The Wax Seal Collection — MSS. Hale-Marsh

The seals below are reproduced from impressions found attached to documents in the MSS. Hale-Marsh Collection, or from matrices (the seal stamps themselves) found loose in the deed-box. The heraldic descriptions follow the standard conventions of the Bodleian's seal catalogue. The translations of the Latin inscriptions are the editors'. Hover or tap each seal for the full archival record.

— E.V., Oxford, 2024

Early Hale Seal

c. 1072 · Red wax · 38mm diameter

An early seal associated with the first Hale generation. Cross pattée over a crenellated tower.

Seal of Thomas Hale

c. 1370 · Dark red wax · Vesica form · 48×32mm

Standing figure, robes, lily sceptre. Vesica form — typically ecclesiastical or noble.

Seal of William Hale, Esquire

c. 1521 · Black wax · 44mm diameter

Armorial shield — chevron between three mullets. Used on the 1521 hall rebuilding deed.

Seal of Capt. Thomas Hale, broken

c. 1642 · Dark red wax · Cracked in three places

Found in two pieces in the deed-box. Sword and cross. Used on his last letter home before Edgehill.

Seal of Richard Hale, Esq.

c. 1741 · Red wax · Oval · 42×38mm

Monogram RH in cartouche. Used on estate correspondence during the Georgian period.

Seal of Augusta Hale

c. 1823 · Red wax · 40mm · Personal seal

Beehive (skep) device. Motto: industria opes — "by industry, wealth." Augusta's personal seal, not the estate seal.

Seal of Edmund Hale

c. 1865 · Black wax · Octagonal matrix · 38mm

Plain initial E. No heraldic device. Edmund's own choice — a departure from the family's armorial tradition.

Wafer seal — unimprinted

c. 1878–1882 · Red wax wafer · 30mm · No impression

Found sealing the outer sheet containing the two unsent letters (MSS. VII, items 37–39). No matrix was pressed into it. It is, and remains, blank.

Bodleian Accession Seal

1924 · Blue wax · 42mm · Institutional seal

Impressed on the outer wrapping of the collection on accession. Open book device. Not a family seal — the library's own mark.