Page:Papers of William Shakespeare Hall, 1861–1895.pdf/159

 HALL, WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1825-1895), J.P., Explorer, Pastoralist and Pearler, was born in London on 28 December 1825 and baptised at St. Mary's Church of England, Lambeth and was named after the Poet Shakespeare. (The Hall family being collaterally connected with the family of Shakespeare through the Strongs as well as the Poet's daughter, Susanna having married Dr. John Hall). He was the second son of Henry Edward Hall (1790-1859), Squire of Shakerstone Manor, Shakerstone, Leicestershire, England, and his wife, Sarah Theodosia Hall (nee Branson and a first cousin of her husband), (1793-1858). He came to Western Australia, with his parents, two brothers and three sisters in the vessel "PROTECTOR" (380 tons), chartered jointly by his father and another settler. They left England in November 1829 and reached Fremantle in February 1830 and safely landed considerable live stock, farming equipment, a 25 ton sloop and a jolly boat, necessities and luxuries, and ten servants and apprentices; the value of which entitled his father to a land grant of some 16,594 acres which was taken up at Mandurah. Unfortunately the land proved unsuitable. After several years of hardship, during which their first house and all its contents were destroyed by fire and their sloop was wrecked on Hall's Bank, the family moved back to Perth and subsequently bought a partly improved property at Wongong near Armadale.

William Shakespeare Hall received the main portion of his education from the Rev. J.B.Wittenoom, the first Colonial Chaplain. After learning farming on his father's property at Wongong, he went to Victoria in 1852 to the gold rush and stayed eight years without success. After returning to W.A. he was a member of the exploring party under Francis Gregory, which explored the north-west of the State in 1861 and led to the opening up of this area in 1863 when he established the first sheep station, "Andover", in the