Biography:

Dr. Fredric William Hall was born on the 3rd of February, 1882 in Yorkville, York County, Ontario.  At the time of his birth, his family resided at 72 Sydenham Street.  His father was Dr. William Robert Hall and his mother was the former Eleanor Minturn. When Fredric was 3 years old, his family moved to Chatham where his father began a family medical practice.  Dr. Hall and his sister Edith Margaret Hall (who was born in 1888), attended school in Chatham.

Dr. Hall went on to study medicine at The University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine in 1899. Dr. Hall graduated M.B. in 1905. He interned at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. According to the 1928 Ontario Medical Register, Dr. Hall joined the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons on the 26th of June, 1906.  After graduation he moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he was a resident gynecologist at Lakeside Hospital for 3 years. He was elected as the Vice President of Lakeside Alumni Medical Association in May of 1915.

Dr. Hall married Meta Evelyn Wilson on the 17th of April, 1912, in Chatham.  Mrs. Hall was born in Chatham on the 10th of October, 1883.  She was the eldest of 4 children born to Matthew Wilson and the former Annie Marsden Atkinson.  Her father was a lawyer and her siblings were; Jessie Kathleen Wilson, Arabella Waugh Wilson (who died of cholera in 1889 at the age of 1) and Matthew Maurice Wilson.  According to the 1911 census, the Wilson family lived at 325 Wellington Street West in Chatham.  The large home that Mrs. Hall grew up in appears on the Chatham-Kent Municipal Heritage Register.  Mrs. Hall trained to be a nurse.

Dr. and Mrs. Hall had three children all born in Chatham; William Wilson Hall was born on the 18th of February 1913, Fredric Hall was born and died in 1914 and Eleanor Marsden Hall was born on the 3rd of April, 1915.

After leaving Cleveland, Dr. Hall returned to Chatham and practiced medicine with his father. He obtained practicing privileges at the Public General Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital. Dr. Hall was the Secretary/Treasurer of the Kent County Medical Society and he served as President in 1946. His father died in 1915 and Dr. Hall took over his position as the Medical Officer of Health for the City of Chatham.   He was appointed as the Medical Officer of Health for Dover Township in August of 1915.  Dr. Hall devoted time to the military effort during World War I and World War II, but he did not serve abroad.   Dr. Hall was appointed as a Kent County coroner on May 4, 1932; a position he held until 1959.  His medical office was located at 39 Sixth Street in Chatham.  According to the 1946-1947 Shepherds City of Chatham Business Directory Dr. Hall’s office phone number was 280.  His home phone number was listed as 508.

Dr. Hall’s children, William and Marsden purchased an Arrow Sport biplane in June of 1934 and kept it at the Chatham Airport.  Marsden Hall obtained her pilots licence on the 26th of September, 1934 at the age of 19.  She became the 2nd woman in Ontario and the 39th female in Canada to obtain a private pilot’s licence.

Dr. Hall was installed as the President of the Chatham Rotary Club in July of 1927 and served until 1928.  Dr. Hall belonged to the Kent Club and the Victory Masonic Lodge.

Dr. Hall’s daughter, Eleanor Marsden Hall married Dr. John William Magladery on the 18th of May, 1940 in Chatham.  (Dr. Magladery practiced medicine in Toronto.) Dr. and Mrs. Hall suffered the loss of their grandson, Thomas Marsden Magladery when he drowned in Lake Erie at Rondeau on the 5th of September, 1958.  He was 17 years old.  A second grandson was born to Dr. and Mrs. Magladery on the 25th of May, 1946 but he died the same day and was buried at Maple Leaf Cemetery (Chatham).  Eleanor Marsden (Hall) Magladery was divorced from Dr. John W. Magladery and she married John Ogburn Holt in 1963.  Dr. Magladery is not known to have practiced medicine in Chatham-Kent.

Dr. Hall died at his residence, 325 Wellington Street (Chatham) on the 28th of February, 1961.  Mrs. Hall died at the Public General Hospital in Chatham on the 24th of November, 1964.  Dr. and Mrs. Hall were buried at Maple Leaf Cemetery.   Dr. Hall’s sons, William and Fredric were also buried in the family plot.

*Dr. Hall’s son, William Wilson Hall served his country during WWII and he is featured on the Gathering Our Heroes website.

**Mrs. Hall’s brother Lieutenant Matthew Maurice Wilson enlisted in WWI on the 24th of March, 1917.  When he enlisted he was a law student at the University of Western Ontario.  He died of gunshot wounds on the 10th of October, 1918 in Ficheux, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France.  He was buried at the Burcquory Road Cemetery.

***Dr. Hall’s father, Dr. William Robert Hall is also featured on the Chatham-Kent Physician Tribute website.

Note: Dr. Hall’s first name appears on various documents with and without a “k” at the end of Frederic.  The author of this biography has spelled it without a “k” as it appears in the University of Toronto 1915 Yearbook “Torontonesis” and on his tombstone.  Further, Dr. Hall’s birth record records his year of birth as February 3rd, 1882.  (His tombstone reflects his year of birth as 1881.)

Photo Credit: Anne F.