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← 1880 1879 1878 1881 in Australia → 1882 1883 1884
Decades:	1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s
See also:	Other events of 1881 Timeline of Australian history

The following lists events that happened during 1881 in Australia.

Incumbents

Governors

Governors of the Australian colonies:

• Governor of New South Wales – Lord Augustus Loftus
• Governor of Queensland – Sir Arthur Kennedy
• Governor of South Australia – Sir William Jervois
• Governor of Tasmania – Major Sir George Strahan
• Governor of Victoria – George Phipps, Marquess of Normanby
• Governor of Western Australia – Sir William Robinson

Premiers

Premiers of the Australian colonies:

• Premier of New South Wales – Sir Henry Parkes
• Premier of Queensland – Thomas McIlwraith
• Premier of South Australia – William Morgan till 24 June then Sir John Cox Bray
• Premier of Tasmania – William Giblin
• Premier of Victoria – Graham Berry until 9 July then James Service

Events

• 28 June – The Art Gallery of South Australia opened by Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence.

Census

In the mid-19th century the colonial statisticians encouraged compatibility between the colonies in their respective censuses, and in 1881 a census was held simultaneously in each of the colonies. This was part of a census of the British Empire. The questions posed in the colonies were not uniform.

The population of Australia was 2,250,194.

Northern Territory was counted within South Australia (286,211) and was 3,451 plus 6,346 Aboriginals in settled districts. The population of Western Australia did not include full-blood Aborigines.

The population of greater Melbourne was 282,947 and of Sydney was 224,939.

Arts and literature

Sport

• Zulu wins the Melbourne Cup

Births

• 10 January - Leslie Rainey, cricketer, footballer and tennis player (died 1962).
• 6 April - Frank Leslie Thomson Wilmot, Australian poet (died 1942).
• 11 September - William Jolly, first Lord Mayor of Brisbane (died 1955).
• 28 October - Vin Coutie, footballer (died 1951).

Deaths

• 2 August - Marcus Clarke, author (born 1846)

References

1. "The population census - a brief history". 1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2005. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2005. Retrieved 25 June 2006.
2. ^ Aplin, Graeme; S.G. Foster; Michael McKernan, eds. (1987). Australians: Events and Places. Broadway, New South Wales, Australia: Fairfax, Syme & Weldon Associates. p. 97. ISBN 0-949288-13-6.

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

• 1881 in Australia
• 1881 by country
• Years of the 19th century in Australia