William Hale ( – 1688) was an English politician. Hale was the son of Rowland Hale of King's Walden, Hertfordshire ( High Sheriff of Hertfordshire in 1647–48) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir

Henry Garraway Sir Henry Garway or Garraway (died July 1646) was an English merchant who was Lord Mayor of London in 1639. Garaway was the son of Sir William Garraway, farmer of the customs. Garraway was a city of London merchant and a member of the Worshipful ...

(Lord Mayor of London in 1639–40). He was admitted to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

in 1649, and to

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 Wale ...

in 1651. He was elected MP for

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

at a by-election in 1669, after

Viscount Cranborne A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

succeeded to the House of Lords as Earl of Salisbury. Hale supported the Earl of Shaftesbury in the

Exclusion Crisis The Exclusion Crisis ran from 1679 until 1681 in the reign of King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland. Three Exclusion bills sought to exclude the King's brother and heir presumptive, James, Duke of York, from the thrones of England, Sc ...

, voting for the Exclusion Bill. Despite wishing to stand down due to ill health, he was re-elected in March 1679 "contrary to his inclinations". In October 1679, he was again asked to stand, but this time insisted that "if they will choose him, he will not serve, but go travel beyond sea". However, in

1681 Events January–March * January 1 – Prince Muhammad Akbar, son of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, initiates a civil war in India. With the support of troops from the Rajput states, Akbar declares himself the new Mughal Emperor ...

he agreed to stand and was re-elected. This Parliament, the Oxford Parliament, sat for only one week; Hale took no known part in it. He also served as Deputy Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, 1671–83 and 1687 until death. He died on 25 May (or 25 August) 1688, aged 56, and was buried at King's Walden.

Family

In 1655, Hale married Mary, daughter of Jeremy (Jeremiah) Elwes of

Roxby, Lincolnshire Roxby is a village in North Lincolnshire, England. It is situated approximately north from Scunthorpe and south-east from Winterton on the A1077. Roxby stands on a prominent part of the Lincoln Cliff and overlooks the Humber Estuary. Ro ...

. (Their marriage settlement survives.) They had ten sons and four daughters: * Richard Hale (1659–1689), married Elizabeth Meynell

William Hale William Hale may refer to: Academics *William Gardner Hale (1849–1928), American classical scholar and professor of Latin * William Jasper Hale (1874–1944), president of the historically black Tennessee State University * William Mathew Hale (b ...

; Elizabeth married secondly Robert Cecil (1670–1716)">Robert Cecil Robert Cecil may refer to: * Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury (1563–1612), English administrator and politician, MP for Westminster, and for Hertfordshire * Robert Cecil (1670–1716), Member of Parliament for Castle Rising, and for Wootton Ba ...

Family

References