FAMILY
Though genealogists have long believed that Nicholas de Hales came from the Norfolk family, no one knows the identity of Nicholas' father.
As names were usually passed down through the generations, the biggest clue may be that Nicholas named his sons "Nicholas" and "Robert." A search of Norfolk's Feet of Fines reveals that a Robert de Hales was involved in three real estate purchases between between 1295 and 1304, which means he is the most likely candidate to have been Nicholas de Hales' father.
DNA SUPPORT OF A NORFOLK ORIGIN
While the results of a recent DNA test by Living DNA closely parallel most of my known genealogy, there were a few exceptions. One was the 2.9% of my overall genetic make-up that corresponds to samplings from East Anglia. The only known connection I have to that area is our proposed descent from the Hales family that takes it name from a Manor in Norfolk.
REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS
The first record we have of Robert de Hales and his brother John, a clerk, is a real estate transaction from Hales, Norfolk, described in A Short Calendar of the Feet of Fines for Norfolk: In the Reigns of Richard I, John, Henry III & Edward I:
"In the 23rd year of King Edward I (1295/6) - transaction 684. John de Hales, clericus, and Robert his brother, v. Jordan de London de Hales and Katherine his wife, by William Frede of Kirkeby, in Hales."
WHO WAS THEIR FATHER?
Robert, John and Henry de Hales (who appears in another transaction, below) appear to have been born in the 1270s, when Roger de Hales held Loddin Hales.
Though they were most likely related, it seems unlikely that Roger was the trio's father because his John,came into possession of the family estate the previous year (22 of Edward I - 16 November 1294 – 7 July 1295). This John was a lord - not a cleric.
The "Le Grys" ancestry chart in the Norfolk visitations, compiled during the 16th and 17th centuries, states Roger was the son of Ranulphus (Ralph) and Dameta de Hales. The problem being that in Ranulph de Hales 1346 Inquisition Post Mortem, it states his son Roger was only about 8 years old. So, this was definitely not the Roger mentioned in the late 13th century.
ROGER DE HALES:
While it seems likely that Robert, John and Henry de Hales were related to the more famous Roger de Hales, any statements beyond that are pure speculation.
What we do know is that with the advent of Roger, the Hales family rose out of obscurity.
In LOVE MATCHES AND CONTRACTED MISERY:THOMAS OF BROTHERTON AND HIS DAUGHTERS, Brad Verity writes that Roger de Hales "held two of the Loddon manors, Loddon Hall and Hales Hall, about 12 miles southeast of Norwich, as well as manors in Roughton and Metton, about 15 miles north of Norwich. There were other lands the family held, for example in Wacton and Forncett, several miles west of the Loddon manors, and all were held of the earl of Norfolk."
MILITARY SERVICE IN SCOTLAND IN 1297
Roger de Hales was one of the more prominent in a contingent of 130 knights that Roger Bigod, the earl of Norfolk, led off to Scotland in the winter of 1297. HIs name was one of the 29 of Bigod's most prestigious knights listed in the following pipe roll, released at Stirling castle in 1304:
"Writ de intendendo in favour of Roger le Bygod, earl of Norfolk and marshal of England, directed to John de Duvedale, William de Ros of Hamelak, Peter Bozoun, Roger de Hales, Robert de Ebroicis, Catherine Giffard, John de Thorp, Richerus de Refham, Robert de Asphale, William de Curzon, John de Wyklawe, Roger son of Osbert, John son of Richard, Hugh Bardolf, Roger Clerbaud, William Vis de lou, John le Bygod, Robert de Reydoii, William Butevilein, Nicholas Pecche, Reginald de Grey, Gilbert de la Hawe, Ruiph de Burtoft, John Bluet, Oliver de Tudenham, Nicholas de Segravc, Robert de Scales, John de Weylaund, Robert de Panes, Giles de JBrewosa, Walter de Bermyngham, Andrew de Sakevtll, Robert de Ufford, Robert de Upton, Adam Waleys, William de Boyvill, John de Boyvill and William de Haveryate, with respect to their fealties and other services of knights' fees which they hold of the said earl, the king having restored to him in fee simple all his castles, towns, manors, lands and tenements which he held in fee in England mid Wales, with knights' fees, advowsons of religious houses and churches, liberties and appurtenances, all which (except his manors of Suthfcld, co. Norfolk, Dovercurt, co. Essex, and Kenet, co.Cambridge) the earl lately by a writing quit-claimed to the king.
They were part of the army that King Edward I led north after William Wallace shattered the English army of occupation at Stirling Bridge. Bigod was paid 2 shillings for every knight in his service, and after their tour was over he decided to stay on at his own expense during the summer.
The earls of Norfolk and Hereford commanded the first division of knights that charged at the battle of Falkirk on on 22 July 1298. The Scottish patriot William Wallace drew his troops up behind marshy ground. If the English had been foolish enough to make a frontal assault, they would have been quickly bogged down. Instead, the rearmost knights of Bigod’s division circled around to scatter the Scots cavalry. (This battle was really won by the English archers, whose arrows relentlessly culled Wallace's pike divisions.)
Bigod retired after this, naming the king as his heir in return for a relief from debt.
TWO MORE REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS
Robert de Hales name appears in two more real estate transactions after that. A Short Calendar of the Feet of Fines for Norfolk: In the Reigns of Richard I, John, Henry III & Edward I:
"In the 27th year of Edward I (1299/1300) - 767. Henry de Hales and Robert his brother. *John Le Mazun of Gernemeuta and Mabill his wife, by John fil' John Le Mazun, in Hales and Ravenyngham."
"In the 31st year of Edward I (1303/4) - transaction 913. *Philip de Verly and Juliana his wife, by Robert de Hales, V. Mag'r Richard de Ely, parson of the church of Tytleshale, and William de Patesle, by William de Fynchyngfeld, of the manor and advowson of Tytleshale."
Two of the three transactions mentioned above were in the village of Hales, beside the Hales family's ancestral seat at Loddin-Hales. Robert's brother John de Hales, a clerk, was a partner in the first purchase. Another brother, Henry, joined him fo the second. The only transaction where Robert de Hales acted alone was in the distant manor and advowson of Tytleshale.
ROGER DE HALES: NORFOLK'S CROWN CORONER
His proposed brother Roger de Hales was appointed Crown Coroner for Norfolk in 1303 and that same year suffered an attack during the course of his duties
"the king directed a commission of oyer and terminer to Henry de Spigurnel and Robert de Retford, touching Geoffrey Kempe, John Graunt, John Gerard and Robert Topyn of Norwich, and the whole community of that town, who assaulted Roger de Hales, coroner of the county of Norfolk, in the execution of his office on a body found dead in a place in Norwich called Tomeland and Ratounerawe, assaulted Richard de Hakeford, bailiff of the kings hundred of Bloufeld, and other men of that hundred who were there by summons of the bailiff, made on the mandate of the coroner in the kings name, snatched the coroners rolls from his hands, tore and trampled them, and prevented his exercising his office."
His subsequent career is mentioned in two records from the Calendar of Close Rolls:
"29 July 1309, To the sheriff of Norfolk. Order to cause a coroner for that county to be elected in place of Roger de Hales, who is insufficiently qualified."
"19 June 1313, To the sheriff of Norfolk. Order to cause a coroner for that county to be elected in place of Roger de Hales, deceased."
ALICE, THE MOST FAMOUS HALES OF THIS GENERATION
Roger de Hales' four children - John, Jane, Matilda and Alice - were all minors at the time of his death. Alice was to become the most famous, after she caught the eye of Thomas of Brotherton, the earl of Norfolk. They were married sometime after 1318 (when the earl came of age!)
"…and the seid Thomas Brodirton, Erle of Norfolke, cam down into Norfolke and ther hewedded a knyght’s doughter fast by Bungey and they hadden togedir ij dowters”. (Book of Pleas)
If he was still alive, Robert de Hales would have also seen the manor pass to his nephew John de Hales.
We do not know if he was in the Hales contingent that followed Thomas of Brotherton to Harwich in September 1326. Queen Isabella and her lover, Sir Roger Mortimer, were leading a rebellion against King Edward II. The rebel army proceeded towards London. There was no battle, as the king fled and subsequently abdicated.
The beautifull Alice de Hales died sometime after this.
Her husband Thomas of Brotherton lived on until 1338. Then his daughter Margaret ( granddaughter of Roger de Hales) became the Countess of Norfolk.
While it is not certain how he and his wife Dametta were related to this family, Ralph's Post Mortem was 13 miles from the village of Hales, in Harlestone. They owned tenements in Redenhale, Mendham and Stirston and held the manor of Huntingfeld, of the Duke of Suffolk, by service of 2s yearly.