Hale Sir Matthew

Hale, Sir Matthew (1609-76), a great English judge, was born at Alderly, Gloucestershire. He studied under Noy at Lincoln's Inn, and made the acquaintance of Selden. He was one of Archbishop Laud's counsel when impeached, and is said also to have advised Strafford. He conformed to the Parliamentary government after the war, and about 1654 became a justice of the Common Pleas. He also sat in Parliament for his own county and Oxford University during the same period, and was a member of several committees both before and after the Restoration, in which he took an active part. He supported the Bill of Indemnity, and made more than one attempt to obtain the "comprehension" of Dissenters within the Church. In 1660 he became Chief Baron of the Exchequer, and in 1671 Lord Chief Justice. As a judge he was renowned for his integrity, his learning, and his patience. There are lives of him by Bishop Burnet and Sir J. Bickerton Williams.