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,
Red Book of the Exchequer misleading publication in the whole range of the Rolls series". The view of modern scholars is that, while Round's behaviour and language was intemperate and unnecessarily offensive, there was a degree of truth in his criticism of Hall's work. In Margaret Procter's words (paraphrasing Sellar and Yeatman), "Round had been shown to be (largely) right but repulsive and Hall as (largely) wrong but romantic". Red Book of the Exchequer The Red Book of the Exchequer ("Liber Rubeus" or "Liber ruber Scaccarii") is a 13th-century manuscript compilation of precedents and office memoranda of the English Exchequer. It contains additional entries and