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← 1838 1837 1836 1839 in Australia → 1840 1841 1842
Decades:	1810s 1820s 1830s 1840s 1850s
See also:	Other events of 1839 Timeline of Australian history

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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
• 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

• Alberton, South Australia
• Albury, New South Wales
• Balhannah, South Australia
• Blakiston, South Australia
• Brunswick East, Victoria
• Burnside, South Australia
• Carcoar, New South Wales
• Findon, South Australia
• Gumeracha, South Australia
• Hahndorf, South Australia
• Hope Valley, South Australia
• Mandurama, New South Wales
• Mount Barker, South Australia
• Nairne, South Australia
• Penwortham, South Australia
• Seymour, Victoria
• St Kilda, Victoria
• Strathalbyn, South Australia
• Tusmore, South Australia

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)
• 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

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.

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

v t e Years in Australia (1788–present)
18th century	1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800
19th century	1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900
20th century	1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
21st century	2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Timeline of Australian history

• 1839 in Australia
• 1839 by country
• Years of the 19th century in Australia