Charles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax
Encyclopedia
Charles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax GCB PC (20 December 1800 – 8 August 1885), known as Sir Charles Wood, 3rd Bt between 1846 and 1866, was a British Whig
Whig
-In the British Isles:* A faction of the Scottish Covenanters during the 17th-century Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and the original Whigs....

 politician and Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...

 from 1846 to 1852.

Background

Halifax was the son of Sir Francis Wood, 2nd Baronet, and his wife Anne, daughter of Samuel Buck. He was educated at Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

 and Oriel College, Oxford, where he studied classics and mathematics.

Political career

A Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 and Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 from 1826 to 1866, Wood served as Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...

 in Lord John Russell's
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, KG, GCMG, PC , known as Lord John Russell before 1861, was an English Whig and Liberal politician who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century....

 government (1846–1852), where he opposed any further help for Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 during the Great Famine there. Wood later served as President of the Board of Control
President of the Board of Control
The President of the Board of Control was a British government official in the late 18th and early 19th century responsible for overseeing the British East India Company and generally serving as the chief official in London responsible for Indian affairs. The position was frequently a cabinet...

 under Lord Aberdeen
George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen
George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen KG, KT, FRS, PC , styled Lord Haddo from 1791 to 1801, was a Scottish politician, successively a Tory, Conservative and Peelite, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1852 until 1855.-Early life:Born in Edinburgh on 28 January 1784, he...

 (1852–1855), as First Lord of the Admiralty in Lord Palmerston's first administration (1855–1858), and as Secretary of State for India
Secretary of State for India
The Secretary of State for India, or India Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister responsible for the government of India and the political head of the India Office...

 in Palmerston's second government (1859–1866). He succeeded to his father's baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...

cy in 1846, and in 1866 he was elevated to the peerage as Viscount Halifax, of Monk Bretton
Monk Bretton
Monk Bretton is a village in the metropolitan borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. It lies approximately two miles north-east from Barnsley town centre.- History :...

 in the West Riding of the County of York.

Wood's despatch

As the President of the Board of Control, Wood did a yeoman's job in spreading education in India when in 1854 he sent a despatch to Lord Dalhousie
James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie
James Andrew Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie KT, PC was a Scottish statesman, and a colonial administrator in British India....

, the then Governor-General of India
Governor-General of India
The Governor-General of India was the head of the British administration in India, and later, after Indian independence, the representative of the monarch and de facto head of state. The office was created in 1773, with the title of Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William...

. It was recommended therein that:
  1. An education department was to be set in every province.
  2. Universities on the model of the London university be established in big cities such as Bombay, Calcuta and Madras.
  3. At least one government school be opened in every district.
  4. Affiliated private schools should be given grant in aid.
  5. The Indian natives should be given training in their mother tongue also.


In accordance with Wood's despatch, Education Departments were established in every province and universities were opened at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras in 1857 and in Punjab in 1882 and at Allahbad 1887.

Family

Lord Halifax married Lady Mary, (3 May 1807 - 6 July 1884), 5th daughter of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey
Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey
Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, KG, PC , known as Viscount Howick between 1806 and 1807, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 22 November 1830 to 16 July 1834. A member of the Whig Party, he backed significant reform of the British government and was among the...

, 29 July 1829 and had four sons and three daughters. Lady Halifax died in 1884. Lord Halifax survived her by just over a year and died in August 1885, aged 84. He was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son Charles, who was the father of E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax
E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax
Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, , known as The Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and as The Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was one of the most senior British Conservative politicians of the 1930s, during which he held several senior ministerial posts, most notably as...

.
Children : Charles Lindley Wood, 2nd Viscount ; Francis Lindley Wood ; Capt R.N.
Henry John Lindley Wood ; Lt Col. Fredrick George Lindley Meynell Wood ; Emily Charlotte Wood ; Alice Louisa Wood ; Blanche Edith Wood (1840 - 21 July 1921) married 21 Sept 1876, Col. Hon. Henry William Lowry-Corry (30 June 1845 - 6 May 1927).

External links

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