1856 in Australia

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1856
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6 January – French musician and composer Nicolas-Charles Bochsa dies in Sydney.
7 February – Tasmanian Electoral Act introduced the secret ballot, which was known elsewhere, in particular in the United States as the "Australian ballot"
19 March – The Electoral Act 1856 introduced the secret ballot in Victoria
2 April – South Australia introduced the secret ballot
11 April – At a public meeting in Melbourne, Dr Thomas Embling repeated the slogan "eight hours labour, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest".
22 May – First Parliament of New South Wales opened by the governor, Sir William Denison
24 June – Queen Victoria makes Norfolk Island a separate settlement from Tasmania to be administered by the Governor of New South Wales.
23 September – The town of Perth, Western Australia, is proclaimed a City by letters patent from Queen Victoria.
25 November – The first Parliament of Victoria is officially opened by the Acting Governor Edward Macarthur.^[1]

1 January – The name Tasmania officially adopted to replace Van Diemen's Land which was felt to have too many convict connotations.
8 June – Pitcairn Islanders arrived on Norfolk Island; the last convict had left and the island was no longer a penal colony. Queen Victoria granted the island to the Pitcairners as a home. Bounty Day is celebrated each year in Norfolk Island to commemorate the event.
Suburb of Goodna founded in Queensland, Australia – Originally part of NSW, its 150-year anniversary was celebrated in 2006.

25 January – Sir John Hoad, 4th Chief of the General Staff (d. 1911)
8 March – Tom Roberts, artist (born in the United Kingdom) (d. 1931)
12 March – Rosetta Jane Birks, suffragist (d. 1911)
11 April – Sydney Smith, New South Wales politician (d. 1934)
15 June – William Henry O'Malley Wood, banker, public servant and surveyor (d. 1941)
18 June – Sir Robert Best, Victorian politician and lawyer (d. 1946)
3 August – Alfred Deakin, 2nd Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1919)
19 September – Sir Arthur Morgan, 16th Premier of Queensland (d. 1916)
9 October – Sir Thomas Ewing, New South Wales politician (d. 1920)
3 December – George Leake, 3rd Premier of Western Australia (d. 1902)

30 January – William Buckley, convict (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1780)
3 May – John Wollaston, settler and clergyman (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1791)
17 October – William Allen, philanthropist and businessman (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1790)

^ "THE NEW PARLIAMENT". The Argus. Melbourne. 26 November 1856. p. 4. Retrieved 16 February 2012 – via National Library of Australia.

Years in Australia (1788–present)

18th century

19th century

20th century

21st century

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