Home > Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford

He was born in London, the youngest son of British Prime Minister Robert Walpole. He was educated at Eton College and King's College, Cambridge. His homosexual proclivities revealed themselves early, and he is believed to have had affairs with the poet Thomas Gray, and with Henry Fiennes Clinton, 9th Earl of Lincoln (later 2nd Duke of Newcastle). Gray accompanied Walpole on the Grand Tour, but they quarrelled, and Walpole returned to England in 1741 and entered parliament. He was never politically ambitious, but remained an MP even after the death of his father in 1745 left him a man of independent means.

Following his father's politics, he was a devotee of King George IIGeorge II (George Augustus) ( 10 November 1683 25 October 1760) was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg (Hanover) and Archtreasurer and Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death. He was the second and Queen CarolineCaroline of Ansbach (or Anspach) (Wilhelmine-Caroline of Brandenburg) was the queen consort of King George II of Great Britain 1727- 1737. Caroline was born on March 1, 1683, at Ansbach in Germany, the daughter of Johann Friedrich Margrave of Brandenburg-, siding with them against their son, Frederick, Prince of WalesJacopo Amigoni, 1735 His Royal Highness The Prince Frederick, Prince of Wales (Frederick Louis) ( February 1, 1707 March 31, 1751) was the only man of that name ever to hold the title Prince of Wales, and is best remembered as the father of King George II, about whom Walpole wrote spitefully in his memoirs. Walpole's home, Strawberry HillStrawberry Hill is the name of several places: Strawberry Hill (London, England) Strawberry Hill (Kansas City, Kansas)., near TwickenhamTwickenham is a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in the south-west of London, England best known as the home of Twickenham Stadium the headquarters of the Rugby Football Union. Over the years the stadium has encourged the growth of the d, was a fanciful concoction of neo-Gothic which began a new architectural trend. In 1764Events January 19 John Wilkes is expelled from the House of Commons for seditious libel February 15 The American city of St. Louis is established. Births February 11 Joseph Chenier, French poet (+ 1811) March 13 Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, Prime Minister, he published his Gothic novelThe gothic novel is an English literary genre, which can be said to have been born with The Castle of Otranto ( 1764) by Horace Walpole. It is the predecessor to modern horror fiction and it above all has led to the common definition of gothic as being co, The Castle of OtrantoThe Castle of Otranto (/ 1529) is a Gothic novel by Horace Walpole. The Castle of Otranto is generally held to be the first gothic horror novel. The work, on which the 1764 edition is based, was printed at Naples in 1529 was found in the library of an anc, setting a literary trend to go with the architecture. From 1762 on, he published his Anecdotes of Painting in England, based on George Vertue's manuscript notes. His memoirs of the Georgian social and political scene, though heavily biased, are a useful primary source for historians. He also coined the term Serendipity.

His father was created Earl of Orford in 1742. Horace's elder brother, Robert Walpole, 2nd Earl of Orford (c.1701-1751), passed the title on to his son George Walpole, 3rd Earl of Orford (1730-1791). When George died unmarried, Horace Walpole became the 4th Earl of Orford. When Horace Walpole died in 1797 the title became extinct. It was recreated in 1806 for Horace's cousin Horatio Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (1723-1809). The great-grandson of the first earl of this creation, Horatio William Walpole (1813-1894), became the 4th Earl of Orford of the 1806 creation. The 1806 creation became extinct on the death of Robert Horace Walpole, 5th Earl of Orford (1854-1931). Descendants of a younger brother of the 1st Earl of the 1806 creation have inherited older baronies, including one once held by Horace.