Maria Walpole (Skerritt)
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Maria, Lady Walpole ( Skerret, Skerritt, or Skerrett; 1702 – 4 June 1738) was the second wife of British politician and
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier 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. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
Robert Walpole from before 3 March 1738 until her death in childbirth (miscarriage) three months later. She was buried in the 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 David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley. It was commissioned by the ''de facto'' first British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Wa ...
in
Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
, England.


Biography

Lady Walpole was the only known daughter of Thomas Skerret, a wealthy London merchant. On her marriage to Walpole in 1738 she paid a
dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment ...
of £30,000. Walpole had become estranged from his first wife,
Catherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...
, and took a series of mistresses. Maria Skerret was a long term companion (1723–1738) as they lived together in both Richmond and
Houghton Hall Houghton Hall ( ) is a country house in the parish of Houghton in Norfolk, England. It is the residence of David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley. It was commissioned by the ''de facto'' first British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Wa ...
in Norfolk while Walpole's first wife was still alive. Miss 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 satiri ...
'' written in 1728 by John Gay, 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, writer, and poet. Born in 1689, Lady Mary spent her early life in England. In 1712, Lady Mary married Edward Wortley Montagu, who later served a ...
as 'Molly'. ''"I see every body but converse with nobody but 'des amies choisses'; 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 after he retired from the premiership in 1742, and he used his influence with King
George II George II or 2 may refer to: People * George II of Antioch (seventh century AD) * George II of Armenia (late ninth century) * George II of Abkhazia (916–960) * Patriarch George II of Alexandria (1021–1051) * George II of Georgia (1072–1089) ...
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". Daughter Maria was born between 1723 and 1734, and later married Colonel Charles Churchill of Chalfont, with whom she had two daughters.


Styles

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


See also

* Spouses of the Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom


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 the United Kingdom 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, ...
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