Hall is very likely to have encountered both Wally Mears (the first Headmaster of Saints) and pioneers Gilbert Tucker and Basil Read as a student at Kingswood College, Grahamstown. As a fellow Methodist it is likely that it was through this connection that he became involved with St Stithians. Hall was co-opted to the St Stithians Trust at its inception in 1941 but is not mentioned again as a Trustee. However, he did serve on the Council from its inception in April 1952 until his death in 1963.

Hall was the son of Charles Dennison Hall. He married Helen Bennet in Ladybrand in September, 1919. They had four children: Evelyn (1924 - 2013), Patricia, Alan and Lawrence. As a young man he played rugby until this was thwarted by a knee injury, but he took up golf and bowls instead.

Hall obtained his first BA degree from Rhodes University. He went on to study Agriculture at the University of Illinois in the USA, graduating in 1914. In June 1915 he was awarded a Master’s Degree in Agriculture from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, for his thesis on “The effects of alternate drying and wetting of soils on their content of some readily soluble solutions”. His full thesis can be found here: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924052388950&view=1up&seq=7.

After World War I, Hall worked in Potchefstroom and at Glen College of Agriculture, where he was Vice-Principal. He did not enjoy the administrative work so he joined AECI (African Explosive and Chemical Industries) in Johannesburg where he was active in research on fertilizers until he retired. He worked with the University of the Witwatersrand at their Agricultural Research station in Frankenwald, Johannesburg. Hall was instrumental in the appointment of soil conservation officers across the country.

In 1942 Hall was awarded an honorary DSc (Doctor of Science) by Rhodes University for his pioneering work in soil science and pastures.

Hall was also involved professionally in scientific research bodies and thee Witwatersrand Agricultural Society (which started the Rand Show). The objective of this society was to encourage better farming in the Transvaal and, most particularly after the Anglo Boer war, encourage reinvestment in agricultural and more scientific farming, led by mining and agricultural figures.

Kent was born in Hastings, in the UK in 1891 and emigrated to South Africa with his parents in 1894. He was educated at Kingswood College in Grahamstown (now known as Makhanda). It is likely that it was here that he met fellow Methodists, Wally Mears, Gilbert Tucker, Thomas Hall and Basil Read, all of whom were later involved in the founding and building of St Stithians College.
Kent was an accountant by profession and formed his own company, Palmer, Kent and Co., that was the first to be engaged by the Anglo-Transvaal Consolidated Investment Company.
Kent was an active Methodist who became a St Stithians Trustee on the death of DF Corlett. He became Chairman of council at a difficult time when there were differences in interpretation of the roles of the College governance and that of the Headmaster. Kent was also involved in the selection of Walter Macfarlane as first BP headmaster.

On 30 October 1957, Kent opened the first swimming bath as it was then known. This had been a priority for parents as the College offered few sporting opportunities at its inception and the parents felt that a swimming batch would serve all the boys. However, it was not a priority for Council. As a result, the parents had to raise the funds for the pool themselves, but invited Kent to officially open the pool. He was vice-chair of council at the time. By 1957, the country knew that it would be changing from the imperial to the metric system and St Stithians was thus the first school in Johannesburg to have a pool measured in metres rather than yards.
The BP Library was officially opened by Mrs Eunice Lilian Kent in 1969.

An obituary for Mr. Kent appears in the Stythian of 1967, page 7. It was written by Ray Bradley. Here is a link to the magazine in AtoM: https://atom.stithian.com/index.php/stythian-magazine-1967

Kent House in the BP is named in his honour.