Sir John Hely was an English-born Irish judge.

He was born in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, eldest son of James Hely and was called to the Bar in 1679. He made an advantageous marriage to Meliora Gorges, daughter of the prominent merchant Ferdinando Gorges of Eye Manor

Eye Manor

Eye Manor, at Eye, Herefordshire, is a Grade I listed Carolean manor house between Ludlow and Leominster that is considered amongst the finest small Restoration houses in England with important plasterwork ceilings.-History:...

. Meliora's sister Barbara married Thomas Coningsby

Thomas Coningsby

Sir Thomas Coningsby was an English soldier and Member of Parliament, notable for his diary of military action in France in 1591.-Birth:...

, Ist Earl Coningsby

Earl Coningsby

Earl Coningsby was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1719 for Thomas Coningsby, 1st Baron Coningsby, with remainder to his eldest daughter , Margaret Newton, 1st Viscountess Coningsby, and the heirs male of her body. He was the great-grandson of the soldier and politician...

, and Hely's rise seems to have been due to the connection. He was appointed Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer in 1690 on the recommendation of Coningsby,one of the Lord Justices for Ireland. In 1695 he became Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas

Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas

The Chief Justice of the Common Pleas for Ireland was the senior judge of the Court of Common Pleas ,known in its early stage as the Common Bench or simply Bench, one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of Common Pleas in England...

. Soon afterwards despite his relative youth his health failed; in 1701 although he felt well enough to travel on the spring assizes he fell ill at Ennis

Ennis

Ennis is the county town of Clare in Ireland. Situated on the River Fergus, it lies north of Limerick and south of Galway. Its name is a shortening of the original ....

and died.