Harold Hales

Harold Keates Hales (22 April 1868 – 7 November 1942) was a 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. Known for his eccentricity, he was 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.

Early life and education He was born in Manchester in 1868, to Lewis George Hales, a draper, and Sarah Elizabeth Keates. Hales was educated in Manchester and Burslem, where his schoolmate was Arnold Bennett. Bennett later admitted that Hales was the inspiration for the title character in The Card. accidentally drowning in the River Thames, near Shepperton. His body was recovered on 8 December in Weybridge.

He married Ethel King. Their 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)