Edward Thomas Hall,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two 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 as a fraud.

Early life and education

Hall was born on 10 May 1924 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, to Walter D'Arcy Hall and Anne Madeleine Hall. He was brought up at Shipton Court, a Jacobean manor house in

Shipton-under-Wychwood Shipton-under-Wychwood is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the River Evenlode, Evenlode valley about north of Burford, in the West Oxfordshire district, in the county of Oxfordshire, England. The village is one of three ...

, Oxfordshire. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

, an all-boys public school in Berkshire. In 1943, he joined the

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Roya ...

(RNVR) as an ordinary seaman, serving in landing craft transporting commandos to France. After the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he entered

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

to study chemistry, and graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(BA) degree in 1948. His

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

(DPhil) degree was undertaken at the

Clarendon Laboratory The Clarendon Laboratory, located on Parks Road within the Science Area in Oxford, England (not to be confused with the Clarendon Building, also in Oxford), is part of the Department of Physics at Oxford University. It houses the atomic and la ...

(part of the

Department of Physics Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

) under the

supervision Supervision is an act or instance of directing, managing, or oversight. Etymology The English noun "supervision" derives from the two Latin words "super" (above) and "videre" (see, observe). Spelling The spelling is "Supervision" in Standard ...

of Lord Cherwell, and his degree was completed in 1953. His thesis was on the "development of an

x-ray fluorescence X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is the emission of characteristic "secondary" (or fluorescent) X-rays from a material that has been excited by being bombarded with high-energy X-rays or gamma rays. The phenomenon is widely used for elemental analysis ...

spectrometer A spectrometer () is a scientific instrument used to separate and measure Spectrum, spectral components of a physical phenomenon. Spectrometer is a broad term often used to describe instruments that measure a continuous variable of a phenomeno ...

for the non-destructive analysis of archaeological material".

Career

In 1954, Hall became director of the newly founded

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 ...

(RLAHA) at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. In 1969, he was elected a

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms was ad ...

. He was made Professor of Archaeological Sciences in 1975. On retirement from RLAHA in 1989, he was made

emeritus professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

. Hall was a member of the council of the

International Institute for Conservation The International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (IIC) is a global organisation for conservation and restoration professionals with over two thousand members in over fifty countries. IIC seeks to promote the knowledge, ...

from 1971 to 199, and served as its president from 1989 to 1992. He was a

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...

of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

(1973–1995),

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 more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

(1977–1984) and

The Science Museum The Science Museum is a major museum on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London. It was founded in 1857 and is one of the city's major tourist attractions, attracting 3.3 million visitors annually in 2019. Like other publicly funded ...

(1984–1992). He was als0 Prime Warden of the Goldsmiths Company.

Other activities

Hall was also a hot-air-balloon pilot and owner of

Cameron Cameron may refer to: People * Clan Cameron, a Scottish clan * Cameron (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Cameron (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) ;Mononym * Cam'ron (born 19 ...

O-84 ''Flaming Pearl'' G-AYAJ 1970–1990. He was a member of the Air Squadron. In 1962, Hall co-developed, with his friend

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

, 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 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

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, 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 British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

''. This part of Hall's life is shown in the 2017 film '' Breathe''.

Achievements

He was influential in exposing the Piltdown Man fraud which led to his founding the

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

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

date Date or dates may refer to: * Date, the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'') * Jujube, also known as red date or Chinese date, the fruit of ''Ziziphus jujuba'' Social activity *Dating, a form of courtship involving social activi ...

the

Shroud of Turin The Shroud of Turin (), also known as the Holy Shroud (), is a length of linen cloth that bears a faint image of the front and back of a naked man. Because details of the image are consistent with depiction of Jesus, traditional depictions o ...

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

Personal life

He married South African model Jennifer De La Harpe and had two sons Bill and Martin.

Honours

In 1951, Hall was elected a Fellow of the Physical Society (FPhysS), a

learned society A learned society ( ; also scholarly, intellectual, or academic society) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and sciences. Membership may be open to al ...

for the physical sciences. In 1984, he was elected an

Honorary Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...

(Hon FBA), the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences.

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 Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''.
"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'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. {{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