Richard Henry Hamilton was the son of John Lambie Hamilton and his wife, Clara Jane nee Booth. He enlisted at age 19, with the consent of his mother. According to his enlistment form, he lived at Croft House, Warley Rd., East Melbourne. The record was not corrected until 1917, when Mrs. Hamilton wrote to Major James Lean, thanking him for his letter of May 1, 1917: The letter was addressed to east Melbourne, instead of East Malvern. I would be glad if you could rectify this.

Richard Hamilton was a carpenter by trade, and enlisted for service on 3 May, 1916. He was 5' 9" tall, weight 144 lbs. and had a scar on his forehead and another on his left wrist. He trained at Broadmeadows, Melbourne, and was placed in the 6th Reinforcements of the 57th Battalion. On 2 October, 1916, he embarked on board the A71 Nestor , disembarking at Plymouth, England on 16 November. From there, he joined the 15th Training Battalion, and then was sent overseas to join his battalion in France, departing from Folkestone on 30 December on board HMS Clementine. He was not an exemplary soldier, having been absent without leave from 7 December to 12 December, for which he received fifteen day loss of salary.

He was taken on strength with the 57th Battalion on 7 February, 1917, and two weeks later, was in hospital ill, rejoining the battalion on the Western Front on 9 March, 1917. On 26 March, he was wounded in action, probably at Bapaume,with a severe gunshot wound to his left arm (later corrected to right arm), creating a compound fracture and then muscular spiral nerve paralysis. He was returned to England on HS Panorama on 14 April 1917 and placed in the Southern General Hospital on 16 April, then transferred to the 3rd Auxiliary Hospital on 29 June. From here, he was sent to Weymouth and returned  to Australia on HMT Ulysses, arriving at Melbourne on 13 November 1918, where  he was discharged with a Medical Disability.

After the war, he retrained, first as a joiner, but then worked as a carpenter. He appears to have stayed in Malvern for the rest of his life. The Electoral Rolls record him living with his mother in 1919 and register hm as a student. In 1922, they are still living together, but by 1928, Clara Hamilton is no longer registered on the electoral roll.  In 1961, he applied for benefits under the Repatriation Act. Richard Henry Hamilton died at Malvern on 1 December 1967, aged 71.