1887 in Australia

Decades:	1860s; 1870s; 1880s; 1890s; 1900s;
See also:	Other events of 1887; Timeline of Australian history;

The following lists events that happened during 1887 in Australia.

Incumbents

Premier of New South Wales – Patrick Jenning (until 19 January), then Henry Parkes
Premier of South Australia – John Downer (until 11 June), then Thomas Playford II
Premier of Queensland – Samuel Griffith
Premier of Tasmania – James Agnew (until 29 March), then Philip Fysh
Premier of Victoria – Duncan Gillies
Governor of the Crown Colony of Western Australia – Sir Frederick Broome

Events

1 January – Clement Wragge is appointed Government Meteorologist for Queensland
21 January – Brisbane receives a daily rainfall of 465 millimetres (18.3 inches), a record for any Australian capital city.
23 March – 81 miners are killed during a coal gas explosion at Bulli, New South Wales
22 April – A cyclone hits a pearling fleet off Eighty Mile Beach, 120 men drown.
11 May – Ship Darling Downs with 7725 bales of Australian wool sinks at Nore after collision with Britannia^[1]
22 June – The Fremantle Town Hall is opened.^[2]
26 Sept – The Celtic Club Melbourne is formed and remains today as Australia's oldest Irish Club
19 October – The Sydney-bound steamer SS Cheviot is wrecked near Point Nepean, Victoria, claiming 35 lives.

Science and technology

Construction of Goulburn Weir commenced, one of Australia's earliest irrigation schemes.^[3]

Arts and literature

Sport

Dunlop wins the Melbourne Cup

Births

2 February – Pat Sullivan, film director (died 1933)
16 April – Henry Gordon Bennett, soldier (died 1962)
6 July – Annette Kellerman, swimming celebrity (died 1975)
28 October – Herb Byrne, Australian rules footballer (died 1959)
30 November – Beatrice Kerr, swimmer, diver, and aquatic performer (died 1971)

Deaths

References

^ "Collision off the English Coast". The Age. No. 10, 056. Victoria, Australia. 16 May 1887. p. 5. Retrieved 23 July 2024 – via National Library of Australia. Perhaps SS Britannia (1882)
^ Kimberly, Warren Bert (2018). History of West Australia. Charles River Editors. p. 590. ISBN 9781531267810.
^ "Goulburn Weir". Gouldburn-Murray Water. Retrieved 28 November 2023.

[1] "Collision off the English Coast". The Age. No. 10, 056. Victoria, Australia. 16 May 1887. p. 5. Retrieved 23 July 2024 – via National Library of Australia. Perhaps SS Britannia (1882)

[2] Kimberly, Warren Bert (2018). History of West Australia. Charles River Editors. p. 590. ISBN 9781531267810.

[2-3] "Goulburn Weir". Gouldburn-Murray Water. Retrieved 28 November 2023.

[1]

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
Timeline of Australian history

v t e 1887 in Oceania
Sovereign states	Australia Federated States of Micronesia Fiji Kiribati Marshall Islands Nauru New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu
Associated states of New Zealand	Cook Islands Niue