1869 Floating distillery on the SS Walrus
In 1869, a 100ft sailing ship was converted to steam and the SS Walrus began to sail up and down… Read More
1860s
1869 Adelaide Central Market opens
Trading began at the Adelaide Central Market in 1869, although the official opening took place the following year. First known… Read More
1869 Marcus Clarke on the coffee stall
The Melbourne writer, Marcus Clarke, wrote regular newspaper columns on city life. In one of these, he described the typical… Read More
1868 Granny Smith apple appears
The Granny Smith apple is named after Maria Smith, an orchardist in Ryde, Sydney. Maria discovered the apple growing on… Read More
1867 First Australian mineral water bottled
Although various mineral water springs were discovered in Australia through the 1820s and 1830s, it seems the first Australian mineral… Read More
1867 Queensland’s first Railway Refreshment Rooms
The first Railway Refreshment Rooms in Queensland were opened two years after the state's first railway. James Bassingwaite, licensee of the… Read More
1867 Royal banquet chaos in Melbourne
To celebrate the first royal visit to Australia, by Queen Victoria’s second son Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, a public… Read More
1867 Menzies Hotel opens in Melbourne
Menzies Hotel, on the corner of Bourke and William Streets, was the first of Melbourne's grand Victorian era hotels. For… Read More
1866 Keen’s Curry Powder wins prizes
You thought Keen's Curry Powder was invented by the Keen's Mustard people, right? Wrong. The curry powder is an all-Australian… Read More
1866 South Melbourne market opens
Today, when travelling between Melbourne's inner suburbs is a matter of a few minutes in the car, it's hard to… Read More
1866-67 Intercolonial Exhibition of Australasia
The Great Exhibition at London’s Crystal Palace in 1851 stimulated half a century of ‘exhibition fever’. Events like the Intercolonial… Read More
1865 First purpose-built Melbourne fish market
In 1865, a purpose-built Melbourne fish market was opened on the corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets - the site… Read More
1865 Best’s Great Western vineyards planted
In 1865, brothers Joseph and Henry Best established vineyards at Great Western in the Grampians region of Victoria. The Bests… Read More
1865 The Goyder Line
The Goyder Line is a line of reliable rainfall in South Australia. It separates land suitable for crops from general… Read More
1864 Trout introduced to Australia
In the mid 1800s, a group led by James Arndell Youl made several unsuccessful attempts to import live trout and… Read More
1864 ‘Meeting of the whistles’
A railway line to Bendigo was constructed by the government-owned Victorian Railways Department and opened in 1862. In 1864, it… Read More
1864 William Bibo’s Gundagai Bakery
The Gundagai Bakery claims to be the oldest bakery in Australia. A sign outside the store carries a potted history.… Read More
1864 Australia’s first cookbook
The English and Australian Cookery Book. Cookery for the Many, as Well as for the “Upper Ten Thousand” (London, 1864),… Read More
1862 Coopers brewery established in Adelaide
Thomas Cooper’s first recorded brew was made from four bushels of English malt and eight pounds (3.6 kilograms) of Kent… Read More
1862 First viable sugar cane plantation
Although sugar had previously been refined in Australia from imported raw sugar, the move to local production began in 1862… Read More
1861 First Acclimatisation Society
The Victorian Acclimatisation Society was founded in 1861, largely through the efforts of Edward Wilson, editor of The Argus. Its… Read More
1861 Burke and Wills poisoned?
The Burke and Wills expedition to cross Australia to the Gulf of Carpentaria ended in tragedy when the explorers ran… Read More
1861 Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management
This English cook book was equally popular in the British colonies and became a household bible for many Australian households.… Read More
1861 Spiers and Pond cater for first Melbourne Cup
The first Melbourne Cup was run on Thursday 7 November 1861 and won by the Sydney horse Archer. The Argus… Read More
1861 George Peacock sells canned jams
Jam was among the first locally manufactured foods in Australia, with George Peacock of Hobart the first to produce jam… Read More
1860 First of the Land Acts
The Victorian Nicholson Act of 1860 was the first of several Acts passed in the 1860s with the intention of… Read More
1860 Tahbilk makes wine in Goulburn Valley
Tahbilk pioneered wine making in the Nagambie Lakes area of Victoria’s Goulburn Valley, with Rhône varietals such as Marsanne, Shiraz… Read More
1860 Camels landed in Melbourne
Twenty-five camels landed in Melbourne in 1860 to carry supplies for the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition. Many more followed,… Read More