australian politician, a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly and Premier of Tasmania from 11 July 1904 to 19 June 1909.-Early life and nautical career:...
- Premier of Western AustraliaPremier of Western AustraliaThe Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Australia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Australia at the national level, subject to the different Constitutions...
– Cornthwaite RasonCornthwaite RasonSir Cornthwaite Hector William James Rason , better known as Hector Rason, was the seventh Premier of Western Australia....
(to 7 May), then Newton MooreNewton MooreMajor-General Sir Newton James Moore KCMG , was the eighth Premier of Western Australia and a member of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1932.... - Premier of Victoria – Thomas BentThomas BentSir Thomas Bent KCMG , Australian politician, was the 22nd Premier of Victoria. He was one of the most colourful and corrupt politicians in Victorian history....
State governors
- Governor of New South Wales – Sir Harry RawsonHarry RawsonAdmiral Sir Harry Holdsworth Rawson, GCB, GCMG RN , is chiefly remembered for overseeing the British Benin Expedition of 1897 that burned and looted the city of the Kingdom of Benin, now in Nigeria...
- Governor of South Australia – Sir George Ruthven Le HunteGeorge Le HunteSir George Ruthven Le Hunte KCMG was Governor of South Australia from 1 July 1903 until 18 February 1909, soon after federation of Australia....
- Governor of Queensland – Frederic Thesiger, 3rd Baron ChelmsfordFrederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount ChelmsfordFrederic John Napier Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, GBE, PC was a British statesman who served as Governor of Queensland , Governor of New South Wales from 1909 to 1913, and Viceroy of India from 1916 to 1921, where he was responsible for the creation of the Montagu-Chelmsford...
(from 30 November) - Governor of Tasmania – Sir Gerald Strickland
- Governor of Western AustraliaGovernor of Western AustraliaThe 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;...
– Admiral Sir Frederick BedfordFrederick BedfordAdmiral Sir Frederick George Denham Bedford GCB, GCVO was Governor of Western Austria from 24 March 1903 to 22 April 1909.-Naval career:Bedford joined the Royal Navy at the age of 14, and later served in the Crimean War.... - Governor of Victoria – Major General Sir Reginald TalbotReginald TalbotMajor-General Sir Reginald Arthur James Talbot, KCB was a British military officer, Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons, and Governor of Victoria in Australia.-Early life:...
Events
- 27 January – A cycloneTropical cycloneA tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a large low-pressure center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and heavy rain. Tropical cyclones strengthen when water evaporated from the ocean is released as the saturated air rises, resulting in condensation of water vapor...
damages CairnsCairns, QueenslandCairns is a regional city in Far North Queensland, Australia, founded 1876. The city was named after William Wellington Cairns, then-current Governor of Queensland. It was formed to serve miners heading for the Hodgkinson River goldfield, but experienced a decline when an easier route was...
and InnisfailInnisfail, QueenslandInnisfail is a town located in the far north of the state of Queensland, Australia. It is the major township of the Cassowary Coast and is well renowned for its sugar and banana industries, as well as for being one of Australia's wettest towns...
in QueenslandQueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
. - 6 February – The world's first surf lifesaving club is formed at Bondi BeachBondi Beach, New South WalesBondi Beach is a popular beach and the name of the surrounding suburb in Sydney, Australia. Bondi Beach is located 7 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council, in the Eastern Suburbs...
. - 5 May – The first electric tramsTrams in AustraliaTrams in Australia are now used extensively as public transport only in Melbourne, and to a lesser extent, Adelaide and Bendigo while Sydney operates a modern light rail system. Several other major cities had tram networks however these networks were largely dismantled during the 1950s and some as...
begin running in Melbourne from St KildaSt Kilda, VictoriaSt Kilda is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip...
to BrightonBrighton, VictoriaBrighton is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 11 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Bayside. At the 2006 Census, Brighton had a population of 20,651...
. - 16 June – The town of Roma, QueenslandRoma, QueenslandRoma is a town in the western Darling Downs area of Queensland, Australia, by rail WNW of Brisbane. It is situated at the junction of the Warrego and Carnarvon highways...
becomes the first town in Australia to be lit and powered by natural gasNatural gasNatural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
, however the gas reserve only lasts ten days. - 16 July – The Australian Army Cadet CorpsAustralian Army CadetsThe Australian Army Cadets is a youth organisation that is involved with progressive training of youths in military and adventurous activities. The programme has more than 19,000 Army Cadets between the ages of 12½ and 19 based in 236 units around Australia...
is formed. - 1 September – Control of British New GuineaPapua (Australian territory)The Territory of Papua comprised the southeastern quarter of the island of New Guinea from 1883 to 1949. It became a British Protectorate in the year 1884, and four years later it was formally annexed as British New Guinea...
is formally transferred to Australia from BritainUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. - 12 December – Australian federal election, 1906: The government of Prime Minister Alfred DeakinAlfred DeakinAlfred Deakin , Australian politician, was a leader of the movement for Australian federation and later the second Prime Minister of Australia. In the last quarter of the 19th century, Deakin was a major contributor to the establishment of liberal reforms in the colony of Victoria, including the...
is returned to power, however voter turn-out is low.
Science and technology
- 12 July – The first wireless radio transmission is made from the Australian mainland between Point Lonsdale, VictoriaPoint Lonsdale, VictoriaPoint Lonsdale is a coastal township on the Bellarine Peninsula, near Queenscliff, Victoria, Australia, and included in the Borough of Queenscliffe. Point Lonsdale is also one of the headlands which, with Point Nepean, frame The Rip, the entrance to Port Phillip. The headland is dominated by the...
and Devonport, TasmaniaDevonport, Tasmania-Sport:The Devonport Football Club is an Australian Rules team competing in the Tasmanian Statewide League. The Devonport Rugby Club is a Rugby Union team competing in the Tasmanian Rugby Union Statewide League...
.
Film
- 26 December – The national premiere of The Story of the Kelly GangThe Story of the Kelly GangThe Story of the Kelly Gang is a 1906 Australian film that traces the life of the legendary bushranger Ned Kelly . It was written and directed by Charles Tait. The film ran for more than an hour, and was the longest narrative film yet seen in Australia, and the world. Its approximate reel length...
, generally regarded as the world's first feature lengthFeature filmIn the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
film, takes place at the Athenaeum HallAthenaeum, MelbourneThe Athenaeum or Melbourne Athenaeum is one of the oldest public institutions in Victoria, Australia, founded in 1839. The first President was Captain William Lonsdale, the first Patron was the Superintendent of Port Philip, Charles La Trobe and the first books were donated by Vice-President Henry...
in Melbourne.
Sport
- 26 January – New South WalesNew South Wales BluesThe New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...
wins the Sheffield ShieldPura CupThe Sheffield Shield is the domestic cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Prior to the Shield being established, a number of intercolonial matches were played. The Shield, donated by Lord Sheffield, was first contested during...
. - 26 April – 2 May – The 1906 Intercalated Games1906 Summer OlympicsThe 1906 Intercalated Games or 1906 Olympic Games were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in Athens, Greece. They were at the time considered to be Olympic Games and were referred to as the "Second International Olympic Games in Athens" by the International Olympic Committee...
are held in AthensAthensAthens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
– Australia wins three bronze medals. - 22 September – CarltonCarlton Football ClubThe Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
wins the VFL grand final1906 VFL seasonResults and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1906.-Premiership season:In 1906, the VFL competition consisted of eight teams of 18 on-the-field players each, with no "reserves", although any of the 18 players who had left the playing field for any reason could later resume...
, beating FitzroyFitzroy Football ClubThe Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...
15.4 (94) to 6.9 (45). - 6 November – Poseidon wins the Melbourne CupMelbourne CupThe Melbourne Cup is Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race. Marketed as "the race that stops a nation", it is a 3,200 metre race for three-year-olds and over. It is the richest "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races...
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Births
- 18 January – Hedley BuntonHedley BuntonHedley Percival Bunton was a missionary in China and a Minister in the Congregational Church in Australia.-Birth & education:Hedley Percival Bunton was born at Devonport, Tasmania on 18 January 1906. His parents were Alphonso Robert Bunton and Isobel Bunton née Filleul.He graduated from Melbourne...
, missionary (d. 1997) - 19 January – Rachel ClelandRachel ClelandDame Rachel Cleland, DBE , born Rachel Evans, was an Australian expatriate community and social welfare worker in Papua New Guinea....
, community worker (d. 2002) - 5 February – Alexander SpenceAlexander Spence (soldier)Alexander Spence DSO was an Australian soldier during World War II. Between 24 May and 11 November 1942, Spence commanded Allied forces, during their guerilla campaign in Timor....
, soldier - 4 April – Harry OakmanHarry OakmanHenry Octave Cyril Vereecke , better known as Harry Oakman, was an Australian horticulturalist and writer. An immigrant from Belgium, Oakman wrote numerous illustrated books on gardening and, as a public landscaper, enjoyed enormous influence over the design of open spaces in Brisbane, Canberra,...
, BelgianBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
-born horticulturalist (d. 2002) - 16 May – Ernie McCormickErnie McCormickErnest Leslie McCormick was an Australian cricketer who played in 12 Tests from 1935 to 1938....
, cricketCricketCricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er (d. 1991) - 17 July – Dunc GrayDunc GrayEdgar Laurence "Dunc" Gray was a track cyclist from Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia who won a bronze medal for the 1000m time trial at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam- Australia's first Olympic Games medal in cycling...
, Olympic cyclist (d. 1996) - 12 August – Harry HopmanHarry HopmanHenry Christian Hopman, CBE was a world-acclaimed Australian-American tennis player and coach, born in Glebe, Sydney, New South Wales, and soon moving to Parramatta, a city adjoining Sydney and now effectively a suburb of the metropolis.Hopman was a student at Rosehill Public Primary school...
, tennis player and coach (d. 1985) - 22 August – Lotus ThompsonLotus ThompsonLotus Thompson was an Australian actress of silent and sound films. She was born in Sydney on 22 August 1906. Her film career began in 1921 and ended in 1949...
, silent film actress (d. 1963) - 31 August – Edwin Sherbon HillsEdwin Sherbon HillsEdwin Sherbon Hills CBE was an Australian geologist, a Foundation Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and at the time of his death was regarded as one of Australia's "most eminent scientists and most accomplished geologists".Hills grew in the Melbourne suburb Carlton...
, geologist (d. 1986) - 2 October – Thomas HollwayThomas HollwayThomas Tuke "Tom" Hollway was the 36th Premier of Victoria, holding office from 1947 to 1950, and again for a short period in 1952....
, Premier of Victoria (d. 1971) - 21 November – Tom ClarkeTom Clarke (Australian rules footballer)Thomas Clarke was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the VFL.A wingman, Clarke won Essendon's best and fairest in 1931. He finished his career in the VFA with Brunswick. His son Ron went on to become an Olympic medalist in athletics and his other son Jack played 263 games...
, VFL footballer for Essendon - 30 November – Mabel MillerMabel MillerDame Mabel Flora Miller, DBE was an Australian lawyer and politician. She was the first woman elected to the Hobart City Council and one of the first two women to be elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly....
, lawyer and politician (d. 1978) - 3 December – Frank PackerFrank PackerSir Douglas Frank Hewson Packer, KBE , was an Australian media proprietor who controlled Australian Consolidated Press and the Nine Network.-Biography:...
, media proprietor and father of Kerry PackerKerry PackerKerry Francis Bullmore Packer, AC was an Australian media tycoon. The son of Sir Frank Packer and Gretel Bullmore, the Packer family company owned controlling interest in both the Nine television network and leading Australian publishing company Australian Consolidated Press, which were later...
(d. 1974) - 9 December – Douglas NichollsDouglas NichollsSir Douglas Ralph "Doug" Nicholls KCVO, OBE, was a prominent Aboriginal Australian from the Yorta Yorta people. He was a professional athlete, Churches of Christ pastor and church planter, ceremonial officer and a pioneering campaigner for reconciliation.Nicholls was the first Aboriginal person to...
, Aboriginal pastor and Governor of South Australia - 22 December – Clive TurnbullClive TurnbullStanley Clive Perry Turnbull was an Australian author and journalist.He was born in Glenorchy in Tasmania. He joined The Mercury newspaper as a reporter in 1922 and the moved to Melbourne where he worked on The Herald. He is best known for his book Black War that examined the extermination of...
, Tasmanian author and journalist (d. 1975)
Deaths
- 1 January – Hugh NelsonHugh NelsonSir Hugh Muir Nelson, KCMG was Premier of Queensland from 1893 to 1898.Nelson was born at Kilmarnock, Scotland. His father, Dr William Lambie Nelson, was elected to the first Queensland parliament in 1860 but was unseated because he was a minister of religion...
, Premier of Queensland (b. 1835) - 4 January – Jessie RookeJessie RookeJessie Spinks Rooke was a suffragette and temperance reformer in Tasmania, Australia, and one of the first Tasmanian women to gain recognition outside Tasmania....
, Tasmanian temperance campaigner and suffragette (b. 1845) - 14 January – Henry YelvertonHenry Yelverton (Australian politician)Henry John Yelverton was a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 1901 to 1904.The son of a timber miller, Henry Yelverton was born in Fremantle, Western Australia on 6 April 1854. He was educated at the Christian Brothers College before entering his father's business as a...
, politician (b. 1854) - 5 March – Hugh RamsayHugh RamsayHugh Ramsay , was an Australian artist.Ramsay was born in Glasgow, Scotland, son of John Ramsay. He moved with his family to Melbourne in 1878. He was educated at Essendon Grammar School, and joined classes at the National Gallery of Victoria at age 16 under Lindsay Bernard Hall and became one of...
, artist (b. 1877) - 7 March – Frederick William HaddonFrederick William HaddonFrederick William Haddon , was an Australian journalist and newspaper editor.Haddon was born at Croydon, England, the son of Richard Haddon, a schoolmaster and landscape artist, and his wife Mary Caroline, née Wykes...
, journalist (b. 1839) - 14 March – George Selth CoppinGeorge Selth CoppinGeorge Selth Coppin was a comic actor, entrepreneur and politician, active in Australia.-Early life:Coppin was born at Steyning, Sussex, England, son of George Selth Coppin and Elizabeth Jane, née Jackson. His grandfather had been a well-known clergyman at Norwich...
, actor and politician (b. 1819) - 10 April – Sir Adye DouglasAdye DouglasSir Adye Douglas was an Australian lawyer and politician, and first class cricket player, who played one match for Tasmania. He was Premier of Tasmania from 15 August 1884 to 8 March 1886....
, 17th Premier of Tasmania (b. 1815) - 16 April – William FarrerWilliam FarrerWilliam James Farrer was a leading Australian agronomist and plant breeder. Farrer is best remembered as the originator of the "Federation" strain of wheat, distributed in 1903...
, agronomist and wheat breeder (b. 1845) - 6 August – George Marsden WaterhouseGeorge Marsden WaterhouseGeorge Marsden Waterhouse was a Premier of South Australia from 8 October 1861 until 3 July 1863 and the seventh Premier of New Zealand from 11 October 1872 to 3 March 1873.-Early life:...
, 6th Premier of South Australia (b. 1824) - 8 August – William PurkissWilliam PurkissWilliam Morton Purkiss was a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1901 to 1904.Born in Hobart, Tasmania in 1844, Purkiss was the son of draper William Morton Purkiss and Ann Jean nee Walker. He was educated at Horton College in the town of Ross, then emigrated to New Zealand...
, West Australian politician (b. 1844) - 3 September – Sir Samuel DavenportSamuel DavenportSir Samuel Davenport KCMG was one of the early settlers of Australia and became a landowner and parliamentarian in South Australia....
, South Australian politician (b. 1818) - 6 October – James BonwickJames BonwickJames Bonwick was an English-born Australian historical and educational writer.-Early life:Bonwick was born Lingfield, Surrey, England, the eldest son of James Bonwick, carpenter, and his second wife Mary Ann née Preston...
, writer (b. 1817) - 31 October – Charles TroedelCharles TroedelCharles Troedel was a lithographic printer who championed printing in Melbourne during the late 19th century...
, printer (b. 1836) - 2 November – Henry Brand, 2nd Viscount HampdenHenry Brand, 2nd Viscount HampdenHenry Robert Brand, 2nd Viscount Hampden, GCMG was Governor of New South Wales from 1895 to 1899.-Background:Hampden was the son of Henry Brand, 1st Viscount Hampden...
, Governor of New South Wales (b. 1841)