Sir Edward Hales, 1st Baronet

Sir Edward Hales, 1st Baronet (1576–1654) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in various years between 1625 and 1648. He supported the Parliamentarian side in the English Civil War.

Family

Edward Hales was the son of William Hales of Tenterden, Kent and Elizabeth Johnson, daughter of Paul Johnson of Fordwich. His paternal grandfather was Edward Hales, third son of John Hales (1469/70 – c.1540), Baron of the Exchequer, and younger brother of Sir James Hales (c.1500–1554), Justice of the Common Pleas, whose suicide, the subject of a lawsuit in Hales v. Petit, is thought to be alluded to in the gravedigger's speech in Shakespeare's play, Hamlet.^[1]

Career

Hales was appointed High Sheriff of Kent for 1608–09 ^[2] and was created a baronet by King James I on 29 June 1611.^[3]

In 1625, Hales was elected Member of Parliament for Queenborough for one parliament, and then in 1626 was elected MP for Kent for one parliament. In April 1640 he was re-elected MP for Queenborough for the Short Parliament. He was elected again in November 1640 for the Long Parliament, and held the seat until 1648 when he was excluded under Pride's Purge.^[4]

Hales died in 1654 at the age of 78.

Marriages and issue

Hales married firstly Deborah Harlakenden, daughter of Martin Harlakenden of Woodchurch, Kent, and through her acquired the Woodchurch estates. He married secondly Martha Cromer, daughter of Sir Matthew Carew, and widow of Sir James Cromer of Tunstall, Kent, and through her acquired the Tunstall estates. She also inheritted the manor of 'Herst Hall' in Murston.^[5] His children by his first wife included a son, Sir John Hales, who pre-deceased him. He was then succeeded by his grandson Sir Edward Hales, 2nd Baronet. The latter was a Royalist and supporter of King Charles I, who attempted to raise an army for the King in Kent and was involved in an attempt to free the King when he was imprisoned at Carisbrooke Castle. Having incurred the wrath of both Parliament and his grandfather, the future second baronet fled to the Netherlands.^[6]

Footnotes

1. Hales 1882, pp. 62–4; Baker 2004; Baker 2010.
2. "HALES, Sir Edward (c.1577-1654), of Woodchurch, Kent and Gray's Inn, London; later of Tunstall, Kent". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
3. Debrett's Baronetage of England
4. Willis, Browne (1750). Notitia Parliamentaria, Part II: A Series or Lists of the Representatives in the several Parliaments held from the Reformation 1541, to the Restoration 1660 ... London. pp. 229–239.
5. Hasted, Edward (1798). "Parishes". The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent (Institute of Historical Research) 6: 143–150. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
6. Rev R. Cox Hales Brief notes on the Hales family Archaeologia Cantiana Vol. 14 -1882.

References

• Baker, J.H. (2004). Hales, John (1469/70–1540?). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 4 January 2013. (subscription required)
• Baker, J.H. (2010). Hales, Sir James (c.1500–1554). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 4 January 2013. (subscription required)
• Hales, R. Cox (1882). "Brief notes on the Hales Family". Archaeologia Cantiana XIV. London: Kent Archaeological Society. pp. 61–84. Retrieved 4 January 2013.