George Hall (Australian politician)

George Hall, M.L.C., (2 March 1811 – 28 January 1867) often styled "Captain Hall", was a South Australian shipping agent, company director and politician.

For Governor Gawler's Private Secretary, see George Hall (British administrator).

He was born at Bromley, Kent and left school at an early age to become a merchant seaman, and later captained ships on the East Indian and West Indian trade routes. His involvement with the South Australian Company began when David McLaren, manager of the South Australian Company, controversially contracted him to transport goods for the Company from Singapore to Port Adelaide in the "Guiana",[1] becoming, on 7 October 1840,[2] the first to unload goods at the new wharf.

Business

In 1844 he returned to South Australia on the "Taglioni",[3] and started a business salt-curing beef using a setup of his own design.[4] He worked for a time on a cattle property near Angaston then set up a shipping business in Port Adelaide; the ships he represented included "David Malcolm", "Punch" and "Velocity".[5]

He was on the committee of the South Australian Railway Company[6] which in 1849 amalgamated with the Adelaide City and Port Railway Company[7] and subsequently folded.[8] It would appear the shareholders lost their money.[9]

He was on the committee of the Chamber of Commerce from its first AGM in 1851[10] to 1860 and chairman 1856 – 57[11]

He was a director on the board of several mining companies, notably, from 1851, the South Australian Mining Association, owners of the Burra Burra mine.[12] He was founder (with J. C. Verco, Philip Santo, F. H. Faulding and a few others) of the Kurilla mine near Wallaroo, purchased in 1863.[13]

He was a founder, with Henry Ayers, F. H. Faulding and a dozen others in 1861, of the South Australian Gas Company.[14]

Politics

In July, 1851 he was elected to the South Australia's first parliament for the district of Port Adelaide, his opponent being William Giles, manager of the South Australian Company. He submitted his resignation in July 1853[15][16] around the same time as that of J. T. Bagot, forcing the prorogation of parliament, and travelled to Great Britain, returning in August 1854.[17]

In March 1857 he was elected to the newly formed Legislative Council, and remained a member until his death.[15]

Personal

Mrs Hall arrived in South Australia on the "Guiana" with her husband in 1840. The last newspaper reference to Mrs Hall in Adelaide was in March 1866[18] so she may have left some time between then and 1867 when their house had been let. Her last years were spent in England; living at Notting Hill but dying around 25 October 1888 at St. Leonards-on-Sea.[19] They had no children.[20]

From 1857,[21] or perhaps earlier, he was the owner of "Woodside House", a 15-room home on 20 acres on Fullarton Road, Upper Mitcham which he irrigated,[22] and which was later incorporated into Peter Waite's "Urrbrae". Banker Nathaniel Oldham (died 20 June 1888 at Semaphore) and family lived there from around 1867 to 1873 or later. It served as home and schoolhouse for the Rev. W. H. Mudie from 1876 to 1883.[23][24]

Suffering ill-health, he travelled to England but returned without the improvement he had hoped for. He died at Woodside House in January 1867 and was buried at West Terrace Cemetery.[25][26]

His estate included "Wongyarra", 320 acres of farmland near Mount Remarkable,[27] and substantial warehouses and offices on Lipson Street and Divett Street, Port Adelaide.[28]

George's brothers Robert Liddell Hall (ca.1809 – 5 March 1864) and Anthony Hall (ca.1813 – 23 August 1880) followed him to South Australia, Robert living at The Grange, Goodwood Road and Anthony at the Semaphore. Robert's son George Liddell Hall made newspaper headlines when he disappeared off Glenelg jetty on 5 January 1891.[29]

Recognition

Hall Street, Port Adelaide, near where he owned considerable property[30] was probably named for him.

Mount Hall in the Northern Territory (18.515°S 134.004°E / -18.515; 134.004) was named for him by John McDouall Stuart in 1861.[31]

The Hundred of Hall was named for him, and possibly the town of Halbury, located within that Hundred in the Mid North of South Australia.[32]

References
  1. "South Australian Company". South Australian Register. 19 February 1842. p. 4. Retrieved 27 June 2011 – via Trove.
  2. "Shipping Intelligence". South Australian Register. 10 October 1840. p. 2. Retrieved 28 June 2011 – via Trove.
  3. "The "Taglioni" from England". South Australian Register. 19 June 1844. p. 2. Retrieved 27 June 2011 – via Trove.
  4. "Captain Hall's Salting Machine". South Australian Register. 17 July 1844. p. 4. Retrieved 27 June 2011 – via Trove.
  5. "Advertisement". South Australian Register. 19 December 1849. p. 1. Retrieved 1 July 2011 – via Trove.
  6. "Proposed South Australian Railway Company". South Australian Register. 28 February 1846. p. 4. Retrieved 27 June 2011 – via Trove.
  7. "South Australian Railway Company". South Australian Register. 18 July 1849. p. 2. Retrieved 1 July 2011 – via Trove.
  8. "Vice Chancellor Wood". South Australian Register. 2 April 1854. p. 2. Retrieved 1 July 2011 – via Trove.
  9. "To the Editor". South Australian Register. 20 February 1856. p. 3. Retrieved 1 July 2011 – via Trove.
  10. "Chamber of Commerce". South Australian Register. 13 August 1851. p. 3. Retrieved 1 July 2011 – via Trove.
  11. "Chamber of Commerce". South Australian Register. 5 November 1856. p. 3. Retrieved 1 July 2011 – via Trove.
  12. "The Burra Burra". South Australian Register. 17 April 1851. p. 2. Retrieved 1 July 2011 – via Trove.
  13. "Sale of the Kurilla Mine". South Australian Register. 18 December 1863. p. 2. Retrieved 1 July 2011 – via Trove.
  14. "Prospectus of the South Australian Gas Company". South Australian Register. 10 May 1861. p. 1. Retrieved 1 July 2011 – via Trove.
  15. "George Hall". Former members of the Parliament of South Australia. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  16. "Prorogation of the Legislative Council". South Australian Register. 1 July 1853. p. 3. Retrieved 27 June 2011 – via Trove.
  17. "The Lady Jocelyn's Passengers". South Australian Register. 21 August 1854. p. 2. Retrieved 27 June 2011 – via Trove.
  18. "Shipping Intelligence". South Australian Register. 16 March 1866. p. 2. Retrieved 1 July 2011 – via Trove.
  19. "Anglo-Colonial Gossip". South Australian Register. 29 October 1888. p. 6. Retrieved 30 June 2011 – via Trove.
  20. "Death of the Hon. George Hall, MLC". South Australian Register. 29 January 1867. p. 3. Retrieved 26 June 2011 – via Trove.
  21. "Wanted - a Housemaid". South Australian Register. 25 February 1857. p. 4. Retrieved 1 July 2011 – via Trove.
  22. "Irrigation". South Australian Register. 6 February 1864. p. 2. Retrieved 1 July 2011 – via Trove.
  23. "Advertisement". South Australian Register. 6 July 1877. p. 1. Retrieved 26 June 2011 – via Trove.
  24. "House To Let". South Australian Register. 3 July 1883. p. 7. Retrieved 22 June 2011 – via Trove.
  25. "Family Notices". South Australian Register. Adelaide. 29 January 1867. p. 2. Retrieved 8 February 2016 – via Trove.
  26. "Family Notices". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide. 30 January 1867. p. 1. Retrieved 8 February 2016 – via Trove.
  27. "Advertisement". South Australian Register. 14 September 1868. p. 4. Retrieved 29 June 2011 – via Trove.
  28. "Valuable Freehold Property". South Australian Register. 25 July 1885. p. 8. Retrieved 29 June 2011 – via Trove.
  29. "Mr. G. L. Hall". South Australian Register. 7 January 1891. p. 6. Retrieved 29 June 2011 – via Trove.
  30. "Important Sale of Landed Property at Port Adelaide". South Australian Register. 15 August 1885. p. 4. Retrieved 1 July 2011 – via Trove.
  31. John McDouall Stuart (1 July 1861). "Fifth Expedition – Monday, 1st July, Tomkinson Creek". Australian Explorers – Great Explorers of Australia. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  32. "Habel Landing - Hamley Bridge".
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