Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Hall, Peter

by Gordon Goodwin ‎

HALL, PETER (1803–1849), divine and topographer, born 31 Dec. 1803, was the third son of James Hall of St. George's, Bloomsbury, London. He claimed descent from Joseph Hall [q. v.], bishop of Exeter and Norwich. At the age of thirteen he was sent to Winchester College, where he was educated on the foundation, and thence proceeded to Brasenose College, Oxford, matriculating 15 Jan. 1822 (Foster, Alumni Oxon. 1715–1886, p. 588). He graduated B.A. 1 Dec. 1825 and M.A. 21 Jan. 1830. In 1828 he was ordained and became curate of St. Edmund's, Salisbury, where he remained until 1833. He gave an account of his dismissal from this curacy in the preface to ‘The Church and the World,’ a sermon preached at St. Thomas's, Sarum, on 21 April 1833. In September 1834 he was instituted to the rectory of Milston-cum-Brigmerston, Wiltshire, but was soon obliged to abandon residence by the ill-health of his wife. He was for a short time curate of St. Luke's, Chelsea, and afterwards, in May 1836, became minister of Tavistock Chapel, Drury Lane. In June 1841 he undertook the charge of Long Acre episcopal chapel, in the parish of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields. In 1843 he became minister of St. Thomas's Chapel, Walcot, at Bath. He was also for some time travelling secretary to the Reformation Society. He died at Great Malvern, Worcestershire, on 10 Sept. 1849, leaving a widow and three daughters. His library was sold 27 May–4 June 1850.

Hall's original writings are:

1. ‘Τεκμήρια μετρικά; Symptoms of Rhyme, original and translated’ (anon.), 4to, London, 1824 (twenty-five copies printed).
2. ‘Ductor Vindogladiensis; an Historical and Descriptive Guide to the Town of Wimborne-Minster, Dorsetshire,’ 8vo, London, 1830 (fourteen copies were printed on coloured paper); 2nd edit. 8vo, Wimborne, 1853).
3. ‘Picturesque Memorials of Winchester,’ 4to, 1830.
4. ‘A Few Topographical Remarks relative to the parishes of Ringwood, Ellingham, Ibbesley, Harbridge, and Fordingbridge, and the New Forest’ (anon.), 12mo, Ringwood, 1831; 4th edit. enlarged, with a short description of Bournemouth, 8vo, Ringwood, 1867.
5. ‘Picturesque Memorials of Salisbury, a series of original etchings and vignettes. … To which is prefixed a brief History of Old and New Sarum,’ fol. Salisbury, 1834 (three copies of the ‘Brief History’ were struck off separately in ‘follio’—sic).
6. ‘Congregational Reform, according to the Liturgy of the Church of England, in four sermons, with an appendix of notes,’ 12mo, London, 1835; 2nd edition the same year.

He also edited:

1. ‘The Crypt, or Receptacle for things past; an Antiquarian, Literary, and Miscellaneous Journal,’ 3 vols. 12mo, Ringwood, 1827–8; continued as ‘The Crypt … and West of England Magazine, new series,’ 1 vol. 8vo, Winchester, 1829.
2. ‘De Animi Immortalitate, a Latin poem by Isaac Hawkins Browne, with a memoir,’ 12mo, 1833.
3. ‘Sermons and other Remains of Robert Lowth, D.D., sometime Bishop of London; now first collected and arranged, partly from original MSS., with an introductory memoir,’ 8vo, 1834. These discourses, which are not remarkable for either elegance or learning, were pronounced to be spurious by the representatives of the Lowth family. A good deal of correspondence on the matter by Hall, W. Sturges Bourne, and an anonymous writer, ‘Verax,’ appeared in the ‘Gentleman's Magazine’ for August and September 1834, and February, March, and April 1835.
4. ‘A Summary View and Explanation of the Writings of the Prophets, by John Smith, D.D., minister of the Gospel at Campbeltown, with a brief Memoir,’ 8vo, 1835.
5. ‘Versiones Biblicæ, from the Hebrew Lectures of Bishop Lowth,’ 12mo, Rugby, 1836.
6. ‘The Works of Joseph Hall,’ 12 vols. 8vo, Oxford, 1837–9.
7. ‘Satires and other Poems, by Joseph Hall, D.D., afterwards Bishop of Exeter and of Norwich,’ 8vo, 1838.
8. ‘Spiritual Pleadings and Expostulations with God in Prayer, by Thomas Harrison, D.D.,’ 16mo, 1838.
9. ‘An Exposition on the two Epistles to the Thessalonians, by J. Jewell,’ 12mo, 1841.
10. ‘The Harmony of Protestant Confessions, … enlarged by … P. Hall,’ 8vo, 1842.
11. ‘Reliquiæ Liturgicæ. Documents connected with the Liturgy of the Church of England,’ 5 vols. 16mo, Bath, 1847.
12. ‘Fragmenta Liturgica. Documents illustrative of the Liturgy of the Church of England,’ 7 vols. 16mo, Bath, 1848.
13. Bishop Lancelot Andrewes's ‘Preces privatæ quotidianæ,’ 8vo, 1848, of which he had published a translation in 1830, 12mo.

He also edited ‘A Dialogue between a Popish Priest and an English Protestant, by Matthew Poole;’ ‘Serious Thoughts on Marriage … Strictures on the Education of Children, by W. Giles;’ ‘Scripture Characters … by Thomas Robinson, with a Memoir of the Author,’ 4 vols. Hall also published numerous sermons, pamphlets, and letters, and was engaged, when seized with his last illness, in the compilation of another collection of liturgical pieces to be entitled ‘Monumenta Liturgica.’ His labours as editor and biographer are of little value, though his topographical works may be found useful.

[Gent. Mag. 1834 pt. ii. 143–5, 254–6, 1835 pt. i. 155–7, 276, 385–9, 1845 pt. ii. 542–3; Cat. of Libr. of Lond. Inst. iv. 331; Brit. Mus. Cat.]

G. G.