Robert Walpole 1st earl of Orford

Robert Walpole, 1st earl of Orford 1676-1745, English statesman.

Early Life and Career

He was the younger son of a prominent Whig family of Norfolk. After the death of his father and elder brothers he was returned (1701) to Parliament from the family borough of Castle Rising, and in 1702 he took the seat for King's Lynn, from which he was regularly returned thereafter. Walpole soon made his mark as a hardworking administrator. In 1708 he was appointed secretary of war and later (1710-11) was treasurer of the navy. As a Whig, he led the opposition in Parliament to the Tory administration of 1710-14 and as a consequence was falsely convicted (1712) of corruption and spent some months in the Tower of London.

The accession of George I (1714) returned the Whigs to power, and Walpole served variously as paymaster of the forces, first lord of the treasury, and chancellor of the exchequer (1715) under his brother-in-law, Viscount Townshend , and James Stanhope (later 1st Earl Stanhope). The dismissal of Townshend led to Walpole's resignation (1717), and together they formed an opposition nominally headed by the prince of Wales (later George II). The two returned to office in 1720.

The Height of Power

Soon after Walpole's return to office in 1720, he was called upon to salvage the financial wreckage resulting from the South Sea Bubble , in which he himself lost a substantial amount of money. This marked the turning point of his career. His successful handling of this matter led to his appointment (1721) as first lord of the treasury and chancellor of the exchequer. He shared power with John Carteret (later 1st Earl Granville ) until 1724 and with Townshend, whom he left in charge of foreign affairs, until 1730, but thereafter his ascendancy was complete until 1742.

He enjoyed the confidence of both George I and George II, influencing the latter through his friendship with the queen, Caroline of Ansbach , and handled Parliament with unprecedented skill. His control of Parliament was due partly to the dispensation of royal patronage, partly to the electoral management of Thomas Pelham-Holles, duke of Newcastle , but also to Walpole's own debating skills and the popularity of many of his policies.

In financial policy, his strongest point, he created the sinking fund to reduce the national debt. He mollified the largely Tory gentry by reduction of the land tax and promoted trade by awarding bonuses for exports and encouraging the production of raw materials by the colonies. Walpole's plan to reduce smuggling and make London a free port by replacing tariffs on wine and tobacco with an excise tax was defeated in 1733, largely because of widespread popular prejudice against excise. After this debacle Walpole dismissed all the officeholders who had voted against him, an action that created a much stronger opposition group than he had previously faced.

It was on foreign policy that the opposition against him finally coalesced. Walpole had pursued a policy of friendship with France and avoidance of war, and he had managed (against fierce opposition) to keep Great Britain neutral during the War of the Polish Succession (1733-35). In 1739, however, the war party forced him into the War of Jenkins's Ear (1739-41; see Jenkins's Ear, War of ), which in turn involved Britain in a general European war (see Austrian Succession, War of the ). Military reverses increased the opposition, and Walpole was forced to resign in 1742. Walpole was created earl of Orford and remained politically powerful until his death.

Legacy

Walpole is usually described as the first prime minister of Great Britain, but he was not a prime minister in the modern sense. Although management of Parliament, and particularly the House of Commons, was an essential part of his power, so too was royal favor, on which he ultimately depended. The purge of his ministry in 1733, sometimes hailed as a major step in the development of cabinet solidarity, could not have been accomplished without royal support. Moreover, the contention that there was any idea of cabinet solidarity is refuted by the fact that when Walpole left office his most important colleagues remained in the ministry. Walpole's primacy was achieved and maintained through his own political talents and the circumstances of the time; he made little impact on constitutional development.

Bibliography

See biographies by C. R. Stirling Taylor (1931) and J. H. Plumb (2 vol., 1956-61, repr. 1973); study by H. T. Dickinson (1973); bibliography by A. Downie (1990).

Walpole, Sir Robert, 1st Earl of Orford (1676–1745) British statesman, widely acknowledged as the first prime minister (1721–42). Following the Tory victory in the general election of 1710, Walpole was impeached for corruption, expelled from Parliament, and sent to the Tower of London (1712). A Whig martyr, he was reinstated on the accession of George I. Walpole resigned as chancellor of the exchequer (1715–17) out of sympathy for his brother-in-law Charles Townshend, but returned to restore order after the South Sea Bubble crisis (1720). His patronage from George I and George II, ability to unite the House of Commons and grasp of economic issues, ushered in a period of relative peace and prosperity in Britain.

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Walpole, Sir Robert, 1st Earl of Orford (1676–1745) English statesman. He entered Parliament in 1701 and briefly held the offices of Secretary of War and Treasurer of the Navy until he was dismissed with his WHIG colleagues in 1710. The TORIES impeached him for corruption in 1711 and expelled him from Parliament, making him a martyr for the Whig cause. On the accession of George I in 1714 he became Paymaster of the Forces and Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1715, but resigned in sympathy with his brother-in-law TOWNSHEND in 1717. The SOUTH SEA BUBBLE crisis brought Walpole to power in 1721 and he remained in office as leading minister (effectively the first Prime Minister) until 1742.

During his long period of power he strove for peace abroad and also did his best to avoid political controversy at home, especially on such contentious issues as religion; he strengthened the economy and by his mastery of the House of Commons and use of patronage he maintained political stability. He regularly presided over CABINET meetings and was thus generally regarded as the first effective Prime Minister; he insisted on cabinet loyalty and moved a long way towards the idea of the collective responsibility of the cabinet. In 1733 his unpopular attempts to impose excise duties on wine and tobacco were defeated in Parliament, but he placed a heavy duty on molasses imported into America, which became a major American grievance. He then faced an increasingly powerful opposition from within his own party in Parliament and lost an important patron when Queen Caroline died in 1737. After reluctantly going to war with Spain in 1739 and seeing Britain increasingly involved in the War of the AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION, he accepted a peerage and resigned in 1742.