Thomas Hale (agriculturist)


Thomas Hale was an 18th-century British writer on agriculture, known from his A Compleat Body of Husbandry, 1756.

Life and work

Little is known about Thomas Hale's life, as no records exist. He probably died around 1756.
His main work was A Compleat Body of Husbandry, published between 1756 and 1758 in four volumes. The work was translated into French by Jean-Baptiste Dupuy-Demportes and published in 1763 as Le gentilhomme cultivateur, ou corps complet d'agriculture.
The British by members of the Royal Society, first published from 1756 to 1768, considered Thomas Hale among the foremost agriculturists of the time. The 3rd edition of The Complete Farmer listed Hale in the subtitle of this work among other foremost authorities, such as Carl Linnaeus, Louis François Henri de Menon, Hugh Plat, John Evelyn, John Mortimer, John Worlidge, Jethro Tull, William Ellis, Philip Miller, Edward Lisle, Roque, John Mills, and Arthur Young.
George Washington owned a copy of A Compleat Body of Husbandry.

Selected publications