Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole of Wolterton
Encyclopedia
Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole, PC (8 December 1678 – 5 February 1757), English
diplomatist
, was a son of Robert Walpole
of Houghton
, Norfolk
, and a younger brother of the Prime Minister of Great Britain Sir Robert Walpole
.
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
. After an adventurous and courageous career in the service of the order, he was arrested on landing in England, was tortured and then put to death on 17 April 1595.
Born at Houghton and educated at Eton
and King's College, Cambridge
, Horatio Walpole became a fellow of King's. 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.
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. 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
.
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).
In 1756 he was created Baron Walpole
, of Wolterton
, this being his Norfolk seat, and he died 5 February 1757.
By his wife, Mary Magdalen Lombard, whom he married on 21 July 1720, he had nine children:
See W. Coxe, Memoirs of Horatio, Lord Walpole (2nd ed., 1808); the same writer, Memoirs of Sir Robert Walpole (1816); and Charles, comte de Baillon, Lord Walpole d, la cour de France (1867).
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
diplomatist
Diplomacy
Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...
, was a son of Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole (1650-1700)
Colonel Robert Walpole was an English Whig politician who represented the borough of Castle Rising from 1689 to 1700 in the House of Commons of England. Because he held the rank of Colonel in the militia, he was widely known as Colonel Walpole. He is mainly notable for being the father of Sir...
of Houghton
Houghton Hall
Houghton Hall is a country house in Norfolk, England. It was built for the de facto first British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, and it is a key building in the history of Palladian architecture in England...
, Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, and a younger brother of the Prime Minister of Great Britain Sir Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC , known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman who is generally regarded as having been the first Prime Minister of Great Britain....
.
The Walpoles owned land in Norfolk in the 12th century and took their name from Walpole
Walpole
- Canada :* Walpole No. 92, Saskatchewan; rural municipality in Saskatchewan* Walpole, Saskatchewan; community in Saskatchewan* Walpole Island, Ontario, Canada- England :* Walpole, Suffolk, England* Norfolk, England...
, a village in the county. An early member of the family was Ralph de Walpole
Ralph Walpole
-Life:Walpole was Archdeacon of Ely by 6 February 1272.Walpole was elected to the see of Norwich on 11 November 1288 and consecrated on 20 March 1289.Walpole was translated to the see of Ely on 5 June 1299. He died on 20 March 1302.-References:...
, bishop of Norwich
Bishop of Norwich
The Bishop of Norwich is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers most of the County of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The see is in the City of Norwich where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided...
from 1288 to 1299, and bishop of Ely
Bishop of Ely
The Bishop of Ely is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire , together with a section of north-west Norfolk and has its see in the City of Ely, Cambridgeshire, where the seat is located at the...
from 1299 until his death on 20 March 1302. Among its later members were three brothers, Edward
Edward Walpole (Jesuit)
Edward Walpole , alias Rich, was an English Roman Catholic convert, who became known as a Jesuit missioner and preacher. He passed up substantial estates that subsequently became part of the fortune of the Walpole political family.-Life:...
(1560–1637), Richard (1564–1607) and Michael (1570–1624), all members of the Society of Jesus
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
. Another Jesuit in the family was Henry Walpole
Henry Walpole
-Early life:He was born at Docking, Norfolk, in 1558, the eldest son of Christopher Walpole, by Margery, heiress of Richard Beckham of Narford, and was educated at Norwich School, Peterhouse, Cambridge, and Gray's Inn. Converted to Roman Catholicism by the death of Saint Edmund Campion, he went by...
(1558–1595), who wrote An Epitaph of the life and death of the most famous clerk and virtuous priest Edmund Campion
Edmund Campion
Saint Edmund Campion, S.J. was an English Roman Catholic martyr and Jesuit priest. While conducting an underground ministry in officially Protestant England, Campion was arrested by priest hunters. Convicted of high treason by a kangaroo court, he was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn...
. After an adventurous and courageous career in the service of the order, he was arrested on landing in England, was tortured and then put to death on 17 April 1595.
Born at Houghton and educated at Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and King's College, Cambridge
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
, Horatio Walpole became a fellow of King's. He entered Parliament
Parliament of Great Britain
The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland...
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
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
. 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
Secretary to the Treasury
In the United Kingdom, there are several Secretaries to the Treasury, who are junior Treasury ministers nominally acting as secretaries to HM Treasury. The origins of the office are unclear, although it probably originated during Lord Burghley's tenure as Lord Treasurer in the 16th century. The...
a second time in 1721.
In 1722 he was again at The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, and in 1723 he went to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, 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
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
; he represented Great Britain at the congress of Soissons
Congress of Soissons
The Congress of Soissons was a diplomatic conference held between a number of European powers, but principally Great Britain and Spain between June 1728 and July 1729 in the French town 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. 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
Foundling Hospital
The Foundling Hospital in London, England was founded in 1741 by the philanthropic sea captain Thomas Coram. It was a children's home established for the "education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children." The word "hospital" was used in a more general sense than it is today, simply...
.
After the fall of Sir Robert Walpole in 1742 Horatio defended his conduct in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
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).
In 1756 he was created Baron Walpole
Baron Walpole
Baron Walpole, of Walpole in the County of Norfolk, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. The holders of the peerage also held the titles of Baron Walpole, of Houghton in the County of Norfolk, Viscount Walpole and Earl of Orford from 1745 to 1797, the title of Earl of Orford from 1806 to...
, of Wolterton
Wolterton Hall
Wolterton Hall is an Georgian country house in the English county of Norfolk.The Hall was built by Thomas Ripley in the 1720s for Horatio Walpole, politician, diplomat and younger brother of Britain's first Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole...
, this being his Norfolk seat, and he died 5 February 1757.
By his wife, Mary Magdalen Lombard, whom he married on 21 July 1720, he had nine children:
- Horatio Walpole, 2nd Baron WalpoleHoratio Walpole, 1st Earl of OrfordHoratio Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford was a British Whig politician.Walpole was the eldest son and heir of the 1st Baron Walpole. In 1747, he was elected as Member of Parliament for King's Lynn and held the seat until 1757 when he inherited his father's barony of Walpole...
(1723–1809), created Earl of OrfordEarl of OrfordEarl of Orford is a title that has been created three times. The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1697 in favour of the naval commander Edward Russell, who served three times as First Lord of the Admiralty. He was created Baron Shingay and Viscount Barfleur at the same time...
in 1806 - The Hon. Mary Walpole (born 25 February 1726), who married Maurice SucklingMaurice SucklingCaptain Maurice Suckling was a Royal Navy officer who was instrumental in the training of his nephew, Horatio Nelson.-Seven Years War:...
. - The Hon. Thomas WalpoleThomas WalpoleThomas Walpole , styled from 1756 The Hon. Thomas Walpole, was a British MP and banker in Paris.-Life:Thomas Walpole was born into a political family...
(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 WalpoleRobert Walpole (ambassador)Robert Walpole , from 1756 styled The Hon. Robert Walpole, was the 4th son of the 1st Baron Walpole, the younger brother of Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister. He served as an extra clerk of the Privy Council from 1749 until 1764, when he replaced Henry Fane as one of the Clerks in Ordinary...
(1736–1810)
See W. Coxe, Memoirs of Horatio, Lord Walpole (2nd ed., 1808); the same writer, Memoirs of Sir Robert Walpole (1816); and Charles, comte de Baillon, Lord Walpole d, la cour de France (1867).
Styles from birth to death
- Mr Horatio Walpole (1678–1710)
- Mr Horatio Walpole, MP (1710)
- Mr Horatio Walpole (1710–1713)
- Mr Horatio Walpole, MP (1713–1717)
- Mr Horatio Walpole (1717–1718)
- Mr Horatio Walpole, MP (1718–1720)
- The Rt Hon. Horatio Walpole, MP (1720–1756)
- The Rt Hon. The Lord Walpole, PC (1756–1757)