When Governor Burke succeeded Governor Darling in December 1831, he initiated an enquiry into the Department of Public Works. Wilson and six of those who were immediately under him were dismissed in 1832. Hallen was the next most senior officer and was placed in charge of what remained of the Department on 1 April 1832; later that month he was given the title of Colonial Architect and his office was officially titled the Colonial Architects Department. The position as Town Surveyor was absorbed into the Surveyor General's Department (the role was filled by Mortimer Lewis who was later to succeed Hallen as Colonial Architect). In creating the Colonial Architect's role and Department, Governor Bourke defied directions from the Colonial Office in Whitehall, London, which had specified there was to be no such office as an entity separate from that of the Surveyor General.