Charles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax
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The Right Honourable The Viscount Halifax GCB PC |
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| Chancellor of the Exchequer | |
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In office 6 July 1846 – 21 February 1852 |
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| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | Lord John Russell |
| Preceded by | Henry Goulburn |
| Succeeded by | Benjamin Disraeli |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
20 December 1800 Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England |
| Died | 8 August 1885 (aged 84) Hickleton Hall, Doncaster, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Whig |
| Spouse(s) | Lady Mary Grey (d. 1884) |
| Alma mater | Oriel College, Oxford |
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 politician and Member of Parliament. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1846 to 1852.
Halifax was the son of Sir Francis Wood, 2nd Baronet, and his wife Anne, daughter of Samuel Buck. He was educated at Eton and Oriel College, Oxford, where he studied classics and mathematics.
A Liberal and Member of Parliament from 1826 to 1866, Wood served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Lord John Russell's government (1846 –1852), where he opposed any further help for Ireland during the Great Famine there. The extreme parsimony of the British Government towards Ireland while Wood was in charge of the Treasury greatly enhanced the suffering of those affected by famine. Wood believed in the economic policy of Laissez-faire and preferred to leave the Irish to starve rather than 'undermine the market' by allowing in cheap imported grain. In his 1851 budget, Sir Charles liberalized trade, reducing import duties and encouraging consumer goods. Disraeli, a former protectionist, would after Peel's death transform the party into a complex party machine that embraced free trade. In a speech on an interim financial statement on 30 April 1852, Disraeli referred to Wood's influence on economic policy, setting a trend for the way budgets are presented in the Commons. Tariff reduction led to a noticeable increase in consumption: the Conservatives moved from Derby-Bentinck protectionism towards a new politics during 1852. For Wood, a dry old stick, Disraeli was 'petulant and sarcastic', qualities he disliked.
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