William James Hall (January 16, 1860 – November 24, 1894) was a medical and religious missionary in Korea, primarily in Pyongyang during the 1890s.

[1] Both Sherwood and Hall dedicated their professional life to mission work, serving in Korea starting on October 10, 1890, for Rosetta, and December 15, 1891, for William James.

[2] During his three-year stay in Korea, Hall greatly expanded the Methodist Mission, providing medical, emotional and spiritual care for Korean soldiers and Pyongyang residents during the First Sino-Japanese War.

Hall was a victim of political transgressions, and ultimately died of typhus on November 24, 1894, while tending to wounded men on the banks of the Taedong River.

Hall was born in a log cabin in Glen Buell, Ontario, Canada – a remote area between Ottawa and Toronto – on January 16, 1860.

Concerned that his life, and its impact, would be cut short due to consumption, Hall left the Glen Buell schoolhouse to pursue an early career in carpentry at the age of seventeen.

[5] During his time at Queens College, Hall became inspired by a presentation by his future volunteer leader, Reverend John Forman of India, and decided to pursue a missionary path.

[11] During his three-year stay in Korea, Hall greatly expanded the Methodist Mission, provided care for Korean soldiers and Pyongyang residents during the First Sino-Japanese War.

His rugged spirit and intense, religious devotion for helping and healing the people of Korea kept him in his new "motherland" of only three short years.