HALES, John II (d.1600), of Tenterden, Kent.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1572

Family and Education

1st s. of Edward Hales of Tenterden by Margaret, da. of John Honywood. m. Mary, da. and coh. of Robert Horne, bp. of Winchester, s.p. suc. fa. 1586.1

Offices Held

Bailiff, Tenterden 1598-1600, mayor 16 Aug. 1600-d.2

Biography

The borough of Hindon was part of the possessions of the see of Winchester, and it is highly probable that Bishop Horne used his patronage in 1572 to return his son-in-law rather than another member of the widespread Hales family. It is quite possible that Hales was actually in the service of the bishop, of whose will he was appointed executor. That his religious attitude was akin to the bishop’s is shown by his inclusion in the delegation of Kentish gentlemen who petitioned Whitgift in 1584 on behalf of the suspended puritan preachers.3

Having succeeded to his father’s position at Tenterden (where Edward Hales had been many times bailiff), Hales probably lived on his estates, to which he added considerably by purchase, paying over £4,000 in 1599 for the manors of Ripley and Canon Court. He was elected bailiff of Tenterden in 1598 and 1599, and in the following year became the town’s first mayor under its new charter. He died a few months later.4

By his will, dated 11 Nov. 1600, he made numerous bequests to friends, relatives and servants, and left the bulk of his goods, together with a life interest in much of his lands, to his wife. They were to revert to his nephew and heir, Edward. These two were appointed executors, and they proved the will on 22 Dec. 1600.5

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: Roger Virgoe

Notes

  • 1. Vis. Kent (Harl. Soc. xlii), 59; PCC 55 Windsor.
  • 2. Arch. Cant. xxxii. 296-7.
  • 3. Strype, Annals, ii(2), 378; Collinson thesis, i. 444.
  • 4. PCC 55 Windsor; CSP Dom. 1598-1601, p. 357; Arch. Cant. xxxii. 296-7.
  • 5. PCC 78 Wallop; C142/265/67.