George Hall, 1st Viscount Hall

The Right Honourable
The Viscount Hall
PC
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	31 December 1881; Penrhiwceiber, Glamorganshire
Died	8 November 1965 (aged 83); Leicester, Leicestershire
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour
Alma mater	None

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.

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

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

v t e First Lords of the Admiralty
of England	The Earl of Portland The Earl of Lindsey William Juxon, Bishop of Lincoln The Earl of Northumberland The Lord Cottington Sir Henry Capell The Earl of Nottingham The Earl of Torrington The Earl of Pembroke The Lord Cornwallis The Viscount Falkland The Earl of Orford The Earl of Bridgewater The Earl of Pembroke
of Great Britain	The Earl of Orford Sir John Leake The Earl of Strafford The Earl of Orford The Earl of Berkeley The Viscount Torrington Sir Charles Wager The Earl of Winchilsea The Duke of Bedford The Earl of Sandwich The Lord Anson The Earl Temple The Earl of Winchilsea The Lord Anson The Earl of Halifax George Grenville The Earl of Sandwich The Earl of Egmont Sir Charles Saunders Sir Edward Hawke The Earl of Sandwich The Viscount Keppel The Viscount Howe The Viscount Keppel The Viscount Howe The Earl of Chatham The Earl Spencer
of the United Kingdom	The Earl of St Vincent The Viscount Melville The Lord Barham Viscount Howick Thomas Grenville The Lord Mulgrave Charles Philip Yorke The Viscount Melville The Duke of Clarence The Viscount Melville Sir James Graham, Bt The Lord Auckland The Earl de Grey The Lord Auckland The Earl of Minto The Earl of Haddington The Earl of Ellenborough The Earl of Auckland Sir Francis Baring, Bt The Duke of Northumberland Sir James Graham, Bt Sir Charles Wood, Bt Sir John Pakington, Bt The Duke of Somerset Sir John Pakington, Bt Henry Lowry-Corry Hugh Childers George Goschen George Ward Hunt William Henry Smith Smith The Earl of Northbrook Lord George Hamilton The Marquess of Ripon Lord George Hamilton The Earl Spencer George Goschen The Earl of Selborne The Earl Cawdor The Lord Tweedmouth Reginald McKenna Winston Churchill Arthur Balfour Sir Edward Carson Sir Eric Geddes Walter Long The Viscount Lee of Fareham Wood Anderson Leo Amery The Viscount Chelmsford The Viscount Bridgeman A. V. Alexander Sir Austen Chamberlain The Viscount Monsell Sir Samuel Hoare, Bt Duff Cooper The Earl Stanhope Winston Churchill A. V. Alexander Brendan Bracken A. V. Alexander The Viscount Hall Lord Pakenham Viscount Cilcennin The Viscount Hailsham The Earl of Selkirk The Lord Carrington The Earl Jellicoe

Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF
National	France BnF data Germany