Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole

Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole "of Wolterton", PC (8 December 1678  5 February 1757), English diplomatist, was a younger son of Col. Robert Walpole (1650-1700) of Houghton Hall in Norfolk, and was a younger brother of Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (1676-1745) the first Prime Minister of Great Britain.[1]

Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole

Family

The Walpoles owned land in Norfolk in the 12th century and took their name from Walpole, a village in the county. An early member of the family was Ralph de Walpole, bishop of Norwich from 1288 to 1299, and bishop of Ely from 1299 until his death on 20 March 1302. Among its later members were three brothers, Edward (1560–1637), Richard (1564–1607) and Michael (1570–1624), all members of the Society of Jesus. Another Jesuit in the family was Henry Walpole (1558–1595), who wrote An Epitaph of the life and death of the most famous clerk and virtuous priest Edmund Campion and was tortured and put to death on 17 April 1595.[2]

Political career

Born at Houghton and educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge, Horatio Walpole became a fellow of King's.[3] He entered Parliament in 1702, remaining a member for fifty-four years. In 1715, when his brother, Sir Robert, became first lord of the treasury, he was made Secretary to the Treasury, and in 1716, having already had some experience of the kind, he went on a diplomatic mission to The Hague. He left office with his brother in 1717, but he was soon in harness again, becoming secretary to the lord-lieutenant of Ireland in 1720 and Secretary to the Treasury a second time in 1721.[2]

In 1722 he was again at The Hague, and in 1723 he went to Paris, where in the following year he was appointed envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary. He got on intimate terms with Fleury and seconded his brother in his efforts to maintain friendly relations with France; he represented Great Britain at the congress of Soissons and helped to conclude the treaty of Seville (November 1729). He left Paris in 1730 and in 1734 went to represent his country at The Hague, where he remained until 1740, using all his influence in the cause of European peace.[2] He was nonetheless able to stay involved in the affairs of the capital. He served, for example, in 1739, as a founding governor for London's most fashionable charity of the time, the Foundling Hospital.

Wolterton Hall

After the fall of Sir Robert Walpole in 1742 Horatio defended his conduct in the House of Commons and also in a pamphlet, "The Interest of Great Britain steadily pursued". Later he wrote an "Apology", dealing with his own conduct from 1715 to 1739, and an "Answer to the latter part of Lord Bolingbroke's letters on the study of history" (printed 1763).[2]

In 1724 he engaged Thomas Ripley to design him a new house at Wolterton in Norfolk to replace one that had burnt down. The house called Wolterton Hall was completed in 1742.

In 1756 he was created Baron Walpole, of Wolterton and he died 5 February 1757[2] at his house in Whitehall.[4]

Personal life

By his wife, Mary Magdalen Lombard, whom he married on 21 July 1720, he had nine children:

  • Horatio Walpole, 2nd Baron Walpole (1723–1809), created Earl of Orford in 1806[2]
  • The Hon. Mary Walpole (born 25 February 1726), who married Maurice Suckling.
  • The Hon. Thomas Walpole (6 October 1727 – March 1803), who married Elizabeth Vanneck (died 9 June 1760) on 14 November 1753, and had issue.
  • The Hon. Richard Walpole (5 December 1728 – 18 August 1798), who married Margaret Vanneck (before 1742 – 9 May 1818) on 22 November 1758, and had issue.
  • Susan Walpole (3 May 1730 – 29 April 1732)
  • The Hon. Henrietta Louisa Walpole (28 November 1731 – June 1824)
  • The Hon. Anne Walpole (12 July 1733 – 25 November 1797)
  • Caroline Walpole (22 November 1734 – 11 January 1737)
  • The Hon. Robert Walpole (1736–1810)

References

  1. "WALPOLE, Horatio (1678-1757), of Wolterton, Norf. | History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  2.  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Walpole of Wolterton, Horatio, 1st Baron". Encyclopædia Britannica. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 290. This cites:
    • W. Coxe, Memoirs of Horatio, Lord Walpole (2nd ed., 1808)
    • the same writer, Memoirs of Sir Robert Walpole (1816)
    • Charles, comte de Baillon, Lord Walpole à la cour de France (1867).
  3. "Walpole, Horace (Horatio) (WLPL698HH)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  4. "Thursday's Post". Derby Mercury. 11 February 1757. Retrieved 23 January 2016 via British Newspaper Archive.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Sir Luke Schaub
British Ambassador to France
1724–1730
Succeeded by
The Earl Waldegrave
Preceded by
William Finch
Ambassador to the United Provinces
1734–1739
Succeeded by
Robert Trevor
Political offices
Preceded by
John Taylor
Secretary to the Treasury
(junior)

1715–1717
Succeeded by
Charles Stanhope
Preceded by
Edward Webster
Chief Secretary for Ireland
1720–1721
Succeeded by
Edward Hopkins
Preceded by
Charles Stanhope
Secretary to the Treasury
(junior)

1721–1730
Succeeded by
Edward Walpole
Vacant
Title last held by
The Earl of Lincoln
Cofferer of the Household
1730–1741
Succeeded by
Thomas Winnington
Preceded by
The Lord Onslow
Teller of the Exchequer
1741–1757
Succeeded by
The Earl Waldegrave
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
Russell Robartes
Francis Robartes
Member of Parliament for Lostwithiel
1710
With: Francis Robartes
Succeeded by
John Hill
Hugh Fortescue
Preceded by
William Feilding
Horatio Walpole, senior
Member of Parliament for Castle Rising
1713–1715
With: William Feilding
Succeeded by
William Feilding
Charles Churchill
Preceded by
Sir Peter King
Lawrence Carter
Member of Parliament for Bere Alston
1715–1717
With: Lawrence Carter
Succeeded by
Edward Carteret
Lawrence Carter
Preceded by
Sir James Bateman
John Smith
Member of Parliament for East Looe
1718–1722
With: John Smith
Succeeded by
William Lowndes
John Smith
Preceded by
George England
Horatio Townshend
Member of Parliament for Great Yarmouth
1722–1734
With: Hon. Charles Townshend 1722–1723
William Townshend 1723–1734
Succeeded by
(Sir) Edward Walpole
William Townshend
Preceded by
Waller Bacon
Robert Brightiffe
Member of Parliament for Norwich
1734–1756
With: Waller Bacon 1734–1735
Thomas Vere 1735–1747
Lord Hobart 1747–1756
Succeeded by
Edward Bacon
Lord Hobart
Peerage of Great Britain
New creation Baron Walpole
1756–1757
Succeeded by
Horatio Walpole
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