Australia: Chronology

November 16, 1840 • Adelaide, AustraliaEnglish convert William Barratt arrived in Adelaide at age 17 with his immigrant family. Before Barratt’s departure from England, Elder George A. Smith of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles had ordained him an elder and prepared him to preach the gospel.

1842 • AdelaideWilliam Barratt baptized Robert Beauchamp Dolling, the first known person to be baptized in Australia.

1844 • Montefiores, AustraliaThe first branch in Australia was organized by Andrew Anderson, who had joined the Church three years earlier in Edinburgh, Scotland. He had been given license to preach before leaving for Australia.

October 30, 1851 • Sydney, AustraliaJohn Murdock and Charles W. Wandell arrived in Sydney and established the Australian Mission.

April 6, 1853 • SydneyThe first group of converts to immigrate to Utah departed on the ship Envelope. By 1860 over 600 converts had emigrated.

August 13, 1853 • SydneyZion’s Watchman was first published. The Watchman was a monthly Church periodical to improve communication between scattered branches and to respond to hostile press.

September 1853 • Bendigo, Castlemaine, and Kyneton, AustraliaThe first branch in Victoria was organized in Bendigo, with William Cooke as president. Branches were also organized in Castlemaine and Kyneton the next year.

February 23, 1854 • SydneyMissionaries James Graham and John McCarthy left on a mission to Tasmania.

October 3, 1855 • Scilly, Society IslandsFive Latter-day Saint immigrants, two women and three children, drowned after their ship, Julia Ann, wrecked. The surviving passengers were stranded on an uninhabited island for two months before continuing to California.

1857–85 • AustraliaThe number of missionaries serving in Australia was limited due to factors including the Utah War in the late 1850s, misconduct by mission leaders in the 1870s, and missionary reassignments to New Zealand to teach the Māori in the 1880s.

September 1874 • Brisbane, AustraliaWilliam Duffin and Sarah Aslett Duffin arrived from England with their family. They were the first known Latter-day Saints to live in the state of Queensland, where they remained isolated from the Church until missionaries arrived in 1890.

Brisbane Relief Society

February 27, 1898 • Brisbane

The first known Relief Society in Australia was organized in the Brisbane Branch, with Emmeline Lebherz as president. A Primary was organized in Brisbane that same year.

1904 • Woolloongabba, AustraliaThe first chapel in Australia was built in a suburb of Brisbane, on Gibbon Street.

1907 • Perth, AustraliaMissionaries were sent to Perth for the first time, and a branch was organized that same year.

1918 • AustraliaThe Australian government approved requests to increase the missionary quota but stipulated that converts no longer be encouraged to leave Australia.

1920 • AustraliaMembership reached 1,000.

1921 • AustraliaElder David O. McKay visited Australia as part of his world tour, becoming the first Apostle to visit the country.

1922–28 • AustraliaMeetinghouses were dedicated in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Hobart, Perth, and Glen Huon.

1928–35 • AustraliaMission president Clarence H. Tingey emphasized calling local members to branch presidencies rather than relying on missionaries for branch leadership.

August 20, 1929 • SydneyThe first issue of the mission newspaper, the Austral Star, was published. Publication continued through 1958.

1930s • AustraliaBecause there were few foreign missionaries during the Great Depression, many local members were called as part-time missionaries.

1938 • AustraliaThe Mormon Yankees basketball team won the Victorian State Championship. Missionaries’ participation on sports teams helped them make friends and change the common perception of the Church through the 1960s.

1939–45 • AustraliaDuring World War II, many Church members were called into active military service. By January 1941 overseas missionaries had also been evacuated. While some branches continued under local leadership, many were forced to close.

February 18, 1942 • Grenfell, AustraliaAnnie McCoy Smith was called by mission president Elvon W. Orme to evacuate the children of the New South Wales District to Grenfell and care for them until they could safely be returned home.

1956 • AustraliaThe Church began calling labor missionaries to be trained in construction and build chapels. These missionaries soon built 19 chapels across the country.

March 27, 1960 • SydneyThe first stake in Australia was organized in Sydney. Stakes were organized in Brisbane and Melbourne in October of that year.

May 21, 1961 • Darwin, AustraliaThe first branch in Northern Territory was organized in Darwin.

1966–67 • Adelaide and Perth, AustraliaThe Adelaide Australia Stake and the Perth Australia Stake were organized, the first stakes in South Australia and Western Australia.

1968 • AustraliaThe seminary and institute programs were introduced.

1975 • DarwinChristine Fejo became the first Aboriginal Latter-day Saint to serve a full-time mission. She was assigned to the Australia Sydney Mission.

February 27, 1976 • SydneyChurch President Spencer W. Kimball presided at a South Pacific area conference. Nine other visiting General Authorities also attended. The conference was broadcast on television.

September 14, 1977 • Hobart, AustraliaThe Hobart Australia Stake, the first stake in Tasmania, was organized, with John D. Jury as president.

Sydney Temple

September 23, 1984 • Sydney

The Sydney Australia Temple was dedicated.

April 2, 1988 • Salt Lake CityRobert E. Sackley was called as a General Authority Seventy. He was the first General Authority from Australia.

1989 • AustraliaSaints throughout Australia participated with local genealogical societies in a project to transcribe and organize over five million names into an index for each state.

January 1994 • New South WalesAustralian Saints responded to the country’s worst bushfire crisis ever by offering clothing, counseling, food, and shelter to firefighters and displaced persons.

June 15–16, 2000 • Adelaide and MelbourneThe Adelaide Australia Temple and Melbourne Australia Temple were dedicated.

May 20, 2001 • PerthThe Perth Australia Temple was dedicated.

June 15, 2003 • BrisbaneThe Brisbane Australia Temple was dedicated.

September 21–23, 2006 • Coffs Harbour, AustraliaThe inaugural Latter-day Saint surf competition was held, with more than 50 surfers from Brisbane to Sydney participating.

May 1, 2016 • SydneyThe Sydney Australia Prairiewood Stake, the 40th stake in Australia, was organized, with Andrew G. Shum as president.

2018 • AustraliaMembership surpassed 150,000.