Walpole, Horace, fourth earl of Orford
Walpole, Horace, fourth earl of Orford ( 1717 – 97 ),fourth son of Sir Robert Walpole , educated at Eton, where he formed a happy ‘Quadruple Alliance’ with friends of like tastes, T. Gray , R. West , and Thomas Ashton ; then at King's College, Cambridge. In 1737 his mother, to whom he was deeply attached, died, and six months later his father married his long-term mistress Maria Skerrett . In 1739 – 41 Walpole travelled in France and Italy with Gray, and met in Florence H. Mann , who became one of his most valued correspondents. At Reggio he and Gray quarrelled and parted company, for reasons which have given rise to much inconclusive discussion, and were probably connected with Walpole's more sociable and less studious notions of entertainment. Walpole was MP successively for Callington, Castle Rising, and Lynn, 1741 – 67 . From 1741 he spent some time at his father's new home at...
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