George Henry Hall, 1st Viscount Hall

George Henry Hall, 1st Viscount Hall, PC (31 December 1881 – 8 November 1965), was a British Labour Party 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 Hall was born in Penrhiwceiber, Glamorganshire, son of George Hall, a miner who was from Marshfield, Gloucestershire and his wife Anne (née Guard), a native of Midsomer Norton, Somerset. Hall was the second of six children (four sons and two daughters) born between 1880 and 1889. His parents were among the thousands of people who migrated to the South Wales Valleys from the West Country in the late nineteenth century, following the expansion of the steam coal trade. George Hall snr. died in 1889 and the young George was compelled to leave Penrhiwceiber elementary school at the age of twelve, in order to start work at the Penrhiwceiber colliery.

Early career Following an accident at the colliery requiring a prolonged period of recovery, Hall replaced his relative lack of formal education with extensive reading and self-education.

Hall later chaired both the Education Committee and the Urban Council itself and he remained a member until 1926. badge = Within a reef knot Azure a talbot's head erased Or. motto = Veritas Et Robur (Truth And Strength)