BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY William Nelson Hall VC 25 April 1827 – 27 August 1904 was the first black person, first Nova Scotian, and third Canadian to receive the Victoria Cross. He received the medal for his actions in the Siege of Lucknow during the Indian Mutiny.
Hall and an officer from his ship continued to load and fire a
24-pounder gun at the walls after the rest of the party had been killed
or injured by the defenders
William Hall was born at Summerville, Nova Scotia, in 1827
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.
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.
Hall first worked in shipyards at nearby Hantsport, Nova Scotia,
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.
BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY
Naval career
Bombardment of Sebastopol by HMS
Rodney, Crimean War (1854)
Hall briefly served in the United States Navy from 1847 to 1849. He served for a time aboard the USS
Ohio alongside John Taylor Wood, who later supported Hall's US Navy pension claim.
[
Hall volunteered for the British Royal Navy in February 1852, serving at first aboard HMS
Rodney. Hall fought in the Crimean War serving ashore in a Naval Brigade from
Rodney at the battles of Inkerman and Sebastapol in 1854.
When the Indian Mutiny broke out in May 1857, Hall was on the screw frigate HMS
Shannon en route to China. She was intercepted and ordered to Calcutta (since renamed Kolkata). A Shannon Brigade was formed of several gunners, sailors, and marines, under Captain William Peel. The ship was towed over 600 miles up the Ganges River to Allahabad. Then the force fought across country to Campbell's headquarters at Cawnpore and were in time to take part in the Siege of Lucknow.
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This were we give the true contribution of Black People to this Planet Earth, even though it so difficult for some people to accept and come to terms with what the Black Race has done for Planet Earth. Its not all about Slavery and the Slave Trade, in the past centuries and today Black People have made meaningful contribution to the development to this planet right across the board. our children must know and learn that there great,great,great,great,great,great grandfathers have made some contribution to planet earth. |
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On 16 November 1857 at Lucknow, India,
naval guns were brought up close to the Shah Nujeff mosque, and the gun
crews kept up a steady fire in an attempt to breach and clear the
walls, while a hail of musket balls and grenades from the mutineers
inside the mosque caused heavy casualties. Able Seaman Hall and Lieutenant Thomas James Young,
the battery's commander, were eventually the only survivors, all the
rest having been killed or wounded, and between them they loaded and
served the last gun, which was fired at less than 20 yards from the
wall, until it was breached. The joint citation in the Gazette reads:
Lieutenant (now Commander) Young, late Gunnery Officer of Her Majesty's ship " Shannon," and William Hall, "Captain of the Foretop,"
of that Vessel, were recommended by the late Captain Peel for the
Victoria Cross, for their gallant conduct at a 24-Pounder Gun, brought
up to the angle of the Shah Nujjiff, at Lucknow, on the 16th of
November, 1857.
Hall remained with the Royal Navy for the rest of his career. He joined the crew of HMS
Donegal in 1859 and on October 28, 1859, he was presented with the Victoria Cross by Rear Admiral Charles Talbot while
Donegal was anchored at Queenstown Harbour. Hall rose to the rating of Petty Officer First Class in HMS
Royal Adelaide
by the time he retired in 1876. He returned to his home village in
Horton Bluff where he ran a small farm until his death in 1904.
Hall is buried in Hantsport, Nova Scotia
where his grave is marked by a monument at the Baptist church. The
Royal Canadian Legion in Hantsport is 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 February 1, 2010 in Hantsport, Nova Scotia and
officially launched at the Black Cultural Centre on February 2, 2010.
Hall was designated a National Historic Person by the Canadian Historic Sites and Monuments Board at Hantsport on October 8, 2010 and a new plaque was unveiled in his honour.
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