1844 in Australia

Updated on Dec 07, 2024

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Decades: 1820s1830s1840s1850s1860s See also: Other events of 1844Timeline of Australian history

Governors

Governors of the Australian colonies:

Governor of New South Wales – Sir George Gipps

Governor of South Australia – Sir George Grey

Governor of Tasmania – Sir John Eardley-Wilmot

Governor of Western Australia as a Crown Colony – John Hutt.

Events

1 January – Australia's first ringing peal rang from the bells of St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney

6 April – John Gavin is the first European settler to be legally executed in Western Australia. Gavin, a fifteen-year-old apprentice, was found guilty of the murder of his employer's son, George Pollard.

12 September – The Royal Society of Tasmania was formed. It was the first branch of the Society established outside Britain.

Exploration and settlement

August – Charles Sturt explores the Stony Desert, fails to establish existence of an inland sea.

1 October – Ludwig Leichhardt leads expedition starting from Jimbour on the Darling Downs to Port Essington, Northern Territory, arriving in December 1845.