Much has been written about Stuart Hall's intellectual and theoretical contributions especially after the mid-1960s. This interpretive and social biography places Stuart Hall's life from 1932 to 1959 in a socio-historical context, beginning with his childhood in Jamaica and his early years in England. I draw on Hall's own biographical reflections during the last years of his life and his writings about secondary schools and working-class youth from his insights as a teacher in South London, as well as his writings on identity and diaspora, as he reflects on the early years later in his life. By examining this less celebrated time, I hope to bring insights about pedagogy, identity, exile and nostalgia, and make connections between the early experiences and the more celebrated years of Stuart Hall as an outstanding educator and public intellectual.