Kiama, 1830; watercolour Later life William Lonsdale appointed Hoddle as auctioneer at the first sale of crown land on 1 June 1837, at which he sold half-acre (0.2 ha) allotments for £18 to £78, considered at the time a very high price. Hoddle's commission was £57 12s. 7d., from which he bought two allotments for himself at a cost of £54. Hoddle built himself a house on the corner of Bourke and Spencer Streets where, in retirement, he tended his trees, played organ and flute and translated Spanish. In 1840, Hoddle was granted a gratuity of £500 as he was leaving the survey department on account of ill-health. However, after a few months holiday he recovered his health, took up his duties again, and the gratuity was not paid to him. He later did valuable work in the country districts of Victoria, became Surveyor General of Victoria in 1851, and retired in July 1853 with a pension of £1000 a year. He had bought in 1837 the block of land in Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, on which the Commonwealth Bank of Australia now stands, for a comparatively small sum, and he became a wealthy man. After his retirement he took an interest in the Old Colonists' Association and was elected a life governor in December 1873. Personal life He was married twice and left a widow and children. Death He died at his residence on the north east corner of Bourke and Spencer Street, a lot he bought at one of the first land sales, on 24 October 1881. Legacy Hoddle Street, East Melbourne Hoddles Creek, Victoria, a small town located East of Melbourne. Hoddles Creek, a tributary of the Yarra River. References English surveyors Australian surveyors People from Westminster 1794 births 1881 deaths Surveyors General of Victoria English emigrants to colonial Australia Settlers of Melbourne Australian landscape painters