Editing Robert Walpole (section)

==Marriages and issue==
===Catherine Shorter===
[[File:ShorterArms.svg|thumb|Arms of Shorter, of Bybrook, Kent: ''Sable, a lion rampant or ducally crowned argent between three battle axes of the last headed of the second''<ref>Burke, Sir Bernard, The General Armory, London, 1884, p. 924 "Shorter of London, granted 1687"</ref>]]
On 30 July 1700, Walpole married [[Catherine Walpole|Catherine Shorter]] (1682–1737),<ref name=Cokayne-Doubleday-deWalden-1945>{{cite book |editor1=Cokayne, G. E. |editor2=Doubleday, H. A. |editor3=de&nbsp;Walden, Howard |year=1945 |title=The Complete Peerage, or a history of the House of Lords and all its members from the earliest times |edition=2nd |place=London|publisher=The St. Catherine Press |volume=10 (Oakham to Richmond) |page=83}}</ref> the eldest daughter<ref>Per inscription on her monument in Westminster Abbey</ref> and co-heiress<ref>All her brothers died unmarried, see "Walpole Pedigree, 1776 Strawberry Hill, Twickenham" [[:File:Walpole Pedigree 1776 Strawberry Hill, Twickenham.png]]</ref> of John Shorter of Bybrook in [[Ashford, Kent]] (the son of Sir John Shorter (1625–1688), Lord Mayor of London) by his wife Elizabeth Philipps (born c. 1664), a daughter of Sir Erasmus Philipps, 3rd Baronet.<ref name=Cokayne-Doubleday-deWalden-1945/> She was described as "a woman of exquisite beauty and accomplished manners".{{sfnp|Leadam|1899|p=180}} Her £20,000 dowry was, according to Walpole's brother [[Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole|Horatio Walpole]], spent on the wedding, christenings and jewels.<ref>{{harvtxt|Leadam|1899|p=180}} cites Horace Walpole's ''Letters'', viii. 423</ref> Her sister and co-heiress Charlotte Shorter married (as his third wife) [[Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Baron Conway]] (1679–1731/2), by whom she was the mother of [[Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford]] (1718–1794). Sir John Shorter (c. 1625–1688), Lord Mayor of London, married Isabel Birkhead, a sister of Edward Birkhead (d.1662) of Richmond House, Twickenham, Serjeant-at-Arms in the House of Commons in 1648, a Quaker Magistrate and the principal landowner in the parish of Twickenham.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Twickenham Museum |quote=The history centre for Twickenham, Whitton, Teddington and the Hamptons |url=http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/detail.php?aid=93&cid=16&ctid=1}}</ref> Catherine's youngest son Horace later built Strawberry Hill House on land purchased by him at Twickenham. Catherine Shorter died on 20 August 1737 and was buried at Houghton,<ref name=Cokayne-Doubleday-deWalden-1945/> with a monument in the south aisle of the King [[Henry VII Chapel]], [[Westminster Abbey]],{{sfnp|Leadam|1899|p=205}} erected by her son Horatio, in the form of a life-size white marble statue, a copy by [[Filippo della Valle]] of a Roman statue of [[Livia]] (or ''[[Modesty|Pudicitia]]'') in the [[Villa Celimontana|Villa Mattei]] in Rome.{{efn|
"In five of the niches, on pedestals, are, I. A cart in plaifter bronzed of Catharine Lady Walpole, the model of her statue in Westminster Abbey, executed at Rome by Valory, and taken from the Livia or Pudicitia in the Villa Mattei" (now called Villa Celimontana).<ref>{{cite news |title=A description of the villa of Horace Walpole, youngest son of Sir Robert Walpole earl of Orford, at Strawberry-hill, near Twickenham |quote=With an inventory of the furniture, pictures, curiosities, &c. |author=Walpole, Horace |year=1774 |page=76 |newspaper=The Tribune |url=https://archive.org/details/descriptionofvil00walp/page/76/mode/2up?view=theater |via=archive.org}}</ref>
}}
On the plinth sculpted by [[John Michael Rysbrack]] is the following inscription written by Horace:<ref>See image www.westminster-abbey.org [https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/catherine-lady-walpole]</ref><br />
:To the memory of Catherine Lady Walpole, eldest daughter of John Shorter, Esqr. of Bybrook in Kent and first wife of Sir Robert Walpole, afterwards Earl of Orford, Horace her youngest son consecrates this monument. She had beauty and wit without vice or vanity, and cultivated the Arts without affectation. She was devout, tho' without bigotry to any sect, and was without prejudice to any party tho' the wife of a minister, whose power she esteemed but when she could employ it to benefit the miserable or to reward the meritorious. She loved a private life, tho' born to shine in public; and was an ornament to courts, untainted by them. She died 20 August 1737.<br/>
By Catherine Shorter he had two daughters and three sons:{{sfnp|Leadam|1899|p=205}}
* [[Robert Walpole, 2nd Earl of Orford]], eldest son and heir, who in 1724 married [[Margaret Rolle, 15th Baroness Clinton|Margaret Rolle]] (17 January 1709&nbsp;– 13 January 1781), later ''[[suo jure]]'' 15th [[Baron Clinton|Baroness Clinton]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Helen ("Mrs. Paget Toynbee") |last=Toynbee |year=1903 |title=The Letters of Horace Walpole |page=[https://archive.org/details/lettersofhoracew78walp/page/81 81]}}</ref> They had one son{{sfnp|Leadam|1899|p=205}} [[George Walpole, 3rd Earl of Orford|George Walpole, 3rd Earl of Orford and 16th Baron Clinton]] (1730–1791), who left no legitimate children and died insane.
*Katherine Walpole,{{sfnp|Leadam|1899|p=205}} who died unmarried and without issue;<ref>{{cite book |first=John |last=Burke |year=1833 |title=A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire |publisher=H. Colburn and R. Bentley |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=yeo8AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA262 262]}}</ref>
*Mary Walpole, who on 14 September 1723 married [[George Cholmondeley, 3rd Earl of Cholmondeley]].{{sfnp|Leadam|1899|p=205}} They had sons and daughters<ref>{{cite book |last=Eller |first=George |year=1861 |title=Memorials: Archaeological and Ecclesiastical of the West Winch Manors from the Earliest Ages to the Present Period |publisher=Thew & Son |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=MKYLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA100 100]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Edmondson |first=Joseph |year=1785 |title=The Present Peerages: With Plates of Arms, and an Introduction to Heraldry; Together with Several Useful Lists Incident to the Work |publisher=J. Dodsley |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=zzEwAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA58 58]}}</ref> and the Houghton Estate eventually became the inheritance of the Cholmondeley family. She died at [[Aix-en-Provence]] in 1731, and was buried at [[Malpas, Cheshire]].{{sfnp|Leadam|1899|p=205}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Debrett |first1=John |last2=Collen |first2=G. W. |year=1840 |title=Debrett's Peerage of England, Scotland, and Ireland. revised, corrected and continued by G. W. Collen |page=[https://archive.org/details/debrettspeerage08debrgoog/page/n223 159]}}</ref>
*[[Edward Walpole]], who died unmarried but had four illegitimate children by his mistress [[Dorothy Clement]]:
**Edward, born in 1737, died in 1771 without issue;
**Laura, the eldest daughter, who married Bishop [[Frederick Keppel (bishop)|Frederick Keppel]];
**[[Maria, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh|Maria Walpole]] (d. 1807) (Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh), the second daughter, who married firstly [[James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave]] and secondly [[Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh]] the brother of King [[George III of the United Kingdom|King George III]]. 
**Charlotte, the youngest daughter, who married [[Lionel Tollemache, 5th Earl of Dysart]].{{sfnp|Leadam|1899|p=205}}
*[[Horace Walpole|Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford]] (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), of Strawberry Hill House, Twickenham, youngest son, the diarist known to history as "Horace Walpole". He became the 4th and last Earl of Orford on his nephew's death in 1791, and died unmarried and without issue.

===Maria Skerritt===
[[File:HarsickArms.svg|thumb|Arms of Skerritt: ''Or, a chief indented sable''<ref>Burke, Sir Bernard, The General Armory, London, 1884, p. 931: "Skerett/Skerit of Peter Tavy, near Tavistock and of Buckland Monachorum, Devon".</ref>]]
Prior to the death of his first wife Walpole took on a mistress, [[Maria Walpole (Skerritt)|Maria Skeritt]] (d. 1738), a fashionable socialite of wit and beauty, with an independent fortune of £30,000,<ref>{{harvtxt|Leadam|1899|p=205}} cites a letter from Bishop Hare to F. Naylor, 9 March 1738, ''Hare MSS''. p. 238.</ref> the daughter and sole heiress of Thomas Skeritt (d. 1738) (''aliter'' Skerret, Skeritt, etc), a wealthy Irish merchant living in Dover Street, Mayfair, London.<ref>{{harvtxt|Leadam|1899|p=205}} cites ''Gent. Mag.'' (1734, p. 50); Hervey, ''Memoirs'', i. 115; Pope, ''Works'', iii. 141 note&nbsp;1; ''Gent. Mag.'' (1738, p. 324).</ref> They had been living together openly in [[Richmond, Surrey|Richmond Park]] and [[Houghton Hall]] since before 1728,{{sfnp|Leadam|1899|p=205}} and married at some time before March 1738. She died on 4 June 1739 following a miscarriage. Walpole considered her "indispensable to his happiness", and her loss plunged him into a "deplorable and comfortless condition", which led to a severe illness.{{sfnp|Leadam|1899|pp=205–206}} By Maria Skerritt he had one daughter, born before the marriage, but subsequently legitimated:{{efn|
No issue is given in Burke's ''Extinct Peerage'' to this second marriage of Sir Robert Walpole; but in ''Ancient Peerages'' is this:
: "Sir Robert Walpole married, in 1737, Maria, daughter and sole heir of Thomas Skerret, who died in 1738; he had a daughter from her before marriage, Maria, his Majesty's housekeeper at Windsor, and wife of Charles Churchill. She was legitimated, and given the rank of an Earl's daughter."{{full citation|date=January 2023}}
}}
*Maria Walpole,{{sfnp|Leadam|1899|p=205}} who after her legitimation acquired the style of the daughter of an earl, as Lady Maria Walpole.<ref>{{cite book |first=Edmund |last=Farrer |year=1908 |title=Portraits in Suffolk houses (West) |publisher=B. Quaritch |page=[https://archive.org/details/portraitsinsuffo00farruoft/page/88 88]}}</ref> In 1746 she married Colonel [[Charles Churchill (of Chalfont)|Charles Churchill]] (1720–1812) of Chalfont, an illegitimate son of General [[Charles Churchill (British Army general)|Charles Churchill]], and became the king's housekeeper at [[Windsor Castle]].{{sfnp|Leadam|1899|p=205}}<ref>{{cite book |first=J. C. D. |last=Clark |date=July 2002 |title=The Memoirs and Speeches of James, 2nd Earl Waldegrave 1742–1763 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-52689-0 |pages=46, [https://books.google.com/books?id=X8GrL_g9enMC&pg=PA87 87], 250}}</ref> By Charles Churchill she had daughters including:
**Sophia Churchill, who married her relative [[Horatio Walpole, 2nd Earl of Orford]] (1752–1822), of the third creation of that earldom, the son of [[Horatio Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford]], son of [[Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole of Wolterton]], 9th brother of Prime Minister [[Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford]].<ref>{{cite book |first=John |last=Debrett |year=1814 |title=The Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland: In Two Volumes. England |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TiNRAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA327 |access-date=30 June 2013 |publisher= G. Woodfall |page=327 }}</ref>
**Mary Churchill, who on 10 May 1777 became the second wife of [[Charles Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan]] (1728–1807), and had issue, before being divorced in 1796 by her husband for "criminal conversation" with Rev. Mr. Cooper.<ref>{{cite book |editor1=Cokayne, G. E. |editor2=Gibbs, Vicary |year=1912 |section=Earl Cadogan |title=The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct or dormant |edition=2nd |place=London |publisher=The St.&nbsp;Catherine Press |volume=2 (Bass to Canning) |page=462, note&nbsp;(b)}}</ref>