Sir Robert de Zouche Hall,

GCMG The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

(27 April 1904 – 19 March 1995) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

colonial governor. He served in

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

and Tanganyika (territory), Tanganyika. Robert was born in Liverpool, from parents Arthur William Hall & Beatrice Margaret Hall (née de Zouche). Hall was educated at

Willaston School Willaston School was an educational establishment in Nantwich set up to educate the sons of impoverished Unitarian ministers. The building is currently used as accommodation for students at Reaseheath College. Philip Barker came from a family of ...

. Hall was

Governor of Sierra Leone This is a list of colonial administrators in Sierra Leone from the establishment of the Cline Town, Sierra Leone, Province of Freedom Colony by the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor which lasted between 1787 and 1789 and the list of colo ...

from December 1952 to 1 September 1956. Robert de Zouche Hall reduced the income requirement for women from £100 to £60 per year in order to qualify for the franchise. This dramatically increased the portion of women in the country who were able to vote. A year after leaving office, when Hall was asked if he supported Sierra Leone becoming an independent country he said he did, he also opposed South Africa's policy of

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

. He was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George on 1 June 1953 as part of the

1953 Coronation Honours The 1953 Coronation Honours were appointments by Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours on the occasion of her coronation on 2 June 1953. The honours were published in ''The London Gazette'' on 1 June 1953.New Zealand list: The reci ...

. When on leave from Tanganyika Hall was involved in the setting up of the Vernacular Architecture Group. After his service in Sierra Leone he retired to Somerset, and became Secretary of the Vernacular Architecture Group from 1959 to 1972 and its President from 1972 to 1973. He compiled and edited the Group's first Bibliography. In 1973 he moved from the

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New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. He settled in Gisborne. From 1975 until 1980, he took charge of building up the historical resources and archives at the Gisborne Museum. He studied the early Pakeha settlement and relationship with the Maori, looking at how land was acquired and developed in the

Poverty Bay Poverty Bay (Māori: ''Tūranganui-a-Kiwa'') is the largest of several small bays on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island to the north of Hawke Bay. It stretches for from Young Nick's Head in the southwest to Tuaheni Point in the north ...

region. Robert was buried in Taruheru Cemetery, New Zealand and shares a gravestone with his wife Lady Lorna Dorothy Hall who died in 2006. Photographs by de Zouche Hall are held and being digitised at The Courtauld, London, UK.

Works

* R de Z Hall (ed). ''A Bibliography on Vernacular Architecture'', David and Charles, 1972. * ''Maori Lands in Turanga'' * ''Gisborne Township'' * ''Te Hau Ki Turanga''

References

1904 births 1995 deaths British emigrants to New Zealand Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Governors of Sierra Leone British expatriates in Sierra Leone British expatriates in Tanganyika (territory) {{SierraLeone-bio-stub