John Hales (c. 1400-1490) (''alias'' Hals, Halse, etc.) was

Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield The Bishop of Lichfield is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers 4,516 km2 (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of Powys, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and West M ...

(1459-1490). He was one of the ''

Worthies of Devon This is a list of persons considered by John Prince (1643–1723) sufficiently notable to warrant the inclusion of their biography in his work ''The Worthies of Devon''. ''The Worthies of Devon'' While at Berry Pomeroy, John Prince worked on h ...

'' of the biographer John Prince (d.1723).

Origins

Hales was the second son of John Hals (fl.1423) of

Kenedon {{Short description, Historic manor in Devon, England Kenedon is an historic manor situated in the parish of Sherford in Devon. History It is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Chenigedone'', the 55th of the 58 Devonshire holdings of Ralph ...

in the parish of Sherford, Devon (a

Justice of the Common Pleas Justice of the Common Pleas was a puisne judicial position within the Court of Common Pleas of England and Wales, under the Chief Justice. The Common Pleas was the primary court of common law within England and Wales, dealing with "common" pleas ...

and in 1423 a

Justice of the King's Bench Justice of the King's Bench, or Justice of the Queen's Bench during the reign of a female monarch, was a puisne judicial position within the Court of King's Bench, under the Chief Justice. The King's Bench was a court of common law which modern a ...

) by his first wife, a daughter of the Mewye (''alias'' Mewy) family of Whitchurch near

Tavistock Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town within West Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy from which its name derives. At the 2011 census the three electoral wards (North, South and South West) had a population of 13,028 ...

, Devon. His great-uncle was Richard Hals (d.1418), a Canon of Exeter Cathedral in Devon, and

Treasurer of Exeter Cathedral A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

in 1400, who in 1414 was sent as Ambassador to Brittany. Bishop Hals appointed his kinsman Edmund Hals as Archdeacon of Salop from an unknown date until 1485 and as Archdeacon of Derby from 1485, probably until his death. The mansion house of the Hals' at Kenedon, originally quadrangular in form, is today represented by a small 16th c. farmhouse known as ''Keynedon'', about 1 mile south of the village of Sherford. The early 15th century gate-tower of the house was demolished in about 1850.

Career

Hales was Provost of

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...

, from 1446 to 1449. He was

Dean of Exeter The Dean of Exeter is the head of the Chapter of Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter, England. The chapter was established by William Briwere, Bishop of Exeter (1224–44) who set up the offices of dean and chancellor of Exeter Cathedral ...

between 1457 and 1459. In 1470, during the reign of King Henry VI, Hales was appointed Keeper of the Privy Seal, but lost the office on the restoration of King

Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...

in 1471.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 96 Hales was nominated as

on 20 September 1459, and was consecrated on 25 November 1459. He died between 15 and 30 September 1490,Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 254 aged about 90, and was buried in

Lichfield Cathedral Lichfield Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England, one of only three cathedrals in the United Kingdom with three spires (together with Truro Cathedral and St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh), and the only medie ...

.Prince, p.457

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hales, John 15th-century English Roman Catholic bishops Bishops of Lichfield Deans of Exeter 1490 deaths Lords Privy Seal Year of birth unknown Provosts of Oriel College, Oxford