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,
Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer The Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer was the senior judge who presided over the Court of Exchequer (Ireland). The Irish Exchequer was a mirror of the equivalent court in England and one of the four courts which sat in the building still called The Four Courts. The title Chief Baron was first used in 1309 for Walter de Islip. In the early centuries it was partly a political office, and as late as 1442 the Lord Treasurer of Ireland thought it necessary to recommend that the Chief Baron should always be a properly