Hamilton Hume

Who was Hamilton Hume?

Hamilton Hume was an early explorer of the present-day Australian states of New South Wales and Victoria. Along with Hovell in 1824, Hume was part of an expedition that first took an overland route from Sydney to Port Phillip near the site of present day Melbourne. Along with Sturt in 1828, he was part of an expedition of the first Europeans to discover the Darling River.

On 19 June 1797 Hume was born at Seven Hills near Parramatta, a settlement close to Sydney.

Hume was the eldest son of Andrew Hamilton Hume and his wife Elizabeth, née Kennedy. Andrew Hume got the appointment of Commissary-General for New South Wales, and came out to this colony in 1797. There were few opportunities for education in Australia during the first ten years of the nineteenth century, and Hamilton Hume received most of his education from his mother.