1919 in Australia

See also: 1918 in Australia, other events of 1919, 1920 in Australia and the Timeline of Australian history.

Incumbents

• Monarch – King George V
• Governor-General – Sir Ronald Munro-Ferguson
• Prime Minister – Billy Hughes

State premiers

• Premier of New South Wales – William Holman
• Premier of Queensland – T. J. Ryan (until 22 October), then Ted Theodore
• Premier of South Australia – Archibald Peake
• Premier of Tasmania – Walter Lee
• Premier of Victoria – Harry Lawson
• Premier of Western Australia – Sir Henry Lefroy (until 17 April), then Sir Hal Colebatch (until 17 May), then James Mitchell

State governors

• Governor of New South Wales – Walter Davidson
• Governor of Queensland – Hamilton Goold-Adams
• Governor of South Australia – Sir Henry Galway
• Governor of Tasmania – Francis Newdegate
• Governor of Victoria – Sir Arthur Stanley
• Governor of Western Australia – William Ellison-Macartney

Events

• 1 March – The Potts, believed to be the world's longest running cartoon strip drawn by the same artist, is first published in The Sun News-Pictorial.
• 24 March – one of the most notable incidents of the Red Flag Riots occurred in Brisbane, Queensland, when a crowd of returned servicemen clashed with police. The incident had been sparked the previous day by a socialist demonstration against the continued operation of the War Precautions Act, which had angered many of the returned soldiers.
• 1 June – A mutiny occurs on board the Royal Australian Navy battlecruiser HMAS Australia shortly after it arrives in Fremantle, Western Australia.
• 28 June – The Treaty of Versailles is signed in France, bringing Australia's involvement in World War I to an end.
• 18 October – Sir Adrian Knox is appointed Chief Justice of the High Court.
• 28 October – The Treaty of Peace (Germany) Act 1919 receives Royal Assent, confirming Australia's membership as a sovereign nation in the new League of Nations, and indicating Australia's independence from the United Kingdom.
• 10 December – Keith and Ross Smith, piloting a Vickers Vimy, reach Darwin at the end of the first England to Australia flight.
• 19 December – A federal election is held. The incumbent Nationalist Party of Billy Hughes defeats the Australian Labor Party of Frank Tudor.
• 24 December – The Electrical Trades Union of Australia is federally registered under the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act, 1904.
• The worldwide Spanish flu epidemic continues, eventually claiming almost 12,000 lives in Australia.
• At the Paris Peace Conference, 1919 Australian delegates succeed in excluding recognition of the principle of racial equality in the League of Nations Covenant.

Arts and literature

• 10 September – J. F. Archibald, founding editor of the The Bulletin dies, bequeathing money which would be used to award the Archibald Prize for portraiture.
• Elioth Gruber wins the Wynne Prize for his work, Spring Frost.

Film

• 4 October – The Sentimental Bloke premieres in Melbourne.^[1]

Sport

• Balmain win the 1919 NSWRFL Premiership
• 11 November – Artilleryman wins the Melbourne Cup
• January 1919 – A.R.F. Kingscote wins the Australian Open

Births

• 6 January – Geoffrey Bingham, author and Anglican minister (died 2009)
• 3 February – Bill Alley, cricketer (died 2004)
• 16 February – Keith Carmody, cricketer (died 1977)
• 22 February – Mary Maguire, actress (died 1974)
• 1 March – Reg Sprigg, geologist (died 1994)
• 20 March – Pat Norton, backstroke swimmer (died 2007)
• 25 March – William Wade, NSW politician
• 28 March – Tom Brooks, cricketer (died 2007)
• 10 April – Vernon Wilcox, politician (died 2004)
• 1 May – Lance Barnard, Deputy Prime Minister (died 1997)
• 15 May – Tom Drake-Brockman, politician (died 1992)
• 22 May – Peter Howson, politician (died 2009)
• 28 May – Olga Masters, writer (died 1986)
• 24 June – Fabian "Fabe" McCarthy, rugby union footballer
• 14 September – Gil Langley, cricketer (died 2001)
• 6 October – Abe Saffron, Sydney crime figure (died 2006)
• 7 October – Zelman Cowen, Governor General of Australia
• 5 November – Thomas O'Dwyer, cricketer (died 2005)
• 19 November – Margaret Whitlam, wife of Gough Whitlam
• 7 December – Wilfred Arthur, World War II fighter ace (died 2000)
• 10 December – Jean Lee, last woman executed in Australia (died 1951)
• 17 December – Geraldine Halls (pen name: Charlotte Jay), mystery novelist (died 1996)
• 29 December – Malcolm Mackay, politician (died 1999)

Deaths

• 4 February – Richard Bowyer Smith (born 1837), inventor
• 20 March – Sir Edward Charles Stirling (born 1848), anthropologist
• 8 June – Henry Briggs (born 1844), WA politician
• 21 June – Sir Thomas à Beckett (born 1836), solicitor and judge
• 25 July – Nat Gould (born 1857), British novelist
• 25 July – Samuel McCaughey (born 1835), pastoralist
• 30 July – Sir Simon Fraser (born 1832), politician
• 4 August – Dave Gregory (born 1845), cricketer
• 10 September – J.F. Archibald (born 1856), publisher and journalist
• 12 September – John Mark Davies (born 1840), Victorian politician
• 24 September – Frank Laver (born 1869), cricketer
• 7 October – Alfred Deakin (born 1856), Prime Minister of Australia
• 25 October – William Kidston (born 1849), Premier of Queensland (1906–1907, 1908–1911)
• 2 November – Mephan Ferguson (born 1843), manufacturer
• 20 December – Sir Philip Fysh (born 1835), Premier of Tasmania (1877–1878, 1887–1892)
• 25 December – Sir Edwin Thomas Smith (born 1830), SA politician

References