Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax (16 April 1881 – 23 December 1959), known as the 1st Baron Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and the 3rd Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was a British Conservative politician of the 1930s. He held several senior ministerial posts during this time, most notably those of Viceroy of India from 1926 to 1931 and of Foreign Secretary between 1938 and 1940. He was one of the architects of the policy of appeasement of Adolf Hitler in 1936–1938, working closely with Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. After Kristallnacht on 9–10 November 1938 and the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, he was one of those who pushed for a new policy of attempting to deter further German aggression by promising to go to war to defend Poland.
Halifax was the leading candidate to succeed Chamberlain as prime minister early in May 1940, but effectively declined the position as he felt he would be little more than a figurehead with Winston Churchill running the war (Halifax's membership in the House of Lords was given as the official reason). A few weeks later, with the Allies nearing catastrophic defeat and British forces falling back to Dunkirk, Halifax favoured approaching Italy to see if acceptable peace terms could be negotiated. He was overruled by Churchill after a series of stormy meetings of the War cabinet. From December 1940 to May 1946, he served as British Ambassador to the United States.
Early life and education Wood was born on 16 April 1881 at Powderham Castle in Devon at the home of his maternal grandfather, William Courtenay, 11th Earl of Devon. He was born into a Yorkshire family, the sixth child and fourth son of Charles Wood, 2nd Viscount Halifax (1839–1934), and Lady Agnes Elizabeth Courtenay (1838–1919). His father was President of the English Church Union, which pushed for ecumenical reunion, in 1868, 1919, and 1927–1934. His great-grandfather was Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, of tea fame, also the prime minister who introduced the Reform Act 1832.Matthew 2004, p. 81.
Between 1886 and 1890, Wood's three older brothers died young, leaving him, at the age of nine, heir to his father's fortune and seat in the House of Lords.Roberts 1991, p. 10. He was brought up in a world of religion and hunting. His religiosity as a devout Anglo-Catholic like his father earned him the nickname, possibly coined by Churchill, of the "Holy Fox". He was born with an atrophied left arm and no left hand, which did not stop him from enjoying riding, hunting and shooting. He had an artificial left hand with a spring-operated thumb, with which he could hold reins or open gates.Roberts 1991, p. 9.
Wood's childhood was divided mainly between two houses in Yorkshire: Hickleton Hall, near Doncaster, and Garrowby. He attended St David's Prep School from September 1892 and Eton College from September 1894. He was not happy at school as he was not talented either at sport or classics. He went up to Christ Church, Oxford, in October 1899. He took no part in student politics but blossomed academically, graduating with a first class degree in Modern History. Whilst at Oxford he was a member of the private all-male dining society the Bullingdon Club, known for its wealthy members, grand banquets, and bad behaviour.
He was on 11 April 1900 commissioned a second lieutenant in the Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons, a West Riding volunteer cavalry regiment.
From November 1903 until 1910, he was a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. After a year at All Souls, he went on a Grand Tour of South Africa, India, Australia and New Zealand with Ludovic Heathcoat-Amory. In 1905, he returned to England for two years of study at All Souls.Matthew 2004, p. 82. He visited Canada in 1907.Roberts 1991, p. 11. He wrote a short biography of the Victorian cleric John Keble (1909).Matthew 2004, p. 82.
Early political career and war service Wood had not stood in the 1906 UK general election, at which the Liberals won a landslide victory, choosing to devote his energies to his All Souls Fellowship. By 1909, the political tides had turned enough for Wood to put himself forward for the Conservative candidacy at Ripon in Yorkshire, and he was easily selected through local influence.Roberts 1991, pp. 11–12. Ripon had gone Liberal in 1906; Wood won it with a 1,000 vote majority in January 1910 and held it with a reduced majority in December 1910. He remained Member of Parliament for Ripon until his elevation to the Lords in 1925. He was a Ditcher (i.e. opposed to the bitter end and ready to "die in the last ditch" to defend the House of Lords' right to veto legislation) in the disputes over the Parliament Act 1911 but really made little impact on politics before 1914. He was vigorously opposed to Welsh Disestablishment.
Before the First World War, Wood was already a captain in the volunteer regiment Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons. He made a rare intervention in debate, urging that conscription be introduced immediately. He was sent to the front line in 1916. In January 1917 he was mentioned in despatches ("Heaven Knows What For" he wrote). He rose to the rank of major. He was then deputy director of Labour Supply at the Ministry of National Service from November 1917 to the end of 1918. He was initially sympathetic to Lord Lansdowne's proposal for a compromise peace, but ultimately demanded all-out victory and a punitive peace.
Wood was unopposed in the UK general elections of 1918, 1922, 1923, and 1924. He was a signatory to the April 1919 Lowther Petition calling for harsher peace terms against Germany in the Treaty of Versailles then being negotiated. In the 1918–1922 Parliament, Wood was an ally of Samuel Hoare, Philip Lloyd-Greame and Walter Elliot, all ambitious younger MPs in favour of progressive reform.
In 1918, Wood and George Lloyd (later Lord Lloyd) wrote "The Great Opportunity", a tract aiming to set an agenda for a revived Conservative and Unionist Party following the end of the Lloyd George coalition. They urged the Conservative Party to concentrate on the welfare of the community rather than the good of the individual. With the Irish War of Independence then in progress Wood urged a federal solution. At this time he concentrated on housing and agriculture and Ireland.Matthew 2004, p. 83.
Early ministerial career In May 1920, Wood accepted the Governor-Generalship of South Africa; the offer was withdrawn after the South African government announced that it wanted a cabinet minister or a member of the royal family. In April 1921, he was appointed Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, under Churchill who was initially reluctant to meet him (on one occasion he stormed into Churchill's office and told him that he "expected to be treated like a gentleman"). In the winter of 1921–1922, Wood visited the British West Indies and wrote a report for Churchill.
On 16 October 1922, Wood attended the meeting of the junior ministers who expressed disquiet at the Lloyd George Coalition. On 19 October 1922, he voted at the Carlton Club meeting for the Conservatives to fight the next election as an independent force. The Coalition ended and Bonar Law formed a purely Conservative government. Wood was promoted to the Cabinet on 24 October 1922 as President of the Board of Education. Some saw this as an improvement in the moral character of the government. Austerity policies left no room for constructive policies. Wood, who spent two days hunting each week, was neither interested nor particularly effective in the job but saw it as a stepping stone to greater things. He was not happy about Stanley Baldwin's adoption of tariffs in December 1923, which saw the Conservatives lose their majority and give way to a minority Labour government.
When the Conservatives were returned to power on 6 November 1924, Wood was appointed Minister for Agriculture, a more onerous job than Education had been. He took an Agriculture and Tithes Bill through the Commons.
Viceroy of India
In October 1925, Lord Birkenhead, Secretary of State for India, offered Wood the job of Viceroy of India at the suggestion of King George V. His grandfather Sir Charles Wood had been Secretary of State for India in 1859–1865. He almost declined, as he had two sons of school age and his aged father seemed unlikely to live until 1931 when his term was due to end. He accepted on the advice of his father (who lived to see him return). He was created Baron Irwin, of Kirby Underdale in the County of York, in December 1925. He left for India on 17 March 1926, and arrived in Bombay on 1 April 1926. Irwin was honoured with the GCSI and GCIE in 1926.Matthew 2004, p. 84.
Irwin relished the pomp of the viceroyalty. He was an able horseman, and stood 6' 5". He had a "Cecilian stoop and sympathetic kindly eyes" and gave an impression of a Prince of the Church (R. Bernays Naked Fakir 1931). Several attempts were made to assassinate him. He was more sympathetic to Indians than his predecessors had been, although he had no compunctions about signing death warrants when he thought them justified. He wanted Indians to be more united and friendly to the UK; his first major speech as viceroy, and several more throughout his term of office, urged an end to communal violence between Hindus and Muslims.
Simon Commission The Government of India Act 1919 had incorporated the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms ("Diarchy" – shared rule between British and Indians at the local level) and had promised that after ten years there would be a commission to inquire about a new constitution and to advise on whether further reforms were needed. Irwin accepted that greater self-government was necessary, as Indian national aspirations had grown since 1919. Birkenhead brought forward the date of the commission, and put it under Sir John Simon. Irwin recommended an all-British inquiry, as he thought that the Indian factions would not agree among themselves but would fall into line behind the results of the inquiry. David Dutton believes that this was "the most fateful mistake of his viceroyalty, and one he came bitterly to regret".
In November 1927, the composition of the Simon Commission was announced. All the leading Indian parties, including the Indian National Congress, boycotted it. Irwin assured Birkenhead that Simon could win over moderate Indian opinion. Simon arrived in Bombay on 3 February 1928. He achieved some limited successes, but Irwin became convinced that a new gesture would be necessary. Indian responses to Simon's arrival included the All-Parties Conference, a committee of which produced the Nehru Report (May 1928), advocating dominion status for India. However, there was also violence, including the death of Lala Lajpat Rai in November 1928 and the revenge attack of Bhagat Singh in December 1928. Other responses included the Muslim League leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah's 14 points (March 1929).
Irwin Declaration