William Hall was born on April 28, 1827 in Nova Scotia. He was
the son of free slaves. He volunteered for the Royal Navy
sometime before 1852 and was decorated in the Crimean War in
1854-55. In 1857, he was sent with a brigade of sailors to
Lucknow, India to relieve the British garrison besieged there.
Only Hall and one officer survived and between them, they loaded
and served the last gun. For this, he won the Victoria Cross,
making him the first coloured man to do so. Hall rose to the
position of Quartermaster and Petty Officer before retiring in
1876. He died at home in Avonport, Nova Scotia on August 25,
1904.