John Hely

Sir John Hely (died 7 April 1701) was an English-born judge in Ireland.

He was born in London, eldest son of James Hely. He entered Lincoln's Inn in 1670 and was called to the Bar in 1679.

In 1685 he made an advantageous marriage to Meliora Gorges, daughter of the prominent merchant Ferdinando Gorges of Eye Manor; they had at least five children. Meliora's sister Barbara married Thomas Coningsby, 1st Earl Coningsby, and Hely's rise was almost certainly due to the Coningsby connection:^[1] Coningsby's biographer suggests that Hely was sent to Ireland to strengthen Coningsby's power base in Dublin.^[2] He was appointed Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer in 1690 on the recommendation of Coningsby, who was one of the Lord Justices (Ireland), arrived in Ireland the following year, joined the King's Inns^[3] and was knighted in 1692. He held the office of Commissioner of revenue appeals at the same time.

He lived at Stephen Street in Dublin and had a country house at Ballygall near Finglas. He was a member of the Dublin Philosophical Society.

In 1695 Hely became Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas and acted as Speaker of the Irish House of Lords in 1696-7. Soon afterwards despite his relative youth his health failed; in 1701 although he felt well enough to travel on the spring assizes he fell ill at Ennis and died "after two days sickness".

About 1698 the Irish born writer and publisher John Dunton, on a visit to Dublin, gave a sketch of the Irish judiciary and praised most of them, including Hely, as "men of such reputation that no one complains of them". On the other hand Ball notes that the general reaction to the news of his sudden death seems to have been less grief than a widespread interest in who would be appointed to fill his place.^[4]

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