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 * United ...

diplomat, soldier, and

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

officer.

Background

The son of Commander Hon. Frederick Walpole (1822–1876), R.N., M.P. for

North Norfolk North Norfolk is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Cromer, and the largest town is North Walsham. The district also includes the towns of Fakenham, Holt, Norfolk, Holt, Shering ...

(son of

Horatio Walpole, 3rd Earl of Orford Horatio Walpole, 3rd Earl of Orford, (14 June 1783 – 29 December 1858), styled Lord Walpole between 1809 and 1822, was a British peer and politician. Background He was the eldest son of Horatio Walpole, 2nd Earl of Orford, by his wife Sophia ...

) and his cousin Laura Sophia Frances Walpole, daughter of Francis Walpole (grandson of

Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole 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 and the younger brother of ...

, 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), p. 2 ...

), Orford succeeded to the earldom on the death of his uncle, on 7 December 1894.Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, 2003, vol. 3, p. 4060. 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 depa ...

.Who's Who, vol. 58, A. & C. Black, 1906, p. 1285.

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 The Royal Norfolk Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army until 1959. Its predecessor regiment was raised in 1685 as Henry Cornwall's Regiment of Foot. In 1751, it was numbered like most other British Army regiments and named ...

. 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 de Borbón y Borbón; 28 November 185725 November 1885), also known as ''El Pacificador'' (Spanish: the Peacemaker), was King of Spain from 29 D ...

and

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

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 Sir Henry Drummond Charles Wolff (12 October 1830 – 11 October 1908), known as Henry Drummond Wolff, was an English diplomat and Conservative Party politician, who started as a clerk in the Foreign Office. Background Wolff was born in Malt ...

, H.M. Commissioner to

Eastern Rumelia Eastern Rumelia (; ; ) was an autonomous province (''oblast'' in Bulgarian, ''vilayet'' in Turkish) of the Ottoman Empire with a total area of , which was created in 1878 by virtue of the Treaty of Berlin (1878), Treaty of Berlin and ''de facto'' ...

, and served in that same capacity on Wolff's assignment to Egypt in 1885. He was a Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace.

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, the novelist

Dorothy Dorothy may refer to: *Dorothy (given name), a list of people with that name. Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Dorothy'' (TV series), 1979 American TV series * Dorothy Mills, a 2008 French movie, sometimes titled simply ''Dorot ...

(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 and former civil parish, now in the parish of Aldborough and Thurgarton, in the North Norfolk district of the county of Norfolk, England. It lies 6½ miles north of Aylsham and 5½ miles south-west of Cromer, and was onc ...

. Their elder daughter, Gladys, died in 1919 aged less than a year; the second daughter,

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), Annie a ...

(1919–2019) was a

horticulturist Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

, 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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two 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

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 ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

Earls of Orford