Horatio Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford

Horatio Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (12 June 1723 – 24 February 1809) was a British Whig politician.

Biography

Walpole was the eldest son and heir of Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole and his wife, Mary Magdalen Lombard.

He was admitted to Lincoln's Inn in January 1736, and matriculated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, in 1741.

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 (of Wolterton). In 1797, he inherited the barony of Walpole (of Walpole) from his first cousin, the 4th and last Earl of Orford (of the second creation) and was himself created Earl of Orford in 1806.

Letters from St James's Palace from George III to Walpole, dated 30 March 1806, show that the King gave his approval to the creation of Walpole's new title. On the same date, the King gave his written approval to Charles Pierrepont, 1st Viscount Newark – like Walpole, a parliamentarian – who had asked the King for his permission to be created Earl Manvers.

On 12 May 1748, Walpole married Lady Rachel Cavendish (1727 – 8 May 1805), the third daughter of the 3rd Duke of Devonshire, and on his death in 1809, his titles passed to their eldest son, Horatio.