1839 in Australia

Decades:	1810s ; 1820s ; 1830s ; 1840s ; 1850s ;
See also:	Other events of 1839 ; Timeline of Australian history ;

Last updated September 10, 2025

The following lists events that happened during 1839 in Australia.

Incumbents

Monarch – Victoria

Governors

Governors of the Australian colonies:

Governor of New South Wales – Sir George Gipps ^[1]
Governor of South Australia – Lieutenant Colonel George Gawler
Governor of Tasmania – Sir John Franklin
Governor of Western Australia – Captain James Stirling then John Hutt

Events

3 January – John Hutt becomes Governor of Western Australia
15 January – The first US consul, J. H. Williams, takes residence in Sydney
6 February – The Port Phillip Patriot and Melbourne Advertiser are published for the first time by John Pascoe Fawkner
16 February – Kiama is proclaimed a town
19 March – Settlement begins at Port Lincoln
3 April – William Light is replaced by Charles Sturt as Surveyor-General of South Australia
13 April – Albury is proclaimed a village
24 April – Braidwood is proclaimed a town
1 May – Edward John Eyre explores the area north of Adelaide until 29 June, during the expedition he discovers Lake Torrens
June – Up to 40 Aboriginals are killed in the Campaspe Plains massacre, which was a reprisal raid against Aboriginal resistance to the invasion and occupation of the Dja Dja Wurrung and Taungurung lands.
20 June – A settlement is founded at Victor Harbor
27 July – The Adelaide River is discovered
9 September – Port Darwin is named by John Lort Stokes on HMS Beagle
Undated (mid 1939) – 35 to 40 Aboriginals of the Tarnbeere Gundidj clan of the Djargurd Wurrung are killed in the Murdering Gully massacre.
Undated – An unknown number of Aboriginals are killed in the Blood Hole massacre

Exploration and settlement

Edward John Eyre explores areas to the far north and west of Adelaide during his two expeditions.

Settlements

Arts and literature

First mechanics' institute was founded at Melbourne

Births

14 March – George Adams, publican and lottery promoter (born in the United Kingdom) (d. 1904)
18 April – Henry Kendall, author and bush poet (d. 1882)
30 April – Sir Francis Suttor, New South Wales politician and pastoralist (d. 1915)
10 May – Thomas Joseph Carr, Catholic archbishop (born in Ireland) (d. 1917)
29 May – Ned Gregory, cricketer (d. 1899)
19 June – Howard Willoughby, journalist and war correspondent (born in the United Kingdom) (d. 1908)
1 July – William George Lawes, minister, missionary and public lecturer (born in the United Kingdom) (d. 1907)
2 September – Elias Solomon, Western Australian politician (born in the United Kingdom) (d. 1909)
9 December – Norman Selfe, civil engineer (born in the United Kingdom) (d. 1911)
19 December – Charles Dempster, Western Australian politician and explorer (d. 1907)
Unknown – George Rignold, actor (born in the United Kingdom) (d. 1912)

Deaths

6 May – John Batman, explorer, grazier and entrepreneur (b. 1801)^[2]
27 June – Allan Cunningham (botanist), botanist and explorer (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1791)
24 July – Sir Richard Spencer, naval officer and settler (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1779)
6 October – William Light, military officer and surveyor (born in Malaysia) (b. 1786)
9 October – James Oatley, watchmaker and convict (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1769)

References

↑ McCulloch, Samuel Clyde. "Gipps, Sir George (1791–1847)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
↑ Brown, P. L. "Batman, John (1801–1839)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 5 April 2018.

Barker, Anthony (1996). What Happened When. St Leonards: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86373-9866.

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[1] McCulloch, Samuel Clyde. "Gipps, Sir George (1791–1847)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 8 March 2019.

[2] Brown, P. L. "Batman, John (1801–1839)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 5 April 2018.

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Timeline of Australian history

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