Since 1797 holders also hold the title of Baron Walpole of Wolterton. Past holders have also held the titles Baron Walpole of Houghton in the County of Norfolk, Viscount Walpole and Earl of Orford (second creation; 1742 to 1797), and Earl of Orford (third creation; 1806 to 1931). One holder held the title of Baron Clinton from 1781 to 1791.
The title of Baron Walpole of Walpole in the County of Norfolk was created in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1723 for Robert Walpole, in honour of and during the lifetime of his father Sir Robert Walpole, the de facto first Prime Minister of Great Britain,[2] with special remainder, failing male issue, to his brothers Edward and Horace, in default of this to the heirs male of his father, and in default of this to the heirs male of his grandfather Sir Thomas Walpole.
On Sir Robert's retirement from the House of Commons in 1742, he received the titles Baron Walpole of Houghton in the County of Norfolk, Viscount Walpole and Earl of Orford, with the standard remainder.[n 1]
The title of Baron Walpole of Wolterton in the County of Norfolk was created in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1756 for Horatio Walpole, envoy to Paris and later The Hague, and younger brother of Sir Robert.
When Sir Robert, the 1st Earl of Orford, died in 1745, he was succeeded by his eldest son, the aforementioned Robert, Lord Walpole of Walpole, who thus became the 2nd Earl of Orford. He had married Devonshire heiress Margaret Rolle in 1724. In 1751, she, by survival, became one of the co-heirs to the ancient Clinton barony, which was in abeyance. That abeyance was terminated in her favour in 1760, and she became the 15th Baroness Clinton.
The 2nd Earl of Orford was succeeded by his eldest son, the 3rd Earl. He notably served as Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk from 1757 to 1797. In 1781 he also succeeded his mother as 16th Baron Clinton. Lord Orford never married and on his death the barony of Clinton became dormant (see the Baron Clinton article for later history of this peerage), while the other titles were inherited by his uncle, the 4th Earl, at birth known as Horace Walpole, who was a politician and early expounder of the Neo-Gothic in architecture and the Gothic novel. He never married either and so on his death in 1797, three of his titles of different ranks became extinct, while he was succeeded as Baron Walpole of Walpole according to the special remainder by his cousin Horatio Walpole (known as the younger), who had already inherited his own father's title, Baron Walpole of Wolterton.
As said, Horatio Walpole (the Younger) succeeded his father as Baron Walpole of Wolterton in 1757 and eventually as Baron Walpole of Walpole in 1797. He had earlier represented King's Lynn in Parliament. In favour with those in power, in 1806 the earldom of Orford was recreated for him.
The baronies of Walpole of Walpole and Walpole of Wolterton were inherited by the late 5th Earl's distant cousin, who was a male-line descendant of the Hon. Thomas Walpole, second son of the 1st Baron Walpole of Wolterton. As of 2021[update], the two remaining peerages are held by the 9th/7th Baron's grandson, the 11th/9th Baron Walpole. The 10/8th Baron was one of the ninety hereditary peers who remained in the House of Lords after the passing of the House of Lords Act of 1999, and sat as a cross-bencher, until his retirement on 13 June 2017.
Jonathan Robert Hugh Walpole, 11th Baron Walpole of Walpole, 9th Baron Walpole of Wolterton (b. 1967)
The heir presumptive is the present holder's brother, the Hon. Benedict Thomas Orford Walpole (b. 1969).
The heir presumptive's heir apparent is his elder son, Thomas Walpole (b. 2003).
Title succession chart, Barons Walpole (of Walpole, of Houghton, and of Wolterton), Viscounts Walpole, and Earls of Orford (second and third creations).
