In November 1545 he proceeded to the degree of bachelor of the civil law;[1] and in 1550 he wrote from All Souls' College to Sir William Cecil, desiring his interest to procure for him the situation of official of the archdeaconry of York.
On 30 January 1585 the queen issued a commission to Dale and Sir Julius Cæsar to exercise admiralty jurisdiction during the vacancy of the office of lord high admiral.
On 20 February 1585 Dale was in the special commission of oyer and terminer for Middlesex, under which Dr. William Parry was arraigned and convicted of high treason.
He assisted at the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots, at Fotheringhay, in October the same year; and to the parliament which met on the 15th of that month he was again returned for Chichester.
In February 1588 Dale, Henry Stanley, 4th Earl of Derby, William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham, Sir James Croft, and John Rogers, were sent as ambassadors to Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma to treat for a league between England and Spain.
He was present as a commissioner at the trial, on 18 April 1580, of Philip Howard, Earl of Arundel, for high treason.