Robert Gordon Berney Hamilton (1824-1843)
Robert Gordon Berney Hamilton, known as Gordon, was born on 30 September 1824 (reference). He had a French mother and an English father. His father, William Hamilton, worked as Her Britannic Majesty's Consul at Boulogne Sur Mer (reference). Gordon also had a brother, Commander Peter William Hamilton. Gordon came to Australind aboard the Parkfield under the care of Marshall Waller Clifton as a teenager wanting to see the world. Despite reservations, his parents permitted Gordon to remain in Australind for three years.
In Australind, Gordon worked as a surveyor. He was employed by the Western Australian Development Committee under the Western Australian Company, earning £80 a year, including rations. Initially, he was hired without pay until he could prove his worth (reference). In April 1842, Clifton mentioned Gordon in a letter saying he was working in the bush doing necessary and valuable work (reference).
He was then employed on 1 October 1842 as Clifton's 'quill-driver', clerk and storekeeper, copying out many documents and earning £100 a year. Rations were no longer included in his pay, so he purchased them from the Western Australian Company for 2 shillings a ration. Gordon brought his father's money to invest in property. He felt anxious spending his father's money as he could not get advice or permission without waiting months for mail. Despite his reservations about purchasing property without his father's help, he invested in land, Rural Lot 1 at Australind, in his father's name and bought cattle in a partnership with Marshall Waller Clifton, holding them at Clifton's farm a mile from the settlement. He also purchased a Cape mare that ran near Bunbury with George Eliot's thoroughbred horse named Middleton.
Letters were rare, and the arrival of a ship created excitement. When the Trusty arrived in Bunbury, Gordon was at Point Casuarina within the hour, searching for his letters. In response to his father's letter, he sent back kangaroo skins, possum skins, and a map showing how Australind was developing. Gordon wrote to his father requesting shirts with linen fronts, collars, wristbands and 8/9 duck/canvas trousers. He received the items a year later, in 1843.
Gordon fell ill with an ailment that the medical officers of the area, Dr Harris, Dr Ferguson and Dr Allen, could not accurately identify. Two months after falling ill with symptoms of a cough and pale skin, he was diagnosed with a 'consumptive tendency.' His prescribed treatment was a trip to Perth for 'fresh air'. After no improvement, he was diagnosed with bronchitis and treated with blisters.
In April 1843, Gordon planned to return home on the next ship after his Swan River Colony adventure. However, he never made it back to his family due to illness, having spent his last days at Clifton’s house moving between the drawing-room, music room, and sitting room. Gordon died on Thursday, 5 October 1843, of consumption, also known as tuberculosis (reference).
Gordon's letters at the State Library of Western Australia reveal his life in Australind. With these papers, a small painting was found. According to the letters, he carries the painting with him everywhere.
Marshall Waller Clifton kept Hamilton's father updated during his illness and later informed him of his passing.
Gordon is buried at the Australind Pioneer Cemetery, which was called Mount Claremont Cemetery at the time of his burial.
This biography was extracted from the research paper 'The Australind Settlement while managed by the Western Australia Company (1839-1946): Evaluating the Sources by Paige Taylor, 2019.
Gordon's handwritten letters can be found at the State Library of Western Australia: Hamilton, R. G. B. (1840-1843). Papers. Retrieved from: Battye Library ACC 2285A.