7 October 1837          Richard Hamilton

Richard Hamilton with his wife and five of his six children arrived in South Australia aboard the Katherine Forbes on 7 October 1837. Son Henry joined them after completing his schooling in London. Hamilton had taken out a land order before leaving England and after living in a camp near the Torrens for a time the family moved to their land on the Sturt River in May 1838. Hamilton had some vine cuttings from a friend in South Africa and these were planted that winter. In 1854 Henry bought more land and built wine cellars which he named ‘Ewell’ after a village in Surrey. After the death of his mother at the age of 97 in 1886 Henry and his son Frank gradually bought all of Richard’s property which had been equally divided between the children in his will. After Henry’s death in 1907 Frank continued the business and had 1156 acres under vines. By 1929 the storage capacity of the winery was 400,000 gallons and probably one of their best known wines was Ewell Moselle. In June 1979 what was left of the vineyards, after they had been reduced by compulsory acquisition and urban spread, was sold to Mildara Wines Ltd who also purchased Hamilton’s Springton and Eden Valley properties.

Alison Dolling, The History of Marion on the Sturt, Peacock Publications, 1981, pp.56-60.