1844 in Australia

The following lists events that happened during 1844 in Australia.

← 1843 1842 1841 1844 in Australia → 1845 1846 1847
Decades:	1820s 1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s
See also:	Other events of 1844 Timeline of Australian history

Incumbents

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.[1]
• 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.[2]
• 1 October – Ludwig Leichhardt leads expedition starting from Jimbour on the Darling Downs to Port Essington, Northern Territory, arriving in December 1845.[2]

Births

• Percival Ball
• Francis Boyce
• Henry Briggs
• Ada Cambridge
• Ebenezer Wake Cook
• John Gavan Duffy
• Andrew Harper
• John Madden
• John See
• John McGarvie Smith
• Charles Strong
• William Tietkens
• Watkin Wynne

Deaths

• 14 September – Prosper de Mestre, merchant (b. 1789)
• James Dowling
• John Jamison

References

1. "Quarter Sessions". The Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal. National Library of Australia. 6 April 1844. p. 3. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
2. Cameron, Angus, ed. (1985). "Part One: Facts and Figures: An Australian Historical Chronology". The Australian Almanac: 800 Pages Crammed with Australian and World Facts: Politics, the Arts, Geography, History and Much More. North Ryde, NSW: Angus & Robertson. p. 12. ISBN 0-207-15108-3.