User:Pdfpdf/Thomas Kinley Hamilton

Thomas Kinley Hamilton (1853-1917)  was an Irish doctor who practised as an ENT surgeon, initially at Laura in the South Australian Mid North.

In 1897 he built a large home, which he named "Willa Willa", on a large tract of land on the Adelaide hills face between the Belair National Park and Brownhill Creek, and extending west to James Road and Old Belair Rd. He was a member of the governing board of the National Park while he lived at Belair.

Hamilton made his money from land speculation and lost significant sums later on Yorke Peninsula land.

His brother built the smaller house to the east on a corner of the estate. Hamilton donated the land for the Church of the Holy Innocents, now called St John's.

On his death in 1917, the estate was vacant for some time until bought by Gil Culley, an architect who divided the land, converting the stables to an assymetric tudor bungalow and attaching the name "Willa Willa" to that house.

The house and remaining property were subsequently bought by William Burford and renamed "Birralee".