Catherine, Lady Walpole
Encyclopedia
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC , known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman who is generally regarded as having been the first Prime Minister of Great Britain....
from 30 July 1700 until her death in Chelsea in 1737. She was buried on the Walpole estate at Houghton
Houghton
-Buildings:* Houghton Hall, a country house in Norfolk, England * Houghton Hall, East Riding of Yorkshire, a stately home in Yorkshire, England* Houghton House, a ruined house in Bedfordshire, England-Australia:...
in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, England.
She was the daughter of Sir John Shorter (born 1660), a wealthy merchant from Kent, and Elizabeth Philipps (born c. 1664). She was the granddaughter of Sir John Shorter (1625-1688), Lord Mayor of London
Lord Mayor of London
The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London is the legal title for the Mayor of the City of London Corporation. The Lord Mayor of London is to be distinguished from the Mayor of London; the former is an officer only of the City of London, while the Mayor of London is the Mayor of Greater London and...
in 1687. On her marriage to Walpole in 1700 she paid a dowry
Dowry
A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage. It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both...
of £20,000.
She was renowned for her extravagant lifestyle, frequently attending the opera and buying expensive clothes and jewellery, but the couple became estranged during his Prime Ministership, and he had a succession of mistresses. He lived with Maria Skerrett
Maria, Lady Walpole
Maria, Lady Walpole was the second wife of British politician and Prime Minister Robert Walpole from before 3 March 1738 until her death in childbirth a few months later...
in both Richmond and Houghton Hall
Houghton Hall
Houghton Hall is a country house in Norfolk, England. It was built for the de facto first British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, and it is a key building in the history of Palladian architecture in England...
in Norfolk while Lady Walpole was still alive. She herself courted controversy when it was noted that the Walpoles' youngest son Horace, born 10 years after his siblings when the marriage was cool, did not share looks or character with any siblings or his father. Lady Walpole's lover at that time was reported to be Lord Hervey.
Catherine and Robert Walpole had six children.
- Robert Walpole, 2nd Earl of OrfordRobert Walpole, 2nd Earl of OrfordRobert Walpole, 2nd Earl of Orford , was a British peer, styled as The Lord Walpole from 1723 to 1745.-Family:He was the eldest son of the King's First Minister, now regarded as the first Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole , and his first wife Catherine...
(1701-31 March 1751), who married Margaret Rolle (17 January 1709-13 January 1781), later the 15th Baroness ClintonBaron ClintonBaron Clinton is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1298 for John de Clinton. The peerage was created by writ, which means that it can descend through both male and female lines. The first Baron's great-great-great-grandson, the fifth Baron, fought on the Yorkist side in the Wars...
, on 26 March 1724 and had one son. - Katherine Walpole, (13 May 1703-22 October 1722), who died unmarried at Bath, SomersetSomersetThe ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
. - Horatio Walpole (1704-24 July 1704)
- Mary Walpole (c. 1706-2 January 1732), who married the 3rd Earl of CholmondeleyGeorge Cholmondeley, 3rd Earl of CholmondeleyGeorge Cholmondeley, 3rd Earl of Cholmondeley KB, PC , styled as Viscount Malpas from 1725 to 1733, was a British peer and Whig politician.-Life:...
on 14 September 1723 and had two sons. - Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of OrfordHorace Walpole, 4th Earl of OrfordHoratio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford was an English art historian, man of letters, antiquarian and Whig politician. He is now largely remembered for Strawberry Hill, the home he built in Twickenham, south-west London where he revived the Gothic style some decades before his Victorian successors,...
(1717-1797) - Sir Edward Walpole (born bef. 1720, death date unknown); he had an illegitimate daughter, Maria WalpoleMaria, Duchess of Gloucester and EdinburghMaria Walpole , the Countess Waldegrave and Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh, was a member of the British Royal Family, the wife of Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh...
, who later married into the British Royal FamilyBritish Royal FamilyThe British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...
, becoming the wife of Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and EdinburghPrince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and EdinburghPrince William, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh was a member of the British Royal Family, a grandson of George II and a younger brother of George III.-Early life:...
, King George III'sGeorge III of the United KingdomGeorge III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
brother.
Styles from birth to death
- Miss Catherine Shorter (1682 - 1700)
- Mrs Robert Walpole (1700 - 1725)
- Lady Walpole (1725 - 1737)
Citations
- Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 3, page 4059.