Hamilton is an affluent suburb in the Inner North East area of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Hamilton is located along the north bank of the Brisbane River. The neighbourhood is hilly with views of the Brisbane central business district. In 2013, the suburb had the highest mean taxable income of any in Queensland.
History
It is believed the first hotel in the district was built by the Gustavus Hamilton. Amongst the earlier lessees of the hotel was a Mrs. Warren, who, by coincidence, married another Mr. Hamilton, so that the hotel was occupied by different families of the name Hamilton. The Hamilton Hotel became an easy reference mark in the days when buildings were few in the district, and its name was gradually applied to the whole district. In Brisbane's early history, Hamilton was the home to many aristocrats and clergy. This suburb is known for being an "old wealth" suburb compared to "new wealth" suburbs in Brisbane such as Paddington, Toowong and Indooroopilly. A number of Brisbane's iconic mansions are found in Hamilton, mainly because the exclusive suburb has views of the central business district and other surrounding suburbs. This district was the birthplace of Charles Kingsford Smith in 1897. After World War I, a war memorial was built alongside the Brisbane River. It was unveiled by the Queensland Governor John Goodwin on Sunday 16 August 1931. During World War II an accident occurred involving a Corsair fighter plane. It had been unloaded from a ship in the river, had its wings folded up and was being towed along Kingsford Smith Drive by a truck when it snagged the tramway overhead and brought them down. The Hamilton Library opened in 1947. The Archbishop's Chapel of The Good Shepherd at Bishopsbourne was dedicated on 4 November 1964 by Archbishop Philip Strong. Its closure on 20 December 2006 due to the sale of the property was approved by Archbishop Phillip Aspinall. In 1967 the Mission to Seafarers opened the Anglican Chapel of St Nicolas in Hamilton. It was dedicated by Coadjutor Bishop Hudson on 4 November 1967. Its closure on 17 June 2007 was approved by Bishop Adrian Charles. In recent times, a cruise ship terminal has been built in a precinct at Portside Wharf; this precinct has then seen substantial commercial and residential development.
In the 2011 census the population of Hamilton was 4,721, 50.4% female and 49.6% male. The median/average age of the Hamilton population is 39 years of age, 2 years above the Australian average. 70.6% of people living in Hamilton were born in Australia. The other top responses for country of birth were New Zealand 4.4%, England 3.2%, India 1.4%, United States of America 1.1%, Ireland 1%. 83.3% of people speak English as their first language 1.3% Italian, 1.3% Mandarin, 0.9% Cantonese, 0.6% Japanese, 0.6% Greek.
The development of the Northshore Hamilton project was announced on 27 March 2008 by the Urban Land Development Authority. A concept master plan for Northshore Hamilton was released by Premier Anna Blighin September 2008. The development covers 304 hectares and is expected to house 13,000 new residents. It includes two kilometres of river frontage which will be open to the public.
