Walter Russell Hall

Walter Russell Hall (22 February 1831 – 13 October 1911) was an Australian businessman and philanthropist.

Walter Russell Hall
Portrait of Walter Hall by Frederick McCubbin.
Born	(1831-02-22)22 February 1831 Kington, Herefordshire, England
Died	13 October 1911(1911-10-13) (aged 80) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Resting place	Melbourne general cemetery
Board member of	Cobb and Co Mount Morgan Gold Mining Company Limited Mercantile Mutual Insurance Sydney Meat Preserving Co.
Spouse	Eliza Hall (née Kirk)
Family	Thomas Skarratt Hall (brother) James Wesley Hall (brother)

Biography

Hall and William Knox D'Arcy, c. 1885.

Hall was born in Kington, Herefordshire, England, eldest son of Walter Hall, glover (later a miller), and his wife Elizabeth Carleton, née Skarratt. He was educated in Kington and Taunton, Somerset.^[1]

Hall arrived in Sydney on 14 February 1852^[2] with his two brothers, Thomas Skarratt Hall and James Wesley Hall with little money. Hall was employed for a short time by David Jones Limited and then prospected for gold in Victoria with meagre success.^[1] From 1857 he was a major investor and administrator of the Australian stagecoach line Cobb and Co.^[2] He was also an original shareholder and director of Mount Morgan Gold Mining Company Limited, incorporated in 1886. Other directorships included the Mercantile Mutual Insurance Co. Ltd, and the Sydney Meat Preserving Co. Ltd.^[1]

Hall married Melbourne-born Eliza Rowdon Kirk in 1874.^[3] They had no children. He died at their home in Potts Point, Sydney, in October 1911.^[4]

Legacy

Hall's widow Eliza founded The Walter and Eliza Hall Trust that led to the establishment of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, using funds earned from Hall's business interests to establish the Trust.^[5][6]

The locality of Walterhall beside the Mount Morgan mine in Central Queensland was named after him.^[7]

References

1. King, Hazel (1983). "Hall, Walter Russell (1831 - 1911)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 9. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. pp. 168–169. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943.
2. Serle, Percival (1949). "Hall, Walter and Eliza". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson.
3. "Beginning". WEHI. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
4. "Mr. W. R. Hall". The Australasian: 63. 21 October 1911.
5. "Our history". About us. The Walter & Eliza Hall Charities. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
6. "Beginning". About: History. Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
7. "Walterhall – locality in Rockhampton Region (entry 48919)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 31 December 2017.