1900 in Australia

The following lists events that happened during 1900 in Australia.

← 1899 1898 1897 1900 in Australia → 1901 1902 1903
Decades:	1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s
See also:	Other events of 1900 Timeline of Australian history

Incumbents

• Monarch – Queen Victoria

Note: Australia was not yet federalized in 1900, therefore no prime minister existed.

Governors of the Australian colonies

• Governor of New South Wales – William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp
• Governor of Queensland – Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington
• Governor of South Australia – Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson
• Governor of Tasmania – Jenico Preston, 14th Viscount Gormanston (until 14 August)
• Governor of Victoria – Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey (until 31 March)
• Premier of New South Wales – William Lyne
• Premier of South Australia – Frederick Holder
• Premier of Queensland – Robert Philp
• Premier of Tasmania – Elliott Lewis
• Premier of Western Australia – John Forrest
• Premier of Victoria – Allan McLean (until 19 November), then George Turner

Events

• 3 January – Electric lighting is installed on Adelaide streets.
• 25 January – State Labour politicians meet in Sydney to formally found the federal Labour party.
• 25 March – The S.S. Glenelg is wrecked off the Victorian coast, resulting in 31 deaths.
• March to May – Record rainfall and flooding affect the Pilbara and Gascoyne regions of Western Australia
• 9 May – The Sierra Nevada is wrecked off Portsea, Victoria; 23 lives are lost.
• 2 July – Snow falls to extremely low levels in New South Wales, being recorded as low as Forbes.
• 5 July – The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act (UK) is passed.
• 24 July – Neville Howse rescues a fallen ally under heavy fire during the Second Boer War, becoming the first Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross.
• 8 August – The first Australian contingents of naval volunteers set sail for China to assist British and international troops during the Boxer Rebellion.
• 17 October – Natural gas is found at Roma in Queensland
• 27 October – Notorious murderer Jimmy Governor is apprehended near Wingham, New South Wales.
• 15 December – Upon his arrival in Australia, the first Governor-General, Lord Hopetoun, commits the so-called Hopetoun Blunder.

Film

• 14 September – The film Soldiers of the Cross is shown in Melbourne, one of the first films shown in Australia. (IMDb entry)

Literature

Main article: 1900 in Australian literature

Births

• 8 January – Merlyn Myer, Australian philanthropist (died 1982)
• 25 January – Harold Raggatt, public servant (died 1968)
• 12 February – Sir Ragnar Garrett, army officer (died 1977)^[1]
• 7 March – Sir Lorimer Dods, medical pioneer (died 1981)
• 29 March – John McEwen, caretaker Prime Minister (1967–1968) (died 1980)
• 26 April – Alice Berry, social activist (died 1978)^[2]
• 29 April – Amelia Best, politician (died 1979)^[3]
• 4 July – Belinda Dann, centenarian, longest-lived member of the Stolen Generation (died 2007).^[4]
• 29 July – Mary V. Austin, community worker and political activist (died 1986)^[5]
• 1 August – Otto Nothling, rugby union and cricket player (died 1965)^[6]
• 16 August – Ida Browne, geologist and palaeontologist (died 1976)^[7]
• 9 October – Frank O'Grady, Australian public servant (d. 1981)^[8]
• 19 October – Bill Ponsford, cricketer (died 1991)
• 20 October – Jack Lindsay, writer (died 1990)
• 3 December
  • Karna Maria Birmingham, artist, illustrator and print maker (died 1987)^[9]
  • Albert Hawke, Premier of Western Australia (1953–1959) (died 1989)
• 10 December – Eric Costa, politician (died 1976)

Deaths

• 17 July – Thomas McIlwraith, former Queensland premier (born 1835)
• 17 November – John Ferris, Australian cricketer (born 1867)

Population

• About 4, 000, 000

See also

• List of Australian films before 1910