Hamilton Hill

Hamilton Hill is a suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, located 23 kilometres (14 mi) southwest the central business district.

Hamilton Hill is a suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, located 23 kilometres (14 mi) southwest the central business district. Its local government area is the City of Cockburn.

The earliest known settler at Hamilton Hill was Sydney Smith, the agent of Captain George Robb. Robb arrived in Western Australia in 1830 and took up land south of Fremantle. During the next twelve months Smith was actively engaged in establishing Robb's farm. In a letter dated 27 August 1830, he gives his address as Hamilton Hill. The origin of the name, and whether it was Robb or Smith who did the naming, remains uncertain but the area has been known as such ever since.In 1860 Charles Alexander Manning bought 364 ha (900 acres) of Robb's land, and six years later built Davilak House for his son Lucius Manning.The house of twelve rooms, was built using convict labour and was owned by the Manning family until they abandoned it in the late 1950s.It burnt down in 1960, and after this the Shire of Cockburn took over the administration of the whole estate.

A second homestead was built in 1920 by the eldest daughter of Lucius Manning, Azelia Ley.She had married John Morgan Ley in 1900, and after he died in 1927 she continued to maintain the family farm.This house became derelict after Azelia died in 1954, but was restored by the Historical Society of Cockburn in 1983 and now serves as a comprehensive Azelia Ley Homestead Museum of artefacts pertaining to the Cockburn district.At the turn of the century South Fremantle and the northern parts of Cockburn like Hamilton Hill became the location of semi rural industries such as market gardening and horse racing stables.