Montagu, Charles, Earl Of Halifax

(1661-1715)

   Born at Horton, Northamptonshire, he was the son of George Montagu and grandson of the first Earl of Manchester. Educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he formed a lifelong friendship with Isaac Newton and from where he graduated M.A. sometime before 1684. He was a member of Parliament for Maldon from 1689 to 1695, and in 1689 became one of the clerks of the Privy Council. He established the Bank of England in 1694, was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, and in 1697 became first lord of the treasury and leader of the House of Commons. In 1714 he was created an earl, but died after only seven months in office. He was buried in the Chapel of Henry VII, Westminster Abbey, in the vault of General Monck (1608-1670). Some of his poems: "An Epistle to the Right Honourable Charles Earl of Dorset and Middlesex," "Ode on the Marriage of Her Royal Highness The Princess Anne, and Prince George of Denmark," "On the Death of His Most Sacred Majesty King Charles II," "The Fable of the Pot and the Kettle," "The Man of Honour."

   Sources: Anthology of Poems on Affairs of State: Augustan Satirical Verse, 1660-1714. George de F. Lord, ed. Yale University Press, 1975. Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). Westminster Abbey Official Guide (no date).