# 1863 in Australia

"none" is preferred when the title alone is adequate; see [[WP:SDNONE]]
The following lists events that happened during 1863 in Australia.

## Incumbents

* Monarch - Victoria

### Governors

Governors of the Australian colonies:
* Governor of New South Wales – John Young, 1st Baron Lisgar
* Governor of Queensland – Sir George Bowen
* Governor of South Australia – Sir Dominick Daly
* Governor of Tasmania – Colonel Thomas Browne
* Governor of Victoria – Sir Henry Barkly until 10 September, then Sir Charles Darling
* Governor of Western Australia – Dr John Hampton.

### Premiers

Premiers of the Australian colonies:
* Premier of New South Wales – Charles Cowper until 15 October, then James Martin
* Premier of Queensland – Robert Herbert
* Premier of South Australia – George Waterhouse until 4 July, then Francis Dutton until 15 July, then Henry Ayers
* Premier of Tasmania – Thomas Chapman until 20 January, then James Whyte
* Premier of Victoria – John O'Shanassy until 27 June, then James McCulloch

## Events

* 1 January – The Torrens title system is introduced in New South Wales with the commencement of the Real Property Act 1862.
* 7 February – The Sydney-based Royal Navy corvette HMS Orpheus sinks off the coast of New Zealand claiming 189 lives.
* 21 February – James Cockle is appointed the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland.
* 14 March – Queen Victoria issues Letters Patent granting Goulburn, New South Wales city status, making it Australia's first inland city.
* 6 July – Queen Victoria issues Letters Patent annexing to South Australia the part of the colony of New South Wales that would later become the Northern Territory.
* 11 November – Elizabeth Scott is hanged for the murder of her husband, making her the first woman to be executed in Victoria.

### Non-specific dates

* South Sea Islanders are brought into Queensland to work as indentured labourers in the colony's sugar industry.
* Over 2,400 volunteers are recruited to fight in the New Zealand Wars.

## Exploration and settlement

* 17 January – Explorer John McKinlay returns home to Gawler, South Australia after an unsuccessful two-year search for the missing Burke and Wills expedition.
* 28 April – Brewarrina, New South Wales proclaimed a township.

## Sport

* 3 November – Banker wins the Melbourne Cup, in the smallest field in Cup history of six horses.

## Births

* 26 January – Sir Charles Wade, 17th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1922)
* 26 March – George Philip Barber, Queensland politician (born in the United Kingdom) (d. 1938)
* 28 April – Josiah Thomas, New South Wales politician (born in the United Kingdom) (d. 1933)
* 20 June – James Fowler, Western Australian politician (born in the United Kingdom) (d. 1940)
* 21 June – Bill Wilks, New South Wales politician (d. 1940)
* 14 July – Arthur Coningham, cricketer (d. 1939)
* 16 July – Anderson Dawson, 14th Premier of Queensland (d. 1910)
* 26 October
** Sir Neville Howse, New South Wales politician, military officer and first Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross (born in the United Kingdom) (d. 1930)
** John Henry Michell, mathematician (d. 1940)
* 29 November – Sir Adrian Knox, 2nd Chief Justice of Australia (d. 1932)
* Unknown – Francis McLean, New South Wales politician (d. 1926)

## Deaths

* 5 February – John Wroe, evangelist (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1782). Hannan Henry o William (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1721)
* 8 March – Samuel Stocks, businessman (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1786)
* 26 March – James Drummond, botanist and naturalist (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1786)
* 28 April – James Dickson, New South Wales politician (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1813)
* 5 July – Thomas Brown, Western Australian politician and explorer (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1803)
* 26 October – Gotthard Fritzsche, Lutheran pastor (born in the Electorate of Saxony) (b. 1797)