Edward Thomas Hall,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, Hon. FBA, FSA (10 May 1924 – 11 August 2001), also known as Teddy Hall, was a British scientist and balloonist who is best remembered for exposing the

Piltdown Man The Piltdown Man was a paleoanthropological fraud in which bone fragments were presented as the fossilised remains of a previously unknown early human. Although there were doubts about its authenticity virtually from the beginning, the remains ...

as a fraud.

Life

Edward Thomas Hall was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, the son of Walter D'Arcy Hall and Anne Madeleine Hall, he was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

, where he received his

DPhil A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in 1953. In 1943, he joined the

RNVR The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...

as an ordinary seaman, serving in landing craft transporting commandos to France. Hall was also a hot-air-balloon pilot and owner of Cameron O-84 ''Flaming Pearl'' G-AYAJ 1970–1990. He was a member of the Air Squadron. He married South African model Jennifer De La Harpe and had two sons Bill and Martin. In 1962, Hall co-developed, with his friend

Robin Cavendish Robin Francis Cavendish, MBE (12 March 1930 – 8 August 1994), was a British advocate for disabled people, medical aid developer, and one of the longest-lived ''responauts'' in Britain. Born in Middleton, Derbyshire, Cavendish was affected b ...

, a wheelchair with a built-in respirator that allowed Cavendish, who was paralyzed from the neck down from

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

and required a

medical respirator A ventilator is a piece of medical technology that provides mechanical ventilation by moving breathable air into and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathing insufficiently. Ventilators ...

to breathe, to leave the confinement of his bed. This chair became the model for future devices of its type, with Cavendish eventually using a total of 10 different chairs.Oaksey, John (17 August 2001)
"Obituaries: Professor E T 'Teddy' Hall"
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

''. This part of Hall's life is shown in the 2017 film '' Breathe''. At various times in his life he was a trustee of the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

, the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

and Prime Warden of the

Goldsmiths Company The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, commonly known as the Goldsmiths' Company and formally titled The Wardens and Commonalty of the Mystery of Goldsmiths of the City of London, is one of the Great Twelve Livery Companies of the City of Londo ...

Achievements

He was influential in exposing the

fraud which led to his founding the

Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art The Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art (RLAHA) is a laboratory at the University of Oxford, England which develops and applies scientific methods to the study of the past. It was established in 1955 and its first director wa ...

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He founded Littlemore Scientific Engineering Company (ELSEC). He helped to

date Date or dates may refer to: *Date (fruit), the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'') Social activity *Dating, a form of courtship involving social activity, with the aim of assessing a potential partner ** Group dating *Play date, a ...

the

Shroud of Turin The Shroud of Turin ( it, Sindone di Torino), also known as the Holy Shroud ( it, Sacra Sindone, links=no or ), is a length of linen cloth bearing the negative image of a man. Some describe the image as depicting Jesus of Nazareth and bel ...

to the period 1260–1390. He built the Littlemore Clock in the 1990s, which is the most accurate pendulum clock ever built.

References

Obituaries

*Wright, Pearce (20 August 2001)
"Professor ET 'Teddy' Hall:Scientist who exposed the Piltdown Man fraud and dated the Turin Shroud as a medieval fake"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''.
"Professor E T 'Teddy' Hall"
''

''. 17 August 2001. *Saxon, Wolfgang (21 August 2001)
"E. T. Hall, 77, Archaeologist Who Debunked Piltdown Man"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Edward Thomas English scientists Alumni of New College, Oxford People educated at Eton College English balloonists Academics of the University of Oxford 1924 births 2001 deaths Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People associated with the National Gallery, London Trustees of the British Museum Royal Navy sailors Honorary Fellows of the British Academy