Sir Christopher Hales | |
|---|---|
| Died | 1541 (1542) |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Caunton |
| Children | John Hales Elizabeth Hales Margaret Hales Mary Hales |
| Parent(s) | Thomas Hales Alicia Eveas |
Sir Christopher Hales (died 1541) was an English judge andMaster of the Rolls.
The family of Hales was a most ancient one, deriving its name fromHales in Norfolk, where the ancestor of the father of Roger de Hales (1274–1313), Ralph de Hales, also named Roger de Hales possessed property in the reign ofHenry II. Before the close ofEdward III's reign, it had removed intoKent and was settled at Halden nearTenterden. The unfortunateRobert de Hales was of this family.
Christopher Hales was the son of Thomas Hales. His mother was Alicia, one of the four daughters and co-heirs of Humphrey Eveas. Receiving his legal education atGray's Inn, he rose to be an ancient in 1516, andAutumn Reader in 1524.
On 14 August 1525, he succeededRichard Lyster assolicitor-general, and becameattorney-general on 3 June 1529. During his seven years in this office, he conducted the proceedings against several illustrious persons who had incurred theking's displeasure. He prosecutedThomas Wolsey by an indictment to which the cardinal made no defence; he appeared for the king against SirThomas More andJohn Fisher on their last arraignment; and the trials of QueenAnne Boleyn and those charged with being implicated with her occurred during the last few months of his official tenure.
On the elevation ofThomas Cromwell to the office ofLord Privy Seal, Hales succeeded him asMaster of the Rolls on 10 July 1536, and retained the place for the five remaining years of his life, having received the honour ofknighthood soon after his appointment.
In 1540 he was associated withThomas Cranmer,Lord Chancellor Rich, and other commissioners in the work of remodelling the foundation ofCanterbury Cathedral, ousting the monks and supplying their place with secular clergy. He profited largely by thedissolution of the monasteries, obtaining many grants of land which had belonged to them in Kent.[1]
Hales died in June 1541, and was buried atHackington or St. Stephen's, nearCanterbury. Hales' only son, John, died in 1546, and Hales' daughters became his coheirs.[2]
Hales married Elizabeth Caunton, the daughter of John Caunton, analderman of London, by whom he had a son, John, who died at the age of fourteen in 1546, and three daughters:[3]
Works related toChristopher Hales at Wikisource: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900, Volume 24, pp. 26–7.This article incorporates text fromFoss's Judges of England,a publication now in the public domain.
