Hamilton's Ewell Vineyards

Hamilton's Ewell Vineyards was a winery founded by Richard Hamilton (1792–1852) in the early days of the colony of South Australia.

History

Grape picking at Hamilton's Vineyard

Richard Hamilton (18 February 1792 – 13 August 1852) of Dover, Kent, was owner of property on Long Island, New York, which he sold in 1837 to purchase an 80 acres (32 ha) section in Glenelg, South Australia. He emigrated, arriving in Adelaide on 17 October 1837, and set about establishing a farm. By 1840 "Ewell Farm", named after Ewell, Surrey, incorporated a vineyard covering 5 acres (2 ha), planted with vine cuttings he had purchased in South Africa en route to Australia.

His son, Henry Hamilton (6 January 1826 – 10 February 1907), remained in England, where he was a student at a Christ's Hospital bluecoat school, then emigrated on the Christina in 1841 and for two years worked on a sheep station near Burra. He purchased a property in Oaklands adjoining his father's property, built a house and settled there. He inherited his father's Glenelg property, but it was disposed of within his lifetime.[1]

He suffered from ill-health in his later years, and handed over management of Ewell Vineyards, to his son F E "Frank" Hamilton (5 February 1859 – 13 June 1913) in 1890. Frank served on Marion Council for many years. Ewell Vineyards at this time covered 156 acres (63 ha), as well as groves of almonds and other fruit.

His eldest son (Frank) Eric Hamilton (4 July 1896 – May 1967) took over management of the company, with Sydney (18 July 1898 – 22 July 1987), another son, as winemaker. They rebuilt the winery and installed a distillery. They restructured the company as Hamilton's Ewell Vineyards Pty. Ltd. in 1934.

Eric's son Robert (27 May 1926 – 8 January 1976) became chairman of directors in 1967.

The wines

Hamiltons Ewell vineyards were planted with red (Grenache) and white (Pedro Ximenes) wine grapes for wines they marketed as Chablis and Moselle. In 1841 the vineyard produced South Australia's first commercial wine.[2] With the installation of pot stills they were able to specialize in fortified wines, notably Sauterne, and brandy. In 1958[3] the company purchased the Bridgewater Mill (built for John Dunn), which they used for maturation of their table wines and as a bond store for brandy spirit. Petaluma Wines purchased the Mill in 1986.

Demise of the original Ewell vineyards

From the 1950s, with the spread of suburban Adelaide, the company sold off large swathes of land, much to the South Australian Housing Trust for "austerity housing". In 1968 30 acres (12 ha) was compulsorily acquired for creation of Glengowrie High School, which closed and was demolished in 1991 to make way for a retirement estate. The school body was amalgamated with Mitchell Park High to form Hamilton Secondary College.[4] Another 15 acres (6 ha) was assumed in 1975 for the MTT bus depot. The section "Laffer's Triangle" which they had purchased from the Laffer family, was leased to Flinders University, then sold to the South Australian Government and now includes the Sturt police station. By the turn of the 21st Century, only a few tiny patches of vines remained on Oaklands Road, maintained by the Marion Council, and in "Laffers Triangle", now overrun with wild olive trees.

The company purchased land for vineyards at Happy Valley, Springton, Eden Valley, Nildottie, and Wood Wood, near Swan Hill, and continues to make wines in South Australia, under Mark Hamilton, a member of the sixth-generation of South Australian Hamiltons.

References

  1. ↑ "Concerning People". The Register (Adelaide: National Library of Australia). 13 February 1907. p. 5. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  2. ↑ "Our heritage". hamiltonewell.com.au. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  3. ↑ Stuart, Anthony (ed) (1991). A miller's tale: the memoirs of John Dunn of Mount Barker. Kingswood, South Australia: Waterwheel Books. pp. 109, 110. ISBN 0 646 03269 0.
  4. ↑ "Hamilton Secondary College – School Context Statement". Retrieved 20 August 2010.

Sources

External links