William Nelson Edward Hall | |
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Born | Horton, Colony of Nova Scotia | 28 April 1827
Died | 27 August 1904 Avonport, Nova Scotia, Canada | (aged 77)
Buried | Hantsport Baptist Church Cemetery, Nova Scotia |
Allegiance | ![]() ![]() |
Service/ | ![]() ![]() |
Years of service | 1847–1876 |
Rank | Quartermaster |
Battles/wars | Crimean War |
Awards | Victoria Cross |
William Nelson Edward Hall[note 1] VC (28 April 1827 – 27 August 1904) was the first Black person, first Nova Scotian, and the third Canadian to receive the Victoria Cross due to his actions in the 1857 Siege of Lucknow. He received the medal for his actions during the Indian Rebellion. During the action in which the naval gun crew with which he was serving came under heavy fire as they attacked a mosque. Hall and an officer from his ship continued to load and fire a 24-pounder gun at the walls of the Shah Nujeef mosque after the rest of the party had been killed or injured by the local resistance hoping to secure the restoration of Mughal suzerainty.
William Edward Hall was born at Horton, Nova Scotia, in 1827[note 2] as the son of Jacob and Lucy Hall, who had escaped American slave owners in Maryland during the War of 1812 and were brought to freedom in Nova Scotia by the British Royal Navy as part of the Black Refugee movement.[1] The Halls first lived in Summerville, Nova Scotia where Jacob worked in a shipyard operated by Abraham Cunard until they bought a farm across the Avon River at Horton Bluff.[2] Hall first worked in shipyards at nearby Hantsport, Nova Scotia,[3] before going to sea at the age of seventeen. He sailed first on merchant ships based out of the Minas Basin including the barque Kent of Kentville, Nova Scotia.[4]
He was originally buried in an unmarked grave without military honours. He was reinterred in 1954[10] in Hantsport, Nova Scotia where his grave is marked by a monument at the Baptist church. The Royal Canadian Legion (now closed) in Hantsport was named "The Lucknow Branch" in honour of his Victoria Cross action.
Hall's original Victoria Cross was repatriated from Britain in 1967 by the government of Nova Scotia and is on permanent display at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax.
Hall is also featured in exhibits at the Halifax Citadel and at the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia. Canada Post commemorated William Hall on a stamp, first issued on 1 February 2010 in Hantsport, Nova Scotia and officially launched at the Black Cultural Centre on 2 February 2010.[11] Hall was designated a National Historic Person by the Canadian Historic Sites and Monuments Board at Hantsport on 8 October 2010 and a new plaque was unveiled in his honour.[12]
In November 2010, a connector road in Hantsport was named the William Hall V.C. Memorial Highway. A sign, bearing Hall's likeness, was erected on the road from Highway 101 to Trunk 1 near Hantsport.[13]
The fourth ship in the Royal Canadian Navy's Harry DeWolf class was officially named HMCS William Hall in a ceremony at Irving Shipbuilding's yard in Halifax on 28 April 2023.[14]
Hall's personal awards and decorations include the following:
Ribbon | Description | Notes |
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Victoria Cross (VC) |
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Crimea Medal | |
Turkish Crimea Medal |
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Indian Mutiny Medal |