Author: HALL, James
Biography:
HALL, James (fl 1827)
Hall's one volume of verse, Widdrington, a Tale of Hedgley Moor, is a tribute and contribution to the local history of Northumberland. Its subscribers' list, headed by the Duchess of Northumberland (4 copies), appears to cover the gentry and middle-class society of every town, village, and country estate in the region. Hall himself is referred to in contemporary records as having been resident in Old Bewick; another Hall--Andrew--was a subscriber at nearby Percy's Cross. But reliable public records about his life are hard to come by, partly because his name is such a common one: Halls in the area ranged from the owners of Chatton Park (at Chatton) to husbandmen and tanners. He was educated but did not hold a university degree. He is said by a modern local source to have published another poem, Cromwell's Visit: an Eglingham Legend, of which there is no known extant copy and of which no other record has been found. There is a modern farming enterprise, James Hall & Sons, at Bewick Folly, and the place of that name in 1827 had at least one representative on the subscribers' list (but not a Hall). All the evidence suggests that the author was a member of a prosperous family with deep roots in Northumberland; specific details are lacking. (ancestry.com 1 Jan. 2022; findmypast.com 1 Jan. 2022; northeasthistorytour.blogspot.com 1 Jan. 2022) HJ