Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole

Who was Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole?

Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole, PC, English diplomatist, was a son of Robert Walpole of Houghton, Norfolk, and a younger brother of the Prime Minister of Great Britain Sir Robert Walpole.

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 from 1288 to 1299, and bishop of Ely from 1299 until his death on 20 March 1302. Among its later members were three brothers, Edward, Richard and Michael, all members of the Society of Jesus. Another Jesuit in the family was Henry Walpole, who wrote An Epitaph of the life and death of the most famous clerk and virtuous priest Edmund Campion. After an adventurous and courageous career in the service of the order, he was arrested on landing in England, was tortured and then put to death on 17 April 1595.

Born at Houghton and educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge, Horatio Walpole became a fellow of King's. He entered Parliament 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. 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.