[1] He then spent a number of years touring throughout Europe, during which time he married Anne Louise Cornelis in Paris.
Around 1836, he decided to emigrate to Western Australia, largely on the basis of optimistic letters received from his sister Frances, who had moved to the colony with her husband William Locke Brockman in 1830.
Upon arriving in Western Australia, he found many of the original settlers to be financially struggling, and he was able to obtain a number of large grants of land extremely cheaply.
In 1839, he became a partner in a horse breeding business with Samuel Pole Phillips, who had recently arrived in the colony, and in 1841 he became a director of the Western Australian Bank.
He appointed an agent to manage his affairs in the colony, and in January 1843, the Hamersley family set sail for France.
Each man applied for leases on the Irwin River in the newly opened Champion Bay district, thus securing for the company a virtual monopoly of land in the area.
Hamersley continued investing his profits in various town and farm properties, with a view to securing the future of his many children.