Notable South Australians/Hon. George Hall, M.L.C.
Hon. George Hall, M.L.C.,
BORN at Bromley, Kent, March 2, 1811, died at Mitcham, S.A., January 28, 1867, aged 55 years. He entered the mercantile navy at an early age, and was still young when he obtained the command of a ship. He was chiefly engaged in the East and West India trade, and continued in it till 1842, when he settled in South Australia. He first entered into pastoral pursuits near Angaston, but soon relinquished these to start in business at Port Adelaide. In July 1851, at the first general election for the single House which then formed the Legislative Council of South Australia, he was elected for the Port, and in March 1857 was further elected a member of the Upper House, a position he retained until his death. Mr. Hall held several important offices in the community, and as a director of the Burra and other mining companies, and as chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, his name will still be familiar to many. In 1860, finding his health failing, he retired from business, and in 1865 paid a visit to England. He returned to the colony in 1866, not much improved by his trip, and soon after succumbed to his fate.