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William Hall
Victoria Cross

Lucknow   November 1857

Photographs of
Monument

Hantsport
Hants County
Nova Scotia

Located at the intersection of Main and Willow Streets

GPS location:   45°03'51"N   64°10'51"W

Photographed on 8 October 2002

Photographed on 8 October 2002

Photographed on 8 October 2002

Photographed on 8 October 2002

Victoria Cross commemorative stamp, 2004

Title, pane of William Hall commemorative stamps
Black History Month, 2010

Pane of sixteen William Hall commemorative stamps
Black History Month, 2010

William Hall commemorative stamp
Black History Month, 2010
Upper left corner of pane

William Hall commemorative stamp
Black History Month, 2010
Lower left corner of pane

William Hall commemorative stamp
Black History Month, 2010
Upper right corner of pane

William Hall commemorative stamp
Black History Month, 2010
Lower right corner of pane

Medal entitlement of:

Petty Officer William HALL
Royal Navy ( Naval Brigade )
•  Victoria Cross
•  Crimea Medal ( 1854-56 )
•  2 clasps: “Inkermann” - “Sebastopol”
•  Indian Mutiny Medal ( 1857-58 )
•  2 clasps: “Relief of Lucknow” - “Lucknow”
•  Turkish Crimea Medal ( 1855-56 )

Engraving on reverse of Victoria Cross:
SEAMAN W. HALL
ROYAL NAVY
16 NOV.
1857

Source: http://www.victoriacross.org.uk/puhallw.htm

Military Hero Gets Highway Sign in His Honour

Premier's Office, Halifax, Nova Scotia
November 10, 2010  9:54am

The province today, Nov. 10, named a connector road in Hantsport in honour of African Nova Scotian William Hall, the first recipient from the province, and first African Canadian, to receive the Victoria Cross medal for bravery.

Premier Darrell Dexter unveiled the William Hall V.C. Memorial Highway sign at a ceremony at Province House.  The sign, bearing Mr. Hall's likeness, will be erected on the road from Highway 101 to Trunk 1 near Hantsport.

"Today, during the week of remembrance of those war heroes who fought and died for our liberty, we honour one of our own military heroes," said Premier Dexter.  "Mr. Hall holds a special place in the province's and the country's history.  He was the first Nova Scotian and the first African Canadian to receive this award and deserves to be celebrated for his courage."

Born in 1827, Hall worked in shipyards in Hantsport as a young man, building wooden ships for the merchant marines.  He later crewed on a trading vessel and travelled the world before his 18th birthday.  While in England in 1852, he enlisted in the Royal Navy as an able seaman.

While sailing to China, his ship was ordered to assist British troops who had lost the fort at Lucknow, India, during the Indian mutiny against the British in 1857.  Mr. Hall was one of the last men standing and he kept firing his gun, finally breaking a hole into the wall of the fort that allowed troops to enter and regain it.  For this act of bravery, he received the Victoria Cross, the highest medal given in the British Commonwealth.

Mr. Hall lived the rest of his life in Nova Scotia and is buried in Hantsport.  His grave is recognized by a monument at the nearby Baptist church.

The government of Nova Scotia retrieved Mr. Hall's Victoria Cross medal from Britain in 1967.  It is on permanent display at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax.  During African Heritage Month 2010, Canada Post honoured Mr. Hall by issuing a commemorative stamp with his likeness.

—  Source: Nova Scotia Government press release

Maritime Museum Celebrates Nova Scotian on Canada Day

Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage, Halifax, Nova Scotia
June 30, 2010  2:37pm

The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is celebrating Canada Day with activities and a new display about an historic Nova Scotian.

The museum's navy gallery will unveil a new addition to its collection on Thursday, July 1, the Victoria Cross awarded to William Hall, the first African Nova Scotian to receive that honour.  The artifact is part of an updated gallery exhibit coinciding with Canadian Navy's centennial.

"Mr. Hall's story is an important part of Nova Scotia's history and Canada Day is a perfect time to learn more about his contribution to our military heritage," said Minister of Tourism, Culture and Heritage Percy Paris.  "Nova Scotia's provincial museums bring our history and culture alive and make life better for families in every region."

Able-seaman William Hall was born near Hantsport in 1827.  After serving on merchant ships, he joined the British Royal Navy in 1852.  In 1857, while serving aboard HMS Shannon, Mr. Hall was part of the relief force sent to Lucknow, India, where mutineers had besieged the British garrison.  All the naval gunners on board were killed except an injured naval lieutenant and Mr. Hall, who continued to load and fire his gun until the fortress fell.  He was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1859 for his gallant conduct.

The museum will be open July 1 from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.  Families can enjoy crafts all day long, dress up in costumes, practice knot-work activities and participate in a pirate scavenger hunt...

—  Source: Nova Scotia Government press release

Admiral H.F. Pullen’s effort
to preserve Hall legacy
deserves a medal

The Siege of Lucknow, 1857

Lucknow, population about two million people in 2002, is the capital of Uttar Pradesh state, in north central India, on the Gomati River. Lucknow was the capital of the kingdom of Oudh from 1775 to 1856, and then of Oudh province.  Lucknow is chiefly notable in the history of British India as the capital of the nawabs who had dealings with Warren Hastings, and their successors the kings of Oudh, whose deposition by Lord Dalhousie was one of the chief causes of the Mutiny.  Amongst the events of the Mutiny the defence of the residency of Lucknow comes second in historic interest, after the massacre at Cawnpore.  The Indian Mutiny broke out in 1857 and it rapidly became the greatest of all the imperial wars.  Lucknow suffered heavy casualties during a siege, June to November 1857.  If Delhi was the symbolic centre of the Mutiny, and Cawnpore provided its most horrific episode, it was Lucknow that caught the imagination of the British public and became, perhaps, the most well-known action of all Britain's 19th century wars.  It had all the dramatic elements of a siege and even better, a happy ending.  It became indeed a paradigm for later British colonial conflicts.  There were the initial reverses, the spectacle of the 'thin red line' battling against overwhelming odds, heroism in the face of adversity, the stoicism of the ladies living in appalling conditions, the death of a gallant commander, finally the sound of bagpipes on the wind and a relief column marching into the British position with flags flying and kilted highlanders leading the way...
    http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Alley/5443/indmut5.htm

Effort to preserve Hall legacy
http://ns1763.ca/hantsco/hall-legacy-ch-2007march21.html

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Note the strong spike in traffic that occurs in
February each year, during Black History Month.

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First uploaded to the WWW:   2002 October 13
Added 2004 stamp:   2007 February 28
Added 2010 stamp:   2010 March 30
Latest update:   2013 January 13