George Hall, 1st Viscount Hall

George Henry Hall, 1st Viscount Hall, PC (31 December 1881 – 8 November 1965), was a British Labour politician. He served as Secretary of State for the Colonies between 1945 and 1946 and as First Lord of the Admiralty between 1946 and 1951.

The Right Honourable The Viscount Hall PC
First Lord of the Admiralty
In office 4 October 1946 – 24 May 1951
Monarch	George VI
Prime Minister	Clement Attlee
Preceded by	A. V. Alexander
Succeeded by	The Lord Pakenham
Secretary of State for the Colonies
In office 3 August 1945 – 4 October 1946
Prime Minister	Clement Attlee
Preceded by	Hon. Oliver Stanley
Succeeded by	Arthur Creech Jones
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
In office 25 September 1943 – 26 May 1945
Prime Minister	Winston Churchill
Preceded by	Richard Law
Succeeded by	Alec Douglas-Home Simon Fraser
Financial Secretary to the Admiralty
In office 4 February 1942 – 25 September 1943
Prime Minister	Winston Churchill
Succeeded by	James Thomas
Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies
In office 12 May 1940 – 4 February 1942
Prime Minister	Winston Churchill
Preceded by	Basil Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood
Succeeded by	Harold Macmillan
Civil Lord of the Admiralty
In office 7 June 1929 – 24 August 1931
Prime Minister	Ramsay MacDonald
Preceded by	James Stanhope
Succeeded by	Euan Wallace
Member of Parliament for Aberdare
In office 15 November 1922 – 4 October 1946
Preceded by	Charles Stanton
Succeeded by	David Thomas
Personal details
Born	(1881-12-31)31 December 1881 Penrhiwceiber, Glamorganshire
Died	8 November 1965(1965-11-08) (aged 83) Leicester, Leicestershire
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour
Alma mater	None

Background

Born in Penrhiwceiber, Glamorganshire, Hall started work at the Penrikyber colliery at 12 years of age. He continued to work as a collier until appointed checkweigher in 1911, and then to act as checkweigher Local Agent at the South Wales Miners' Federation until elected to Parliament in 1922.

Political career

Hall was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Aberdare in 1922 when he won the seat for Labour, defeating Charles Stanton who had held the seat since a 1915 by-election. Stanton had been a militant trade unionist before the war and had won the seat as a pro-war candidate.

Hall represented Aberdare from 1922 to 1946 and served under Ramsay MacDonald as Civil Lord of the Admiralty from 1929 to 1931, under Winston Churchill as Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1940 to 1942, as Financial Secretary to the Admiralty from 1942 to 1943, and as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from 1943 to 1945 and under Clement Attlee as Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1945 to 1946.

He was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1942, and on retirement from the House of Commons in 1946, he was raised to the peerage as Viscount Hall, of Cynon Valley in the County of Glamorgan, He then served as First Lord of the Admiralty under Attlee from 1946 to 1951 and as Deputy Leader of the House of Lords from 1947 to 1951.

Personal life

Lord Hall died in Leicester in November 1965, aged 83, and was succeeded by his son William.

References

• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by George Hall

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Charles Stanton	Member of Parliament for Aberdare 1922–1946	Succeeded by David Thomas
Political offices
Preceded by The Earl Stanhope	Civil Lord of the Admiralty 1929–1931	Succeeded by Euan Wallace
Preceded by The Marquess of Dufferin and Ava	Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies 1940–1942	Succeeded by Harold Macmillan
Preceded by Richard Law	Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 1943–1945	Succeeded by Lord Dunglass The Lord Lovat
Preceded by Hon. Oliver Stanley	Secretary of State for the Colonies 1945–1946	Succeeded by Arthur Creech Jones
Preceded by A. V. Alexander	First Lord of the Admiralty 1946–1951	Succeeded by The Lord Pakenham
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Nnew creation	Viscount Hall 1946–1965	Succeeded by William Hall