William Hall

On 27 August 1904 William Hall died aged 75. He had spent much of his life in the Royal Navy rising to the rank of Petty Officer. So far so unremarkable, many people became petty officers during the Victorian period. However William Hall was special as he was one of the first people from the Royal Navy to win the Victoria Cross, and the first black man from any service to do so.

His parents had been slaves who had escaped during the War of 1812 (when the Royal Navy burned the Whitehouse) with help from the navy. They settled in Nova Scottia and worked in the dockyards. William too started working in the dockyards, and then on merchant vessels before joining the Royal Navy in 1852. However he really became famous for his bravery on land rather than at sea.

Sailor's serving on land was not unusual in the Victorian period, Hall himself had already served as part of the Naval Brigade in the Crimea, due to the way that it had become so utterly dominant at sea. In 1857 the Sepoys in India mutinied, and the mutiny grew into a full revolt against British rule. At the time Hall was an Able Seaman on board HMS Shannon heading for China. They were ordered to go to India instead so that their guns could be used to help put down the revolt. The ship was towed 600 miles up the Ganges before guns where dismounted transported by the sailors to the siege of Lucknow.

The guns from the Shannon were brought up close to the Shah Nujeff mosque with orders to breach and clear the walls. A hail of musket fire and grenades rained down on them killing or wounding everybody except Able Seaman Hall and Lieutenant Thomas James Young. Despite this between them Hall and Young kept the gun firing, and for their bravery they were recommended for the Victoria Cross by their Captain, Sir William Peel, who had himself won the VC in the Crimea.