| Honorific-Prefix: | The Right Honourable |
| The Earl of Halifax | |
| Honorific-Suffix: | DL |
| Term Start: | 23 December 1959 |
| Term End: | 19 March 1980 Hereditary peerage |
| Office1: | Member of Parliament for York |
| Term Start1: | 6 May 1937 |
| Term End1: | 15 June 1945 |
| Predecessor1: | Roger Lumley |
| Successor1: | John Corlett |
| Birth Name: | Charles Ingram Courtenay Wood |
| Birth Date: | 3 October 1912 |
| Birth Place: | Garrowby, Yorkshire, England |
| Death Place: | Garrowby Hall, Yorkshire, England |
| Nationality: | British |
| Party: | Conservative |
| Alma Mater: | Christ Church, Oxford |
| Spouse: | Ruth Primrose |
| Children: | 3, including Peter |
| Parents: | Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax Lady Dorothy Onslow |
Charles Ingram Courtenay Wood, 2nd Earl of Halifax, (3 October 1912 – 19 March 1980), 4th Viscount Halifax of Monk Bretton, 6th Baronet Wood of Barnsley in the County of York, and 2nd Baron Irwin of Kirby Underdale in the County of York, was a British peer, Conservative politician, Lord Lieutenant of Humberside and High Steward of York Minster.
Wood was the son of Edward Wood M.P., a Conservative politician, later created Earl of Halifax, Viceroy of India, and Foreign Secretary, by his marriage to Lady Dorothy Evelyn Augusta Onslow, a daughter of William Onslow, 4th Earl of Onslow, a former Governor-General of New Zealand. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, graduating in 1934 with a B.A. degree. He captained the Oxford University Polo Team in the same year.[1]
In 1934, Wood was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant into the Royal Horse Guards. Like his father, in 1937 he entered politics as a Conservative, becoming Member of Parliament for the City of York. In 1939, at the outbreak of the Second World War, he rejoined the Royal Horse Guards and served for three years in the Middle East, continuing as a member of parliament during this time. At the 1945 general election, he lost his seat to the Labour candidate, John Corlett.
Wood was styled Lord Irwin between 1944 and 1959, when he succeeded his father as Earl of Halifax and joined the House of Lords. He was a Deputy Lieutenant of the East Riding in Yorkshire between 1955 and 1968, and Lord-Lieutenant of Humberside between 1974 and 1980. He was also High Steward of York Minster between 1972 until 1980.
In 1978, his horse Shirley Heights won the Derby.[2]
The 2nd Earl of Halifax died in 1980 and was buried at All Saints' Church, Kirby Underdale, where a Halifax family memorial is to be found.[3]
In 1936, he married Ruth Alice Hannah Mary Primrose (18 April 1916 – 1989), daughter of the Liberal politician Captain Neil James Archibald Primrose and Lady Victoria Alice Louise Primrose, née Stanley, a granddaughter of the Prime Minister Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery.[4]
They had three children: