Horace Walpole

For other people named Horatio Walpole, see Horatio Walpole.

The Right Honourable
The Earl of Orford
Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford
Portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1756
Member of Parliament
for King's Lynn
In office
25 February 1757 – 16 March 1769
Preceded byHoratio Walpole the Elder
Succeeded byThomas Walpole
Member of Parliament
for Castle Rising
In office
21 May 1754 – 25 February 1757
Serving with Thomas Howard
Preceded byRobert Knight
Succeeded byCharles Boone
Member of Parliament
for Callington
In office
12 June 1741 – 18 April 1754
Serving with Thomas Coplestone (1741–1748), Edward Bacon (1748–1754)
Preceded byIsaac le Heup
Succeeded byJohn Sharpe
Personal details
Born
Horatio Walpole

(1717-09-24)24 September 1717
London, England, Great Britain
Died2 March 1797(1797-03-02) (aged 79)
Berkeley Square, London, Great Britain
Resting place
Political partyWhig
Parents
Residence(s)Strawberry Hill, London
EducationKing's College, Cambridge
Occupation
  • Writer
  • Art Historian
  • Man of Letters
  • Antiquarian
  • Politician
Signature

Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (/ˈwɔːlpoʊl/; 24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whig politician.[1]

He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, southwest London, reviving the Gothic style some decades before his Victorian successors. His literary reputation rests on the first Gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto (1764), and his Letters, which are of significant social and political interest.[2] They have been published by Yale University Press in 48 volumes.[3] In 2017, a volume of Walpole's selected letters was published.[4]

The youngest son of the first British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, he became the 4th and last Earl of Orford of the second creation on his nephew's death in 1791.

  1. ^ Langford 2011.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC20141213 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Smith 1983, pp. 17–28.
  4. ^ Selected Letters, edited and introduced by Stephen Clarke. New York: Everyman's Library, Alfred A. Knopf, 2017.