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Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax

The Right Honourable
The Earl of Halifax
KG PC PRS
1stEarlOfHalifax.jpg
First Lord of the Treasury
In office
13 October 1714 – 19 May 1715
Monarch George I
Preceded by The Duke of Shrewsbury
as Lord High Treasurer
Succeeded by The Earl of Carlisle
In office
1 May 1697 – 15 November 1699
Monarch William III
Preceded by The Earl of Godolphin
Succeeded by The Earl of Tankerville
Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office
3 May 1694 – 15 November 1699
Monarch William III and Mary II
Preceded by Richard Hampden
Succeeded by John Smith
Commissioner of the Treasury
In office
21 March 1692 – 3 May 1694
Monarch William III and Mary II
Preceded by Thomas Pelham
Succeeded by John Smith and William Trumbull
Personal details
Born 16 April 1661
Horton, Northamptonshire
Kingdom of England
Died 19 May 1715(1715-05-19) (aged 54)
Spouse(s) Countess Dowager of Manchester
Relations fifth son of the 1st Earl of Manchester
Profession poet

Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax KG PC PRS (16 April 1661 – 19 May 1715) was an English poet and statesman.

Charles Montagu was born in Horton, Northamptonshire, the son of George Montagu, fifth son of 1st Earl of Manchester. He was educated first in the country, and then at Westminster, where he was chosen as a Queen's Scholar in 1677, and entered into close friendship with George Stepney.

Montagu was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1679, graduated MA in 1682, and became a Fellow of Trinity in 1683. Two portraits of Montagu by Godfrey Kneller are in the college collection.

His relation, Dr. John Montagu, was then Master of Trinity College, and took him under his wing. At Cambridge he began a lasting association with Isaac Newton.

In 1685, Montagu's verses on the death of King Charles II made such an impression on the Earl of Dorset that he was invited to town and introduced to other entertainments. In 1687, Montagu joined with Matthew Prior in "The City Mouse and the Country Mouse," a burlesque of John Dryden's The Hind and the Panther. He sat in the Convention Parliament of 1689. At about the same time he married the Countess Dowager of Manchester, and intended taking Holy Orders, but changed his mind and purchased for £1,500 a position as Clerk of the Council.


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