Who is robert walpole

He was one of 19 siblings. When his father died in , he was left the estate of nine manors. This was also the year in which he married Catherine, daughter of a wealthy merchant, with whom he had five children. He became secretary at war and treasurer of the navy in By , the Tories had won a landslide victory, and made Walpole their political target.

In his first year, Walpole had assisted parliament in weathering the South Sea Company financial collapse scandal Gazette issue , at the same time feathering his nest by investments he had made in the company prior to collapse. It was at this time that Walpole began to build his stately country seat, Houghton Hall, on his inherited estate. Renowned for having expensive tastes, he employed the eminent architects and designers James Gibbs, Colen Campbell and William Kent for the project.

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Skip to main content. Home History of the UK Government. Is this page useful? An outstanding orator, Walpole was appointed Secretary of War in and Treasurer of the Navy in After the collapse of the Whig government Walpole was accused of corruption and spent a short period in the Tower of London.

In Queen Anne became very ill. Many Tory ministers supported James becoming king. However, James Stuart was a Catholic and was strongly opposed by the Whigs. A group of Whigs visited Anne just before she died and persuaded her to sack her Tory ministers. When George arrived in England, he knew little about British politics nor could he speak very much English.

George therefore became very dependent on the Whigs who had arranged for him to become king. This included Walpole who was made Chancellor of the Exchequer in Walpole was such a powerful figure in the government he became known as Prime Minister, the first in Britain's history. Walpole believed that the strength of a country depended on its wealth.

The main objective of Walpole's policies was to achieve and maintain this wealth. For example, he helped the business community sell goods by removing taxes on foreign exports.

Walpole did all he could to avoid war, as he believed it drained a country of its financial resources.