1914 in Australia

1914 in Australia
Monarch	George V
Governor-General	Thomas Denman, 3rd Baron Denman Ronald Munro-Ferguson, 1st Viscount Novar
Prime Minister	Andrew Fisher
Population	4,948,990
Elections	Federal, Victoria, Western Australia

See also: 1913 in Australia, 1914, 1915 in Australia, and Timeline of Australian history

1914 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." ^[1] 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.

Contents 1 Incumbents 1.1 State premiers 1.2 State governors 2 Events 3 Culture 4 Sport 5 Births 6 Deaths 7 References

Incumbents

• Monarch – King George V
• Governor-General – Thomas Denman, 3rd Baron Denman (until 18 May), then Ronald Munro-Ferguson, 1st Viscount Novar
• Prime Minister – Joseph Cook (until 17 September), then Andrew Fisher

State premiers

• Premier of New South Wales – William Holman
• Premier of Victoria – William Alexander Watt (until 18 June), then Alexander Peacock
• Premier of Queensland – Digby Denham
• Premier of South Australia – Archibald Peake
• Premier of Western Australia – John Scaddan
• Premier of Tasmania – Albert Solomon (until 6 April), then John Earle

State governors

• Governor of New South Wales – Sir Gerald Strickland
• Governor of Victoria – Sir John Fuller, 1st Baronet (until January 31), then Sir Arthur Stanley (from February 23)
• Governor of Queensland – William McGregor
• Governor of South Australia – Admiral Sir Day Bosanquet (until March 22), then Lieutenant Colonel Sir Henry Galway (from April 18)
• Governor of Western Australia – Sir Harry Barron
• Governor of Tasmania – Sir William Ellison-Macartney

Events

• January 27 – Lord Denman resigns as Governor-General.
• February 9 – Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson, a landholder and provost of Kirkcaldy appointed as the new Governor-General.
• February 16 – Charles Heydon of the New 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 at Point Cook, Victoria. They flew a Boxkite CFS 3 and a Deperdussin CFS 4.
• March 16 – Fourteen people die in a train accident at Exeter, New South Wales.
• March 27 – Eighteen people die in the shipwreck of the steamship Saint Paul at Cape Moreton, Queensland.
• May 2 – Eighteen people die in a mining accident at the Great Extended Hustler's Mine in Bendigo, Victoria.
• May 18 – Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson commences duties as Governor-General.
• June 8 – Joseph Cook persuades Ferguson to hold Australia's first double dissolution election after the Government Preference Bill prohibiting preference to unionists in Australian Government employment was twice rejected by the Senate of Australia.
• July 16 – Maurice Guillaux leaves Melbourne to fly to Sydney in a Blériot monoplane in the first delivery of airmail. 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 at Colac, 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 in Horsham, Victoria "All of our resources in Australia are ... for the preservation and the security of the empire".
• August 4 – The United Kingdom declares war on Germany – as a consequence Australia enters the war.
• August 5 – Australia fires its first shot in World War I at Fort Nepean in Victoria. The German merchant ship Pfalz was leaving Port 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 the First Australian Imperial Force. Australia had offered a force of 20,000 troops.
• August 18 – The Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force of 1500 men leaves Sydney to capture German New Guinea.
• September 5 – The Australian Labor Party led by Andrew Fisher wins the Federal election of 1914 winning 42 out of 75 seats in the Australian House of Representatives and 31 out of 36 seats in the Australian Senate.
• September 9 – The light cruiser HMAS Melbourne captures the German radio station in Nauru.
• 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 patrolling New Britain.
• September 17 – The acting governor of German New Guinea surrenders.
• October 29 – The War Precautions Act 1914, which gave the Government of Australia special powers for the duration of World War I and for six months afterwards, was passed by the Parliament of Australia.
• November 1 – The first contingent of the First Australian Imperial Force leaves for Egypt.
• November 6 – Australian forces occupy Nauru.
• November 9 – Australia's first naval victory as HMAS Sydney defeats SMS Emden in the Battle of Cocos.
• November 30 – The first aviation unit to leave for active service is sent to New Guinea.
• December 21 – Lieutenant-General Sir William Birdwood arrives in Egypt to take command of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.

Culture

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (June 2008)

At this time, Australia's multiculturalism was beginning.

Sport

• April 6 – The Hawthorn 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), artist

Deaths

• 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), politician

References

1. 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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