Hall was active in the
Yorkshire Miners' Association (YMA), and attended a 1915 conference in London on its behalf. He was influenced by
David Lloyd George's speech urging increases in production and led attempts to achieve this at his pit during
World War I. In 1916, Hall was elected as secretary of the Cortonwood branch of the YMA, then as the pit's
checkweighman in 1917. He was also elected for the
Labour Party to Wombwell
Urban District Council in 1920 serving until his death. In 1922, colliery officials had him removed as checkweighman, as they objected to him holding the post jointly with his union position, but he was instead elected as a Safety Inspector. In 1925, he gave up his local posts to become full-time financial secretary of the YMA, and from 1930 also served on the executive of the
Miners Federation of Great Britain, where he was known for occupying a middle position between communists and right-wingers. He served on the enquiry into the
Gresford disaster, and was involved in rescue attempts in several other mine accidents. Hall was appointed by the
Trades Union Congress as its delegate to the
American Federation of Labour for 1932/33, and he took advantage of the opportunity to tour the United States; among other engagements, he spoke alongside
F. D. Roosevelt. Back in the UK, he was one of the strongest opponents of
George Alfred Spencer's
Nottinghamshire Miners' Industrial Union, and his increased prominent led him to election as president of the YMA in 1939, following the death of
Herbert Smith. Hall was made an
Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1946, and retired in 1952. ==References==