Sir Christopher Hales (died 1541) was an English judge and

Master of the Rolls The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the President of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and Head of Civil Justice. As a judge, the Master of ...

Family

The family of Hales was a most ancient one, deriving its name from

Hales Hales is a small village in Norfolk, England. It covers an area of and had a population of 479 in 192 households as of the 2001 census, which had reduced to 469 at the 2011 census. History The villages name means 'Nooks of land'. The manor ...

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 of Henry II. Before the close of Edward III's reign, it had removed into

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

and was settled at Halden near

Tenterden Tenterden is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. It stands on the edge of the remnant forest the Weald, overlooking the valley of the River Rother. It was a member of the Cinque Ports Confederation. Its riverside today is not ...

. The unfortunate Robert 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 at

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and W ...

, he rose to be an ancient in 1516, and

Autumn Reader A reader in one of the Inns of Court in London was originally a senior barrister of the Inn who was elected to deliver a lecture or series of lectures on a particular legal topic. Two readers (known as Lent and Autumn Readers) would be elected annu ...

in 1524.

Career

On 14 August 1525, he succeeded

Richard Lyster Sir Richard Lyster (c. 1480 – 14 March 1554) was an English judge and Chief Justice of the King's Bench. Origins and early career Sir Frederick Madden in his "Remarks on the Monument of Sir Richard Lyster in St. Michael's Church Southampton, ...

as solicitor-general, and became

attorney-general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

on 3 June 1529. During his seven years in this office, he conducted the proceedings against several illustrious persons who had incurred the king's displeasure. He prosecuted

Thomas Wolsey Thomas Wolsey ( – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic bishop. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's Lord High Almoner, almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the ...

by an indictment to which the cardinal made no defence; he appeared for the king against Sir

Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord ...

and

John Fisher John Fisher (c. 19 October 1469 – 22 June 1535) was an English Catholic bishop, cardinal, and theologian. Fisher was also an academic and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He was canonized by Pope Pius XI. Fisher was executed by o ...

on their last arraignment; and the trials of Queen

Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key ...

and those charged with being implicated with her occurred during the last few months of his official tenure. On the elevation of

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false char ...

to the office of Lord Privy Seal, Hales succeeded him as

on 10 July 1536, and retained the place for the five remaining years of his life, having received the honour of

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...

soon after his appointment. In 1540 he was associated with

Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry ...

, Lord Chancellor Rich, and other commissioners in the work of remodelling the foundation of Canterbury Cathedral, ousting the monks and supplying their place with secular clergy. He profited largely by the dissolution of the monasteries, obtaining many grants of land which had belonged to them in Kent. Hales died in June 1541, and was buried at Hackington or St. Stephen's, near

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

. Hales' only son, John, died in 1546, and Hales' daughters became his coheirs.

Marriage and issue

Hales married Elizabeth Caunton, the daughter of John Caunton, an

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...

of London, by whom he had a son, John, who died at the age of fourteen in 1546, and three daughters:. *Elizabeth Hales, who married first John Stocker and then Sir George Sydenham. Their daughter Elizabeth, born about 1562, became the second wife of Sir Francis Drake. *Margaret Hales, who married firstly Lewis West, secondly Ralph Dodmore, and thirdly William Horden of Kent. *Mary Hales, who married firstly Alexander Culpeper and secondly in 1554 Thomas Arundell.

Footnotes

References

* * * * * *: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900, Volume 24, pp. 26–7. ;Attribution ''This article incorporates text from Foss's'' Judges of England, ''a publication now in the public domain.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Hales, Christopher Attorneys General for England and Wales 1541 deaths Masters of the Rolls Members of Gray's Inn People associated with the Dissolution of the Monasteries Year of birth unknown 16th-century English judges