Edward Walpole

Sir Edward Walpole KB PC (Ire) (1706 – 12 January 1784) was a British politician and a younger son of Sir Robert Walpole, who served as Prime Minister from 1721 to 1742.

Early life and education:

Born in 1706, Edward Walpole was the second son of Sir Robert Walpole. He was educated at Eton College, beginning his studies there in 1718. He further attended King's College, Cambridge, starting in 1725. In addition to his university studies, he pursued legal training at Lincoln's Inn in 1723 and was called to the bar in 1727. In 1730, he undertook a Grand Tour of Italy, a customary practice for young men of his social standing during that period.

Political career:

Walpole's political career commenced when he was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Lostwithiel in a by-election on 29 April 1730, following the death of Sir Edward Knatchbull earlier that month. The same year, he was appointed as a junior Secretary to the Treasury.

On 2 May 1734, in the subsequent general election, Walpole succeeded his uncle, Horatio Walpole, as the MP for Great Yarmouth in Norfolk. He held this parliamentary seat for nearly 34 years until the 1768 election, when he was replaced by his first cousin, the Hon. Richard Walpole, son of Lord Walpole of Wolterton.

On 7 September 1737, the Duke of Devonshire was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and Walpole was appointed Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant. Concurrently, he continued his role as Secretary to the Treasury. He was sworn into the Privy Council of Ireland on 8 October 1737. Walpole also represented Ballyshannon in the Irish House of Commons until 1760.

In 1739, Edward Walpole succeeded his elder brother Robert, Lord Walpole, as Clerk of the Pells, a position he held until his death. His brother had resigned his post as Clerk of the Pells to become an Auditor of the Exchequer.

On 27 August 1753, Walpole was made a Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath, an order that was re-founded in 1725 by his father.

Family and personal life:

Walpole resided at Frogmore House in Windsor, Berkshire, which he purchased in 1748 and sold in 1766. Subsequently, he acquired a house in Windsor, which he transferred to his daughter, Laura Keppel, in 1778. He spent his final years in Isleworth, where he died on 12 January 1784.

He never married but had children with his partner, Dorothy Clement. His children included a son who predeceased him and three daughters:

- Laura, who married the Hon. and Rev. Frederick Keppel, later Bishop of Exeter, on 13 September 1758, and died on 27 July 1813; she had issue.

- Maria, who married firstly the Earl Waldegrave on 15 May 1759, and secondly the Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh on 6 September 1766; she died on 22 August 1807, leaving issue from both marriages.

- Edward, born on 22 August 1737, died in 1771, without issue.

- Charlotte, born on 9 December 1738, married Lionel Tollemache, Lord Huntingtower (later Earl of Dysart), on 2 October 1760, and died on 5 September 1789, without issue.

References and sources:

The information is derived from various historical records and sources, including John Burke’s "A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerages of England, Ireland and Scotland," and "The Book of Dignities," edited by Joseph Haydn and Horace Ockerby.