‘A beacon for all’
William Hall’s bravery remembered in Hantsport on 2024 Heritage Day
“How proud his parents would be today to see their son, the child of freed slaves, celebrated as the province’s Heritage Day honouree.” Brian Bishop Board member, Hantsport and Area Historical Society
Facing a bitter-cold wind, about three dozen people gathered in Hantsport to pay tribute to Canada’s first Black person to be awarded the Victoria Cross.
On Heritage Day, Feb. 19, services were held throughout Nova Scotia to honour William Hall, who was born in 1827 in the Annapolis Valley.
At Hall’s cairn, which is located on the Hantsport Baptist Church grounds – the same church Hall’s parents, Lucy and Jacob, once attended – people gathered for a special wreath-laying service.
“How proud his parents would be today to see their son, the child of freed slaves, celebrated as the province’s Heritage Day honouree,” said Brian Bishop, a board member of the Hantsport and Area Historical Society, who emceed the short ceremony.
Every year, Heritage Day,
which is celebrated on the third Monday in February, honours the people, places or events that have helped shape Nova Scotia. This year, the focus was on Hall.
“Today, we remember William Hall and his unique place in Canadian history: the first Nova Scotian and first individual of African descent to be awarded the Victoria Cross,” Arthur J. LeBlanc, the province’s lieutenant governor, said in a news release.
Hall, who served for 24 years, fought in the Crimean War and the Indian Rebellion. It was in 1857, at the Siege of Lucknow, where, due to his courage on the
battlefield, the captain of the HMS Shannon, William Peel, recommended Hall and fellow crew member Thomas Young for the British Empire’s highest award.
Hall retired in 1876 and returned to Nova Scotia, where he lived with his sisters, Rachel Robinson and Mary Hall, on a farm in Avonport. He died in 1904 and was buried in an unmarked grave without military honours. The Hants County 009 branch of the Royal Canadian Legion launched a campaign to rectify that, and by 1946, his body had been exhumed and he was reburied in Hantsport and a cairn was erected.
“It’s just very, very important to remember, every chance we can, the sacrifices made by those who went before us,” Darrell Leighton, the Royal Canadian Legion Hants County 009 branch president, said prior to the service.
Wreathes were laid by Leighton, Hants West MLA Melissa Sheehy-Richard, Kings South MLA Keith Irving, West Hants Regional Municipality Deputy Mayor Paul Morton, Navy League Cadets William Hall VC commanding officer Helen Clark, 76 Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps commanding officer Lieut. (N) Jodi Hunter with ordinary cadet Micah Dorrington, and Dorothy Brown, on behalf of the Hall family descendants.
“We pay tribute to William Hall, a man whose resilience and bravery stand as a beacon for all Nova Scotians, from our ancestors to the present generation,” Twila Grosse, the minister of African Nova Scotian Affairs, said in a news release. “His story is a powerful reminder of the contributions African Nova Scotians have made to our province’s heritage and the ongoing importance of recognizing and celebrating these contributions.”
In recent years, Hall’s military honours have been highlighted. In 2010, a connector road in Hantsport was named the William Hall VC Memorial Highway and Canada Post issued a stamp commemorating Hall. In 2015, it was announced the fourth Arctic and offshore patrol vessel for the Royal Canadian Navy would bear Hall’s name and be constructed in Halifax. It was finished in 2023.
“We recognize William Hall on Heritage Day for his heroism and resilience during his service with the Royal Navy. He became an inspiration for the military and a source of pride for Canadians and persons of African descent everywhere,” Allan MacMaster, the minister of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage, said in a news release.
“I encourage Nova Scotians to learn more about the achievements and contributions of Nova Scotians and our cultural heritage.”