- 1914 in Australia
Infobox Australian year
year = 1914
monarch = George V
governor-general =Thomas Denman, 3rd Baron Denman
Ronald Munro-Ferguson, 1st Viscount Novar
pm =Andrew Fisher
population = 4,948,990
australian =
elections =Federal, Victoria, Western Australia1914 in Australia was dominated by the outbreak of
World War I .Andrew Fisher , who became Prime Minister a month after Australia entered the war vowed that Australia would "stand beside our own to help and defend Britain to the last man and the last shilling." [ [http://www.abc.net.au/federation/fedstory/ep5/ep5_culture.htm Imperial Ties And World War One] ,Australian Broadcasting Corporation .] In 1914, the Australian war effort was dominated by recruiting and equipping a force to fight overseas.Australia was in the grip of a serious drought which had started in 1911 but was at its worst during 1914 and 1915. The outbreak of war placed further strain on the Australian economy.
Incumbents
*Monarch – King George V
*Governor-General –Thomas Denman, 3rd Baron Denman (until18 May ), thenRonald Munro-Ferguson, 1st Viscount Novar
*Prime Minister –Joseph Cook (until17 September ), thenAndrew Fisher tate premiers
*
Premier of New South Wales –William Holman
*Premier of Victoria –William Alexander Watt (until18 June ), thenAlexander Peacock
*Premier of Queensland –Digby Denham
*Premier of South Australia –Archibald Peake
*Premier of Western Australia –John Scaddan
*Premier of Tasmania –Albert Solomon (until6 April ), thenJohn Earle tate governors
*
Governor of New South Wales – Sir Gerald Strickland
*Governor of Victoria –Sir John Fuller, 1st Baronet (untilJanuary 31 ), then Sir Arthur Stanley (fromFebruary 23 )
*Governor of Queensland –William McGregor
*Governor of South Australia – Admiral Sir Day Bosanquet (untilMarch 22 ), then Lieutenant Colonel Sir Henry Galway (fromApril 18 )
*Governor of Western Australia – Sir Harry Barron
*Governor of Tasmania – Sir William Ellison-MacartneyEvents
*
January 27 – Lord Denman resigns as Governor-General.
*February 9 – Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson, a landholder and provost ofKirkcaldy appointed as the new Governor-General.
*February 16 –Charles Heydon of theNew South Wales Industrial Court finds that a "living wage " for a family of four would be 48 shillings a week but more than a living wage should be paid. His recommendation was a minimum wage of 8s 6d for unskilled workers and 9s for heavy work.
*March 1 – The first military aircraft in Australia are flown in Australia by Lieuts Harrison and Petre atPoint Cook, Victoria . They flew aBoxkite CFS 3 and aDeperdussin CFS 4 .
*March 16 – Fourteen people die in a train accident atExeter, New South Wales .
*March 27 – Eighteen people die in the shipwreck of thesteamship "Saint Paul" atCape Moreton ,Queensland .
*May 2 – Eighteen people die in a mining accident at theGreat Extended Hustler's Mine inBendigo, Victoria .
*May 18 – Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson commences duties as Governor-General.
*June 8 – Joseph Cook persuades Ferguson to hold Australia's firstdouble dissolution election after theGovernment Preference Bill prohibiting preference to unionists in Australian Government employment was twice rejected by theSenate of Australia .
*July 16 –Maurice Guillaux leavesMelbourne to fly toSydney in a Blériotmonoplane in the first delivery ofairmail . He arrived in Sydney on 18 July after nine and a half hours of flying time.
*July 31 – As the likelihood of Britain being involved in a European war became more likely, the leaders of both major parties pledge their support. Opposition Leader Andrew Fisher states in a speech atColac, Victoria "Australians will stand beside her own to help and defend her to our last man and our last shilling." Prime Minister Joseph Cook states inHorsham, Victoria "All of our resources in Australia are ... for the preservation and the security of the empire".
*August 4 – TheUnited Kingdom declares war onGermany – as a consequence Australia enters the war.
*August 5 – Australia fires its first shot in World War I atFort Nepean in Victoria. The German merchant ship "Pfalz" was leavingPort Phillip Bay at 12.10am when news of involvement in the war had just reached the fort. The battery fired shots across its bows forcing the ship to surrender. This is believed to be the first shots fired in anger by British Empire forces during the war.
*August 10 – Recruiting begins for theFirst Australian Imperial Force . Australia had offered a force of 20,000 troops.
*August 18 – The Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force of 1500 men leavesSydney to capture GermanNew Guinea .
*September 5 – The Australian Labor Party led by Andrew Fisher wins the Federal election of 1914 winning 42 out of 75 seats in theAustralian House of Representatives and 31 out of 36 seats in theAustralian Senate .
*September 9 – Thelight cruiser HMAS|Melbourne|1912|6 captures the German radio station inNauru .
*September 11 – Australian troops land in German New Guinea.
*September 13 –Rabaul occupied.
*September 14 – The Australian submarine HMAS|AE1 lost with all 35 men while patrollingNew Britain .
*September 17 – The acting governor of German New Guinea surrenders.
*October 29 – TheWar Precautions Act 1914 , which gave theGovernment of Australia special powers for the duration ofWorld War I and for six months afterwards, was passed by theParliament of Australia .
*November 1 – The first contingent of theFirst Australian Imperial Force leaves forEgypt .
*November 6 – Australian forces occupyNauru .
*November 9 – Australia's first naval victory as HMAS|Sydney|1912|6 defeats SMS|Emden|1906|6 in theBattle of Cocos .
*November 30 – The first aviation unit to leave for active service is sent to New Guinea.
*December 21 – Lieutenant-General SirWilliam Birdwood arrives inEgypt to take command of theAustralian and New Zealand Army Corps .Culture
At this time, Australia's multiculturalism was beginning.
port
*
April 6 – TheHawthorn Football Club joins the Victorian Football Association.Births
*
February 11 –Clyde Cameron , politician
*February 14 –Norman Von Nida (d. 2007), golfer
*March 14 –Robert Royce , botanist
*March 20 –Tom Derrick (d. 1945), soldier and Victoria Cross recipient
*March 26 –Ray Robinson (d. 1965), cricketer
*March 28 –Kenneth Richard Norris (d. 1983), entomologist
*April 10 –Jack Badcock (d. 1982), cricketer
*May 7 –Scobie Breasley (d. 2006), jockey
*May 21 –Rhodes Fairbridge (d. 2006), geologist
*August 1 –Hughie Edwards (d. 1982), pilot, Victoria Cross recipient and Governor of Western Australia
*August 3 –Gordon Bryant (d. 1991), politician
*August 6 –Gordon Freeth (d. 1994), politician
*August 18 –Arthur Tange (d. 2001), public servant
*September 9 –John Passmore (d. 2004), philosopher
*September 24 – John Kerr (d. 1991), 18th Governor-General of Australia
*September 25 –Ted Humphries (d. 1994), NSW politician
*October 4 –Jim Cairns , politician
*October 20 – Fred Chaney (d. 2001), politician
*November 7 –Geoffrey Blackburn , Baptist minister
*December 8 –Ernie Toshack (d. 2003), cricketer
*December 16 –Jo Gullett (d. 1999), soldier and politician
*December 21 –Frank Fenner , virologist
*December 29 – Albert Tucker (d. 1999), artistDeaths
*
March 11 – John Mackay (b. 1839), explorer, sailor and harbourmaster
*April 23 –Alexander Robert Edgar (b. 1850), Methodist minister
*June 23 – Sir John Stokell Dodds (b. 1848), Chief Justice of Tasmania
*July 17 –William Piguenit (b. 1836), artist
*August 7 –Bransby Cooper (b. 1844), cricketer
*August 13 –Gregor McGregor (b. 1848), politician and trade union leader
*August 15 -John Williams McAuthur (b. 1972), artist
*August 24 – Sir Normand MacLaurin (b. 1835), vice-chancellor of the University of Sydney
*September 4 – William Ramsay (b. 1868), maker of Kiwi shoe polish
*October 5 –Albert Solomon (b. 1876), 23rd Premier of Tasmania
*October 13 –Walter Withers (b. 1854), landscape artist
*December 9 – John Arthur (b. 1875), politicianReferences
# Unidentified newspaper clipping, 1914, from 'Press Clippings of WW1' in Papers of Atlee Hunt, National Library of Australia, NLA MS 1100 cited on ABC Online "A Place in the World" .Australians:A Historical Record uses the words her own instead of our own
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