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,
Exchequer of Normandy Exchequer of Normandy The Exchequer of Normandy ("Échiquier de Normandie") or Exchequer of Rouen ("Échiquier de Rouen") was the exchequer of the Duchy of Normandy. According to the "Dialogue concerning the Exchequer", in the late twelfth century there were competing views as to the origins of the English Exchequer, with some arguing that it was an Anglo-Saxon institution and other that it post-dated the Norman conquest, but none arguing that it originated in Normandy. By the time of the "Dialogue", however, there was an exchequer in Normandy. In 1315 the Norman Barons pressed a new charter, the "Charte aux Normands"