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situation was intolerable. When four additional runaways were reported
to be lurking in the district , the shepherds took the matter into 1their
own hands and formed a band to chase them , 13 Hall, too , played a smal l
part in the drama , driving to the Great Lake to give evidence at the inquest
held there on December 11 on the two murdered men, W. Trueson , a free man ,
and N. Clark , an as signed servant to a Mr Brodribb . Because of this
1'disgraceful" failure of the Police to achieve any results , and the
subsequent mismanagement by Schaw of twelve men who were sent by the
Government to he lp with the harvest, the Chief Police Magistrate at last
investigated the complaints lodged against Schaw by Captain W. Clarke J.P. ,
one of the settlers . ·1uch to the annoyance of the residents , however,
and especially to Clarke who declined to take any further part in the
enquiry, the investigation was held in private . 1 4 At its conclusion
Schaw remained, whilst the people were left frustrated , their problem still
unsolved .
Nevertheless, as the year 1841 progressed, there were other
matters besides these vexations to claim Hall1s attention . On May 24 ,
a fifth daught er was born to Mary and christened Alexandrina . A. devoted
family man himself, Hall was distressed to hear in June of the sudden death
of a fellow surgeon, E. Fosbrooke, the Medical Officer at Flinders Island ,
whose family was left in straitened circumstances . With twenty-five other
subscribers he donated one guinea to a fund established by the Principal
Medical Officer for the widow . 1 5 Considering Hall1s large household and
the fact that his own salary was only 15/- per day this was a very
generous donation.
Also , there were new medical regulations with which Hall was
concerned. These demanded some readjus tments both in attitudes to medical
staff and in the organization of medical departments. When Clarke arrived
to take up the pos ition of Principal Medical Officer , he was invited by
Franklin to offer any propositions which he thought desirable for th e
improvement of the Medical Department . In a report to the Director-General
of Hospitals on June 15, 1840, he detailed what he considered to be the
essential caus e operating against any improvement , and proposed that in
future no person who was a convict , or had been a convict, should be
13
1 4
1 5
Colonial Times , Dec . 22 , 1840 .
Colonial Times , Jan . 5, 1841.
Colonial Times , Jan. 8, 1841 .