Sir Thomas Hales, 3rd Baronet

Sir Thomas Hales, 3rd Baronet (c. 1695 – October 1762), of Beakesbourne in Kent, was an English courtier and Member of Parliament.

Hales was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Hales, 2nd Baronet, of Brymore, and was educated at Oriel College, Oxford. He entered Parliament in 1722 as Whig member for Minehead, being a member of the Duke of Dorset's faction and supporting the Walpole and Pelham governments. He subsequently also represented Camelford, Grampound, Hythe and East Grinstead, being an MP for most of the last forty years of his life.

The only break in his Parliamentary career came in 1741: at the notoriously corrupt rotten borough of Grampound, his opponents had contrived a disagreement over who was the rightful Mayor and therefore returning officer for the constituency. According to their Mayor, Hales and his pro-government colleague Thomas Trefusis were re-elected by 35 votes to 17; however, his opponents had arranged for the Sheriff to direct the writ for the election to their own nominee, so it was his version of the result (declaring Hales and Trefusis defeated by 27 to 23) which was returned to Parliament. Hales and Trefusis initially petitioned against this outcome, but withdrew their protest before a decision had been reached. Hales returned to the Commons at a by-election for Hythe three years later.

Hales held the lucrative post of Clerk of the Board of Green Cloth to the Prince of Wales from about 1719 until 1727, and to the King from his accession in 1727 until 1760. He was also Lieutenant of Dover Castle from 1728 to 1750 and Vice-Warden of the Cinque Ports from 1750 until his death. On the accession of George III in 1760 he lost his posts in the Royal Household, and successfully applied to Prime Minister Newcastle for a pension in recompense, although he was granted only £600 a year in place of the £800 he had asked for.

Hales married Mary Marsham (1698–1769), daughter of Sir Robert Marsham of the Mote, in 1723, and their children included:

He succeeded to his father's baronetcy on 7 January 1748, and died in 1762.

References

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
Robert Mansel
Sir John Trevelyan
Member of Parliament for Minehead
with Robert Mansel 1722-1723
Francis Whitworth 1723-1727

1722–1727
Succeeded by
Francis Whitworth
Alexander Luttrell
Preceded by
The Earl of Drogheda
William sloper
Member of Parliament for Camelford
with John Pitt

1727–1734
Succeeded by
Sir Thomas Lyttelton
James Cholmondeley
Preceded by
Philip Hawkins
Isaac le Heup
Member of Parliament for Grampound
with Philip Hawkins 1734-1739
Thomas Trefusis 1739-1741

1734–1741
Succeeded by
Daniel Boone
William Banks
Preceded by
William Glanville
Captain Hercules Baker
Member of Parliament for Hythe
with William Glanville

1744–1761
Succeeded by
William Glanville
Lord George Sackville
Preceded by
Earl of Middlesex
Lord George Sackville
Member of Parliament for East Grinstead
with Earl of Middlesex

1761–1762
Succeeded by
Earl of Middlesex
John Irwin
Baronetage of England
Preceded by
Thomas Hales
Baronet
(of Beakesbourne)
1748-1762
Succeeded by
Thomas Pym Hales