Robert Horatio Walpole, 10th Baron Walpole of Walpole, 8th Baron Walpole of Wolterton, (8 December 1938 – 8 May 2021), was a British politician who, as an excepted hereditary peer, was a member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

until his retirement in 2017.

Ancestors

Walpole was a relative of Sir Robert Walpole, the first British Prime Minister. He was the 10th and 8th

Baron Walpole Baron Walpole of Walpole in the County of Norfolk, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. Since 1797 holders also hold the title of Baron Walpole of Wolterton. Past holders have also held the titles Baron Walpole of Houghton in the County ...

(from two different creations). His ancestors include Sir Robert Walpole's father Robert Walpole (1650–1700).

Education and local government career

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 ...

and

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

, where he received a BA and an MA He served on the County Council of

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 ...

for eleven years from 1970 to 1981.

House of Lords career

He entered the House on the death of his father in 1989. He was a

crossbencher A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and oppositi ...

and was internally elected to continue serving after the House of Lords Act 1999 prevented most hereditary peers from sitting. He retired from Parliament on 13 June 2017.

Family

His heir was Jonathan Robert Hugh Walpole (born 16 November 1967), a writer; he had four other children including Alice Walpole, a diplomat, by his first wife Judith Walpole (''née'' Schofield), later

Judith Chaplin Sybil Judith Chaplin , known as Judith Chaplin (née Schofield; 19 August 193919 February 1993), was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. Career Chaplin was elected councillor for Norfolk County Council 1975, following her hu ...

. Their marriage was dissolved in 1979. In 1980 Walpole married Laurel Celia Ball with whom he has three further children.

Wealth and estates

His father's net estate at his death in February 1989 was sworn as £2,065,295 (). In April 2016 he sold Wolterton Hall, the house commissioned by his ancestor the 1st Baron Walpole in 1742, where he and his father had lived. He lived nearby at Mannington Hall, a house owned by his family since the 18th century.

Death

Walpole died on 8 May 2021, aged 82. The title was inherited by his eldest son, Jonathan Robert Hugh Walpole, who became the 11th Baron Walpole.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walpole, Robert Walpole, 10th Baron 1938 births 2021 deaths Barons in the Peerage of Great Britain People educated at Eton College Alumni of King's College, Cambridge

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

Crossbench hereditary peers People from Itteringham Hereditary peers elected under the House of Lords Act 1999