Horace Walpole

Horace Walpole

Horace Walpole was an English historian, Member of Parliament and novelist. The fourth Earl of Orford Horace Walpole was born in Westminster, London, England on 24 September 1717, the third son of Whig politician and First Earl of Orford Robert Walpole and his wife Catherine. Rumour has it that Horace was actually the product of an adulterous liaison of his mother Catherine who lived separated from her husband. He attended Eton College from 1727 to 1734 and King’s College, Cambridge from 1735 to 1738. There Horace was student of mathematics, music and anatomy, but never took a degree (Baines 2002). After his Grand Tour he became a Member of Parliament. Four years later, in 1745, Sir Robert Walpole died leaving a large inheritance to his son. In 1749 he purchased an estate near Twickenham and began modifying the so-called “Strawberry Hill” building to his gothic taste (Merriman 2006). Influenced by “Strawberry Hill” and a nightmare he had had Walpole wrote what is often deemed the first Gothic novel Castle of Otranto in 1764. Walpole succeeded to the title of Fourth Earl of Orford in 1791 though he never entered the House of Lords. During his lifetime his main literary efforts had gone into his correspondence with his friends, among them Thomas Gray. The more than 3000 letters address such topics as politics, history, geography, travel, Great Britain, music, literature, and drama (Merriman 2006). By reason of rheumatism Walpole died on 2 March 1797 at London.

Sources:

Baines, Paul. “Horace Walpole”. The Literary Encyclopedia. 2002. 17 January 2010. <http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4587>

Merriman, C.D. “Horace Walpole”. The Literature Network. 2006. 17 January 2010. http://www.online-literature.com/horace-walpole/