Robert Hall (British Army officer)

Robert Wallace Strachan Hall (4 June 1939 – 17 June 2016) was a British Army officer, rising to the rank of brigadier. After leaving the service he became a Conservative politician and was the last Chairman of Wiltshire County Council, then the first to chair its successor authority, Wiltshire Council, from 2009 to 2012; he was also Chairman of the Wiltshire and Swindon Fire Authority. He retired from public life in 2013.

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Early life

The son of Brigadier R. C. S. Hall CBE, late the Royal Regiment of Artillery (d. 1972),[1] Hall was born at Aldershot[2] and educated at Repton School[3] and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.[4]

Military career

Hall was commissioned into the Royal Regiment of Artillery as a 2nd Lieutenant on 25 July 1959.[4] He was promoted to captain on 25 July 1965[5] and to major on 30 June 1971.[6] He retired from the army as a brigadier on 1 March 1993.[7][8]

During his army career, Hall attended the University of Cambridge and graduated M. Phil.[9][10]

He went on to become Chairman of the Army and Navy Club, in Pall Mall, London.[11] In retirement, he settled at Manningford Abbots, near Pewsey, Wiltshire.[12]

Political career

Hall was elected to Wiltshire County Council as a Conservative at the elections in 2005. In 2008, he became the last chairman of the Council, which came to an end a year later with the 2009 structural changes to local government in England. He went on to become the first chairman of the successor authority Wiltshire Council, having been elected to it in 2009, representing Pewsey Vale. The same year he also became Chairman of Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service.[12][13] He retired as Chairman of Wiltshire Council in May 2012.[14]

After 2009, Hall's Pewsey Vale electoral division included the parishes of Alton, Beechingstoke, Chirton, Charlton, Huish, Manningford, Marden, North Newnton, Patney, Rushall, Stanton St Bernard, Upavon, Wilcot, Wilsford and Woodborough.[15]

As Chairman of the Wiltshire Fire Authority he hosted a visit by the Princess Royal to Salisbury on 10 March 2011.[16]

He retired from public life at the 2013 Wiltshire Council election.

Honours
  • Appointed a Serving Brother of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, November 2003.[17]

Private life

Hall took a keen interest in horse racing, and owned race-horses in the 1990s.[18] He had a son, also Robert.[19]

He died suddenly aged 77 at home on 17 June 2016, leaving a widow, children, and grandchildren.[20]

See also
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Notes
  1. HALL, Brig RCS CBE – 8 October 1972 Archived 6 September 2012 at Archive.today at movcon.org.uk
  2. England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007: “Name: Robert W S Hall; Birth 04/1939 (Apr 1939) Aldershot Hampshire”
  3. The Arch, October 2008 online Archived 11 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  4. London Gazette, Issue 41826 of 22 September 1959, p. 6045 online
  5. London Gazette Issue 43721 of 23 July 1965, p. 7137 online
  6. Supplement to The London Gazette, 6 July 1971, p. 7205 online
  7. London Gazette, Issue 53234 of 1 March 1993, p. 3808 online
  8. Service appointments at independent.co.uk, Saturday, 20 February 1993
  9. University of Cambridge, Cambridge University Reporter, vol. 118 (1987), p. 244
  10. The Army List, vol. 2001 (1992), Issue 2, p. 134
  11. June 2006 Archived 7 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine at princemichael.org.uk
  12. Members of Wiltshire and Swindon Fire Authority Archived 7 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine at wiltsfire.gov.uk
  13. Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service 'QM' magazine, July 2009 Archived 27 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine online at wfb.org.uk
  14. New Wiltshire Council chairman dated Wednesday 16 May 2012 at wiltshire.gov.uk. Retrieved 29 May 2012
  15. Order map no. 1 at lgbce.org.uk (Wiltshire boundary review, 2008)
  16. A royal visit for Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service Archived 8 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine at fire-magazine.com
  17. London Gazette, Issue 57117, 18 November 2003, Notice 1003
  18. Fakenham Results, 18 May 1996 at racingpost.com
  19. Bystander, Elizabeth Paravicini and Robert Hall wedding, tatler.com, 12 March 1998
  20. The Times dated 24 June 2016: "HALL, Brigadier Robert WS M Phil on 17 June 2016 aged 77 suddenly at home. A much-loved husband, father and grand-father."
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