Edward Thomas Hall

Edward Thomas Hall, CBE, 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 as a fraud.

For other people named Edward Hall, see Edward Hall (disambiguation).

Edward Thomas Hall
In a balloon
Born(1924-05-10)10 May 1924
London, England
Died11 August 2001(2001-08-11) (aged 77)
Oxford
NationalityBritish
Alma materNew College, Oxford (Chemistry)
Spouse(s)Jennifer De La Harpe
ChildrenBill Hall
Martin Hall
AwardsCommander of the Order of the British Empire
Fellow of the British Academy
Scientific career
FieldsArchaeological science

Life

Edward Thomas Hall was born in London, the son of Walter D'Arcy Hall and Anne Madeleine Hall, he was educated at Eton College and New College, Oxford, where he received his DPhil in 1953. In 1943, he joined the RNVR 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, a wheelchair with a built-in respirator that allowed Cavendish, who was paralyzed from the neck down from polio and required a medical respirator to breathe, to leave the confinement of his bed. This chair became the model for future devices of its type,[1] with Cavendish eventually using a total of 10 different chairs.[2] 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 British Museum and Prime Warden of the Goldsmiths Company.

Achievements

He was influential in exposing the Piltdown Man fraud which lead to his founding the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, Oxford University.[2] He founded Littlemore Scientific Engineering Company (ELSEC). He helped to date the Shroud of Turin to the period 1260–1390.[3] He built the Littlemore Clock in the 1990s, which is the most accurate pendulum clock ever built.[4]

References
  1. Renton, Alice; Renton, Tim (10 August 1994). "Obituary: Robin Cavendish". The Independent.
  2. Oaksey, John (17 August 2001). "Obituaries: Professor E T 'Teddy' Hall". The Daily Telegraph.
  3. Damon, P. E.; Donahue, D. J.; Gore, B. H.; Hatheway, A. L.; Jull, A. J. T.; Linick, T. W.; Sercel, P. J.; Toolin, L. J.; Bronk, C. R.; Hall, E. T.; Hedges, R. E. M.; Housley, R.; Law, I. A.; Perry, C.; Bonani, G.; Trumbore, S.; Woelfli, W.; Ambers, J. C.; Bowman, S. G. E.; Leese, M. N.; Tite, M. S. (16 February 1989). "Radiocarbon dating of the Shroud of Turin" (PDF). Nature. 337 (6208): 611–615. doi:10.1038/337611a0.
  4. Hall, E.T. (June 1996). "The Littlemore Clock". Horological Science.

Obituaries
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