Sir John Hall (1795-1866), military surgeon

  • Hall, John, Sir.
Date:
1843-1859
Reference:
MS.8520
  • Archives and manuscripts

About this work

Description

Copy letter book, 1840s-1850s, containing transcriptions of letters sent by Hall and a few letters received by him. Some personal material is included as well as official documentation.

Covers service in South Africa, India and the Crimea, and includes opinions on Florence Nightingale. Correspondents include Sir James McGrigor (1771-1858), Director-General of the Army Medical Department, to whom many letters are addressed, and his superior during the Crimean campaign, Dr. Andrew Smith.

pp.1-26: service in the United Kingdom (chiefly Ireland).

pp.26-220: service in South Africa.

pp.221-262: service in India, including (p.259) letter summoning Hall to take charge of medical services in the Crimea.

pp.263-321: service in the Crimean campaign. These letters include a detailed account of his relations with Florence Nightingale which accuses her of setting up a "petticoat imperium" and generally expresses resentment at the media attention granted her and the corresponding criticism of the Army's regular medical services (6th April 1856, letter to Dr. Smith: pp.316-319).

pp.322-356: letters dating from after Hall's return from the Crimea, including some material dating from after his retirement from military service.

A selection of Hall's letters was published in 1911 by Hall's authorised biographer: S. M. Mitra, The life and letters of Sir John Hall (London: Longmans, 1911). This volume bears annotations indicating that the published selection was made working from this text; it also carries annotations indicating which letters appear consciously to have been omitted from that selection.

Publication/Creation

1843-1859

Physical description

1 volume 356 pp.

Contributors

Acquisition note

Purchased at Bonhams, Bond St., London, 26th June 2007 (lot 26).

Biographical note

1795 - born Little Beck, Westmorland, son of John Hall and his wife, Isabel (née Fothergill)

Honours and qualifications

Fellow, Royal College of Surgeons of England (1844)

MD, St Andrews University (1845)

KCB

Officer of the Légion d'honneur

Order of the Mejidiye (Turkey), 3rd class.

Education

Studied at Appleby Grammar School, Guy's and St Thomas's hospitals (London)

Career

June 1815 - following medical studies in London (see above) joined Army Medical Service as hospital assistant, sent to join forces fighting Napoleon in Flanders. Subsequent to Napoleon's defeat, spent a year in England on half-pay.

1817 - sailed for Jamaica.

1818-1827 - served in Jamaica. Arrived at Port Royal in the aftermath of a hurricane and dealt with further natural disasters in the shape of two severe yellow fever epidemics (in 1819 and 1825), which claimed many lives (Hall himself nearly among these). His work in the first epidemic won him a reputation as a brave and efficient officer and he was promoted to assistant surgeon in 1822, remaining in the Caribbean for some years.

1827-1829 - served in England before being recalled to Jamaica.

1829-1832 - served in Jamaica.

1832-1835 - served in England.

1835-1836 - served in Ireland.

1836-1839 - served in Spain and Gibraltar.

1841 - returned to West Indies.

1844 - moved to Dublin, taking medical charge of military recruiting. Promoted to deputy inspector-general of hospitals. Made a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

1845 - took MD at St Andrews University.

1847-1851 - served in South Africa. Was on active service during the Cape frontier wars of 1847 and 1851, as principal medical officer. Between hostilities Hall worked at various medical institutions in Cape Town.

1848 - met and married Lucy Campbell, daughter of Henry Hackshaw and widow of Duncan Sutherland of St Vincent, West Indies.

1851 - moved to Bombay with his wife; attached to the presidency garrison, and undertook important reforms in medical statistics and barrack accommodation.

1854 - transferred back to Europe following outbreak of hostilities with Russia: ordered to take charge of medical services in the war.

June 1854 - July 1856 - served in Crimea. took part in various military actions; mentioned in dispatches, made KCB and officer of the Légion d'honneur, and received the third class of the Turkish order of the Mejidiye. However, the army medical services were criticised by Florence Nightingale and by the sanitary commission which was sent out to investigate conditions in the field as a result of her work.

January 1857 - retired. Published two pamphlets: Observations on the report of the Sanitary Commissioners in the Crimea, during the years 1855 and 1856 (London: W. Clowes, 1857) and Sir John Hall's rejoinder to Dr. Sutherland's reply to his Observations on the report of the Sanitary Commissioners at the seat of the war in the East, in 1855 and 1856 (London: W. Clowes, 1858). In these, defending the army medical service from Nightingale and the commission's criticisms; Hall argued that sanitary problems were already being dealt with when the commission begain its investigations and that the commission's work was therefore largely irrelevant; and that the commission's experience of field conditions should have given them an insight into the difficulties faced by officers on the ground. Hall intended to develop this theme further in a medical history of the Crimean war, which he intended to write after returning to Bombay, but a stroke prevented both the journey to India and the writing of the history. He spent his retirement travelling in Europe.

17 January 1866 - died of a heart attack, Pisa, Italy. He was buried in the English protestant cemetery in Livorno and was survived by his wife and two daughters, Lucy and Alice.

Professor Mark Harrison summarises Hall's career in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography thus: "Hall never reached the pinnacle of the military medical hierarchy - the post of director-general of Army Medical Services - but he is better known than many who did. He was held in the highest regard by contemporaries in Britain and overseas, and achieved considerable fame for his work in the Crimean War. He was known as a hard worker and a strict disciplinarian, but his subordinates were highly appreciative of his ability and courage."

Hall's obituary appeared in the Lancet on the 27th January 1866. Brief biographies appear in V. G. Plarr, Plarr's Lives of the fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England volume 1 (1930),pp. 487-488, and in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

Related material

At Wellcome Collection:

The Royal Army Medical Corps collection contains many of Hall's papers, chiefly official ones (RAMC/397); among these is a letter book covering Hall's South African service and the early part of the Crimean campaign (RAMC/397/D/CO/1). The Royal Army Medical Corps collection also contains a letter book containing Hall's copy letters, 1827-1843, and memoranda, 1824-1857 (RAMC 508).

The Library's printed holdings include copies of Hall's pamphlets Observations on the report of the Sanitary Commissioners in the Crimea, during the years 1855 and 1856 (London: W. Clowes, 1857) and Sir John Hall's rejoinder to Dr. Sutherland's reply to his Observations on the report of the Sanitary Commissioners at the seat of the war in the East, in 1855 and 1856 (London: W. Clowes, 1858).

At other repositories:

Hall's correspondence on army nursing is held at the British Library. Correspondence with Lord Raglan and Sir William Codrington is held at the National Army Museum.

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Identifiers

Accession number

  • 1527