Harold Hales
Encyclopedia
Sir Harold Keates Hales MP
(22 April 1868 - November 1942) was an eccentric British shipping magnate, politician and founder of the Hales Trophy for the Blue Riband
award for the ship with the record for the fastest transatlantic crossing. He claimed to be the inspiration for the title character of Arnold Bennett
's The Card
. He was the sole proprietor of Hales Brothers, an export and import shipping line.
He was born in Manchester
in 1868. Hales worked in the pottery and china business in the Stoke-on-Trent
area, founding "Hales Brothers", an export and import shipping line, of which he was the sole proprietor.
He first owned a car in 1897, and later bragged that he had never blown his horn, and tried to make it illegal for anyone else to blow theirs. He flew an airship around St. Paul's Cathedral in 1908. In 1910, he was one of thee first people to crash an airplane crashes (1910).
After serving in Turkey during World War I
, he travelled the world promoting British industry.
He was Conservative MP for Hanley
from 1931–1935. He enlivened a House of Commons debate on the herring industry by gesturing with a dead herring as he argued.
In 1935, he inaugurated the "Hales Trophy" for the Blue Riband
award for the ship with the record for the fastest transatlantic crossing. It was commissioned in 1933 and designed by Henry Pidduck & Sons Ltd, silversmiths of Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, at a cost of $4,000.
The Hales Trophy is almost four feet tall, weighing nearly 100 pounds, made of solid silver, onyx and heavy gilt, showing Victory, Neptune and Amphitrite upholding a globe and topped by a figure called Speed urging a liner into the face of a figure called The Force of the Atlantic. An enamelled blue ribbon surrounds the middle of the prize, and there are memorials to past record-holders, with Harold Hales's name at the base.
He died in 1942, accidentally drowning in the Thames, near Shepperton
.
His only son, Ormonde Keates Hales (1915–1979) was a businessman and archaeologist.
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(22 April 1868 - November 1942) was an eccentric British shipping magnate, politician and founder of the Hales Trophy for the Blue Riband
Blue Riband
The Blue Riband is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until after 1910. Under the unwritten rules, the record is based on average speed...
award for the ship with the record for the fastest transatlantic crossing. He claimed to be the inspiration for the title character of Arnold Bennett
Arnold Bennett
- Early life :Bennett was born in a modest house in Hanley in the Potteries district of Staffordshire. Hanley is one of a conurbation of six towns which joined together at the beginning of the twentieth century as Stoke-on-Trent. Enoch Bennett, his father, qualified as a solicitor in 1876, and the...
's The Card
The Card
The Card is a short comedic novel written by Arnold Bennett in 1911, . It was later made into a 1952 movie starring Alec Guinness and Petula Clark. It chronicles the rise of Edward Henry Machin from washerwoman's son to Mayor of Bursley...
. He was the sole proprietor of Hales Brothers, an export and import shipping line.
He was born in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
in 1868. Hales worked in the pottery and china business in the Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
area, founding "Hales Brothers", an export and import shipping line, of which he was the sole proprietor.
He first owned a car in 1897, and later bragged that he had never blown his horn, and tried to make it illegal for anyone else to blow theirs. He flew an airship around St. Paul's Cathedral in 1908. In 1910, he was one of thee first people to crash an airplane crashes (1910).
After serving in Turkey during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, he travelled the world promoting British industry.
He was Conservative MP for Hanley
Hanley (UK Parliament constituency)
Hanley was a borough constituency in Staffordshire which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom between 1885 and 1950. Elections were held using the first past the post voting system.- History :...
from 1931–1935. He enlivened a House of Commons debate on the herring industry by gesturing with a dead herring as he argued.
In 1935, he inaugurated the "Hales Trophy" for the Blue Riband
Blue Riband
The Blue Riband is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until after 1910. Under the unwritten rules, the record is based on average speed...
award for the ship with the record for the fastest transatlantic crossing. It was commissioned in 1933 and designed by Henry Pidduck & Sons Ltd, silversmiths of Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, at a cost of $4,000.
The Hales Trophy is almost four feet tall, weighing nearly 100 pounds, made of solid silver, onyx and heavy gilt, showing Victory, Neptune and Amphitrite upholding a globe and topped by a figure called Speed urging a liner into the face of a figure called The Force of the Atlantic. An enamelled blue ribbon surrounds the middle of the prize, and there are memorials to past record-holders, with Harold Hales's name at the base.
He died in 1942, accidentally drowning in the Thames, near Shepperton
Shepperton
Shepperton is a town in the borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, England. To the south it is bounded by the river Thames at Desborough Island and is bisected by the M3 motorway...
.
His only son, Ormonde Keates Hales (1915–1979) was a businessman and archaeologist.
Publications
- "Harold's Adventures", his autobiography (1926)
- "Chariots Of The Air" (1936)
- "The Road To Westminster, And My Impressions Of Parliament" (1936)
- "The Autobiography Of 'The Card'" (1936)
- "Keeling And Son" (1938)