Harold George Litton Hall

Born: 9 December 1894, Cookhouse, Somerset East District, South Africa
Parents: Thomas Henry Hall and Edith Julianna Hall (nee Lewis)
Siblings: William (Willie) Henry Hall, 6 September 1893
(Harold George Litton Hall, 9 December 1894)
Olive May Johanna Hall, 22 March 1897
Baden White French Hall, 4 December 1899
Ivy Dorothy Hall, 1 June 1903
Thomas (Tommy) Herbert Hall, 28 November 1909
Married: May Stemp, 2 August 1920, Portslade-by-Sea, Sussex, England
Children: Ernest Harold Hall, 22 July 1922, Port Elizabeth
Edna May Hall, 29 May 1930, Cape Town
Died: 27 May 1981, Germiston, South Africa
Funeral: 10:30am Saturday 30 May 1981
Buried: 5 June 1981, Maitland Cemetery, Cape Town, South Africa

Harold Hall, 1908

Harold Hall was born in Cookhouse in 1894. According to Dr Dean Allen (author, lecturer, historian): The small town of Cookhouse in the Eastern Cape is located some 170 km north of Port Elizabeth and 24 km east of Somerset East, on the west bank of the Great Fish River. An early colonial settlement, Cookhouse is mentioned by the Scottish abolitionist and poet, Thomas Pringle, in his journal. The town was also visited by early explorers and writers such as Dutch military commander Robert Jacob Gordon, and French traveller François Levaillant. With the Great Fish River forming the eastern boundary of the Cape Colony until 1819, the current village is said to take its name from a small stone house used for shelter and cooking by troops camping on the bank of this river. Another explanation links the name to the hot climate as experienced by the troops stationed there. In the 1870s, the government of Prime Minister John Molteno oversaw a massive expansion of the Cape Colony's railway system, and a route northwards to De Aar from Port Elizabeth and Port Alfred was chosen by the Cape Government Railways to pass through what is now Cookhouse. A station was built here, which became an important railway junction, and a small settlement formed around this connection. Today the station, as with much of the town, sadly lies in disrepair. ‘Cookhouse Station’ is, in fact, the subject of a poem, by South African writer and poet, Chris Mann, that describes how he imagines the railway station and the town during its heyday.

Harold was christened in the Somerset East Anglican Church.

He lived in Colesberg during the Boer War, and later lived in Naauwpoort, Cradock, and Port Elizabeth.

During World War I, Harold was one of the survivors of the Battle of Delville Wood in France (15-20 July 1916), where he was wounded during the battle. According to www.delvillewood.com, Lance Corporal Harold George Litton Hall, 1st SAI, B Company, was wounded on 17 July 1916. He returned to his battalion in A Company in November 1916, then was declared permanently unfit for duty in 1917. He was sent to Eastbourne in England for convalescence, and there he met May Stemp.

Shortly after being married in England, Harold and May moved to their first home in South Africa - 14 Girdlestone Street, Port Elizabeth (where they lived when Ernest was born), Coordinates: 33°58'07.45"S and 25°37'49.82"E, elevation 16m. When they moved to Cape Town, Harold was presented with a clock. In Cape Town, they first lived at 29 Bellevliet Road, Observatory (where they lived when Edna was born). Harold built a family home (Lyndhurst) in Oakfield Road, Claremont, where they lived until they moved from Cape Town to Germiston in 1944. Initially they stayed in Hatfield with his sister Olive.

Harold Hall started working for the SA Railways in 1910, and retired 48 years later. While in Cape Town, he was based at the Railway Goods Yard. In Germiston, he looked after the finances at the Germiston Booking Office. He was later appointed as secretary to the Germiston Industries Medical Aid Society, from which he retired after five years service.

This clock was given to Harold Hall when he left Port Elizabeth.

These stacking tables were used in Harold Hall's house in Claremont, Cape Town. They have been used, and played with, by five generations of the family.

Family tree of Harold Hall (PDF version)