Background
Edward Frederick Lindley Wood was born at Powderham Castle, near Exeter, England, on Apr. 16, 1881. Died on Dec. 23, 1959, at Garrowby Hall, near York.
Edward Frederick Lindley Wood was born at Powderham Castle, near Exeter, England, on Apr. 16, 1881. Died on Dec. 23, 1959, at Garrowby Hall, near York.
He grew up in the tradition of the country gentleman, attended Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, and was elected a Fellow of All Souls, to which college he remained attached most of his later life.
In 1910 Edward Frederick Lindley Wood was elected to Parliament on the Conservative ticket for the constituency of Ripon, Yorkshire. During World War I he served in France with the Yorkshire Dragoons. He was Parliamentary Undersecretary for the Colonies from 1921 to 1922, president of the Board of Education in the cabinet of Stanley Baldwin from 1922 to 1924, and Minister of Agriculture from 1924 to 1925. He was raised to the peerage in 1925 as Baron Irwin of Kirkby Underdale, and the following year succeeded Lord Reading as Viceroy and Governor General of India. His work there earned the respect of Mohandas K. Gandhi and paved the way for the Round Table Conference on India. Returning to England in 1931 he became president of the Board of Education, and in 1934 succeeded his father as Lord Halifax. He was Secretary of War in 1935, Lord Privy Seal from 1935 to 1937, leader of the House of Lords from 1935 to 1938, and Lord President of the Council from 1937 to 1938. In 1938 he succeeded Anthony Eden as foreign secretary, assuming office at the height of the Munich crisis, and his name suffered from association with the Chamberlain policy of appeasement. Three years later he was appointed ambassador to the United States. During his five years as wartime ambassador he successfully furthered British interests in this country, and his handling of such matters as Lend-Lease, the joint command, and United Nations issues, together with his genuine interest in America and its people, earned for him the esteem of both official Washington and the American public. In 1944 he was created first earl of Halifax in his line. He retired in 1946.
biography of John Keble, "The Great Opportunity", "Indian Problems", "Speeches on Foreign Policy", an autobiography "Fullness of Days'
Spouse 1909, Lady Dorothy Evelyn Augusta Onslow, y.daughter of 4th Earl of Onslow.
Honourable.