Montague

Montague, Charles, Earl of Halifax (1661-1715), born at Horton in Northamptonshire, grandson of Henry Montague, 1st Ijarl of Manchester, was educated at Westminster school and Trinity College, Cambridge. He wrote a poem on the death of Charles II., and in 1687, with Prior, The Town and Country Mouse. He was one of the promoters of the Revolution, and in 1692 became a Lord of the Treasury. In 1694 he became Chancellor of the Exchequer, and next year carried out a system of recoinage, making Newton Master of the Mint. In 1696 he introduced exchequer bills, and-then inaugurated our National Debt and assisted in the establishment of the Bank of England. In 1700 be became Lord Halifax. During Queen Anne's reign he was twice impeached by the Tories, and held no office, but was an active advocate of the union with Scotland. George I. conferred on him an earldom and the Order of the Garter. For about six months before his death he was First Lord of the Treasury. He was a poet, but is best known as a financier, a Whig magnate, and the patron of Addison.