Lord William Hale, usually referred to simply as Lord William, is the main antagonist of the Bernard Cornwell novel Sharpe's Trafalgar.
Biography[]
Lord William Hale was a member of the Board of Control, monitoring the activities of the East India Company. He had married Grace, a member of a poor aristocratic family twenty years his junior, but their only son had died in infancy. He harboured ambitions to be prime minister and hoped that his report on the situation in India would be his stepping stone. In 1805, he set off for England aboard the Calliope, having previously been ferried by Captain Joel Chase of the HMS Pucelle.
Hale was immediately condescending towards fellow passenger Ensign Richard Sharpe, not considering anyone risen from the ranks worth his attention. He was similarly dismissive of noted military men Sir Arthur Wellesley and Lord Nelson, as well as the whole threat of the French, believing the matter would resolve itself without British involvement and they should protect their own interests.
When the Calliope's captain Peculiar Cromwell and Anthony Pohlmann sold the ship to the French, Hale found himself a prisoner aboard the now prize ship. When the ship's captain Lieutenant Bursay attempted to rape Grace, Hale made only a token attempt to stop him, relying on Sharpe to save her. The Calliope was recaptured by the Pucelle, which was pursuing their attackers, the Revenant. Hale insisted he accompany Chase, feeling it was his best hope of getting back to England speedily.
Lord William's secretary Malachi Braithwaite died in an apparent accident but Hale correctly deduced he had been killed by Sharpe, having learned that Sharpe and Grace were having an affair and tried to blackmail Grace. Hale kept the information to himself, needling Sharpe by asking his opinion on the situation in India.
As the Pucelle joined the British fleet engaging the French at Trafalgar, Lord William and Grace took cover below decks. He presented Grace with the letter Braithwaite had left him revealing the affair and realised Grace was pregnant with Sharpe's child. He revealed his intention to kill Grace, making it look like suicide, and then ruin Sharpe's career and have him hanged. Before he could do so, Grace killed him in self-defence with a pistol Sharpe had left her. Sharpe and his friend Clouter moved Hale's body up on deck, making it look as though he had died in the battle.
