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  (1823, pp. 211-88). He had already, while in China, been elected a fellow of the Royal Society (28 March 1816). He sailed from San Blas in June 1822, and after touching at Rio de Janeiro returned to England, and paid off in the spring of 1823. His 'Extracts from a Journal written on the Coasts of Chili, Peru, and Mexico in the years 18201821-2,' published in 2 vols. 8vo shortly after his return, had a remarkable success, and ran rapidly through several editions.

Hall had no further service in the navy, but having married in 1825 Margaret, daughter of Sir John Hunter, consul-general in Spain, spent his time in private travel or in literary and scientific pursuits at home. Of his travels in North America in 1827-8, he published an account in 1829 in 3 vols. 12mo, which was translated into French. His frank criticism of American customs excited the utmost indignation in the United States, of which an interesting account appears in Mrs. Frances Trollope's 'Domestic Manners of the Americans,' 1831. In September 1831, while living in London, he was able to lay before Sir James Graham, then first lord of the admiralty, the medical recommendation for Sir [q. v.] to winter abroad, and to obtain for him a passage to Malta in the Barham frigate. His own account of the circumstances of Scott's embarkation is fully given in his 'Fragments of Voyages and Travels' (3rd ser. iii. 282). In 1842 Hall's mind gave way; he was placed in Haslar Hospital, and died there on 11 Sept. 1844, leaving a widow (d. 1876), by whom he had two daughters and a son, Basil Sidmouth De Ros Hall, who died, a captain in the navy, in 1871. Perhaps the best known of Hall's works is the 'Fragments of Voyages and Travels' (three series, each in 3 vols. 12mo, 1831-3, and frequently reprinted), which, in addition to the subject-matter of the title, contains many interesting accounts of the internal state of the navy in the early part of the century. He also wrote 'Schloss Hainfeld, or a Winter in Lower Styria' (8vo, 1836), and 'Patchwork' (3 vols. 12mo, 1841), and numerous papers in the 'United Service Magazine,' as well as in the leading scientific periodicals (see Royal Society Catalogue of Scientific Papers). In addition to the Royal, he was a fellow of the Royal Astronomical, Royal Geographical, and Geological Societies.

 HALL, BENJAMIN, (1802–1867), the eldest son of Benjamin Hall, M.P., of Hensol Castle, Glamorganshire, by his wife Charlotte, daughter of William Crawshay of Cyfarthfa, Glamorganshire, was born on 8 Nov. 1802. He was educated at Westminster School, where he was admitted in January 1814. On 24 May 1820 he matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford, but left without taking any degree. At the general election in May 1831 he was returned to parliament for Monmouth boroughs in the whig interest, but was unseated upon petition in the following July (Journals of the House of Commons, vol. lxxxvi. pt. ii. p. 665). He was, however, duly elected for the same constituency at the next general election in 1832, and continued to represent it until the dissolution of parliament in July 1837. Hall's first reported speech was delivered during the debate on the address in February 1833 (Parl. Debates, 3rd ser. xv. 340-1). In March 1834 he seconded Mr. Divett's motion for the abolition of church rates (ib. xxii. 387-8), and in March 1837 he supported Grote's motion in favour of the ballot (ib. xxxvii. 38-9). At the general election in July of this year he was returned at the head of the poll for the borough of Marylebone, for which constituency he continued to sit until his elevation to the House of Lords, and on 16 Aug. 1838 was created a baronet. In July 1843 he both spoke and voted in favour of Smith O'Brien's motion for the consideration of the causes of discontent then existing in Ireland (ib. lxx. 898-9). Hall gradually became a frequent debater in the house. He insisted on the right of the Welsh to have the services of the church rendered in their own tongue, and took an active part in the cause of ecclesiastical reform. The speech which he delivered on the Ecclesiastical Commission Bill on 8 July 1850 was afterwards published in pamphlet form (London, 1850, 8vo). In 'A Letter to his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury on the State of the Church' (London, 1850, 8vo), and again in a 'Letter to the Rev. C. Phillips, M.A.' (London [1852], 8vo), he called the attention of the public to the great abuses existing in the management of ecclesiastical property, and in the distribution of church patronage. Upon the reconstruction of the general board of health, in August 1854, Hall was appointed president, and was sworn a member of the privy council on 14 Nov. in the same year. In July 1855 he became chief commissioner of works (without a seat in the cabinet), in the place of Sir William Molesworth, who had been appointed secretary of state for the colonies. On 16 March 1855 he