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BASIL HALL (1788-1844)

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Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 845 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BASIL See also:HALL (1788-1844)  , See also:British See also:naval officer, traveller and See also:miscellaneous writer, was See also:born at See also:Edinburgh on the 31st of See also:December 1788 . His See also:father was See also:Sir See also:James See also:Hall of Dunglass, the geologist . See also:Basil Hall was educated at the High School, Edinburgh, and in 1802 entered the See also:navy, where he See also:rose to the See also:rank of See also:post-See also:captain in 1817, after seeing active service in several See also:fields . By observing the ethnological as well as the See also:physical peculiarities of the countries he visited, he collected the materials for a very large number of scientific papers . In 1816 he commanded the See also:sloop " See also:Lyra," which accompanied See also:Lord See also:Amherst's See also:embassy to See also:China; and he described his cruise in An See also:Account of a Voyage of See also:Discovery to the See also:West See also:Coast of Corea and the See also:Great See also:Loo-choo See also:Island in the See also:Japan See also:Sea (See also:London, 1818) . In 1820 he held a command on the Pacific coast of See also:America, and in 1824 published two volumes of Extracts front a See also:Journal written on the Coasts of Chili, See also:Peru and See also:Mexico in the Years 1820–21–22 . Retiring on See also:half-pay in 1824, See also:Halt in 1825 married See also:Margaret, daughter of Sir See also:John See also:Hunter, and in her See also:company travelled (1827–1828) through the See also:United States . In 1829 he published his Travels in See also:North America in the Years 1827 and 1828, which was assailed by the See also:American See also:press for its views of American society . Schloss Hainfeld, or a See also:Winter in See also:Lower See also:Styria (1836), is partly a See also:romance, partly a description of a visit paid by the author to the See also:castle of the countess Purgstall . See also:Spain and the Seat of See also:War in Spain appeared in 1837 . The Fragments of Voyages and Travels (9 vols.) were issued in three detachments. between 1831 and 1840 . Captain Hall was a See also:fellow of the Royal See also:Societies of London and Edinburgh, and of the Royal Astronomical, Royal See also:Geographical and See also:Geological Societies .

His last See also:

work, a collection of sketches and tales under the name of Patchwork (1841), had not been See also:long published before its author became insane, and he died in Haslar See also:hospital, Ports-mouth, on the rrth of See also:September 1844 .

End of Article: BASIL HALL (1788-1844)
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Additional information and Comments

I am currently researching the life of Basil Hall. Hall was a friend of several distinguished writers, including Sir Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, and Maria Edgeworth, and became himself a popular author. On his return journey from the Far East in 1827, he interviewed Napoleon Bonaparte on St. Helena, the record of which was incorporated in Scott's Life of Napoleon.
As at January 2009, as the biographer of Capt. Basil Hall (1788-1844) I am well advanced on the draft of his life. However, I believe there are likely to be letters and his many journals which I have not located and would be pleased to have any information on such sources
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