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CHAPTER 6
THE CONVICT DOCTOR
BOTHWELL
Bothwell, a small township on the east bank of the River Clyde ,
was the centre of a farming district situated on a plateau thirteen
hundred feet above sea level in the central highland area. Forty-five
miles from Hobart Town it was reached only by travelling the Hobart Town­
Launceston Road beyond Brighton as far as Melton Mowbray from whence a
branch road ran in a westerly direction for thirteen miles to the River
Clyde.
By 1839 the area boasted a scattered population of about nine
hundred people, many of them of Scotch origin, engaged in agricultural and
pastoral pursuits .
In the township was stationed a small detachment of
troops,housed on Barrack Hill overlooking the rest of the town, whose duty
it was to protect the residents from the depradations of bushrangers .
There was a Post Office receiving mail each day from Hobart Town, a brewery
supplying rum and beer to four or five wel l-patronized inns , a tannery and
a limestone quarry .
were scattered around;
Buildings erected by the tradesmen of the district
in the centre , the sma ll stone chapel of St. Luke 's
catered for the religious needs of two sects , the Presbyterians and the
Episcopalians .
There was a small library bui lding attached to an outside
wan of the Police Office ;
a small school , several shops , the dwellings of
the various officials and a few private homes made up the rest.
Round
this nucleus in every direction for miles spread the scattered farms of the
settlers . To the newcomer , it was a small, isolated place , rather sleepy ,
even dul l.
Hall found it lively, stimulating , difficult , and finally
distressing.
--
On their arrival, the Halls moved into a brick house in
Barrack Street belonging to the Ordnance Department . Here , on May 10,
Mary gave birth to her fourth daughter .
The family now cons is ted of
Mary Jane, aged five, who had been born in Hobart Town, Alicia Mary and
Josephine, both born in Brighton, and the new baby Victoria.
Included
also in the hous eho ld were a young teenage girl, a free arrival , who
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