The following lists events that happened during 1881 in Australia.
Incumbents
Governors Governors of the Australian colonies: Governor of New South Wales – Lord Augustus Loftus Governor of Queensland – Sir Arthur Kennedy Governor of South Australia – Sir William Jervois Governor of Tasmania – Major Sir George Strahan Governor of Victoria – George Phipps, Marquess of Normanby Governor of Western Australia – Sir William Robinson
Premiers Premiers of the Australian colonies: Premier of New South Wales – Sir Henry Parkes Premier of Queensland – Thomas McIlwraith Premier of South Australia – William Morgan till 24 June then Sir John Cox Bray Premier of Tasmania – William Giblin Premier of Victoria – Graham Berry until 9 July then James Service
Events 28 June – The Art Gallery of South Australia opened by Prince Albert Victor of the United Kingdom.
Census In the mid-19th century the colonial statisticians encouraged compatibility between the colonies in their respective censuses, and in 1881 a census was held simultaneously in each of the colonies. This was part of a census of the British Empire. The questions posed in the colonies were not uniform.
The population of Australia was 2,250,194. + 1881 census resultsNSWVicQldTasSANTWAAustralia751,468862,346213,525115,704276,4149,79729,7082,250,194
Northern Territory was counted within South Australia (286,211) and was 3,451 plus 6,346 Aboriginals in settled districts. The population of Western Australia did not include full-blood Aborigines.
The population of greater Melbourne was 282,947 and of Sydney was 224,939.
Arts and literature
Sport Zulu wins the Melbourne Cup
Births 10 January - Leslie Rainey, cricketer, footballer and tennis player (died 1962). 6 April - Frank Leslie Thomson Wilmot, Australian poet (died 1942). 11 September - William Jolly, first Lord Mayor of Brisbane (died 1955). 28 October - Vin Coutie, footballer (died 1951).
Deaths 2 August - Marcus Clarke, author (born 1846)
References