William Knight Hall (born 1855) was a British socialist and anarchist activist. Born in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

, Hall worked from the age of nine, initially plaiting straw, then as a farm labourer. He also spent time as a navvy, canal boat man, and a tram guard. During a period working in a foundry in Glasgow, he studied at night, learning French and Latin. He read works by Louis Blanc, which led him socialism, and in 1885 he joined the

Social Democratic Federation The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on 7 June 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury, James Con ...

(SDF). Hall left Glasgow to work as a miner in North Staffordshire, and he then relocated to a pit in

Pendleton Pendleton may refer to: Places ;United Kingdom *Pendleton, Lancashire, England *Pendleton, Greater Manchester, England ;United States *Pendleton, Indiana * Pendleton, Missouri *Pendleton, New York *Pendleton, Oregon *Pendleton, South Carolina *Pe ...

. He stood for the SDF in the Salford School Board election of 1891, but was not elected. He then stood in Salford South at the

1892 UK general election The 1892 United Kingdom general election was held from 4 to 26 July 1892. It saw the Conservatives, led by Lord Salisbury again win the greatest number of seats, but no longer a majority as William Ewart Gladstone's Liberals won 80 more seats ...

Robert Cunninghame-Graham Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham (24 May 1852 – 20 March 1936) was a Scottish politician, writer, journalist and adventurer. He was a Liberal Party Member of Parliament (MP); the first ever socialist member of the Parliament of the United Ki ...

chairing a meeting on his behalf, at which he stresses that Hall was a worker, not a paid activist. Hall came bottom of the poll with 553 votes, which was widely considered to have cost the Liberal Party candidate the seat. Disappointed by his performance, Hall became a founder of the Manchester Independent Labour Party, but then became interested in anarchism. He moved to Glasgow, then spent time in Edinburgh, where he wrote ''The Farce of the Ballot Box''. He died in the first decade of the 20th century.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, William Knight 1855 births 1900s deaths Year of death uncertain English anarchists People from Buckinghamshire Social Democratic Federation members