Benjamin Hall (industrialist)

[1] He was educated at Westminster School and received a Queens Scholarship to study at Christ Church, Oxford in 1794, from where he graduated with a BA in 1799 and MA in 1801.

[1] In December 1801, Hall married Charlotte, the daughter of ironmaster Richard Crawshay, in what historian P. A. Symonds calls an "advantageous marriage" - her dowry was £40,000.

This munificence was followed in 1810 with a bequest from his father-in-law of a 37.5 per cent share in the ironworks, which covered a significant amount of land and houses as well as the mine and quarry workings.

[1][3] He had bought Hensol Castle for £45,500 in 1815 to fulfil an election promise that he would own a residence in Glamorgan, some people having suggested that his personal loyalties lay with his business interests in neighbouring Monmouthshire.

[1] One child was Benjamin Hall, 1st Baron Llanover, a civil engineer and politician who as Commissioner of Works was notable for the construction of the Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster.