John Hele (died 1608)

Arms of Hele: Argent, five fusils in pale gules on the middle one a leopard's face or

Sir John Hele (c.1541–1608)[1] of Wembury in Devon, was a serjeant-at-law, Recorder of Exeter (1592-1605) and a Member of Parliament for Exeter. He purchased the manors of Yealmpton and Wembury[2] in Devon and from Sir Robert Prideaux (1550-post 1603)[3] the estate of Orcheton, Modbury.[4] His effigy survives in Wembury Church.

Career

He was the fourth son of Nicholas Hele, of South Hele, Devon, by his second wife, Margery, daughter of Richard Down of Holsworthy in the same county, and was born about 1543. One of his elder brothers was Thomas I Hele (d.1613) of Exeter and of Flete, Holbeton, Sheriff of Devon in 1600-1.[5][6]

He became a member of the Inner Temple and eventually Lent reader, and from 1592 to 1601 he was Member of Parliament for Exeter, of which he was recorder from 14 July 1592 to the beginning of 1606.[7]

In November 1594 Hele became a serjeant-at-law, and was appointed queen's serjeant 16 May 1602. At the beginning of the reign James I of England his patent was renewed, and he was knighted. In November 1603 Hele was employed as king's serjeant at the trial of Sir Walter Raleigh.[7]

Moneylending and reputation

Around 1600 Hele had a high reputation, but then personal attacks on him started. Through his making of loans, and attempting to have them repaid, he exposed himself to attacks from the direction of Sir Thomas Egerton. Egerton's clients ran a successful personal "vendetta"; Hele had hoped to succeed Egerton as Master of the Rolls, but the outcome of his intrigues was quite different.[1]

Hele lost a large sum in 1601 through the attainder of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, and a key ally at court too. He was also a creditor on a large scale of Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham, and Egerton himself was in debt Hele.[1] In 1602 he went circuit with Francis Gawdy, making himself "odious and ridiculous", according to the gossip circulated by the letter-writer John Chamberlain.[7] Cobham was then caught up in the Main Plot of 1603, while Hele was thought to have taken advantage of his legal position to have Cobham repay him.[1]

A petition was presented to the Privy Council by Sir William Dethick, Garter king-at-arms, accusing Hele of violent conduct to him in public, and Hele hardly denied it.[7] The Council investigated Hele in 1604, and the matter went to a Star Chamber prosecution. The finding went against Hele on the grounds that he had gone outside due process in dealing with Cobham; the outcome was that he was suspended from office, fined, and imprisoned for six weeks.[1]

Last years

On 8 February 1608 Hele obtained a dispensation, on grounds of age, from attendance as serjeant. He had amassed a fortune, and bought an estate at Wembury, to build a mansion-house near Plymouth, where he founded a boys' hospital in Plymouth. He also had a house at Kew, and owned the manor of Shirford, Knighton hundred, Warwickshire.[7]

Hele died on 4 June 1608, and was buried in Wembury Church, where a monument gave his age as 66. His will was proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury 1 October 1608.[7]

Family

Hele married Mary, daughter of Ellis Warwick of Holbeton, by whom he had eight sons and two daughters.[8] The eldest son was Sir Warwick Hele, and John Hele, Member of Parliament for Plympton Erle was the second son.[7][9] Philippa, one of the daughters, married Sir Reginald Mohun, 1st Baronet as his second wife.[10]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Powell, D. X. "Hele, John". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/12871. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ↑ Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, p.200
  3. ↑ Vivian, p.617
  4. ↑ Prince, John, (1643–1723) The Worthies of Devon, 1810 edition, London, p.650; Pole, pp.311-12
  5. ↑ Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.308
  6. ↑ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, pp.461,464,466, pedigree of Hele
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7  Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sidney, eds. (1891). "Hele, John". Dictionary of National Biography. 25. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  8. ↑ historyofparliamentonline.org, John Hele I
  9. ↑ historyofparliamentonline.org, John Hele II
  10. ↑  Lee, Sidney, ed. (1894). "Mohun, John (1592?-1640)". Dictionary of National Biography. 38. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sidney, eds. (1891). "Hele, John". Dictionary of National Biography. 25. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 

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