1870 in Australia

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← 1869 1868 1867 1870 in Australia → 1871 1872 1873
Decades:	1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s
See also:	Other events of 1870 Timeline of Australian history

The following lists events that happened during 1870 in Australia.

Incumbents

Governors

Governors of the Australian colonies:

• Governor of New South Wales – Somerset Lowry-Corry, 4th Earl Belmore
• Governor of Queensland – Colonel Sir Samuel Blackall
• Governor of South Australia – Sir James Fergusson, 6th Baronet
• Governor of Tasmania – Charles Du Cane
• Governor of Victoria – John Manners-Sutton, 3rd Viscount Canterbury
• Governor of Western Australia – The Hon. Sir Frederick Weld GCMG.

Premiers

• John Robertson, until 13 January then Charles Cowper, until 16 December then James Martin^[1]
• Premier of Queensland – Charles Lilley, until 3 May then Arthur Hunter Palmer^[2]
• John Hart^[3]
• Premier of Tasmania – James Milne Wilson^[4]
• Premier of Victoria – John Alexander MacPherson, until 9 April then James McCulloch^[5]

Events

• 3 January – A state flag of Western Australia is adopted.
• 1 February – A
  state flag of Victoria
  is adopted, although with no crown like the current flag.
• 22 March – A state flag of Queensland is adopted, with a portrait of Queen Victoria.
• 20 April – A second state flag of New South Wales is adopted, similar to the current flag of Victoria: a crown above the Southern Cross.
• 22 July – A state flag of South Australia is adopted.
• 11 August – Melbourne Town Hall is opened.

Exploration and settlement

• Gulgong, New South Wales
  , is founded.
• 27 August –
  Adelaide from Perth, leading an expedition along the south coast via the Great Australian Bight
  .

• September – Work begins on the
  Port Augusta to Darwin
  .

• 12 May – Port Adelaide Football Club is founded in South Australia

Births

• 3 January – Ethel Richardson, author (d. 1946
  )
• 14 January – Sir George Pearce, Western Australian politician (d. 1952
  )
• 17 May – Sir Newton Moore, 8th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1936
  )
• 1 November – Christopher Brennan, poet, scholar and literary critic (d. 1932
  )
• 21 November – Joe Darling, cricketer (d. 1946
  )
• 26 December – Norman Ewing, 23rd Tasmanian Opposition Leader (d. 1928
  )

• 23 May – Foster Fyans, military officer, administrator and politician (born in Ireland) (b. 1790
  )
• 25 May – Captain Thunderbolt, bushranger (b. 1835
  )
• 24 June – Adam Lindsay Gordon, South Australian politician and (born in the United Kingdom) poet (b. 1833
  )