Maria, Lady Walpole ( Skerret, Skerritt, or Skerrett; 1702 – 4 June 1738) was the second wife of British politician and

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (; 26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745), known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig statesman who is generally regarded as the ''de facto'' first Prim ...

from before 3 March 1738 until her death in childbirth (miscarriage) three months later. She was buried in Church of St Martin on the Walpole estate at

Houghton Hall Houghton Hall ( ) is a country house in the parish of Houghton in Norfolk, England. It is the residence of the 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley. It was commissioned by the '' de facto'' first British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, in 1722, ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, England.

Biography

Lady Walpole was the only known daughter of Thomas Skerret, a wealthy London merchant. Upon her marriage to Walpole in 1738, she paid a

dowry A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...

of £30,000.Oxford Dictionary of National Biography website, ''Walpole, Robert, first earl of Orford (1676–1745)'', article by Stephen Taylor dated January 3, 2008
/ref> Walpole had become estranged from his first wife,

Catherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...

, and took a series of mistresses. Maria Skerret was a long-term companion (1723–1738); they lived together in both

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

and

in Norfolk while Walpole's first wife was still alive. Skerret was received everywhere and moved in fashionable society. She was even alluded to as Polly in ''

The Beggar's Opera ''The Beggar's Opera'' is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of sati ...

'' written in 1728 by

John Gay John Gay (30 June 1685 – 4 December 1732) was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for ''The Beggar's Opera'' (1728), a ballad opera. The characters, including Captain Macheath and Polly Peach ...

, in which 'Macheath' was Walpole. Lady Walpole was also often mentioned in the letters of

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (née Pierrepont; 15 May 168921 August 1762) was an English aristocrat, medical pioneer, writer, and poet. Born in 1689, Lady Mary spent her early life in England. In 1712, Lady Mary married Edward Wortley Montagu, ...

as 'Molly'. ''"I see every body but converse with nobody but 'des amies choisies'; in the first rank of these are Lady Stafford and dear Molly Skerritt, both of whom have now the additional merit of being old acquaintances, and never having given me any reason to complain of either of 'em."'' Walpole was created

Earl of Orford Earl of Orford is a title that has been created three times. The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1697 when the naval commander Admiral of the Fleet Edward Russell was made Earl of Orford, in the County of Suffolk. He was cre ...

after he retired from the premiership in 1742, and he used his influence with King George II to have his illegitimate daughter by Lady Walpole, Maria, granted the rank and precedence of an earl's daughter, so she became "Lady Maria Walpole". Their daughter Maria was born in 1725. She later married Colonel Charles Churchill of Chalfont, with whom she had two daughters.History of Parliament Online website, ''Churchill, Charles (?1720-1812), of Farleigh, nr. Basingstoke, Hants''
/ref>

Styles

*Miss Maria Skerritt (1702–1738) *Lady Walpole (1738–1738)

References

Sources

The genealogy of 750,000 people connected to European Royalty
Ee-familytree.net. Accessed 23 September 2017.

Citations

* Charles Mosley, editor, ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage'', 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 3, page 4059. 1702 births 1738 deaths Deaths in childbirth People from Houghton, Norfolk Spouses of prime ministers of Great Britain Wives of knights Robert Walpole

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

Mistresses and lovers of prime ministers of the United Kingdom {{UK-noble-stub

Biography

Styles

See also

References

Sources

Citations