HALES, Edward I (1630-96), of Chilston, Boughton Malherbe, Kent.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660-1690, ed. B.D. Henning, 1983
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Oct. 1679
1681
1689

Family and Education

bap. 18 Apr. 1630, o. surv. s. of Samuel Hales of Davington by Martha, da. and. h. of Stephen Heronden of Staple Inn, Mdx. and Rochester, Kent. educ. Trinity Coll. Camb. 1646, BA 1650; G. Inn 1652. m. 22 May 1656, Elizabeth, da. of Sir John Evelyn I of Lee Place, Godstone, Surr., 2s. (1 d.v.p.), 3da. suc. fa. 1638.1

Offices Held

Commr. for assessment, Kent 1657, Aug. 1660-1, 1663-80, Kent and Hythe 1689-90, militia, Kent Mar. 1660, j.p. Mar.-June 1660, 1662-70, 1679-80, 1689-d., capt. of militia horse Apr. 1660-?70; commr. for sewers, Rother marshes Oct. 1660.2

Biography

Hales was the first cousin of Sir Edward Hales, 2nd Bt. Although his father was a younger son, he was well provided for, and Hales added to his inheritance by the purchase of Chilston. His stepfather, William Kenwricke, a violent republican, sat in Richard Cromwell’s Parliament for Hythe, a borough with which the Hales family had long been associated before their move to North Kent at the beginning of the century. Hales himself stood there at the general election of 1660 and perhaps again in the following year, but was persuaded by Lord Chancellor Clarendon to stand down in favour of the courtier Sir Henry Wood at the by-election which followed the death of Phineas Andrews. He was rewarded by being restored to the commission of the peace, but again removed on the passing of the Conventicles Act in 1670. On Wood’s death he renewed his candidature, but was narrowly defeated by the court candidate, Sir Leoline Jenkins. After his petition had been rejected, he made over his interest to his local henchman, Julius Deedes, and transferred his attentions to Queenborough. In the elections of 1679 he was extremely active, canvassing Hythe on behalf of Sir Edward Dering and the county on behalf of his son. He might have been chosen at Hythe in February but for his reluctance to oppose Deedes, and at New Romney he was ‘greatly encouraged by the kindness of some there, but I’ll put nothing to hazard’. His confidence over Queenborough proved unjustified, for his cousin Edward Hales II declared himself pre-engaged to James Herbert. His petition was never reported. Hales was promised a seat at Shoreham by (Sir) Henry Capel in August, but Deedes stood down at Hythe for personal reasons, and he defeated Sir William Honeywood, a court supporter. It may have been on his interest that William Glanville contested Queenborough. Hales took a leading part in petitioning for the meeting of Parliament, and was for the third time removed from local office. But he was not an active Member, though he may have served on two committees in the second Exclusion Parliament, those for encouraging the export of leather and beer. The family interest did even better at the 1681 election, taking both seats at Queenborough, while Hales himself was unopposed at Hythe. But he left no trace on the records of the Oxford Parliament.3

Hales regained his seat after a contest in 1689, and helped to carry the canopy at the coronation. He is said to have acted as teller for continuing the debate on the queen dowager’s servants on 28 Mar., but this was more probably John Hawles, who may also have been responsible for the two speeches ascribed to him by Grey. On 6 Apr. ‘Mr Hales’ spoke against the Lords’ bill to extend the definition of treason: ‘something of poison lies concealed in this bill, and I would reject it’. On 8 May he opposed the proviso to the bill of settlement which would have allowed the Pretender to inherit the crown if he turned Protestant. An inactive Member, Hales was named to six committees in the Convention, of which the most important was to appoint new oaths for army officers. He was not listed as a supporter of the disabling clause in the bill to restore corporations, though doubtless a Whig. He was defeated at the general election and never stood again. He died on 9 Aug. 1696; his sons were short-lived, and in 1698 his daughters sold the estate.4

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Author: Basil Duke Henning

Notes

  • 1. E. R. Mores, Hist. Tunstall, 36; Vis. Kent. (Harl. Soc. liv), 90; Arch. Cant. xv. 65-67; Misc. Gen. et Her. (ser. 2), i. 296; ii. 37.
  • 2. Add. 34152, f. 12; Pub. Intell. 2 Apr. 1660.
  • 3. A. M. Everitt, Community of Kent and the Gt. Rebellion, 150, 310; Bodl. Carte 73, f. 369; Kent AO, U47/3, F3/7; Stowe 746, ff. 9, 14, 19-20; Sidney Diary, i. 79; Bath mss, Coventry pprs. 6, f. 230.
  • 4. Suss. Arch. Colls. xv. 209; Arch. Cant. xiv. 67, 84; Hasted, Kent, v. 409.