Background
Charles Montagu was born on April 16, 1661. in Horton, Northamptonshire. He was the grandson of Sir Henry Montagu, first Earl of Manchester.
commissioner Financier statesman
Charles Montagu was born on April 16, 1661. in Horton, Northamptonshire. He was the grandson of Sir Henry Montagu, first Earl of Manchester.
Educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge.
In 1687 he collaborated with Matthew Prior in the famous parody The Story of the Country Mouse and the City Mouse.
Halifax was elected to the House of Commons in 1689 as a supporter of the new king William III, and he showed great ability as a debater.
In March 1692 he was made a commissioner of the Treasury. He raised a loan of £1, 000, 000 the beginning of the national debt, and in 1694 secured enactment of a bill that created the Bank of England. As a reward for his financial skill, Halifax was made Chancellor of the Exchequer, and during the years 1695 to 1699 inaugurated a complete recoinage of the English currency.
To tide the country over the consequent shortage of money, he issued exchequer bills of small denominations, an ingenious scheme that was successful in keeping credit alive.
From 1697 to 1699 he was First Lord of the Treasury and in control of the House of Commons, but when the Tory Party gained control he lost his power. In 1701 and again in 1703 he was impeached for malpractices, but the charges failed. As a Whig he supported the accession of George I in 1714 and was made an earl.
Order of the Garter, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, President of the Royal Society
In 1689 he married the Countess Dowager of Manchester.