Neale’s father (d. 1680) fought in the parliamentary army during the Civil War, and married a cousin of Oliver Cromwell†. Neale himself acquired some Worcestershire estates by marriage and held Buckinghamshire estates near Dinton and at Hulcott, near Aylesbury. Having been pricked as sheriff in 1691, possibly instead of his uncle, he was granted leave to reside outside the county. Ironically, his elder brother, John, served as sheriff of Bedfordshire in the same year. Neale’s main property lay elsewhere, however, as in 1692 he purchased the manor of Allesley, near Coventry, and probably built a large mansion there. Indeed, in 1694 he appears to have mortgaged his house and Dinton lands for £2,400 and to have sold them about 1695 to Richard Beke*.2 Whitley, 127–8; VCH Worcs. iii. 117; VCH Warws. vi. 4; VCH Bucks. ii. 343; BL, Verney mss mic. 636/45, John Verney* (later Ld. Fermanagh) to Sir Ralph Verney, 1st Bt.†, 3, 12 Dec. 1691; CSP Dom. 1691–2, p. 37; Top. and Gen. iii. 173.
Neale stood at the Buckinghamshire by-election in February 1696, trailing badly behind the victor. However, at the by-election held the following December, he received extensive Whig support, including that of Lord Wharton (Hon. Thomas*) and Lord Bridgwater (John Egerton†). Such powerful backers outweighed the concerns of some that he was a courtier and a non-resident. Indeed, he was described on one occasion as ‘Neale that lives about Coventry, the same that sold his house and some land belonging to it to Mr Beke’. His parliamentary career was undistinguished, being overshadowed by that of Thomas Neale, and he is known to have been granted leave of absence on 19 Jan. 1697 and 18 Apr. 1698. Wharton put him up again at the general election of 1698, but he finished fourth in the poll. He was listed about September 1698 as one of the members of the Court party ‘left out’ of the new Parliament.3 Luttrell, Brief Relation, iv. 163; Verney mss mic. 636/49, John Verney to William Coleman, 3 Dec. 1696, Bushby to Verney, 12 Dec. 1696.
Neale stood for Coventry in December 1701, at an election notorious for bribery, was subject to a double return, but not seated by the House. He was also defeated at Coventry in 1702, despite spending large sums of money. Neale died on 6 May 1730, and was buried at Allesley, where a monument was erected to him as ‘a zealous asserter of the Protestant religion and the liberty of his country’. His will put Allesley into the hands of trustees to be sold to pay debts, legacies and portions. However, his eldest son, John†, was given a year to purchase the property for £10,500, otherwise it was to be sold to the highest bidder.4 Whitley, 128–32; PCC 198 Auber.