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← 1884 1883 1882 1885 in Australia → 1886 1887 1888
Decades:	1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s
See also:	Other events of 1885 Timeline of Australian history

The following lists events that happened during 1885 in Australia.

Incumbents

Governors

Governors of the Australian colonies:

• Governor of New South Wales – Lord Augustus Loftus (until 9 November), then Lord Carrington (from 12 December)
• Governor of Queensland – Sir Anthony Musgrave
• Governor of South Australia – Sir William Cleaver Francis Robinson, GCMG
• Governor of Tasmania – Major Sir George Strahan
• Governor of Victoria – Sir Henry Loch

Premiers

Premiers of the Australian colonies:

• Premier of New South Wales – Alexander Stuart (until 6 October), then George Dibbs (until 9 October), then John Robertson (from 22 December)
• Premier of Queensland – Samuel Griffith
• Premier of South Australia – John Colton (until 16 June), then John Downer
• Premier of Tasmania – Adye Douglas
• Premier of Victoria – James Service

Events

• 3 March – The New South Wales Contingent, consisting of an infantry battalion and an artillery battalion, leaves Sydney to fight in the Sudan Campaign.
• 28 March – HMQS Gayundah arrives in Brisbane.
• 1 April – The Cabinet of South Australia meets to discuss the "Russian scare"—the fear that South Australia would come under attack from Russian warships should hostilities between Russia and Britain over Afghanistan result in war.
• 10 August – BHP, later to become the world's largest mining company, is registered as a company in Victoria.
• 4–7 October – Third Intercolonial Trades Union Congress held in Sydney.
• The Geographical Society of Australasia sent an expedition to the Fly River region of Papua New Guinea, naming and exploring the Strickland River.

Science and technology

• 24 March – Hugh Victor McKay patents stripper-harvester.

Arts and literature

• Tom Roberts paintings:
  • Winter morning after rain, Gardiner's Creek
  • The Artists Camp

Sport

• 20 February – The Richmond Football Club is formed.
• 3 November – Sheet Anchor wins the Melbourne Cup.
• 17 October – Caulfield Cup when 16 of the 44 horses competing fell, resulting in the death of 25-year-old jockey Donald Nicolson.

Births

• 8 January – John Curtin (died 1945), Australian Prime Minister
• 26 January – Michael Considine (died 1959), Australian politician
• 29 January – Arthur Halloway (died 1961), rugby league footballer and coach
• 20 March – Vernon Ransford (died 1958), cricketer
• 1 July – Dorothea Mackellar (died 1968), poet
• 12 August – Keith Murdoch (died 1952), journalist and newspaper publisher
• 15 August – Beaumont Smith (died 1950), film director and producer
• 18 August
  • Bede Fanning (died 1970), public servant
  • Nettie Palmer (died 1964), poet and literary critic (wife of Vance Palmer)
• 28 August – Vance Palmer (died 1959), novelist, essayist and critic (husband of Nettie Palmer)
• 22 September – Ben Chifley (died 1951), Australian Prime Minister
• 8 October - Oliver Woodward (died 1966), metallurgist, mine manager and soldier
• 10 October - William John Yuill (died 1960), agricultural writer, dairy industry leader and public servant
• 15 October – Frank Hurley (died 1962), photographer and adventurer
• 7 November – Frank Cheadle, rugby league footballer and World War I soldier (died 1916).

Deaths

• 28 January – Edward Davy (born 1806), scientist

Notes

1. "Sudan (New South Wales Contingent) March–June 1885". Australian military history overview. Australian War Memorial. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
2. Painter, Alison. "1 April 1885 Russian scare". SA 175. Professional Historians Association (South Australia). Retrieved 2 March 2012.
3. "The Exploratory Expedition to New Guinea". Sydney Morning Herald. 27 July 1885. p. 4.
4. Lack, John. "McKay, Hugh Victor (1865 - 1926)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Archived from the original on 21 March 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2007.
5. Lomas, L. "Yuill, William John (1885–1960)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 18 February 2012.

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

• 1885 in Australia
• 1885 by country
• Years of the 19th century in Australia