# 1872 in Australia

"none" is preferred when the title alone is adequate; see [[WP:SDNONE]]
The following lists events that happened during 1872 in Australia.

## Incumbents
### Governors

Governors of the Australian colonies:
* Governor of New South Wales – Somerset Lowry-Corry, 4th Earl Belmore, then Hercules Robinson, 1st Baron Rosmead
* Governor of Queensland – George Phipps, 2nd Marquess of Normanby
* 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

Premiers of the Australian colonies:
* Premier of New South Wales – Sir James Martin, until 14 May then Henry Parkes
* Premier of Queensland – Arthur Hunter Palmer
* Premier of South Australia – Arthur Blyth, until 22 January then Henry Ayers (5th time)
* Premier of Tasmania – James Milne Wilson, until 4 November then Frederick Innes
* Premier of Victoria – Charles Gavan Duffy, until 10 June then James Francis

## Events

* 13 February to 28 March – An election is held in New South Wales.
* 19 February – The Municipal District of Dubbo is established, following the approval of the Colonial Secretary.
* 26 February – The brig Maria is wrecked when it strikes a reef near Cardwell off the coast of Queensland, killing 39 people.
* 12 June – A Victorian branch of the Royal Australian Mint opens in Melbourne.
* 22 August – The Australian Overland Telegraph Line is completed when two telegraph lines are joined at Frew's Ponds in the Northern Territory (then South Australia).
* 24 September – The General Post Office opens in Brisbane, Queensland.
* Sidney Cooke Limited founded.

## Sport

* The Quack wins the Melbourne Cup

## Births

* 1 January – Arthur Manning, New South Wales politician (d. 1947)
* 22 February – Shaw Neilson, poet (d. 1942)
* 26 February – John Holman, Western Australian politician (d. 1925)
* 13 June – Lydia Abell, military nurse, recipient of Royal Red Cross (RRC) (d. 1959)
* 20 June – George Carpenter, 5th General of The Salvation Army (d. 1948)
* 28 June – John Keating, Tasmanian politician (d. 1940)
* 28 September – David Unaipon, inventor and author (d. 1967)
* 14 October – John Leckie, Victorian politician (d. 1947)
* Full date unknown:
* Possibly September – Douglas Fry, artist (born in the United Kingdom) (d. 1911)
* Bertha Schroeder, New Zealand Salvation Army officer, social worker, and probation officer (d. 1953)
* Joe Slater, composer and publisher (d. 1926)

## Deaths

* 4 January – Sir Edward Macarthur, Administrator of Victoria (born and died in the United Kingdom) (b. 1789)
* 15 January – John King, explorer (born in Ireland) (b. 1838)
* 12 February – George Herbert Rogers, actor (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1820)
* 20 February – Andrew Petrie, architect (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1798)
* 20 March – William Wentworth, New South Wales politician and explorer (born in Norfolk Island) (b. 1790)
* 28 April – Louisa Atkinson, writer and botanist (b. 1834)
* 19 May – John Baker, 2nd Premier of South Australia (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1813)
* 11 June – John Davies, newspaper proprietor (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1814)
* 31 December – John McKinlay, explorer and grazier (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1819)
* Unknown – John Dibbs, mariner (born and died in the United Kingdom) (b. 1790)