If they are really persuaded that the army is annually established by me, that I have the sole disposal of posts and honours, that I employ this power in the destruction of liberty and the diminution of commerce, let me awaken them from their delusion.

His father Robert Walpole was a Whig politician who represented the borough of Castle Rising in the House of Commons. His Name will not be recorded in History among the best men or the best Ministers but much much less ought it to be ranked among the worst. His mother was Mary Walpole (née Burwell) and he was the third of seventeen children eight of whom died during infancy.

Because of his homely ways and strong Norfolk roots he was often known to both friends and detractors as "the fat old Squire of Norfolk. Robert Walpole 1st Earl of Orford KG KB PC (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745) known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole was a British statesman who is generally regarded as the first Prime Minister of Great Britain. ".