Colonel Robert Walpole was an English Whig politician and militia officer who served as a member of parliament for the borough of Castle Rising from 1689 to 1700. He is best known for being the father of Robert Walpole, the first British Prime Minister. Walpole is the ancestor of all the Barons Walpole and Earls of Orford, of all creations, and of the present Marquess of Cholmondeley, owner of Houghton Hall. He is also the Guinness World Records holder for having the world's longest overdue public library book.
Ledger stone of Robert Walpole (1650–1700), Church of St Martin of Tours, Houghton, Norfolk. Showing arms of Walpole impaling Burwell
Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole
Susan Walpole, wife of Anthony Hamond (d. 1743). Detail from portrait attributed to Thomas Bardwell
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford,, known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Leader of the House of Commons, is generally regarded as the de facto first Prime Minister of Great Britain.
Portrait by Jean-Baptiste van Loo, c. 1740
Speaker Arthur Onslow calling upon Sir Robert Walpole to Speak in the House of Commons by William Hogarth
Walpole with his secretary, Henry Bilson-Legge, by Stephen Slaughter
1740 political cartoon depicting Walpole as the Colossus of Rhodes, alluding to his reluctance to engage Spain and France militarily