Robert Walpole was born
in Houghton in 1676. Educated at Eton and
King's College, Cambridge,
he intended to enter the Church but changed his mind and became active
in politics instead.
Walpole, a Whig,
was elected to the House of Commons in
1701. An outstanding orator, Walpole was appointed Secretary of War
in 1708 and Treasurer of the Navy in 1710. After
the collapse of the Whig government Walpole was accused of corruption
and spent a short period in the Tower of London.
In 1714 Queen
Anne became very ill. The true heir to the throne was James
Stuart, the son of James
II. 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. With the support of the Whigs, Queen Anne
nominated Prince George
of Hanover as the next king
of Britain.
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 1715.
Walpole was such a powerful
figure in the government he became known as Prime Minister, the first
in Britain's history. He was also given 10 Downing Street by G, which
became the permanent home of all future Prime Ministers.
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. However, in 1739 Britain became involved
in a war with Spain. George
II was in favour
of the war and became Britain's last king to lead his troops into
battle. Walpole, who thought the war was unnecessary, did not provide
the dynamic leadership needed
during a war. The Tory opposition accused
Walpole of not supplying enough money for the British armed forces.
Walpole gradually lost the support of the House
of Commons, and in February 1742 he was forced to resign from
office.
Sir Robert Walpole, 1st
Earl of Orford, died in 1745.
(1)
J. Green, British History (1874)
Walpole was the first and
he was the most successful of our Prime Ministers... He took off the
duties from more than a hundred British exports... The wisdom of Walpole
was rewarded by a quick growth of prosperity.
(2)
A.L.
Morton, A People's History of England (1938)
The policy of Robert Walpole
and the Whigs was simple enough. First to avoid foreign wars as being
harmful to trade. Then to remove taxes as far as possible, from the
merchants and the manufacturers and place them upon goods consumed
by the masses.
(3)
James Oliphant, A History of England (1920)
Walpole attempted... to
secure for the country a prolonged period of quiet prosperity... Some
of the means he adopted were, as it seems to us now, wholly unworthy.
When argument and persuasion failed, he was prepared to bribe members
of parliament by giving them pensions, offices, and even money, to
lend him their support.
(4)
H.
Arnold-Foster, A History of England (1898)
Walpole
was in many ways a really great man, and England owes much to his
wisdom and good government... There can be no doubt whatever that
for many years Walpole bribed and bought the support of Parliament.
It must be said, however, that the practice was common at the time,
and that he was by no means the only person who adopted it... It is
only just, to Walpole, to say that... he bought votes in order to
enable him to carry out what he really believed to be the best and
wisest policy for the country.
(5)
G. Warner, British History (1923)
Walpole maintained till
near the close of his ministry a policy of peace, which was very beneficial
to England. In domestic affairs little happened... Walpole had no
passion to lessen the sum of human misery at home. Such a statesman
may make a nation prosperous, but he can never make a nation great.
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