1808 in Australia

• Monarch - George III

Governors of the Australian colonies:

• Governor of New South Wales – Captain William Bligh (until 26 January by no coincidence), then Major George Johnston (until 28 July), then Major Joseph Foveaux
• Lieutenant-Governor of Southern Van Diemen's Land – David Collins
• Lieutenant-Governor of Northern Van Diemen's Land – William Paterson (until 24 March)

• 26 January – John Macarthur is arrested sparking the Rum Rebellion. Military officers supporting Macarthur arrest Governor Bligh.
• 2 February – William Paterson sails to Sydney from Port Dalrymple, Van Diemen's Land to take over the administration of New South Wales following the removal of Bligh.

• First settlement at Kingston, Van Diemen's Land.

• 23 September – William Henty, one of the Henty brothers (although the only brother not to set foot in Portland, Victoria): he took a leading part in the legal disputes over the settlement.{{cite book |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/henty-william-2246 |series=Australian Dictionary of Biography |title=Henty, William (1808–1881) |author=Marnie Bassett |year=1966 |editor=Douglas Pike |volume=1|publisher=Melbourne University Press |accessdate=3 January 2022}}

• 19 June – Alexander Dalrymple, who had strongly opposed the establishment of New South Wales in A Serious Admonition to the Public on the Intended Thief-Colony at Botany Bay (London, 1786).
• 3 September – Philip Gidley King, third Governor of New South Wales.

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Australia

Category:Years of the 19th century in Australia