Bernard Hale

Sir Bernard Hale (1677-1729) was an English-born barrister and judge who became Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer. Two of his sons became Generals in the British Army.

He was born at King's Walden, Hertfordshire, the eighth son of William Hale and his wife Mary Elwes. The Hale family, who originally made their fortune as grocers in London, had owned property in King's Walden since the sixteenth century, and Bernard's own descendants were still living there in Victorian times. His father William was the son of Rowland Hale, High Sheriff of Hertfordshire in 1648, and was himself a political figure of some consequence, being MP for Hertfordshire in the English Parliament of 1679 and in the short-lived Parliament of 1681. His mother Mary was the daughter of Jeremy (Jeremiah) Elwes of Roxby, Lincolnshire.

Bernard was educated at Eton College and Peterhouse, Cambridge, graduating Bachelor of Arts in 1699 and Master of Arts in 1702: he subsequently became a fellow of Peterhouse. He entered Gray's Inn in 1699 and was called to the Bar in 1705. He became one of the leaders of the English Bar, and was one of its top earners. He later transferred to Lincoln's Inn, and was briefly one of its Benchers.

He married Anne Thoresby of Northampton: they had seven children including:-

In 1722 he was appointed Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, and earned a good reputation in Ireland for integrity and efficiency. In 1725 he and his junior Baron, Sir John St Leger, narrowly escaped death when on assize at Monaghan: the roof of Monaghan courthouse, which like many Irish courthouses of the time was in an appalling state of repair, fell in, narrowly missing the judges, who adjourned outside and continued the assize.

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