The following lists events that happened during 1840 in Australia.

Incumbents

Monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Governors

Governors of the Australian colonies: *

Governor of New South Wales The governor of New South Wales is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia, Governor-General of Australia at the national level, the governor ...

– Sir

George Gipps Sir George Gipps (23 December 1790 – 28 February 1847) was the Governor of New South Wales, Governor of the British Colony of New South Wales for eight years, between 1838 and 1846. His governorship oversaw a tumultuous period where the rights ...

Governor of South Australia The governor of South Australia is the representative in South Australia of the monarch, currently King Charles III. The governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the governor-general of Aust ...

– Lieutenant Colonel

George Gawler Colonel George Gawler (21 July 1795 – 7 May 1869) was the second Governor of South Australia, at the same time serving as Resident Commissioner, from 17 October 1838 until 15 May 1841. Biography Early life Gawler, born on 21 July 1795, was t ...

Governor of Tasmania The governor of Tasmania is the representative in the Australian state of Tasmania of the monarch, currently King Charles III. The incumbent governor is Barbara Baker, who was appointed in June 2021. The official residence of the governor is Gov ...

– Captain Sir

John Franklin Sir John Franklin (16 April 1786 – 11 June 1847) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer and colonial administrator. After serving in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812, he led two expeditions into the Northern Canada, Canadia ...

* Governor of Western Australia as a Crown Colony –

John Hutt John Hutt (24 July 1795 – 9 April 1880) was Governor of Western Australia from 1839 to 1846. Life Born in London on 24 July 1795, John Hutt was the fourth of 13 children of Richard Hutt of Appley Towers, Ryde, Isle of Wight. He was educate ...

Events

* 3 January – The Melbourne newspaper '' The Herald'' is founded by George Cavenagh as ''The Port Phillip Herald''. * 13 January – The

Battle of Yering The Battle of Yering was a conflict between Indigenous Australians of the Wurundjeri nation and the Border Police which occurred on 13 January 1840, on the outskirts of Melbourne.Kath Gannaway, Important step for reconciliation' Star News Group, ...

occurs between

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

of the

Wurundjeri The Wurundjeri people are an Aboriginal peoples, Aboriginal people of the Woiwurrung language, Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin nation. They are the traditional owners of the Yarra River Valley, covering much of the present location of ...

nation and the Border Police. * March – Between 40 and 60

Jardwadjali The Jardwadjali (Yartwatjali), also known as the Jaadwa, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of Victoria, whose traditional lands occupy the lands in the upper Wimmera River watershed east to Gariwerd ( Grampians) and west to Lake ...

Aboriginal people are killed in the

Fighting Hills massacre The Fighting Hills massacre occurred on 8 March 1840 when Victorian Western District squatters killed 51 Aboriginal people of the Konongwootong gundidj clan (Jardwadjali) at The Hummocks, near Wando Vale, Victoria, Australia. The Whyte brothers ...

. The Whyte brothers William, George, Pringle and James Whyte, cousin John Whyte and three convict employees, Benjamin Wardle, Daniel Turner and William Gillespie were responsible. * April – Up to 60

Aboriginal people are killed in the

Fighting Waterholes massacre In April 1840 the Fighting Waterholes massacre of up to 60 Jardwadjali Aboriginal people of the Konongwootong Gundidj clan occurred near the current day Konongwootong reservoir (then known as Den Hills creek), near present-day Coleraine, Victor ...

. The Whyte brothers William, George, Pringle and James Whyte and their employees were responsible. * May – British Government agrees to cease sending convicts to New South Wales, some 80,000 convicts had been sent since 1788. Convicts still sent to Van Diemen's Land and Port Phillip District colonies. * 30 June – survivors of the ''Maria'' shipwreck are massacred by Aboriginal Australians on the Coorong. * 25 August – Two

Ngarrindjeri The Ngarrindjeri people are the traditional Aboriginal Australian people of the lower Murray River, eastern Fleurieu Peninsula, and the Coorong of the southern-central area of the state of South Australia. The term ''Ngarrindjeri'' means "belo ...

men are hanged on the Coorong in front of their tribe after being convicted in a

drumhead court-martial A drumhead court-martial is a court-martial held in the field to render summary justice for offenses committed in action. The term is said to originate from drums used as improvised tables and drumheads as writing surfaces at fast-track mil ...

of the murders of all 26 crew and passengers of the ''Maria'' shipwreck, Major Thomas O'Halloran, South Australian Police Commissioner, presiding and passing sentence. * 11 October – the

Lettsom raid The Lettsom raid was the mass-arrest and imprisonment of approximately 400 Wurundjeri, Woiworrung, Boonwurrung and Taungurung people (collectively known as the Kulin nation of Indigenous Australians) occurring in October 1840 near the British se ...

in Melbourne, the mass-arrest and imprisonment of approximately 400

, Woiworrung,

Boonwurrung The Boonwurrung, also spelt Bunurong or Bun wurrung, are an Aboriginal people of the Kulin nation, who are the traditional owners of the land from the Werribee River to Wilsons Promontory in the Australian state of Victoria. Their territory ...

and

Taungurung The Taungurung people, also spelled ''Daung Wurrung'', are Aboriginal people who are one of the Kulin nations in present-day Victoria, Australia. They consist of nine clans whose traditional language is the Taungurung language. Their Country ...

people (collectively known as the

Kulin nation The Kulin nation is an alliance of five Aboriginal nations in the south of Australia - up into the Great Dividing Range and the Loddon and Goulburn River valleys - which shares Culture and Language. History Before British colonisation, the ...

). * 2 November – Construction of

The Causeway The Causeway is an arterial traffic crossing in Perth, Western Australia, linking the inner-city suburbs of East Perth, Western Australia, East Perth and Victoria Park, Western Australia, Victoria Park. It is carried over the Swan River (Weste ...

across the Swan River in Perth begins. * Undated – Sydney City Council and Adelaide City Council are incorporated. A ratepayer required £1,000 worth of property to stand for election. * Undated – An unknown number of

are murdered by

Angus McMillan Angus McMillan (14 August 1810 – 18 May 1865) was a Scottish-born explorer, pioneer pastoralism, pastoralist, and perpetrator of several of the Gippsland massacres of Gunai people. Arriving first in New South Wales in 1838, McMillan rose sw ...

's men at Nuntin and at Boney Point as part of a series of mass murders of

Gunai Kurnai people The Kurnai () people Aboriginal Australian nation of south-east Australia. They are the Traditional Custodians of most of present-day Gippsland and much of the southern slopes of the Victorian Alps. The Kurnai nation is composed of five major ...

known as the

Gippsland massacres The Gippsland massacres were a series of mass murders of Gunai Kurnai people, an Aboriginal Australian people living in East Gippsland, Victoria, committed by European settlers and the Aboriginal Police during the Australian frontier wars ...

Births

3 February Events Pre-1600 *1047 – Drogo of Hauteville is elected as count of the Apulian Normans during the Norman conquest of Southern Italy. * 1112 – Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, unitin ...

– Allan McLean, 19th

Premier of Victoria The premier of Victoria is the head of government of the state of Victoria in Australia. The premier leads the Cabinet of Victoria and selects its ministers. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria, must be a member of the Vic ...

(d.

1911 Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * January 3 ** 1911 Kebin earthquake: An earthquake of 7.7 m ...

) *

11 March Events Pre-1600 * 843 – Triumph of Orthodoxy: Empress Theodora II restores the veneration of icons in the Orthodox churches in the Byzantine Empire. *1343 – Arnošt of Pardubice becomes the last Bishop of Prague (3 March 1343 ...

–

Ralph Tate Ralph Tate (11 March 1840 – 20 September 1901) was a British-born botanist and geologist, who was later active in Australia. Early life Tate was born at Alnwick in Northumberland, the son of Thomas Turner Tate (1807–1888), a teacher of math ...

, botanist and geologist (born in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

) (d.

1901 December 13 of this year is the beginning of signed 32-bit Unix time, and is scheduled to end in January 19, 2038. Summary Political and military 1901 started with the unification of multiple British colonies in Australia on January ...

) *

26 April Events Pre-1600 * 1336 – Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ascends Mont Ventoux. * 1478 – The Pazzi family attack on Lorenzo de' Medici in order to displace the ruling Medici family kills his brother Giuliano during High Mass in Fl ...

–

Paddy Hannan Patrick Hannan (baptised 26 April 1840 – 4 November 1925) was a gold prospector whose lucrative discovery on 14 June 1893 set off a major gold rush in the area now known as Kalgoorlie-Boulder in Western Australia. The resulting goldfield ha ...

, prospector (born in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

) (d.

1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...

) *

23 May Events Pre-1600 *1430 – Joan of Arc is captured at the Siege of Compiègne by troops from the Burgundian faction. * 1498 – Girolamo Savonarola is burned at the stake in Florence, Italy. *1533 – The marriage of King Henry VII ...

–

George Throssell George Throssell (23 May 1840 – 30 August 1910) was the second Premier of Western Australia. He served for just three months, from 15 February to 27 May 1901, during a period of great instability in Western Australian politics. George Thros ...

, 2nd

Premier of Western Australia The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive br ...

(d.

1910 Events January * January 6 – Abé people in the French West Africa colony of Côte d'Ivoire rise against the colonial administration; the rebellion is brutally suppressed by the military. * January 8 – By the Treaty of Punakha, t ...

) *

4 November Events Pre-1600 *1354 – War of the Straits: The Genoese fleet under Paganino Doria defeats and captures the entire Venetian fleet under Niccolò Pisani at the Battle of Sapienza. *1429 – Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War: Joan of ...

–

William Giblin William Robert Giblin (4 November 1840 – 17 January 1887) was Premier of Tasmania (Australia) from 5 March 1878 until 20 December 1878 and from 1879 until 1884. Early life Giblin was born at Hobart, Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania), son of W ...

, 13th

Premier of Tasmania The premier of Tasmania is the head of the Government of Tasmania, executive government in the Australian state of Tasmania. By convention, the leader of the party or political grouping which has majority support in the Tasmanian House of Assem ...

(d.

1887 Events January * January 11 – Louis Pasteur's anti-rabies treatment is defended in the Académie Nationale de Médecine, by Dr. Joseph Grancher. * January 20 ** The United States Senate allows the United States Navy to lease Pearl Har ...

) * 8 December –

William Guilfoyle William Robert Guilfoyle (8 December 1840 – 25 June 1912) was an English landscape gardener and botanist in Victoria, Australia, acknowledged as the architect of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne and was responsible for the design of many p ...

, landscape gardener and botanist (d.

1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...

) * Unknown –

Tommy Windich Tommy Windich ( – ) was an Indigenous Australian member of a number of exploring expeditions in Western Australia in the 1860s and 1870s. Tommy Windich (or Windiitj) was born around 1840 near Mount Stirling in Western Australia. Little is k ...

, explorer (d.

1876 Events January * January 1 ** The Reichsbank opens in Berlin. ** The Bass Brewery Red Triangle becomes the world's first registered trademark symbol. *January 27 – The Northampton Bank robbery occurs in Massachusetts. February * Febr ...

)

Deaths

28 January Events Pre-1600 * 98 – On the death of Nerva, Trajan is declared Roman emperor in Cologne, the seat of his government in lower Germany. * 814 – The death of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, brings about the accession of ...

–

Simeon Lord Simeon Lord ( – 29 January 1840) was a pioneer merchant and a magistrate in Australia. He became a prominent trader in Sydney, buying and selling ship cargoes. Despite being an emancipist Lord was made a magistrate by Governor Lachlan Macqua ...

, merchant and magistrate (born in the

) (b.

1771 Events January– March * January 5 – The Great Kalmyk (Torghut) Migration is led by Ubashi Khan, from the east bank of the Lower Volga River back to the homeland of Dzungaria, at this time under Qing dynasty rule. * January ...

) * 17 November –

Henry Fulton Henry Fulton (1761 – 17 November 1840) was a Church of Ireland curate who, as a United Irishman in 1798, was transported to New South Wales where in the Rum Rebellion, and the subsequent inquiries, he took the part of Governor William Bligh. __ ...

, chaplain and writer (born in

) (b.

1761 Events January–March * January 14 – Third Battle of Panipat: In India, the armies of the Durrani Empire from Afghanistan, led by Ahmad Shah Durrani and his coalition decisively defeat the Maratha Confederacy, killing over 1 ...

) *

24 December Events Pre-1600 * 502 – Chinese emperor Xiao Yan names Xiao Tong his heir designate. * 640 – Pope John IV is elected, several months after his predecessor's death. * 759 – Tang dynasty poet Du Fu departs for Chengdu, whe ...

–

Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852), was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist who was widely regarded as Ireland's "National poet, national bard" during the late Georgian era. The acclaim rested primarily on the popularity of his ''I ...

, settler (born in the

) (b.

1762 Events January–March * January 4 – Seven Years' War: Kingdom of Great Britain, Britain declares war against Enlightenment in Spain, Spain and Kingdom of Naples, Naples, following their Treaty of Paris (1761), recent alliance ...

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1840 in Australia

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Years of the 19th century in Australia