Chancellor of the Exchequer when James Callaghan was the first chancellor to break with tradition when he used a newer box. Prior to Gladstone, a generic red Despatch Box of varying design and specification was used. The practice is said to have begun in the late 16th century, when Queen Elizabeth I's representative Francis Throckmorton presented the Spanish Ambassador, Bernardino de Mendoza, with a specially constructed red briefcase filled with black puddings. In July 1997, Gordon Brown became the second chancellor to use a new box for the Budget. Made by industrial trainees at Babcock Rosyth Defence Ltd ship and submarine dockyard in Fife,
Stop of the Exchequer had put their money in their hands were ruined by this dishonourable and perfidious action". This seems to have been only a slight exaggeration: the goldsmith bankers were heavily hit, and some of the most prominent, including Edward Blackwell and Robert Viner, went bankrupt. Danby, the Lord Treasurer, promised them compensation, but this was never forthcoming, leading to a lawsuit, "The Goldsmith Bankers case", of almost unheard-of length. Eventually the Court of Exchequer Chamber gave judgment in favour of the bankers, but in 1696 Lord Somers, the Lord Chancellor, reversed the judgment on technical grounds which left a general feeling