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127
Hall1s work was very arduous but stimulating .
Always
conscientious and determined to perform his duties correctly to the best
.
of·· his ab ility, he still smarted at the censure he had received from the
Principal Medical Officer over the Hickman Affair and was anxious to
redeem his reputation.
At the same time, isolated from professional
and intellectual contact and absorb ed by local prob lems as he had been
whi lst in the country, he now found himself out of touch with his new
environment and had much to learn .
With his cus tomary eagerness and
sociability, therefore, he launched himself into the life of Hobart Town .
Immediately he sensed that an air of uneasiness hung over the city .
Scarcely a fami ly had escaped the ravages of influenza and scarlet fever ;
most people had suffred personal loss , either of family or fri ends .
Now smallpox and cho lera threatened too .
Amongst the citizens there was
confus ion, bewilderment and fear .
Many blamed the Medical Profession
for its failure to alleviate their suffering ;
whi lst all the time the
press continued to hurl invective against the people themselves for their
poor habits and indifference to sanitation.
Amongst memb ers of his own profession disquiet of a different
order prevailed.
The era of the Probation System had drawn to a close;
as a method of convict discipline it had failed, to be brought to an
ignominious end by the cessation of transportation of convicts to
Van Diemen• s Land on December 29, 1853 .
With the consequent unwinding
of the System , many Government employees , including Medical Officers ,
feared for their appointments and what the future might bring . By 1854
the Medical Department was reduced to four teen officers :
four Staff
Officers , including the Deputy- Inspector-General of Hospitals , and ten
Colonial Medical Officers . 2 As the numb er of convicts progressively
diminished, all knew that further reductions would be necessary , but
no one knew whose turn it would be next .
As the needs of private
practice were already amply satisfied, the future looked grim indeed.
Again, in the city there were men who rightly or wrongly had
grown fat on the convict system.
Now that the system was discredited,
they were discredited too ;
there was rumour of bribery and corruption
and misuse of pub lic property by memb ers of the Convict Department .
However , Bedford , a prominent surgeon , formerly of the Colonial
Hospital and now Director of St . Mary •s Private Hospital , did not permit
2 .0. 33/80/1007 .