1814 - A Government General Notice in the "Sydney Gazette" announces that a ferry had that day been opened across the Hawkesbury River at Windsor by John Howe. The notice fixed the scale of the tolls to be paid. John Howe led an expedition into the Hunter River district six years later and discovered the district now known as Singleton.
1820 - Eight Wesleyans meet in prayer at the home of Benjamin Nokes, in Collins-street, Hobart Town. They were subjected to much annoyance by rowdies, who threw stones on the roof and otherwise behaved offensively.
1820 - The foundation stone of old St. Mary's Church (later St. Mary's Cathedral) was laid by Governor Macquarie. Father J. Therry was the only Roman Catholic priest in Sydney at that time.
1820 - Services are conducted at Lake Bathurst by Rev. Robert Cartwright, in the presence of Governor Macquarie and his party.
1831 - Sir James P. Boucaut, South Australian politician, who was three times Premier of that State, is born.
1841 - Publicly hanged outside Darlinghurst Gaol, Robert Hudson, for murdering fellow convict Dean West at the hospital, Macquarie St.; and, George Stroud (Stroode), for murdering his wife Sarah at Concord. Stroud and Hudson were the first men executed at Darlinghurst Gaol.
1854 - Old St. John's Church of England in Brisbane is consecrated by the Bishop of Newcastle.
1857 - Hanged at Perth Gaol, John Lloyd, for wounding with intent to kill John Brown at Port Gregory in June 1857.
1857 - Mrs. Frazer, her four daughters, three sons, a tutor, and two others were murdered by Aboriginals at Hornet Bank, near Dawson River, Queensland, 12 miles from Eurombar. One son, West Frazer, aged 14 years, escaped the massacre, secured a horse and started for Ipswich, where his brother, William, was loading teams for Hornet Bank. He rode to Ipswich, via Eurombar, a distance of 332 miles, and told his brother of the tragedy. William, who was 26 years of age, and his younger brother started on the return journey immediately, and with three changes of horses reached Hornet Bank in three days, so that the boy had ridden 664 miles in six days. Settlers assembled, and there followed repeated attacks on Aboriginal camps, with many of them being killed.
1858 - Telegraph line Sydney to Adelaide opens.
1861 - The first Queensland Exhibition is opened.
1869 - Gas first used in Newcastle, New South Wales.
1870 - The Great Northern Railway is opened to Aberdeen.
1872 - The General Post Office in Queen Street Brisbane, is completed.
1877 - The Governor of South Australia, Sir William Jervois, lays the first rail of the new tramway system from Adelaide to Kensington, outside the Norwood Town Hall.
1880 - Bushranger Ned Kelly is sentenced to hang.
1884 - Hanged at Geraldton, Sing Ong, for the murder of Chung Ah Foo on 11 May 1884 at Shark Bay.
1890 - A. O. Herbert, Queensland Railway Commissioner, dies.
1900 - Royal Warrant creating the Colony of Tasmania a State of Commonwealth of Australia.
1900 - Lord Hopetoun, having been appointed Governor-General of Australia, takes up his duties in that capacity.
1905 - Several explosion occur in Stanford Merthyr, near Kurri Kurri. In one explosion several were killed including Mr. Harry Adams (Director of East Greta Coal Mining Company), John W. Jones, James Greener, David Jones, John Evans, and George Fewins. Many men were injured, and there were several narrow escapes from death.
1907 - Hanged at Darlinghurst, Nicholas Baxter, for the murder of Mary MacNamara at 2 Sarah St Enmore.
1907 - The first Empire rifle match is fired at Randwick rifle range. Results - Australia 2104 points, New Zealand 2056, Great Britain 2053.
1908 - A great outburst of gas in the Mineral Oil Company's bore at Roma, Queensland. The flames were 60ft high.
1911 - Railway extension to Thallon, Queensland, opens.
1914 – 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.
1920 - Legislative Council franchise expanded from just land holders to include solders, sailors and nurses of WWI.
1927 - South Australian Government accepts tender for the erection of a war memorial in Adelaide, to cost £285,000.
1953 – British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines (BCPA) Douglas DC-6, registration VH-BPE, en route from Sydney, crashes on approach to San Francisco, killing 19.
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Sources:
- Parliament of Tasmania
- South Australian Historians
- This Day in History
- Anniversaries To-Day (1934, October 29). Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), p. 6.
- Anniversaries To-Day (1935, October 29). Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), p. 6.
- To-day's Yesterdays (1934, October 29). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1931 - 1954), p. 6.
- To-day's Yesterdays (1934, October 29). The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1933 - 1954), p. 12.
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