Edward Walpole

Sir Edward Walpole

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

Edward Walpole was first entered Parliament as Member of Parliament (MP) for Lostwithiel in a by-election on 29 April 1730, following the death of Sir Edward Knatchbull earlier in the month. He was appointed junior Secretary to the Treasury the same year.

On 2 May 1734, in the next general election, he succeeded his uncle Horatio Walpole as MP for Great Yarmouth, remaining in the seat for nearly thirty-four years until the 1768 election, when his first cousin the Hon. Richard Walpole (son of Lord Walpole of Wolterton) replaced him.

On 7 September 1737 the Duke of Devonshire was named Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and Walpole his Chief Secretary, though he continued also as Secretary to the Treasury. Walpole was also sworn of the Privy Council of Ireland on 8 October that year and stood for Ballyshannon in the Irish House of Commons, s seat he held until 1760.

On 9 May 1739 Walpole's elder brother Robert, Lord Walpole, resigned his post of Clerk of the Pells in order to become an Auditor of the Exchequer, and Edward was appointed to succeed him, holding the office until his death.

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

Sir Edward Walpole lived at Frogmore House in Windsor in Berkshire. He never married, but left three daughters by his mistress Dorothy Clement:

• Laura, who married 13 September 1758 the Hon. and Rev. Frederick Keppel (later Bishop of Exeter) and died 27 July 1813, leaving issue;
• Maria, who married firstly 15 May 1759, the Earl Waldegrave, and secondly 6 September 1766, the Duke of Gloucester and died 22 August 1807, leaving issue by both marriages;
• Charlotte, who married 2 October 1760 Lord Huntingtower (later Earl of Dysart) and died 5 September 1789, without issue.

References

• John Burke, A general and heraldic dictionary of the peerages of England, Ireland and Scotland, extinct, dormant and in abeyance, Colburn and Bentley, 1831
• Joseph Haydn and Horace Ockerby (ed.), The Book of Dignities, 3rd edition, W.H. Allen and Co. Ltd, 1894, reprinted 1969
• thepeerage.com
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Anthony Cracherode Sir Edward Knatchbull	Member of Parliament for Lostwithiel 1730–1734 With: Anthony Cracherode	Succeeded by Richard Edgcumbe Philip Lloyd
Preceded by Horatio Walpole William Townshend	Member of Parliament for Great Yarmouth 1734–1768 With: William Townshend 1734–1738 Roger Townshend 1738–1747 Charles Townshend 1747–1756 Charles Townshend 1756–1768	Succeeded by Charles Townshend Richard Walpole
Political offices
Preceded by Horatio Walpole	Junior Secretary to the Treasury 1730–1739	Succeeded by Stephen Fox
Preceded by Walter Cary	Chief Secretary for Ireland 1737–1739	Succeeded by Thomas Townshend
Preceded by The Lord Walpole	Clerk of the Pells 1739–1784	Succeeded by Isaac Barré
Parliament of Ireland
Preceded by William James Conolly Thomas Pearson	Member of Parliament for Ballyshannon 1737–1760 With: William James Conolly 1737–1754 Michael Clarke 1754–1761	Succeeded by Michael Clarke Thomas Conolly