Stephen Hales - Life

Life

Stephen Hales was born in 1677 in Bekesbourne, Kent, England. He was the sixth son of Thomas Hales, heir to Baronetcy of Beakesbourne and Brymore, and his wife, Mary (née Marsham), and was one of twelve or possibly thirteen children. Thomas Hales predeceased his father, Sir Robert Hales, and his first son Sir Thomas Hales, 2nd Baronet (Stephen Hales' brother) therefore succeeded to the baronetcy in December 1693.

Hales was educated in Kensington and then at Orpington before attending Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (or St Benedict's as it was then known) in 1696. Although he was an ordinand studying divinity, Hales would have received tuition in the Classics, mathematics, natural sciences and philosophy while in Cambridge. Hales was admitted as a Fellow of Corpus Christi in 1703, the same year as he took the degree of Master of Arts, and was ordained as Deacon at Bugden, Cambridgeshire. He continued his theological and other studies in Cambridge, where he became friends with William Stukeley who was studying medicine. His interest in biology, botany and physiology is presumed to date from that time. In 1709 he was ordained Priest at Fulham and on August 10, 1709 he was appointed 'Perpetual Curate' of the parish of Teddington, Middlesex and left Cambridge, although he retained his Fellowship until 1718. He became a Bachelor of Divinity in 1711. Hales remained in Teddington for the rest of his life, except for occasional visits to his other parishes. He was an assiduous minister – in addition to parish duties he enlarged and repaired the church and commissioned a new water supply for the village – and well regarded although there is some evidence that his experimental work on animal physiology was viewed with misgivings. In 1718 Hales was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and in the same year became Rector of Porlock, Somerset, a post he held alongside the curacy of Teddington. In 1720 he married Mary Newce, but she died the following year probably in childbirth; there were no children and he never remarried. In 1723 he was installed as Rector of Farringdon, Hampshire (which he held alongside Teddington by employing a curate in Farringdon). Hales spent his summers there and became a friend of Gilbert White whose family lived there. Hales' fame as a scientist grew increasingly from 1718 onwards, and by the mid part of the 18th century he had achieved an international reputation. He was one of the eight Foreign Members of the Royal Academy of Sciences, Paris and was elected a member of the Academy of Sciences at Bologna. He received the Copley Medal in 1739 and also became a public figure as a result of his campaigns against the Gin trade and his involvement in the Georgia Trust. He was made a Doctor of Divinity by Oxford University in 1733. In his later years he received frequent visits from Frederick, Prince of Wales and his wife, Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, both of whom were interested in gardening and botany. He gave Princess Augusta advice on the development of Kew Gardens and in 1751 he was appointed Clerk of the Closet to the Princess Dowager, following the death of Prince Frederick, a post he held until his death. At the age of seventy Hales was chosen by the President and Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians to preach the annual Crounian Sermon in the church of St Mary-le-Bow. He selected his favourite topic – "The Wisdom and Goodness of God in the formation of Man". Hales died in his 84th year at Teddington on 4 January 1761 after a short illness. At his own request he was buried under the tower of the church where he had worked for so many years. A monument to Hales was raised by Princess Augusta in the south transept of Westminster Abbey after his death.