He was born in Eaglehawk to miner and tea merchant Joseph Hall and Isabella, née Gray.
He attended state school before becoming a booking clerk with Victorian Railways and a journalist with the Bendigo Advertiser; he was also mining correspondent for The Argus.
Active in the Kyabram Reform Movement, he was a founder of the Victorian Farmers' Union (VFU) in 1916 and served as its general secretary from 1916 to 1918.
He was subsequently the VFU's candidate for the 1918 federal Flinders by-election, but withdrew after extracting a promise from the Nationalist Party to introduce preferential voting.
He remained a journalist, editing the Farmer's Advocate (1917–24), the Morning Post (1924–27) and the Leader (1946–49).