William King Hall was the second son of James and Mary Ann. He was born on March 11th, 1816, and christened William King Hall, the name King being a compliment to his godfather Captain King, who had been his father's Captain in Jason. He had an elder brother called James Frederick, born in 1810 [PAGE2210] and a sister called Mary Ann, who was born in 1818.
We know very little of the circumstances of the family in his early life except that it appears to have been largely spent in the London area, for instance he and his sister were christened in St Marys, Newington in SE London in 1820, and that for most of the time his father was away at sea. If one takes the first nine years of William's life, from 1816 to 1825, we know from naval records that James was away for just over seven years of that time. How he had spent these years is recorded elsewhere in this website and perhaps all that needs to be said here is that his longest period at home was from March to December 1823, which had been largely spent writing long and argumentative letters to the Colonial Secretary, Lord Bathurst.
While Admiralty records make it possible to trace the life of James, the same cannot be said for those of William's mother, Mary Ann. One of the most remarkable gaps in our knowledge is that we do not know exactly when she died. All we know is that she was alive in early 1824 as James later refers to her not being well as an excuse for his actions in Australia and that she had died by the end of 1827 as James married her niece Frances Ann on 28th March 1828 in Bermuda. where he had been stationed since early 1825. It has not been possible to find any records of Mary Ann's death in England or Bermuda and all we can say is that William lost his mother between the ages of 8 and 12 and acquired a step mother, who was only 18, at the age of 12.
James and his family returned to England in the summer of 1829 and in September William joined his first ship, Rapid, as a Volunteer of the Second Class.
We conclude this section with a brief pen portrait of William that was written by Lou King-Hall, the editor of Sea Saga, who had access to the diaries of James and William.
William was James' favourite, William was tense with determination. He was physically strong and bubbling over with vitality. William had handsome colouring, black hair and fine dark blue eyes. He was clever and he had charm.
For instance, his self-confidence in his own efficiency was all to the good, but his unconcealed contempt for inefficiency, however high placed, was dangerous. He admitted that he always acted on his first impulse, adding that it was always right.
His light-hearted extravagance positively agonised James. William was equally ready to borrow or to lend. He had inherited James' capacity for friendship, When disillusioned he filled pages with sentiments of hot anger and sorrow, for, in spite of his quick indignations and pugnacity, he was sensitive. He once wrote 'I feel my partialities are unaccountable and swayed by the least thing, but once fixed - steadfast and true.'
As he grew older, his judgement matured, and he acquired a large circle of life-long friends and a wish confided to his Journals that "All I ask is to love and be loved" was granted. He was a born sailor. As a child at Bermuda he spent his time sailing, and when James wanted him to be a doctor, he begged to go to sea.