Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole, (8 December 16785 February 1757) was an English diplomat, politician and peer who served as the British ambassador to France from 1724 to 1730. He was the son of

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 ...

and the younger brother of

, the first Prime Minister of Great Britain.

Family

The Walpoles owned land in Norfolk in the 12th century and took their name from Walpole, a village in the county. An early member of the family was Ralph de Walpole,

bishop of Norwich The Bishop of Norwich is the Ordinary (Catholic Church), ordinary of the Church of England Anglican Diocese of Norwich, Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. Th ...

from 1288 to 1299, and

bishop of Ely The Bishop of Ely is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with ...

from 1299 until his death on 20 March 1302. Among its later members were three brothers,

Edward Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...

(1560–1637), Richard (1564–1607) and Michael (1570–1624), all members of the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

. Another Jesuit in the family was Henry Walpole (1558–1595), who wrote ''An Epitaph of the life and death of the most famous clerk and virtuous priest Edmund Campion'' and was tortured and put to death on 17 April 1595.

Political career

Born at Houghton and educated at Eton and

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, Horatio Walpole became a fellow of King's. He entered

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in 1702, remaining a member for fifty-four years. In 1715, when his brother, Sir Robert, became first lord of the treasury, he was made Secretary to the Treasury, and in 1716, having already had some experience of the kind, he went on a diplomatic mission to

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. He left office with his brother in 1717, but he was soon in harness again, becoming secretary to the lord-lieutenant of Ireland in 1720 and Secretary to the Treasury a second time in 1721. In 1722 he was again at

, and in 1723 he went to Paris, where in the following year he was appointed envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary. He got on intimate terms with Fleury and seconded his brother in his efforts to maintain friendly relations with France; he represented Great Britain at the congress of Soissons and helped to conclude the treaty of Seville (November 1729). He left Paris in 1730 and in 1734 went to represent his country at The Hague, where he remained until 1740, using all his influence in the cause of European peace. He was nonetheless able to stay involved in the affairs of the capital. He served, for example, in 1739, as a founding governor for London's most fashionable charity of the time, the

Foundling Hospital The Foundling Hospital (formally the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children) was a children's home in London, England, founded in 1739 by the philanthropy, philanthropic Captain (nautical), sea captain ...

. After the fall of Sir Robert Walpole in 1742, Horatio defended his conduct in the

House of Commons of Great Britain The House of Commons of Great Britain was the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain between 1707 and 1801. In 1707, as a result of the Acts of Union 1707, Acts of Union of that year, it replaced the House of Commons of England and the Pa ...

and also in a pamphlet, "The Interest of Great Britain steadily pursued". Later he wrote an "Apology", dealing with his own conduct from 1715 to 1739, and an "Answer to the latter part of Lord Bolingbroke's letters on the study of history" (printed 1763). In 1724 he engaged Thomas Ripley to design him a new house at Wolterton in Norfolk to replace one that had burnt down. The house called Wolterton Hall was completed in 1742. In 1756 he was created Baron Walpole, of Wolterton and he died 5February 1757 at his house in

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London, England. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It ...

Personal life

He married Mary Magdalen Lombard on 21 July 1720. They had nine children: * Horatio Walpole, 2nd Baron Walpole (1723–1809), created Earl of Orford in 1806 *The Hon. Mary Walpole (born 25 February 1726), who married Maurice Suckling. *The Hon. Thomas Walpole (6 October 1727 – March 1803), who married Elizabeth Vanneck (died 9 June 1760) on 14 November 1753, and had issue. *The Hon. Richard Walpole (5 December 1728 – 18 August 1798), who married Margaret Vanneck (before 1742 – 9 May 1818) on 22 November 1758, and had issue. *Susan Walpole (3 May 1730 – 29 April 1732) *The Hon. Henrietta Louisa Walpole (28 November 1731 – June 1824) *The Hon. Anne Walpole (12 July 1733 – 25 November 1797) *Caroline Walpole (22 November 1734 – 11 January 1737) *The Hon.

(1736–1810)

References

External links

Horatio Walpole , National Portrait Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walpole, Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron 1678 births 1757 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Barons in the Peerage of Great Britain Peers of Great Britain created by George II Diplomatic peers English MPs 1702–1705 English MPs 1705–1707 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Cornwall British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain Robert Walpole Horatio Ambassadors of Great Britain to France Ambassadors of Great Britain to the Dutch Republic Chief secretaries for Ireland Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Bere Alston People from Houghton, Norfolk