Men of Kent and Kentishmen/John Hales
John Hales,
LINGUIST AND CIVILIAN,
Was born at Halden, and liberally educated, though at no University. He became an excellent Latin, Greek and Hebrew scholar, and well skilled in civil law and antiquities. In the reign of Henry VIII. he held the office of Clerk of the Hanaper, and was a Commissioner to enquire into enclosures in the counties of Oxford and Berks. He founded a free school at Coventry, and wrote for the use of the scholars an "Introduction to the Latin Tongue." He was also the author of "A Highway to Nobility," and a translation of "Plutarch's Lives." A pamphlet, however, in favour of the succession of the house of Suffolk, which he wrote, offended Elizabeth, who put him in the Tower. He died in 1572.
[See "Wood's Athenæ Oxon." by Bliss; "Strype's Ecclesiastical Memorials," and "Life of Cranmer."]