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CHAPTER 3
THE MEDICAL CLIMATE
Unfortunately, Hall did not describe his experiences during his
first year in Hobart Town and it is not known if he achieved any success
in his private practice . However, it can be assumed that , in his position
as a strnger to the community, his professional ability untested, he would
incur the fortunes , or misfortunes , under which all doctors new to the
community laboured at that time. The early thirties of the nineteenth
century were not a happy time for those men, trained in the Medical
Profession, who wished to igrate to Aus tralia, especially if they chose
Van Diemen 's Land as their sphere . There were several reasons for this .
Firstly, the population of the is land was fairly small, requiring only a
certain numb er of doctors to care for its health . With the exception of
Hobart Town and Launceston, where population was more concentrated, the
people lived in small , fairly isolated communities with considerable
distances between them. One small community was not sufficient to support
a doctor, nor was he ab le to travel the distance to care for another.
Then, too, the health of the peopl generally was very good: fresh air,
a vigorous country life good wholesome food and freedom from the dreaded
diseases found in ngland gave little caus e for seeking medical aid.
Many more doctors arrived than were required, many of them young men who
were seekng a more adventurous and better way of life. Frequently, they
acted as ship's srgeon on the voyage out , obtainng a free passage in
return for their services .
P_ugh , who acted as srgeon on the barque "Derwent" on her voyage
to Aus tralia about this time, recounted his experiences in Van Diemen 's
Land with some bitterness. On presenting his letters of introduction in
Hobart Town, he was informed that the Medical Profession was entirely
overdone in the colony and, unless he could obtain a Government appointment ,
there was no opening .