John Hale was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons

House of Commons of England

The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...

  between 1654 and 1660. He fought in the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

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Hale was the eldest son of John Hale, grocer of Soper Lane, London and Harmer Green, Welwyn, Hertfordshire and his wife Elizabeth Browne, daughter of Humphrey Browne of Essex. He was baptised on 19 March 1614 and was six when he succeeded to the family estates on the death of hif father in 1620. In 1643 and 1643 he was colonel of foot in the Parliamentary army.

In 1654, Hale was elected Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Devon

Devon (UK Parliament constituency)

Devon was a parliamentary constituency covering the county of Devon in England. It was represented by two Knights of the Shire, in the House of Commons of England until 1707, then of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and finally the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from...

 in the First Protectorate Parliament

First Protectorate Parliament

The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the House....

.Receiver of tithe, Devon and Cornw. 1655; j.p. Devon 1656-65, He was re-elected MP for Devon in 1656 for the Second Protectorate Parliament

Second Protectorate Parliament

The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons...

. He was commissioner for assessment in 1657. In 1659 he was elected MP for Dartmouth

Dartmouth (UK Parliament constituency)

Dartmouth, also at some times called Clifton, Dartmouth and Hardness, was a parliamentary borough in Devon which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons in 1298 and to the Commons of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom from 1351 until 1832, and then one member from...

 in the Third Protectorate Parliament

Third Protectorate Parliament

The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons...

. He was commissioner for militia in 1659.

Hale was commissioner for assessment from January 1660 to 1680, commissioner for militia in March 1660 and major in the militia horse in April 1660. In April 1660 he was re-elected MP for Dartmouth in the Convention Parliament. He was commissioner for inquiry into Newfoundland govenment in 1667 and JP for Devon from 1667 to 1670 and from Devon 1673 to 1676.

Hale married by 1634, Anne Halswell, daughter of Robert Halswell of Goathurst, Somerset and had three sons and a daughter.