Benjamin Hall, Baron Llanover (8 November 1802 – 27 April 1867) was a Whig / Liberal politician and social, church, health and local government reformer who served in the House of Commons from 1831 until his elevation to the peerage in 1859. As President of the Board of Health in 1854–1855 he was a minister in the Cabinet and thereafter occupied the non-Cabinet position of First Commissioner of Public Works until 1858. In 1859 he was made a Peer as Lord Llanover of Llanover and Abercarn and served in the House of Lords until his death in 1867. He was a Minister under Lords Aberdeen and Palmerston and was a member of the Privy Council.

He was a prominent reformer whose primary focus in parliamentary debates was on church reform, local government and sanitation. He was the United Kingdom's first Minister of Health, playing an import role in the development of modern systems for the management of health and sanitation in London and later, as First Commissioner for Works, established the Metropolitan Board of Works, the first metropolis-wide government for London. He also oversaw the completion of the new Houses of Parliament and is today chiefly remembered as the person after whom Big Ben, the largest bell in its Elizabeth Tower, is named.

Early life

Lord Llanover was the eldest son of Benjamin Hall, a Welsh ironmaster and Member of Parliament, and Charlotte, the daughter of Richard Crawshay, a prominent ironmaster and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution in Wales and, in his time, one of the wealthiest men in the United Kingdom.Google Books: Burke, John: A Genealogical History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol 1, London: Henry Colburn, 1838 https://books.google.com.om/books?id=RCoEAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA354&dq=Benjamin+Hall+-Kennedy&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiXntzogpDfAhXFUlAKHe3tCz04eBDoAQhMMAc#v=onepage&q=Benjamin%20Hall%20-Kennedy&f=false

Educated at the Westminster School in London, he matriculated from Christ Church, Oxford in 1820.Archive.org: The List of Queen's Scholars, St. Peter's College, Westminster, 1852, London: G. W. Ginger, College Street Westminster, p441 https://archive.org/details/listqueensschol00welcgoog/page/440/mode/2up?view=theater&q=LlanoverArchive.org: Alumni oxonienses: the members of the University of Oxford, 1715-1886; their parentage, birthplace and year of birth, with a record of their degrees. Being the matriculation register of the University by University of Oxford; Foster, Joseph, 1844-1905, Vol2, P586 https://archive.org/details/alumnioxonienses02univuoft/page/585/mode/2up Thereafter he travelled in the United Kingdom and Europe and in 1826, at the age of only 24, served a year in the ceremonial role of Sheriff of Monmouthshire.National Library of Wales: National Library of Wales Journal, vol 12, no 3, 1 Dec 1962, "Benjamin Hall's youth: 1802-1823", p257 https://journals.library.wales/view/1277425/1281780/58#?xywh=134%2C1945%2C3403%2C1283Archive.org: The Annual Register, or, a View of the History, Politicks, and Literature for the Year. Volume 68, London: 1827, p199 https://archive.org/details/s25id13212230/page/198/mode/2up?q=Monmouthshire

During his travels he visited New Lanark, the model settlement and social experiment managed by Robert Owen, a philanthropist and social reformer. The visit is said to have influenced Hall's management of his own estates in Wales and his general views on the direction of social reform.National Library of Wales: National Library of Wales Journal, vol12, no3,"Benjamin Hall's youth: 1802-1823", p261 Benjamin Hall's youth: 1802-1823 Upon his return he took up the oversight of his estates at Llanover and Abercarn and served as a Magistrate.The History of Parliament: HALL, Benjamin (1802-1867), of Abercarn and Llanofer Court, Mon. http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/hall-benjamin-1802-1867 (Consulted on 1 Jan 2025)FindMyPast: The Monmouthshire Merlin, 23 October 1830, p3, col3, "Michaelmas County Sessions" https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0000928%2F18301023&page=3&article=023&stringtohighlight=benjamin+hall From the time of his marriage to Augusta Waddington in 1823, and under her influence, he also became interested in the revival of the Welsh language and culture, a cause the couple championed throughout their lives.National Library of Wales: National Library of Wales Journal, vol13, no1, 1 Jul 1963, Maxwell Fraser, "Young Mr. and Mrs. Hall, 1823-30" p31 https://journals.library.wales/view/1277425/1282016/40#?xywh=-318%2C935%2C4290%2C1617

Member of Parliament for Monmouth Boroughs and Marylebone

In 1830 he entered politics, standing for election to the Monmouth Boroughs seat in Parliament. In so doing he took on the powerful and conservative Somerset family, headed by the Duke of Beaufort, which had since the time of Henry the VIII dominated Monmouthshire politics and controlled the seat in the House of Commons. At the time Monmouth Boroughs was held by the Marquis of Worcester, son and heir to the Duke.The History of Parliament: HALL, Benjamin (1802-1867), of Abercarn and Llanofer Court, Mon. http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/hall-benjamin-1802-1867 (Consulted on 1 Jan 2025) In the General Election of April–June 1831 Hall took the seat from Lord Worcester.National Library of Wales: National Library of Wales Journal, vol 13, no 3, 1 Jul 1964, Maxwell Fraser, "Benjamin and Augusta Hall, 1831-36" p209 https://journals.library.wales/view/1277425/1282242/2#?xywh=-1192%2C508%2C5841%2C2202FindMyPast: London Evening Standard, 6 May 1831, p3, col3 "General Election- Members Returned https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0000183%2F18310506&page=3&article=022&stringtohighlight=benjamin+hallFindMyPast: Bell's Weekly Messenger, 8 May 1831, p4, col2 "(From the Times of yesterday)" https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0001286%2F18310508&page=4&article=017&stringtohighlight=benjamin+hall His platform was pro-reform against a sitting MP who had publicly announced his opposition to the Reform Bill which Hall, in his first actions in the House of Commons, supported during its first and second readings in June and July 1831.FindMyPast: The Globe, 5 May 1831, p3, col2, "Monmouth Borough Election" https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0001652%2F18310505&page=3&article=021&stringtohighlight=benjamin+hallFindMyPast: Bury and Norwich Post, 1 June 1831, p3, col2, "House of Commons" https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0000156%2F18310601&page=3&article=010&stringtohighlight=benjamin+hallFindMyPast: The Albion: p4, col1, "List of the Division on the Second Reading of the reform Bill" https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0002362%2F18310708&page=4&article=014&stringtohighlight=benjamin+hall However, Lord Worcester disputed the loss of his seat on the grounds of wrongful appointment of new burgesses in Newport who had voted in the election and, following an investigation by a committee of the House, he was reinstated as MP for Monmouth in July 1831, with Hall losing his seat.FindMyPast: The Albion, 11 may 1831, p5, cols1&2 "The Union Jack" https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0002362%2F18310511&page=5&article=030&stringtohighlight=benjamin+hallFindMyPast: The London Courier and Evening Gazette, 19 July 1831, p4, col1, "House of Commons – Lord BELGRAVE" https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0001476%2F18310719&page=4&article=015&stringtohighlight=benjamin+hall

In the election of December 1832 he again contested the Borough of Monmouth against Lord Worcester whom he once more defeated. He was reelected in January 1835, this time surviving another petition contesting the validity of his support.FindMyPast: Evening Mail, 26 December 1832, p4, col1, "Crown Office, Dec. 24" https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0001316%2F18321226&page=4&article=026&stringtohighlight=benjamin+hallFindMyPast: Liverpool Albion, 9 February 1835, p3, col2, "The New house of Commons" https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0003114%2F18350209&page=3&article=014&stringtohighlight=benjamin+hallFindMyPast: Monmouthshire Merlin, 21 March 1835, p3, col4, "Monmouth Borough Election – Petition of Joseph Bailey Esq." https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0000928%2F18350321&page=3&article=013&stringtohighlight=benjamin+hallFindMyPast: Monmouthshire Merlin, 27 June 1835, p4, col3, "House of Commons" https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0000928%2F18350627&page=4&article=037&stringtohighlight=benjamin+hall For the election of 1837 he switched his seat to the Marylebone constituency in London which he continued to represent until his elevation to the peerage in 1857.FindMyPast: Ture Sun, 28 September 1837, p2, col4, "Dinner to Benj. Hall Esq., M. P." https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0002590%2F18370928&page=2&article=027&stringtohighlight=benjamin+hallThe History of Parliament: HALL, Benjamin (1802-1867), of Abercarn and Llanofer Court, Mon. http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/hall-benjamin-1802-1867 (Consulted on 1 Jan 2025)

As an MP Hall was a noted reformer focusing particularly on social issues and reform of the church and local government. He was also an early opponent of the death penalty and in his first years in Parliament supported the passing of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833.FindMyPast: The Fife Herald, 26 Aug 1847, p344, col1 "Compendium"https://www.findmypast.com/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0000447%2F18470826&page=4&article=034&stringtohighlight=benjamin+hall+municipalFindMyPast: Monmouthshire Merlin, 23 February 1823, p4, cols1-4 "Anti-Slavery Meeting at Newport" https://www.findmypast.com/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0000928%2F18330223&page=4&article=019&stringtohighlight=benjamin+hall+abolitionFindMyPast: Monmouthshire Merlin 27 April 1833, p3, col2 https://www.findmypast.com/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0000928%2F18330427&page=3&article=023&stringtohighlight=benjamin+hall+abolition

Religious tolerance and reform of the established church