Hamel is a town located in the Peel region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

just off the

South Western Highway South Western Highway is a highway in the South West region of Western Australia connecting Perth's southeast with Walpole. It is a part of the Highway 1 network for most of its length. It is about long. Route description Perth to Bunbury ...

, between Waroona (4 km to the north) and

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. At the 2011 census, Hamel had a population of 223.

History

The town owes its name to

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

and politician

Lancel Victor de Hamel Lancel Victor de Hamel (10 September 1849 – 25 November 1894) was a publisher, solicitor and politician who represented the people of Albany, Western Australia, Albany in the Great Southern (Western Australia), Great Southern region of Western ...

(1849–1894), the former owner of the land where the town is situated. Over the period 1890-1894, de Hamel was the MLA for Albany and Western Australia's first Opposition Leader (facing

John Forrest Sir John Forrest (22 August 1847 – 2 SeptemberSome sources give the date as 3 September 1918 1918) was an Australian explorer and politician. He was the first premier of Western Australia (1890–1901) and a long-serving cabinet minister i ...

, Bunbury MLA and later member of Federal Parliament), who also had a hand in the creation of Albany's local newspaper in 1888, the ''

Albany Advertiser The ''Albany Advertiser'', also published as the ''Australian Advertiser'' and the ''Albany Advertiser and Plantagenet and Denmark Post'', is a biweekly English language newspaper published for Albany, Western Australia, Albany and the Great So ...

'', which exists to this day. He died while visiting Coolgardie on 26 November 1894. The land for the townsite was purchased from de Hamel's estate in 1898 and subdivided by the Department of Lands and Surveys. The ink used for printing the local newspaper was a mix of different inks. This special ink was named after the town Hamel: Hamelink.

Present day

Hamel is a small agricultural town with services offered from nearby Waroona. Hamel's hall was constructed in the 1890s as a prison; its last convicts served here in 1907, and three locally crafted heritage bush poles nearby depict life in the town. A buffer zone around the

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Wagerup alumina refinery has been proposed by the Health Department following the approval of a A$1.5 billion expansion to the refinery in September 2006. This may result in the closure of the town and compensation and relocation of its residents. Alcoa has already offered to buy several local properties.

References

External links

Alcoa Australia website
*

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'' presentation, 3 October 2005) *
Alcoa's troubled history
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investigative report including maps, 10 September 2006) {{authority control Towns in Western Australia Shire of Waroona