Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford

Background Orford was the son of Horatio Walpole, 3rd Earl of Orford, and Mary, daughter of William Augustus Fawkener.

Political career In 1835, at the age of 21, Orford was returned to Parliament as one of two representatives for Norfolk East, a seat he held until 1837. In 1858 he succeeded his father in the earldom and took his seat in the House of Lords. He referred to the famed advocate of women's rights Mary Wollstonecraft as "a hyena in petticoats".

Family Lord Orford married Harriet Bettina Frances, daughter of Admiral the Hon. Sir Fleetwood Pellew, in 1841. He "treated her with grotesquely violent cruelty" and in 1846 she went to live in Florence. They had two daughters. Lady Dorothy Elizabeth Mary Walpole (1842-1921), married Don Ernesto del Balzo, 7. Duca di Caprigliano, Duca del Balzo Lady Maude Mary Walpole (b.9 Aug 1844), married Count Salvatore Grifeo and Grevana, Prince Palagonia

She died in November 1886. Lord Orford survived her by eight years and died in December 1894, aged 81. He was succeeded in the earldom by his nephew, Robert Horace Walpole.

Lord Orford had an illegitimate child, Horatio Walpole, by the Lady Susan, wife of the 5th Duke of Newcastle and daughter of Alexander Douglas-Hamilton, 10th Duke of Hamilton.

Arms