Earl of Orford is a title that has been created three times. The first creation came in the

Peerage of England The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. From that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were closed to new creations, and new peers were created in a single Peerag ...

in 1697 when the naval commander Admiral of the Fleet Edward Russell was made Earl of Orford, in the County of Suffolk. He was created Baron of Shingay, in the County of Cambridge, and Viscount Barfleur at the same time, also in the Peerage of England. A member of the influential Russell family, he was the son of the Honourable Edward Russell, a younger son of Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford and younger brother of William Russell, 1st Duke of Bedford (see Duke of Bedford for earlier history of the Russell family). Lord Orford had no children and the titles became extinct on his death in 1727. The title was created again in the

Peerage of Great Britain The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain between the Acts of Union 1707 and the Acts of Union 1800. It replaced the Peerage of England and the Peerage of Scotland, but was itself repla ...

in 1742 for

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (; 26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745), known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig statesman who is generally regarded as the ''de facto'' first Prim ...

, ''de facto'' acknowledged to have been the first Prime Minister of Great Britain, who at the same time was created Viscount Walpole and Baron Walpole of Houghton. At the time, the family seat was Houghton Hall, which was owned and commissioned by Robert Walpole. The titles became extinct on the death of the 4th Earl in 1797. It was created a third time in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1806 for Horatio Walpole, 4th Baron Walpole of Walpole, a cousin of the 4th Earl of the 2nd creation. The title became extinct in 1931.

Earls of Orford

First creation, 1697

Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford Admiral of the Fleet Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford, (1653 – 26 November 1727) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. After serving as a junior officer at the Battle of Solebay during the Third Anglo-Dutch War, he served as a captai ...

(1657–1727)

Second creation, 1742

, 1st Earl of Orford (1676–1745) * Robert Walpole, 2nd Earl of Orford (1701–1751) * George Walpole, 3rd Earl of Orford (1730–1791) *

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (; 24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English Whig politician, writer, historian and antiquarian. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, southwest London ...

, 4th Earl of Orford (1717–1797)

Third creation, 1806

* Horatio Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (1723–1809) * Horatio Walpole, 2nd Earl of Orford (1752–1822) * Horatio Walpole, 3rd Earl of Orford (1783–1858) * Horatio William Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (1813–1894) * Robert Horace Walpole, 5th Earl of Orford (1854–1931)

Family tree

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orford 1697 establishments in England 1727 disestablishments in England 1742 establishments in Great Britain 1797 disestablishments in Great Britain 1806 establishments in the United Kingdom 1931 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Extinct earldoms in the Peerage of England Extinct earldoms in the Peerage of Great Britain Extinct earldoms in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Noble titles created in 1697 Noble titles created in 1742 Noble titles created in 1806

Earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the Peerages in the United Kingdom, peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ...