{{Short description|Australian politician (1899–1987)}} {{about||the American basketball coach|Leonard Hamilton|the English army officer and cricket|Leonard Hamilton (cricketer)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}} {{Use Australian English|date=January 2016}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Len Hamilton | honorific_suffix = | image = LenHamilton1958.jpg | constituency_MP1 = Swan | parliament1 = Australian | predecessor1 = Don Mountjoy | successor1 = Bill Grayden | term_start1 = 28 September 1946 | term_end1 = 10 December 1949 | constituency_MP2 = Canning | parliament2 = Australian | predecessor2 = ''New seat'' | successor2 = Neil McNeill | term_start2 = 10 December 1949 | term_end2 = 2 November 1961 | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1899|7|7}} | birth_place = Jarrahdale, Western Australia | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1987|5|31|1899|7|7}} | death_place = | spouse = | party = Australian Country Party | relations = | children = | alma_mater = | occupation = Farmer | profession = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Leonard William Hamilton''' (7 July 1899 – 31 May 1987) was an Australian politician. Born in Jarrahdale, Western Australia, he was educated at Perth Boys School before becoming a wheat and sugar farmer. He served in the military from 1917 to 1920 and from 1940 to 1945. In 1946, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Country Party member for Swan, defeating Labor MP Don Mountjoy. In 1949, he transferred to the new seat of Canning, where he remained until his retirement in 1961. Hamilton later served as President of the Western Australian branch of the Country Party. He died in 1987.<ref name=Psephos>{{cite web|last=Carr |first=Adam |title=Australian Election Archive |work=Psephos, Adam Carr's Election Archive |url=http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia |year=2008 |accessdate=2008-07-28 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070717093439/http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia/ |archivedate=17 July 2007 }}</ref>
==Early life== Hamilton was born on 7 July 1899 in Jarrahdale, Western Australia.<ref name="aph">{{Cite news |title=Hamilton, the Hon. Leonard William |url=https://handbook.aph.gov.au/Parliamentarian/KGC |access-date=23 September 2024 |work=Parliamentary Handbook |publisher=Parliament of Australia}}</ref> He was educated at Perth Boys' School and passed his junior certificate, but left school at a young age to work as a clerk, initially with a private business and later with the Public Works Department. He began an apprenticeship as a fitter at the Midland Railway Workshops in 1915.<ref name="lp">{{Cite news |date=1 August 1946 |title=Returned Ex-Service Political Candidates |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/257021683/28614727 |work=Listening Post |location=Perth}}</ref>
In July 1917, Hamilton enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). He served as a sapper with the 9th Field Company of the Australian Engineers, leaving Australia in March 1918 and returning in July 1919.<ref>{{Cite report |last=Church |first=Nathan |last2=Gobbett |first2=Hannah |last3=Lumb |first3=Martin |last4=Lundie |first4=Rob |date=19 September 2014 |title=Commonwealth Members of Parliament who have served in war: Colonial wars and the First World War |url=https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/library/prspub/3401875/upload_binary/3401875.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140922010429/http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/library/prspub/3401875/upload_binary/3401875.pdf |archive-date=2014-09-22 |access-date=23 September 2024 |publisher=Australian Parliamentary Library |page=17 |series=Research Papers Series, 2014-15}}</ref> He attained the rank of lance corporal.<ref name=aph/> After returning from the war he completed his apprenticeship and work as an engineer until 1927.<ref name=lp/>
Hamilton subsequently settled in Beacon, Western Australia, where he established a wheat and sheep farm. He served on the Mount Marshall Road Board, including as vice-chairman for three years and chairman for one year.<ref name=lp/> He was also a founding member of the Wheatgrowers' Union and held various offices in the union.<ref name="newt">{{Cite news |date=10 March 1939 |title=The Elections: Contest for Mt. Marshall |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/251198334 |work=North-Eastern Wheatbelt Tribune |location=Wyalkatchem, Western Australia}}</ref>
In May 1940, Hamilton enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as an ordinary aircraftman. He trained as an instructor at the No. 1 Flying Training School RAAF in Victoria and was subsequently stationed in Victor Harbor, South Australia, and Geraldton, Western Australia. In 1942 he was transferred to the No. 5 Aircraft Depot RAAF in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. He later spent time with No. 23 Squadron RAAF and with No. 82 Wing RAAF at Balikpapan in the Dutch East Indies. He was discharged from the RAAF in November 1945 with the rank of squadron leader.<ref>{{Cite report |last=Church |first=Nathan |date=9 September 2016 |title=Commonwealth Members of Parliament who have served in war: the Second World War |url=https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/library/prspub/4807044/upload_binary/4807044.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22library/prspub/4807044%22 |access-date=23 September 2024 |series=Research Papers Series, 2016-17 |publisher=Australian Parliamentary Library |page=19}}</ref>
==Politics== Hamilton first ran for parliament at the 1939 Western Australian state election, standing unsuccessfully as an independent in the Legislative Assembly seat of Mount Marshall.<ref name=newt/> Later in 1939, fellow independent Claude Barker resigned from the Legislative Assembly and endorsed Hamilton as his successor in the neighbouring seat of Irwin-Moore. However, Hamilton declined to stand at the by-election.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/46413396|title=Assembly Seat: Mr. Barker Resigns|newspaper=The West Australian|date=3 August 1939}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/46413972|title=State By-Election: Mr. Hamilton Not a Candidate|newspaper=The West Australian|date=5 August 1939}}</ref>
Hamilton was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1946 federal election, winning the seat of Swan for the Country Party from the incumbent Australian Labor Party MP Don Mountjoy. Following a redistribution, he transferred to the new seat of Canning at the 1949 election.<ref name=aph/>
In 1956, Hamilton was appointed a parliamentary secretary in the Menzies government. He was attached to the Department of the Interior and Department of Works from 1956 to 1958 and the Postmaster-General's Department from 1959 to 1961. He also served on the Joint Standing Committee on Constitutional Review from 1956 to 1960.<ref name=aph/>
==Personal life== In 1921, Hamilton married Adelaide Hammond, with whom he had four children. He was granted a divorce in 1947 on the grounds of spousal abandonment.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/169368234|title=Decree for M.H.R. Deserted By Wife|newspaper=Truth|location=Sydney|date=13 April 1947}}</ref>
Hamilton died on 31 May 1987, aged 87.<ref name=aph/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|au}} {{succession box | title=Member for Swan | before=Don Mountjoy| after=Bill Grayden| years=1946–1949}} {{s-new|seat}} {{s-ttl | title=Member for Canning | years=1949–1961}} {{s-aft|after=Neil McNeill}} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Len}} Category:1899 births Category:1987 deaths Category:National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Swan Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Canning Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives Category:People from Peel (Western Australia) Category:Australian military personnel of World War I Category:Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Category:Australian engineers Category:Farmers from Western Australia Category:Australian MPs 1946–1949 Category:Australian MPs 1949–1951 Category:Australian MPs 1951–1954 Category:Australian MPs 1954–1955 Category:Australian MPs 1955–1958 Category:Australian MPs 1958–1961