Robert Bell Hamilton (20 October 1892 – 15 May 1948) was a notable

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n architect and also Member of the Legislative Assembly for the State

electoral district of Toorak The electoral district of Toorak was an electorate of the Victorian Legislative Assembly in the British colony and later Australian state of Victoria. Electoral boundary A 1956 map of electoral boundaries shows the Toorak district encompassing ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Biography

Robert Bell Hamilton's architectural works include some of the most expensive properties in

Toorak Toorak () is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area. Toorak recorded a population of 12,817 at the 2021 census. The name ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

's richest suburb. He was Victoria's foremost practitioner of the inter-war Old English/Tudor Revival style during the 1930s.Toorak Village – Historic Area
Victorian Heritage Database. Hamilton aided in the design, along with the firm Prevost Synnot and Rewald, of the heritage-listed Bruce Manor, former estate of Australian Prime Minister

Stanley Bruce Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne (15 April 1883 – 25 August 1967) was an Australian politician, statesman and businessman who served as the eighth prime minister of Australia from 1923 to 1929. He held office as ...

. For his contribution to Victorian architecture Hamilton was appointed as a Fellow of the Royal Victorian Institute of Architects in 1931. Hamilton served as a Councillor on

Prahran Prahran ( , also colloquially or ), is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area. Prahran recorded a population ...

City Council for Toorak Ward and then Mornington Shire Council. He later served as President of Mornington Shire Council, and subsequently became the Member for Toorak for the

Liberal and Country Party The Victorian Liberal Party, officially known as the Liberal Party of Australia (Victorian Division), and branded as Liberal Victoria, is the state division of the Liberal Party of Australia in Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It was formed in ...

in the November 1945 electionHamilton, Robert Bell
Parliament of Victoria website. Retrieved 18 January 2013. that saw the Labor Party win a small majority over their coalition counterparts. During his short time in Parliament, Hamilton sat on the Public Works Committee and the Library Committee. Hamilton died in 1948 at Mornington Nursing Hospital before serving a full-term in office. In an obituary published in The Standard, the then President of Mornington Shire Council wrote:

''His work and his planning for the future of Mornington have put us in his debt, and his name will be remembered because his energy and his ideas have been given for the future and the advancement of our district...I pay homage to Robert Bell Hamilton, a citizen with true public spirit and a man who discharged all obligations of friendship.''

The by-election triggered by his death, held in June 1948, saw the re-election of a Liberal and Country Party member,

Edward Reynolds Edward Reynolds (November 1599 – 28 July 1676) was a bishop of Norwich in the Church of England and an author.Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature. Prepared by the Rev. John M'Clintock, D.D., and James Strong, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Robert Bell 1892 births 1948 deaths Architects from Melbourne Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Australian military personnel of World War I Australian Army soldiers Victoria (state) local councillors 20th-century Australian politicians People from East Melbourne Politicians from Melbourne Military personnel from Melbourne