Edmund Henry Hartley Hall (13 August 1878 – 28 July 1965) was an Australian politician who represented the

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

n Legislative Council district of Central Province from 1928 until 1947, and the Legislative Assembly seat of

Geraldton Geraldton (Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...

from 1947 until 1950. He was a member of the Country Party.

Biography

Born to Edward Hall, a labour, baker and contractor, and Ellen (née Craggs) in the port city of

, Hall was educated locally before gaining employment at the post office, where he worked in various locations over 20 years. By 1911, he was the postmaster at Laverton, and on 20 April 1916, he married Catherine Forster at St Andrew's Church, Subiaco, with whom he was to have one son and four daughters. On 5 August 1918, he enlisted and was appointed

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

with the

First Australian Imperial Force The First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) was the main expeditionary force of the Australian Army during the First World War. It was formed as the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) following Britain's declaration of war on Germany on 15 Aug ...

, on account of his 7 years' earlier service with the Rifles in Geraldton. He was assigned to the

Australian Light Horse Australian Light Horse were mounted troops with characteristics of both cavalry and mounted infantry, who served in the Second Boer War and World War I. During the inter-war years, a number of regiments were raised as part of Australia's part-ti ...

Regiment, and reported to Blackboy Hill, but did not leave Australia and was discharged on 1 December 1918. He then continued his career with the postal service, then became a storekeeper and agent in Geraldton. On 24 November 1920, he was elected to Geraldton Municipal Council, and served eight years as a councillor. In May 1928, he contested one of the three Legislative Council seats in Central Province, which had historically been Labor-held, and won it. He went on to sit in the Council for 19 years, serving on select committees into the Hire Purchase Act, the distribution of funds provided by the Commonwealth to aid wheat growers, and the care and reform of juvenile delinquents. He resigned his seat before the 1947 Assembly election to contest the seat of

, following the retirement from politics of the former Labor Premier,

John Willcock John Collings Willcock (9 August 1879 – 7 June 1956) was the 15th Premier of Western Australia, serving from 1936 until 1945. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party. Early life John Willcock was born at Frogmoor (now Frogmore), New So ...

, who had held the seat for 30 years. Hall won the seat by 11 votes against Bill Sewell, and served a single term before being defeated by Sewell at the 1950 election. On 4 July 1950, his wife Catherine died. Little is known of his later life, and he died on 28 July 1965 at Martindale Hospital in the Perth suburb of

Applecross Applecross ( gd, A' Chomraich) is a peninsula north-west of Kyle of Lochalsh in the council area of Highland, Scotland. The name Applecross is at least 1,300 years old and is ''not'' used locally to refer to the 19th century village (which is ...

, and was buried at

Karrakatta Cemetery Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Edmund 1878 births 1965 deaths Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council Western Australian local councillors National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia People from Geraldton Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery