Robert Horace Walpole, 5th Earl of Orford (10 July 1854 – 27 September 1931) was a British peer,

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

diplomat, soldier, and

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

officer.

Background

The son of Commander Hon.

Frederick Walpole The Hon. Frederick Walpole (18 September 1822 – 1 April 1876), was a British naval commander and Conservative politician. Background Walpole was a younger son of Horatio Walpole, 3rd Earl of Orford, and Mary, daughter of William Augustus ...

(1822–1876), R.N., M.P. for North Norfolk (son of Horatio Walpole, 3rd Earl of Orford) and his cousin Laura Sophia Frances, daughter of Francis Walpole (grandson of

Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole "of Wolterton", (8 December 16785 February 1757), English diplomatist, was a younger son of Col. Robert Walpole (1650–1700) of Houghton Hall in Norfolk, and was a younger brother of Robert Walpole, 1st Ear ...

and nephew of

Horatio Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford Horatio Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (12 June 1723 – 24 February 1809)L. G. Pine, The New Extinct Peerage 1884-1971: Containing Extinct, Abeyant, Dormant and Suspended Peerages With Genealogies and Arms (London, U.K.: Heraldry Today, 1972), page ...

), Orford succeeded to the earldom on the death of his uncle, on 7 December 1894. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

Career

Orford was a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, serving on HMS Blanche on the Australian station in the early 1870s, from where he visited New Zealand, New Guinea, Fiji and other Pacific Islands. He was later commissioned a Captain, 4th Battalion, Norfolk Regiment. He was part of the

Earl of Rosslyn Earl of Rosslyn is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1801 for Alexander Wedderburn, 1st Baron Loughborough, Lord Chancellor from 1793 to 1801, with special remainder to his nephew Sir James St Clair-Erskine, as We ...

's Special Embassy to the wedding of King

Alfonso XII of Spain Alfonso XII (Alfonso Francisco de Asís Fernando Pío Juan María de la Concepción Gregorio Pelayo; 28 November 185725 November 1885), also known as El Pacificador or the Peacemaker, was King of Spain from 29 December 1874 to his death in 1885 ...

and

Mercedes of Orléans María de las Mercedes of Orléans (24 June 1860 – 26 June 1878) was Queen of Spain as the first wife of King Alfonso XII. She was born in Madrid, the daughter of Antoine of Orléans, Duke of Montpensier, and Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain ...

on 9 January 1878, returning 6 February that year. On 10 August 1878, he was attached as private secretary to his cousin Sir Henry Drummond Wolff, H.M. Commissioner to Eastern Rumelia, and served in that same capacity on Wolff's assignment to Egypt in 1885. He was a Deputy Lieutenant and

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

Personal life

Orford married firstly, 17 May 1888, Louisa (d. 1909), daughter of D. C. Corbin, of New York, United States; they had a son, Horatio Corbin Walpole, who died in 1893 aged two years, and a daughter, Dorothy (1889–1959). He married secondly, 15 September 1917, Emily Gladys (1891–1988), daughter of Rev. Thomas Henry Royal Oakes, rector of

Thurgarton, Norfolk Thurgarton is a village in the North Norfolk district of the English county of Norfolk. It lies 6½ miles north of Aylsham and 5½ miles south-west of Cromer, and was once part of the North Erpingham hundred. It forms part of the civil parish of ...

. Their elder daughter, Gladys, died in 1919 aged less than a year; the second daughter, Anne (1919–2019) was a

horticulturist Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

, and married firstly, in 1939, Colonel Joseph Eric Palmer (1903–1980),

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, TD, with whom she had two sons; she married secondly, in 1990, the dendrologist Robert James Berry (1916–2018).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orford, Robert Walpole, 5th Earl Of 1854 births 1931 deaths British diplomats Deputy Lieutenants of Norfolk Earls in the Peerage of the United Kingdom English justices of the peace People educated at Eton College Royal Navy officers

Horatio Horatio is an English male given name, an Italianized form of the ancient Roman Latin '' nomen'' (name) '' Horatius'', from the Roman '' gens'' (clan) '' Horatia''. The modern Italian form is ''Orazio'', the modern Spanish form ''Horacio''. It app ...

Earls of Orford