Basil Hall (1788-1844)

Naval officer and author

Basil Hall was an officer in the Royal Navy from 1802 to 1823. He wrote about his travels in books on Korea (1818), Chile, Peru and Mexico (1824) and North America (1829). He was a fellow of the Royal Society, the Royal Geological Society and Royal Geographical Society. In 1844 he suffered from nervous exhaustion and died in the Royal Hospital at Haslar, Gosport on the south coast of England.

Birth in 1788

Basil Hall was born on 31 December 1788, the son of Sir James Hall of Dunglass Baronet and the Honourable Lady Helen Douglas. The entry in the Old Parish Register (OPR) for Oldhamstocks gives the date of baptism at Dunglass as 8 January 1789 and the names of two witnesses.

Birth and baptism entry for Basil Hall (50 KB jpeg)
National Records of Scotland, OPR 741/1, page 167

Marriage in 1825 

Basil Hall married Margaret Hunter in March 1825. The entry in the Old Parish Register for Edinburgh states that there were three pro(clamations) and no objections to the marriage of Captain Basil Hall, Royal Navy, St George parish and Margaret Hunter, daughter of the late Sir John Hunter. They were married on 1 March 1825 by the Reverend Bishop Sandford.

 
Marriage entry for Basil Hall in the OPR for Edinburgh (12 KB jpeg)
National Records of Scotland, 1825/685-1/63, page 203

The entry in the Old Parish Register for Oldhamstocks for Basil Hall of the Royal Navy and Margaret Hunter St George parish in Edinburgh gives 7 March 1825 as the date of marriage.

Marriage entry for Basil Hall in the OPR for Oldhamstocks (29 KB jpeg)
National Records of Scotland, OPR 714/2, page 4

Testament of Basil Hall

National Records of Scotland, SC70/4/2, pp 874-877

View transcript (81 KB pdf)

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