Spencer Horatio Walpole - Misplaced Pages

British Conservative politician

The Right HonourableSpencer Horatio WalpoleQC


Home Secretary
In office 6 July 1866 – 17 May 1867
Prime Minister	The Earl of Derby
Preceded by	Sir George Grey
Succeeded by	Gathorne Hardy
In office 26 February 1858 – 3 March 1859
Prime Minister	The Earl of Derby
Preceded by	Sir George Grey
Succeeded by	T. H. S. Sotheron-Estcourt
In office 27 February 1852 – 19 December 1852
Prime Minister	The Earl of Derby
Preceded by	Sir George Grey
Succeeded by	The Viscount Palmerston

Personal details
Born	(1806-09-11)11 September 1806
Died	22 May 1898(1898-05-22) (aged 91)
Nationality	British
Political party	Whig Conservative
Spouse	Isabella Perceval (m. 1835; died 1886)
Alma mater	Trinity College, Cambridge

Spencer Horatio Walpole QC (11 September 1806 – 22 May 1898) was a British Conservative Party politician who served three times as Home Secretary in the administrations of Lord Derby.

Background and education

Walpole was the second son of Thomas Walpole and Lady Margaret Perceval, youngest daughter of the 2nd Earl of Egmont and sister of Prime Minister Spencer Perceval. His grandfather was Thomas Walpole, son of the diplomat the 1st Baron Walpole, younger brother of Prime Minister the 1st Earl of Orford. Walpole was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge. He chose law as his profession, and was called to the Bar, Lincoln's Inn, in 1831. He built up a successful practice and was made a Queen's Counsel in 1846.

Political career

Walpole then turned to politics, and in 1846 he was elected to Parliament for Midhurst as a Tory, a seat he would hold until 1856. He quickly gained a reputation in the House of Commons, and when the Tories came to power in early 1852 under Lord Derby, Walpole was appointed Home Secretary in the so-called "Who? Who? Ministry". He was admitted to the Privy Council at the same time. However, the government fell in December 1852.

In 1854, Walpole was appointed to the Royal Commission for Consolidating the Statute Law, a royal commission to consolidate existing statutes and enactments of English law.

In 1856 Walpole was elected to Parliament for Cambridge University. Two years later the Tories (or the Conservatives as they became known during the 1850s) returned to office under Lord Derby. Walpole was again appointed Home Secretary, but resigned in January 1859 after disagreements over electoral reforms. The government was dismissed in July the same year. The Conservatives remained out of office for seven years, but in 1866 they again came to power under Derby, who made Walpole Home Secretary for the third time. However, he was severely criticised for his handling of the movement for parliamentary reform, and resigned in May 1867. He nonetheless continued to serve in the cabinet as Minister without Portfolio until February 1868, when Benjamin Disraeli became prime minister. Walpole never held office again, but remained a Member of Parliament (MP) for Cambridge University until 1882.

Family

Walpole married his first cousin, Isabella Perceval, daughter of Spencer Perceval, in 1835. They had four children, two sons and two daughters. Their elder son Sir Spencer Walpole was a well-known historian. Walpole died in May 1898, aged 91.

Notes

"Spencer Horatio Walpole (WLPL824SH)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
Ilbert, Courtenay (1901). Legislative methods and forms. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 57. Retrieved 9 September 2024.

References

Lee, Sidney, ed. (1899). "Walpole, Spencer Horatio" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 59. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Spencer Horatio Walpole

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded bySir Horace Seymour	Member of Parliament for Midhurst 1846–1856	Succeeded bySamuel Warren
Preceded byHenry Goulburn Loftus Wigram	Member of Parliament for Cambridge University 1856–1882 With: Loftus Wigram 1856–1859 Charles Jasper Selwyn 1859–1868 Alexander Beresford Hope 1868–1882	Succeeded byAlexander Beresford Hope Henry Cecil Raikes
Political offices
Preceded bySir George Grey	Home Secretary 1852	Succeeded byThe Viscount Palmerston
Preceded bySir George Grey	Home Secretary 1858–1859	Succeeded byThomas Sotheron-Estcourt
Preceded bySir George Grey	Home Secretary 1866–1867	Succeeded byGathorne Hardy
Preceded byNone	Minister without Portfolio 1867–1868	Succeeded byNone
Church of England titles
Preceded byHenry Goulburn	Third Church Estates Commissioner 1856–1858	Succeeded byWilliam Deedes
Preceded byWilliam Deedes	Third Church Estates Commissioner 1862–1866	Succeeded byEdward Howes
Honorary titles
Preceded byWilliam Ewart Gladstone	Senior Privy Counsellor 1898 With: The Duke of Rutland	Succeeded byThe Duke of Rutland

v t e Home secretaries of the United Kingdom
Shelburne Townshend North Temple Sydney Grenville Dundas Portland Pelham Yorke Hawkesbury Spencer Liverpool Ryder Sidmouth Peel Sturges Bourne Lansdowne Peel Melbourne Duncannon Wellington Goulburn Russell Normanby Graham Grey Walpole Palmerston Grey Walpole Sotheron-Estcourt Lewis Grey Walpole Hardy Bruce Lowe Cross Harcourt Cross Childers Matthews Asquith Ridley Ritchie Akers-Douglas Gladstone Churchill McKenna Simon Samuel Cave Shortt Bridgeman Henderson Joynson-Hicks Clynes Samuel Gilmour Simon Hoare Anderson Morrison Somervell Chuter Ede Maxwell-Fyfe Lloyd George Butler Brooke Soskice Jenkins Callaghan Maudling Carr Jenkins Rees Whitelaw Brittan Hurd Waddington Baker K. Clarke Howard Straw Blunkett C. Clarke Reid Smith Johnson May Rudd Javid Patel Braverman Shapps Braverman Cleverly Cooper

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