John Hales (died 1540)

John Hales (by 1470 – c. 1540), of The Dungeon, Canterbury, Kent, was an administrator and Baron of the Exchequer.

John Hales of The Dungeon or Dane John, Canterbury, Kent, was the son of John Hales of Tenterden. The name of his mother is unknown. He was the grandson of Henry Hales of Hales Place in Halden, near Tenterden, Kent. He is known to have had one uncle, Thomas Hales, the father of Sir Christopher Hales.

Hales' age was given as sixty-five in a deposition dated 1 February 1535, indicating that he was born about 1470. According to Baker, he was likely admitted to Gray's Inn about 1490. By 1501 he had been appointed steward of the Priory of Christ Church, Canterbury. In 1503 he was a Justice of the Peace for Kent, and in 1504 was appointed counsel to the corporation of Rye. By 1509 he had residences at both Canterbury and Nackington. In 1512 and 1515 he was a Member of Parliament for Canterbury, and was also retained as counsel to the corporation of Canterbury. He became a Bencher of Gray's Inn in 1514.

It is thought that Hales' further advancement was the result of patronage by Sir Henry Guildford, Comptroller of the Household. According to Foss, Hales was steward of the Abbey of St. Augustine's jointly with Guildford.

In 1519 Hales was appointed Attorney-General to the Duchy of Lancaster, a position he relinquished when he was appointed third Baron of the Exchequer on 1 October 1522. In 1521 he was appointed General Surveyor of lands held by the crown. In 1528 he was appointed second Baron of the Exchequer, but failed to secure appointment as Chief Baron in the following year.

Hales made his will on 20 July 1540, requesting burial beside his wife in the parish church of St. Mary Bredin, Canterbury, and bequeathing gold coins to his four surviving sons, his best gold ring to his first cousin, Sir Christopher Hales, and gold rings to his daughter, Mildred, and to one Peter Hayman, with whom Hales' son, Thomas, was associated in the service of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. He forgave his son-in-law, John Honywood, all debts owed by him. Hales is thought to have died soon after making his will as he was replaced as Baron of the Exchequer in Michaelmas term 1540.

Hales married, by 1509, Isabel Harry, daughter of Stephen or Thomas Harry, by whom he had four sons and a daughter:

• Sir James Hales.
• Thomas Hales.
• Edward Hales of Tenterden, who married Margaret Honeywood, the daughter of John Honeywood.
• William Hales of Nackington.
• Mildred Hales, who married John Honeywood of Seen near Hythe, Kent.