Tomb of Judge Hale at St Stephen's church in Canterbury

The Hales were a prominent Catholic family in Canterbury. They established the only place of Catholic worship in the area in the 16th century. This is a memorial to Sir John Hales, his wife Alice, and his uncle Sir John Hales, who was a judge of the Court of Common Pleas during the reign of Henry VIII. The judge was mentally disturbed and drowned himself. This monument may have been an attempt by his family to be absolve him of the sin of suicide.