William Halifax - Education

Education

The Halifax family purchased a Coronet rank for William in 1798. William was sent to Ireland where he reported to Charles, Earl Cornwallis, an old friend of George Halifax. Having just crushed the Irish uprising, Cornwallis apparently had no desire to have a mere boy on his staff and sent William back to England where he served as an aide to Sir William Howe. For the next six years, until Howe’s retirement, William Halifax served as an aide to the old general, taking notes on their assorted conversations and, as Halifax would admit many years later, “Inspecting coastal Defenses & keeping the good General’s glass full.” In 1802, in reward for these services, Halifax purchased a vacancy for a second lieutenant’s commission. He also was able to study law at the Middle Temple at this time, finishing in the middle of his class.