MANNINGTON 
 
 AND 
 
 THE WALPOLES. 
 
Digitized by tine Internet Arcliive 
 
 in 2014 
 
 https://arcliive.org/details/manningtonwalpolOOnevi 
 
MANNINGTON 
 
 AND 
 
 THE WALPOLES, 
 
 ieaii0 of ©rforC). 
 
 BY 
 
 LADY DOROTHY NEVILL. 
 
 WITH TEN ILLUSTRATIONS OF MANNINGTON HALL, NORFOLK. 
 
 XTbe jfine Hct Society, 
 
 148, NEW BOND STREET, LONDON, W. 
 1894. 
 
PRINTED BY 
 HA2ELL| WATSON, AND VINEY, LIMITED, 
 LONDON AND AYLESBURY. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A SUMMARY OF THE HISTORY OF THE WALPOLE FAMILY . .II 
 
 PART II. 
 
 SOME NOTES RELATING TO VARIOUS MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY AND THEIR RELATIONS . . -19 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 TWO ORFORD LETTERS 37 
 
 NOTE ON THE TWO EARLDOMS OF ORFORD 39 
 
 INDEX . .41 
 
LIST OF PLATES. 
 
 1. Mannington Hall, the North- West Front {Frontispiece). 
 
 2. Mannington Hall from the South-West. 
 
 3. The Library. 
 
 4. The Ambassador Walpole. 
 
 5. The Library. — No. 2. 
 
 6. The Dining-Room. 
 
 7. The Sitting-Room. 
 
 8. The Old Chapel. 
 
 9. The Grove. 
 
 10. The Grove. — No. 2. 
 
PLATE 
 
 No. 
 
 MANNING TON HALL FROM THE SOUTH-WEST. 
 
 The first Plate (which forms the Frontispiece) gives a view of the moat, the 
 bridge, the gardens, and the trim-cut hedges. The illustration opposite shows the 
 flint materials used for the structure of the walls. On the south wall, the window 
 nearest the tower is that of the Library (see Plates 3 and 5). In the foreground is 
 a jxirtion of tlic moat. The statues and busts were placed in the gardens about fifty 
 years ago by my brother. 
 
PART I. 
 
 SUMMARY OF THE HISTORY OF THE WALPOLE FAMILY. 
 
PART I. 
 
 A SUMMARY OF THE HISTORY OF THE WALPOLE FAMILY. 
 
 this memoir of Mannington is more or less associated with the family who 
 dwelt therein, I propose giving a short notice of some of its members, 
 i The family of Walpole " took its denomination from a town of that name 
 in Norfolk," and was seated in England before the Conquest, as is manifest 
 from several authorities cited by Camden, who assures us that the owner of Walpole 
 gave both that ,and Wisbeach, in the Isle of Ely, to the monastery there, at the 
 same time that he made his younger son, Aluric, a monk. This fact is further borne 
 out by Edward the Confessor's confirmation of the house of Walpole to the said 
 
Mauuijigtou and tlic Walpolcs, Earls of Orford. 
 
 monastery. I need not trouble my readers with the names and the histories of the 
 various Walpoles * who have had great possessions in the county of Norfolk, and I will 
 skip them all until we arrive at Edward, the heir and eldest son of Thomas Walpole. 
 In the twenty-seventh year of Henry VHI., one messuage in Houghton was granted to 
 Edward Walpole and Lucy his wife. This lady was daughter to Sir Terry Robsart, and 
 (by the death of her brother, Sir John Robsart, and the cruel murder of his daughter 
 Amy without issue) she became heiress to her great-grandfather, Sir John Robsart, 
 kniofht-banneret and knisht of the most noble Order of the Garter. He was famous for 
 his surprising valour in several actions in Erance in the reigns of Henry IV., V., and VL 
 This daughter Amy became wife to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and at her death 
 John Walpcjle succeeded to the Manor of Siderstone, in Norfolk ; and the Walpole family 
 to this day (juarter the lion of Robsart amongst their armorial bearings. But to return 
 
 * 'J'he best pedigree of llie fniiiily is one contained in the first volume of the Frocecdi7igs of the Norfolk and 
 Norwich Arcluiological Sociely, at pp. 363-79. 
 
Mannington and the IValpoles, Earls of Orford. 
 
 13 
 
 to Edward Walpole and Lucy his wife : he died in the first year of Elizabeth's reign, 
 and was, with his wife, interred at Houghton in 1558. I will not enumerate the many 
 Walpoles who sprang from this union. Robert, eldest son of Sir Edward Walpole, was 
 elected to Parliament as one of the representatives for the borough of Castle Rising, 
 from the first year of William and Mary till his death in 1700. He was D.L. and 
 Colonel of Militia in the county of Norfolk, and bore several other offices suitable to 
 his degree, as his ancestors did before him ; and he is said to have been distinguished 
 as one of the politest men of his time. His wife was Mary, only daughter and heiress 
 to Sir Jeffrey Burwell, and they had numerous issue, including Mary, who married 
 Sir C. Turner ; the ill-fated Dorothy, the second daughter, who married Charles, Viscount 
 Townshend, and who died tragically from falling down a staircase in 1727 at Raynham. 
 For years Dorothy's ghost was supposed to walk, or rather glide, up and down the 
 grand staircase, and became a terror to the visitors and servants at Raynham. Susan, 
 the third daughter, married Anthony Hammond, of Westacre, in Norfolk. One son, 
 Galfridus by name, a younger brother of Sir Robert, was a gallant officer. On 
 
14 Mdiniiui^foii and the pyalpoles, Earls of Oyford. 
 
 March 26th, 1711, he lost his right arm in the Mediterranean when commanding the 
 Lion, of eighty guns, in an action with four French ships, each mounting sixty guns. 
 The sword he wore in this engagement was given to Captain Maurier SuckHng (on his 
 marriage with Mary Turner, niece of Galfridus), who bequeathed it to his nephew, 
 Horatio Nelson, who, from the time he possessed it, wore it constantly ; and at the 
 battle of Tenerifie, where he received the severe wound in his right arm, he grasped 
 the sword he had so long valued. 
 
 Horatio Walpole, the second son, was brought up in the service of the Crown, and after 
 holding several minor appointments was despatched to the Hague in 1715, to take care of 
 the British interests. (3n his return he was made Secretary to the Treasury, which post he 
 resigned when his brother, .Sir Robert, relinquished office ; also Auditor of the " Trade and 
 Plantations" revenue, and .Secretary for Ireland. He represented in Parliament the borough 
 of Great Yarmouth, in Norfolk, and East Looe, in Cornwall. In May 1724 he was 
 appointed Ambassador Extraordinary at the Court of P>ance. His wife was Mary, daughter 
 of Peter Lombard, and from him my brother, the present Earl, is descended. The eldest 
 
Mannington and the IValpoles, Earls of Orford. 
 
 15 
 
 surviving son, brother of the above-named Horatio, was the Right Hon. Sir Robert 
 Walpole, born in 1676, and educated on the foundation at Eton, and from thence elected to 
 King's, Cambridge ; and by the death of his elder brothers Robert became entitled to the 
 estates, and resigned his fellowship in 1698. The family borough of Castle Rising returned 
 him to Parliament in 1701, and King's Lynn in 1702. He continued to represent King's 
 Lynn, except during a short period in 171 2, when the Tories succeeded in getting him 
 expelled from the House and committed to the Tower. He was even chosen for the same 
 place during his imprisonment, and no threats from those in power had the least influence 
 upon the faithful corporation of the borough. After filling various distinguished posts, the 
 dignity of Knighthood of the Bath was conferred upon him in May 1725, and in June 
 the same year George L declared him one of the Lords Justices for the administration 
 of affairs during the King's absence in Hanover; and in May 1726 he was elected a 
 Knight of the Garter, and installed at Windsor on June i6th. He resigned the Red 
 Ribbon of the Bath in June 1728. Sir Robert Walpole married, in 1700, Catherine, daughter 
 of John Shorter. He had three sons, Robert, Edward (who was the father of the three 
 
 c 
 
i6 
 
 Mainiiiiirfon ami fJie IValpolcs, Eavls of Orford. 
 
 beautiful Miss Walpoles, one of whom was afterwards Countess W^lldegrave and Duchess 
 of Gloucester), and Horace, the famous art and letter writer. One of his daughters, Mary, 
 was married to Viscount Malpas, son of George, Earl of Cholmondeley. Sir Robert 
 Walpole's second marriage took place in 1 738, and his wife, Maria Skerret, was the mother 
 of Mary, wife of General Churchill. Robert, his eldest son, was, in consideration of his 
 father's great services, created a peer as Baron Walpole, of Walpole, in the county of 
 Norfolk, in June 1723. Sir Robert died at Houghton in 1745, and was buried with his 
 ancestors in the parish church. It may be mentioned that there is a good account of 
 Houghton and his various collections in the Art Journal for March 1887. 
 
PLATE No. 3. 
 
 THE LIBRARY. 
 
 The Library at IMannington was added to the house by my brother. I have 
 caused two \ iews of the room to be taken. This one .shows a fine group of portraits. 
 The large full-length picture on the left is a portrait of Sir Robert Walpole by Van 
 Loo. Next hangs the half-length portrait of Cardinal Fleury, given by himself to 
 Lord Walpole, the Ambassador. Under the Cardinal's portrait is one of Ripley, the 
 architect. In the recess is a full-length portrait of the Protector, Oliver Cromwell. 
 Next t(j this, (jn the right, is a portrait of Sir Everard Faulkner, charij^c' cVaJfaircs at the 
 Court of the Kmpre.ss Catherine. The view from the windows of the Library extends 
 over the garden and moat (see Plate 2), and is very picturesque. 
 
PART II. 
 
 SOMB NO TBS RELATING TO VARIOUS MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY 
 
 AND THEIR RELATIONS. 
 
PART II. 
 
 SOME NOTES RELATING TO VARIOUS MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY 
 
 AND THEIR RELATIONS. 
 
 Y learned and accomplished friend, Dr. Jessop, has written a most interesting 
 history, entitled One Generation of a Norfolk House. It is more or less 
 the history of the Walpole family in early times. He may well call it one 
 generation of a noble house ; for, alas ! our generation have been singularly 
 unfortunate in losing more or less their possessions, — Strawberry Hill, 
 destroyed as far as any recollections of its witty possessor goes, and now sold into foreign 
 hands ; Houghton, alienated by that eccentric George, Earl of Orford, who, to spite his 
 family, left Houghton away to his niece, Mary, Lady Cholmondeley, instead of his first 
 
20 
 
 Mauuiiigtoii and the JValpolcs, Earls of Orford. 
 
 cousin ; but, as compensation, he left Lord Walpole a fine estate with a delightful old house 
 in Dorsetshire, which he had acquired from his mother, Margaret Rolle, Countess of Orford, 
 and in her own right Baroness Clinton and Trefusis. In Horace Walpole's essay on modern 
 gardening, printed at Strawberry Hill in 1785, he writes: "At Lady Orford's, at Piddle- 
 town, in Dorsetshire, there was, when my brother married, a double inclosure of thirteen 
 giu-dens, each, I suppose, not a hundred yards square, with an enfilade of corresponding 
 gates ; and before one arri\'ed at these you passed a narrow gut between two stone terraces, 
 that rose abox-e your head, and which were crowned by a line of pyramidal yews." In 
 1894 these yews, grown into thirteen trees, still remain. A bowling-green was all the lawn 
 admitted in those times, and a circular lake the extent of magnificence. 
 
 It was George, Earl ot Orford, who introduced coursing into Norfolk, and no man 
 ever sacrificed so much to i)ractical and speculative sporting as he. Amongst his experi- 
 ments of fancy was a determination to drive three red-deer — stags — in a phaeton instead 
 ol horses, and these animals he had reduced to perfect disci])line for his excursions and short 
 journeys on the road ; but, unlbrtunatel)', as he was one day driving to Newmarket their 
 ears were accidentally saluted with the cry of a ])ack of hounds, who, soon after crossing 
 the road in the rear, immediately caught scent of the " four-in-hand," and commenced a 
 
D 
 
PLATE No. 4 
 
 THE AMBASSADOR W ALP OLE. 
 
 This fine full-length portrait of the Ambassador seated is attributed with much 
 probability to Van Loo. The Ambassador was brother to Sir Robert Walpole, and 
 was Karl of Orford and 15aron Walpole of Woltcrton. 
 
Mannington and the JValpoles, Earls of Orford. 
 
 21 
 
 new kind of chase with "breast high" alacrity. In vain did his lordship exert all his 
 charioteering skill — in vain did his well-trained grooms energetically endeavour to ride 
 before them ; reins, trammels, and the weight of the carriage were of no effect ; off" they 
 went with the celerity of a whirlwind, and this modern Phaeton, in the midst of his electrical 
 vibrations of fear, -bid fair to experience the fate of his namesake. Luckily, however, his 
 lordship had been accustomed to drive this Hudibrastic set of fiery-eyed steeds to the Ram 
 Inn at Newmarket, which was most happily at hand, and to this his lordship's fervent 
 prayers and ejaculations had been ardently directed. Into the yard they suddenly bounded, 
 to the dismay of the ostlers and stableboys, who seemed to have lost every faculty upon 
 the occasion. Here they were luckily overpowered, and the stags, phaeton, and Lord 
 Orford were all instantaneously huddled together in a large barn just as the hounds appeared 
 in full cry at the gate. This singular circumstance, although attended with no accident, 
 effectually cured his lordship's passion for deer-driving, but his invincible love of coursing 
 remained with him to the last. 
 
 The architect of Wolterton, as well as of Houghton, was Ripley, a carpenter employed by 
 Sir Robert Walpole, who raised him to the position of architect, and made him comptroller 
 of the Board of Works. 
 
22 
 
 Mauningtoii and tJie IValpolcs, Earls of Ovford. 
 
 Pope in his Moral Essays says : — 
 
 " What brought Sir Visto's ill-got wealth to waste ? 
 Some demon whispered 'Visto, have a taste.' 
 Heaven visits with a taste the wealthy fool, 
 And needs no rod but Ripley with a rule" (iv. 16 — 19). 
 
 Ami he again mentions Ripley in The Dunciad, Book III., 1. 327. 
 
 Wolterton was built by the Lord Walpole ambassador to France in the reign of Louis 
 Ouinze, brother of Sir Robert Walpole. Both brothers built their houses simultaneously in 
 different jjarts of the county, and the same artists from Italy and elsewhere journeyed to and 
 fro to complete these two magnificent possessions, — Wolterton, with its grand rooms, its 
 ceilings, its beautiful mantelpieces, its doors, etc., all deserted and filling into decay. This 
 Lord Waljjole was given l)y his brother, Sir Robert, a goqdly sinecure of about ^3,000 a 
 year, auditor of the trade and comi)trollership of plantation revenue. This enabled him to 
 procure American walnut wood, from which material all the doors and shutters are made. 
 He also had brought from America the wild American turkey, whose descendants still wander 
 in the wood surnjunding the house 
 
Maniiington and the Walpoles, Earls of Orford. 
 
 23 
 
 Wolterton was filled with choice pictures and works of art, and with many historic 
 treasures, some of the rooms having been furnished by the Queen of George II., Caroline 
 of Anspach ; more particularly the dining-room, which contained portraits of herself and 
 the King, and all the Princesses and their husbands. She was a very great friend of the 
 ambassador, as was also Cardinal Fleury, who, knowing how badly Lord Walpole spoke 
 French, now asked: "// est diablement eloquent avec son maiLvais fraufais^ 
 
 He married Mary, daughter of Peter Lombard, who, coming over as a refugee, bought 
 this property in Norfolk. He had been formerly Faiseiir des Corsets to Marie Therese, the 
 Queen of Louis Quatorze. 
 
 While on the subject of Wolterton I must relate a curious legend of the family, belonging 
 to Wolterton and the old parish church there — now destroyed. 
 
 Horatio, second Earl of Orford, most sacrilegiously unearthed all the old tombstones 
 belonging to the Scalmers, former possessors of this place, and sold them in Norwich, and 
 one of the unhappy ladies of this family, never finding rest after so terrible a sacrilege, is 
 still said to haunt the churchyard, always searching for the remains of her relations ; and 
 with a view to neutralise the malpractices of the third Earl, and to mollify the injured 
 spirit of the poor lady, every Earl of Orford at his burial is driven in the hearse three 
 
24 
 
 times round the ruined church before he is laid to his final rest in the family vault at 
 Wickmere Church. 
 
 My father, the third Earl, was buried, like his ancestors, with this curious custom. 
 
 Many of the pictures are now removed to Mannington, to which I shall refer presently. 
 
 In the midst of all this desecration and decay there yet remains to the family this most 
 interesting house, Mannington — a house in which my brother. Lord Orford, has taken the 
 deepest interest. Part of it was built in 1412, and a licence was allowed to fortify, and I 
 have e.xtracted part of a memorandum from Blomefield's History of Norfolk. 
 
 " Mannington, ok Manctura, as it is wrote in Domesday Book." 
 
 This is an ancient house, which, after many vicissitudes, in 1291 came into the possession 
 of Maud, daughter and heiress of Walter Turrell, of Mannington and Iteringham. She 
 married Walter Hewell, alias Dennell, who was lord in her right, as was Henry Lumner, 
 her second husband. In 1401 Henry Lumner, grandson of Henry, held it in right of his 
 late wife, heiress of Maud Dennell ; the said Henry dying about 1402, left it to William 
 Lumner, his son and heir, whose son William built the [)rescnt hall and embattled castleway, 
 
PLATE No. 5. 
 
 THE LIBRARY.— No. 2. 
 
 Immediately over tlic fireplace is a fine piece of woodcarving which came from 
 the Bishop's Palace at Norwich. The ornamentation of the panels is very remarkable. 
 On the left, over the door, is a portrait of Margaret, Countess of Orford (\vife of Robert, 
 the second Earl), and Baroness Clinton and Trefusis in her own right. On the other 
 side is a portrait of Sir Robert Walpole as a comparatively young man, in his robes 
 as Chancellor of the Exchequer. The open door on the left shows a fine miniature 
 of Napoleon I. as Emperor. 
 
Manningtoii and the IValpoles, Earls of Orford. 
 
 25 
 
 similar to that of a house obtained of the King. On the battlements stand several small guns ; 
 and the pile, being of stone and black flints, has an agreeable appearance. The arms of 
 Lumner impaling Monivaux were carved in the wainscot. He died about 1491. After some 
 generations this place passed into the family of Potts. William Potts, in 1274, was sued by 
 William Tirrell — then Lord — for encroaching and appropriating to himself the fee of a certain 
 highway extending from Mannington to the Cam, and they were considerable yeomen, or land- 
 owners. John Potts was a student in Lincoln's Inn, and married Anne, one of the daughters 
 of John Dogge, and is buried in the parish church under an arched monument on the north 
 side of the aisle, with the arms of Potts quartering Dogge ; over all a pile with a plate. He 
 died in 1600. After many others, too numerous to mention here, came Sir C. Potts, and I 
 cannot help thinking he was a great Parliamentarian — a great friend of Cromwell, who often 
 visited him at Mannington ; for the Protector often stayed close by at the neighbouring house, 
 Ermingland, then the property of General Fleetwood, who married Ireton's widow, Cromwell's 
 daughter. Sir Charles, son of the last mentioned, was for many years member for the 
 county of Norfolk. He married for his second wife Mary Smith, of London, but he left no 
 issue. He is buried in this church near the altar under a black stone, with this inscription : 
 " In hopes of a joyful resurrection, hereunder lies the body of Sir Charles Potts, Bart." He 
 
 E 
 
26 
 
 Mmmingtoji and the JValpo/cs, Earls of Orford. 
 
 died January )4th. 1731. aged liky-six years. His last lady survived him, and dying February 
 1736, aged sixty-one years, was also here interred ; and after her death the manor and township, 
 with the adxowson, were conveyed to the Honourable Horace Walpole, and his son, Lord 
 Walpole of Wolterton. The i)arish church is small, and was built by the Earl of Pembroke. 
 It had no steeple or bell ; the nave and chancel were tiled ; but at this date the whole of 
 it was not roofless, as it is now. And it is here, in the middle of this edifice, that my brother 
 has elected to prematurely build his own tomb : but more of this hereafter. 
 
 In the Philosophical Trausacdons for January 1780 there is an account of the sinking 
 of three oaks into the ground, close to the spot where this old church stands. On Thursday, 
 July 23rd, 1717, in the daytime, to the astonishment of those that were present, first one 
 single oak with the roots and ground about it was seen to subside and sink into the earth, 
 and not long alter, at about forty yards' distance, two other oaks that were contiguous sank 
 after the same manner into a much larger jjit, about thirty-three feet in diameter. When the first 
 tree sank it was observed that the water bubbled up in the hole ; but on the sinking of the 
 greater pit the water drained off into it iVom the former, which now continues dry, and 
 the tree that stands upright in it is three feet eight inches in girth, and its trunk eighteen 
 feet long ; the other two are somewhat smaller. The soil is gravelly, and under that a 
 
Mannington and tJic IValpoles, Earls of Orford. 
 
 27 
 
 quicksand over a clay, upon which there are springs which fill large ponds adjoining 
 Mannington. 
 
 The Potts family were ruined in the South Sea Bubble, and so Mannington was acquired 
 by the Walpoles. It is surrounded by a moat besides many ponds, the relics of past ages, 
 when fish was more or less the food of the people. My brother has formed a most beautiful 
 garden, composed chiefly of clipped yew and hornbeam hedges in more or less geometrical 
 patterns, with appropriate busts scattered here and there, and with spaces filled in with 
 dahlias, hollyhocks, and other glowing coloured flowers, so delightful a contrast to the terrible 
 forms and fancies of bedding-out borders. I fear my kinsman (Horace Walpole) was 
 answerable for these fiowery innovations, as he it was who ridiculed the formal gardens with 
 their picturesque and quaint topiary yews, etc., so admirably suited to our climate and 
 seasons. Not far from this delightful grove is a shady path, leading to what was once the 
 village church, to which we have referred. It was left to go to ruin when the two parishes 
 of Mannington and Wickmere were consolidated, and thus only Wickmere Church, where was 
 the family vault, was retained. My brother, as I have said before, has chosen to convert 
 this ruined chapel or church, where rest so many of the Potts family, into a mausoleum 
 for himself — always bearing in mind the fact that Sir Robert, as well as his son Horace 
 
28 
 
 Maiiniiigtoii and the IValpoles, Earls of Orford. 
 
 Walpole, are both interred in the church at Houghton, under black slabs, with no inscriptions 
 whatever. My brother's tomb is in granite, after the manner of the North Italy tombs, 
 with the following inscription ; — 
 
 IIIC JACET HORATIUS COMES DE ORFORD 
 
 MORTIS MEMOR 
 rOSTERITATIS NEGLIGENTIU.M PROVIDENS 
 HOC SEPULCHRUM 
 VIVANS SIBI FECIT. 
 
 In this little grove, where the subsidence of the soil and the oak trees took place (the history 
 of which I have narrated before) are various memorials : one to our mother, a pillar, on 
 which is inscril^ed " Matri dulcissimce Horatius Filius," and another epitaph to himself, and 
 some others. This grove is reposeful and full of sweet memories, where one may linger 
 and always feel enjoyment^ — a delightful spot for dreamers and philosophers ; and even 
 Schopenhauer and the poor sick Leopardi would have found quiet and repose therein. Close 
 to this pleasant spot is a lovely secluded walk, called the " Cut," by the borders of a 
 meandering trout stream ; in fact, sweet Nature reigns everywhere. 
 
PLATE 
 
 No. 
 
 6. 
 
 THE DINING-ROOM. 
 
 Tlic panels in tlii.s room arc of old carved oak which came from a church at 
 Aylsham. The chimnej^-piccc is rough stonework, with the arms of the Lumner and 
 Potts families carved thereon. Over this is a fine piece of old Italian bas-relief by 
 Luca della Robbia, which the plate shows well. There arc numerous famil}- portraits 
 in the room, but they are in some instances hung too high to be properly photo- 
 graphed. For in.stance, the large picture on the left side of the fireplace is a portrait 
 of the martyr Henry WaliDole. Corresponding to this, on the right, is a portrait of 
 the Bailie of Yarmouth, whose name is appended to the warrant for the execution 
 of King Charles I. Under the portrait of the Bailie is a weird group of " Death and 
 the Monk." 
 
Mminington and the JValpoles, Earls of Orford. 
 
 29 
 
 My brother was once the victim of an incident which might have had disagreeable 
 consequences. He was one day walking in his garden at Mannington, when he met a man 
 named Wright, who, pointing a pistol at him, declared he would have his rights. On being 
 interrogated, he stated that having been an old servant of my brother's grandfather he had 
 been promised a pension, thus : " You see, my lord," he said, " your grandfather lay a-dying, 
 and your father, the late Earl, was with me at the bedside, and your grandfather tried to speak 
 and could not do so intelligibly. So your father, the late Earl, says, says 'e, ' Tell me, for 
 God's sake, what does my dear father wish to say?' ' My lord,' says I, 'he wish to say, " Give 
 Wright fifty pounds a year, and give his wife the same " — that is what he wish to say, my lord.' " 
 Whether he ever got the pension by his tale I know not, but it has often caused much 
 merriment in the family when the story is narrated. 
 
 But we must now return to the house. On the outside are several inscriptions. Over 
 the door is written " Moritzi.ro satis," in a manner meaning, " This house is sufficient for one 
 who has not long to live." By the side of the door is another quotation, — 
 
 " Aspice quid pejus Tigri, quid Tigride daemon ? 
 Daemone quid mulier? Quid muliere nihil! 
 
30 
 
 Maniiington and the ll'^alpolcs, Ear Is of Orford. 
 
 which, being interi)rctcd. runs thus : " What is worse than a tigress ? A demon. What is 
 worse than a demon ? A woman. What is worse than a woman ? Nothing ! ! " 
 
 W^e enter a small low hall hung with armour, deer's heads, etc. Conspicuous amongst 
 these trophies is the hunting saddle of Sir Robert Walpole, made out of his hunting coat, 
 and in which he is represented in the famous hunting picture of himself and his brother-in- 
 law. General Turner, and his son-in-law. General Churchill, with all the hounds, painted by 
 Wooton. This picture was afterwards burnt, with many other historic relics, in the disastrous 
 fire at the Pantechnicon many years ago. Sir Robert is represented as riding the grey horse 
 called b) him "The Pretender," being the horse captured from James III. in one of the 
 battles of 1715. The hall is hung, as well as the stairc^ise, with fine old tapestry, and the 
 story goes that the greater jjart of it was given by Cardinal Fleury to the Ambassador Walpole. 
 W'ith this tajjestry are also hung here and there some of the family j^ortraits. The most 
 consjticuous of these is that of the venerable Henry Walpole. Henry Walpole was born in 
 1559. He was educated at Norwich School till he matriculated at Cambridge, 1575. He 
 entered at Peterhouse in June that year, and lived in the fiery times of the persecutions of 
 the Roman Catholics in the reign of Elizabeth. Unspeakable horrors were perpetrated on the 
 unfortunate Catholics, and Henry Walpole saw, amongst many others, the execution of his 
 
Mannington and the Walpoles, Earls of Orford. 
 
 31 
 
 best friend Campion. Dr. Jessop says that foremost among the throng who pressed near to 
 catch the martyr's last words, or, if possible, to obtain some relic of him to keep as a treasure, 
 was young Henry Walpole. When the executioner had finished his bloody work, and fiung 
 Campion's quarters into the cauldron that was simmering hard by, the blood spurted out upon 
 Henry Walpole and bespattered his garments. At this sight every impulse of indignation 
 and horror stirred within him, and it seemed that there had come to him a call from Heaven 
 to take up the work which had been so cruelly cut short, and to follow that path which 
 Campion had trodden. From that moment his course was determined, and from that day 
 he devoted himself to the cause for which Edmund Campion had died. From henceforth he 
 became an object of suspicion. His biographers assert that he had made himself obnoxious, 
 converting more than twenty young men who . were his associates, and there was a danger 
 that by remaining in his native country he should compromise his relations ; so he sailed for 
 France, and arrived at Rheims July 7th, 1582, and then he set out for Rome. He was received 
 as a student into the English College, and in January he offered himself to the Society of Jesus, 
 and in 1584 he was admitted as a probationer. Two years he spent at Point-a-Mousson, 
 during which time he was " Prefect of the Convictery." He was ordained priest at Paris in 
 1588. In 1593 he again returned to England, but was immediately arrested, and straightway 
 
 F 
 
32 
 
 Majuiiugtou and tlic IValpoles, Earls of Orford. 
 
 committed to the Castle at York. He at once confessed himself a Jesuit father. His friends 
 laid their plans for a rescue, and it only remained for the prisoner to throw himself into the plot ; 
 but he hesitated. Scruples of con.science suggested themselves, and that hankering after 
 martyrdom came in to confuse his judgment. He knew the risks to be run, and that the 
 freedom of one Jesuit fither might be purchased too dearly by the blood of others, and he 
 prepared to meet his doom as others had done before him. Essex, Elizabeth's favourite, at 
 this time imagined he had found out a plot to assassinate the Queen ; and after imprisoning 
 and torturing many people, he brought Henry up to the Tower under the custody of a brutal 
 jailer, who everywhere during the journey announced he was bringing a notable Jesuit who 
 was party to a plot to murder the Queen. In the \\''alpole family the tradition has been 
 handed tlown that the Queen was to have been poisoned through the [jommel of her saddle, 
 and this must ha\'e been a sublime idea for the Protestants to catch hold of, and Henry 
 VValpole remained nearly two months in solitary confinement. On the 27th of the month he 
 was subjected to his first e.xamination, and on the 3rtl of May he was subjected to another 
 examination. He lay for months in the Tower. He scratched his name on one of the dreary 
 walls of his dungeon, where it still rctmains. All his friends did for him proved to be in vain. 
 He was brought to trial, .and the judge ordered the jury to \\\\(\ him guilty ; and with this 
 
PLATE No. 7. 
 
 THE SITTING-ROOM. 
 
 This room has a south-west aspect, and is the favourite sitting-room of the famil)'. 
 Its walls arc rich in carved panelling, some of \vhich is of the time of Henry VII. M}' 
 brother removed some of it from the old house of Ermingland, near Mannington. The 
 chimney has never been altered since it w as built, and has the cosy old chimne)'-corncr, 
 of which so few now remain. In this room there is a portrait of Pope, given by 
 himself to Lord Walpolc. 
 
Ma?i?iington and tlie PValpoles, Earls of Orford. 
 
 33 
 
 order came the end, and he suffered with many others. After many prayers he was beginning 
 Ave Maria, when they " turned him off" the ladder (the mode of execution in those days), 
 and they let him hang until he was dead. Thus suffered upon the scaffold the martyr Henry 
 Walpole. No one can think of his sufferings without pity, or of his cruel death without shame. 
 He would have been beatified with the last martyrs in 1886, had he not suffered in 1595 — 
 and the last list of the blessed martyrs was those who suffered between 1535 and 1583 ; but 
 to our family he is always the blessed Henry Walpole, of whom we are justly proud. 
 
 Entering the dining-room there is a curious old fireplace and stone mantelpiece carved 
 with the arms of Lumner, the ancient possessors of the property. Near this mantelpiece 
 stand two whole-length, weird figures — of a monk, apparently claimed by death, who takes 
 the form of a skeleton, and is urging the unhappy monk to follow whither he listeth. On 
 the other side of the room is a full-length picture of the Ambassador Horace Walpole, 
 seated with a letter in his hand addressed " A son Excellence Monsietw Walpole.'' This 
 gentleman formed part of a large picture, comprising himself and wife and seven or eight 
 children, some of which are represented as angels, apparently having died as babies. My 
 father cut this picture up and gave the portraits to different members of the family whose 
 descendants they are. The unhappy wife, Miss Lombard (before mentioned), is said to 
 
34 
 
 Manniiigtoii and the IValpoles, Earls of Orfoyd. 
 
 haunt Wolterton, seeking for her divided relatives. In this room are many sketches, — one 
 is of the famous hunting piece by Wooton — a nice portrait of Mr. Faulkner, our grandfather, 
 and of Lady Mary Churchill, and many others of minor importance. 
 
 The sitting-room, the ceiling of which is low with great oak beams across, is wainscoted 
 with most beautiful oak, panelled, and of very early date. It was taken out of the old 
 Manor House at Ermingland, where Cromwell was wont to visit so often. This room leads 
 into the drawing-room, a very fine room with most beautiful oak carving over the mantel- 
 piece, said to have come out of the Bishop's Palace at Norwich. There are two fine 
 portraits of Sir Robert Walpole, one of them by Van Loo — both portraits represent him as 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer, one as a comparatively young man. Near him hangs a half- 
 length of Cardinal Fleury, given to the Ambassador by himself ; near him is the portrait of 
 his king, Louis XV., a fine whole-length by Van Loo representing him as quite a young 
 man. It hangs in a fine gilt frame, and underneath is carved, " Donne par le Roi a 
 Monsieur " ; then comes the half-length portrait of Dorothy, Lady Townshend, the sister of 
 Sir Robert, that unfortunate lady whose fate was somewhat like that of Amy Robsart, both 
 ladies having been killed by their husbands. Till lately the unhappy Dorothy haunted 
 Raynham, the fiimily seat of the Tovvnshends, and caused much talk in the neighbourhood, 
 
Mamtington and the Walpoles, Earls of Orford. 
 
 35 
 
 but, a side staircase near the room having been walled up, it is supposed that now her spirit 
 has at last gone to its rest, and nothing more has been heard of her. There are many 
 more portraits in this room, and in particular that of Ripley the architect, and of Sir 
 Everard Faulkner, the Secretary of Legation to Russia, and his wife ; also a lovely pastelle 
 of Mr. Faulkner, my grandfather. 
 
 Adjoining this drawing-room is the library. It contains many rare books, chiefly 
 from the library at Wolterton ; amongst others, the works of Alexander Pope, which he 
 gave, with his portrait, by Richardson, to the Ambassador Walpole ; all Lord Lytton's 
 novels, given by himself, with his autograph, to my brother ; and many other interesting 
 works. On the mantelpiece is placed a pencil sketch of Sir R. Walpole, who sat to 
 the sculptor Rysbraek for a bust of him which is now at Mannington. The doors of 
 this room, as well as of many of the others, are of solid American walnut, taken from 
 Wolterton, and their history I have already given in this memoir. 
 
 Up the staircase are more family portraits, as also old velvet furniture taken from 
 the private chapel at Wolterton, originally crimson, but now quite faded with age. I 
 forgot to mention that in the last room I have described there is a table with a glass 
 top containing many curious snuff-boxes, besides family relics, such as the heron's plume 
 
36 
 
 Mauuiugfou ami tJic IValpolcs, Earls of Orford. 
 
 belonging to Sir R. Walpole, and worn by him at his installation as Knight of the 
 Garter. 1 cannot find out whether the custom of wearing a heron's plume — or rather 
 the one feather of many herons — was then the custom of the day, but I give the tale 
 as it was transmitted to me from my earliest childhood. Amongst the other treasures is 
 the miniature of the Empress Ciitherine, and also a gold salts-bottle given by Her 
 Majesty to my great-grandfather, Sir Everard Faulkner, to whom that obliging Sovereign 
 took a great fancy when he was Secretary of Foreign Affairs at St. Petersburg. There 
 are the seals of Sir R. Walpole and many other knick-knacks too numerous to mention, 
 including the silver plate, all engraved by William Hogarth, and presented to Sir 
 R. Walpole by the City of London. Amongst these plea.sant surroundings for many 
 years my dear brother loved to dwell ; now he has left Mannington, but with due care 
 paid to its preservation, and at times some of the family dwell there. When I visit it, 
 about once a year, it recalls to me all the memories of my childhood, as, alas ! it also 
 recalls all those dear ones who have left me almost desolate. 
 
 'J'o my dear brcjllier I dedicate this very leeble effort on my part, hoping it may, 
 in a manner, illustrate the last home of the Walpoles. 
 
G 
 
PLATE No. 8. 
 
 THE OLD CHAPEL. 
 
 This is the interior of the Old Chapel, with the walls now overgrown with ivy 
 Having been once a Roman Catholic place of worship, it contains the recess for 
 holy water. The inscription on the right reads thus : — 
 
 "Decipimur Votis et Tempore Fallimur et Mors 
 Deridet Curas Aurea Vita Nihil." 
 
 Inside the chancel arc buried man}- of the I'otts family. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 TWO ORFORD LETTERS.' 
 
 Y father' was gifted with a sense of humour which made itself apparent on 
 more than one occasion when replying to a communication from a public 
 official. An instance of this occurs to me. He had been appointed by the 
 then Conservative Government Lord High Steward of Yarmouth, but the 
 next Liberal Government dismissed him from this honourable office. His 
 letter acknowledging this last communication is characteristic. 
 
 " Gentlemen, — My appointment of Lord High Steward of Yarmouth by the 
 " late Government was received with pride and pleasure. My dismissal by the 
 " present Government confers almost equal honour upon 
 
 "Your obedient servant, 
 
 "ORFORD." 
 
38 
 
 A ppendix. 
 
 In 1S24 Lord Orford was invited to become President of the Norwich Bible Society. 
 His rep])- was as follows : — 
 
 " Sir. — I am surprised and annoyed by the contents of your letter — siirpinsed 
 " because my well-known character should have exempted me from such an applica- 
 " tion, and annoyed because it compels me to have even this communication with 
 " you. 
 
 " I have long been addicted to the Gaming Table. I have lately taken to the 
 ■' Turf I fear I frequently blaspheme, l^ut I have never distributed religious 
 " tracts. All this was known to you and your Society. Notwithstanding which you 
 " think me a fit person to l^e your president. God forgive your hypocrisy. 
 
 " I would rather li\'e in the land of Sinners than with such Saints." 
 
 I am indebted to Mr. Spencer Walpole for a reference to this last letter, which I have 
 copied from the Annual Register for 1824. 
 
PLATE No. 9. 
 
 THE GROVE. 
 
 The Grove nearly surrounds the Old Chapel (see Plate 8). It is a lovely spot, 
 and everywhere there are memorials to absent and departed friends. The photograph 
 was taken in early spring, before the foliage had had time to come out. 
 
NOTE ON THE TWO EARLDOMS OF ORFORD. 
 
 I. Sii<: Robert Walpole, ist Earl of Orford, d. 1742. 
 
 II. Robert, ■ 2ND Earl (ist Baron Walpole, of Walpole). 
 
 I 
 
 III. George, 3RD Earl. 
 
 'I 
 
 IV. Horace, 4TH Earl, d. unmarried, 1797. 
 
 V. His First Cousin, Horatio, 2nd Lord Walpole, of Wolterton, avas, in 1806, 
 CREATED Earl of Orford, d. 1809. 
 I 
 
 VI. Horace, 2Nd Earl, d. 1822. 
 
 I 
 
 VII. Horatio, ^rd Earl, d. 1858. 
 
 I 
 
 VIII. Horatio William, Present (1894) Earl. 
 
H 
 
PLATE No. lo. 
 
 THE GROVE.— No. 2. 
 
 The beauty of the Grove renders it necessar}' to give two views of it. But I 
 need not add any further account of the scene. 
 
 i 
 
INDEX. 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Aluric . . . ■'. 
 
 . II 
 
 Faulkner ...... 
 
 34, 35. 36 
 
 Ambassador Walpole .... 
 
 22, 23, 36 
 
 Fleetwood 
 
 - 25 
 
 Anspach, Caroline of ... . 
 
 • 23 
 
 
 23, 30, 34 
 
 Blomefield's History of Norfolk . 
 
 . 24 
 
 
 ■ 15 
 
 Burwell, Mary 
 
 • 13 
 
 
 • 13 
 
 Campion 
 
 ■ 30 
 
 Hogarth 
 
 .... 3^ 
 
 Castle Rising- 
 
 ... 14 
 
 
 . 19 
 
 Catherine, Empress .... 
 
 . . . 36 
 
 ,, Architect of . 
 
 ... 21 
 
 Cholmondeley, Mary, Lady . 
 
 . 19 
 
 
 . 15 
 
 Churchill, General . . . . 
 ,, Lady Mary .... 
 
 ■ 15 
 
 • 15. 34 
 
 
 19,31 
 
 Dennells, The 
 
 • H 
 
 
 . 14 
 
 Ermingland 
 
 ■ 25, 34 
 
 Mary .... 
 
 . 23 
 ■ 33 
 
 Family of Walpole 
 
 . II 
 
 
 ■ 24, 33 
 
42 
 
 Index. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Malpas ... . 15 
 
 Mannington 24, 29, 36 
 
 Church .• 26 
 
 Nelson 13 
 
 Orford, George, Earl of 20 
 
 ,, Horatio, 2nd Earl 23 
 
 ,, Fourth Earl ........ 24 
 
 ,, Present Earl ... ... 29 
 
 And sec Appendix, p. 39. 
 
 Pembroke 26 
 
 Pope 35 
 
 Potts Family 25, 27 
 
 Ripley, Architect 21, 35 
 
 Robsarts, The 12, 34 
 
 Siderstonc Manor 12 
 
 Skerret, Maria 15 
 
 Strawberry Hill 19 
 
 Suckling, Captain 13 
 
 Townshend, Dorothy, Lady i3> 34 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Turner, Mary . . . , 13 
 
 Van Loo 34 
 
 Waldegrave, Lady 15 
 
 Walpole, The Misses 15 
 
 ,, Lord 22, 23 
 
 ,. Edward and Lucy 12 
 
 Henry 31, 32 
 
 ,, Robert 12 
 
 ,, Galfridus '3> H 
 
 ,, Horatio 14 
 
 Sir Robert : Birth 14 
 
 Marriages of . . . -15 
 
 Death 15 
 
 Picture 30 
 
 ,, Horace 15, 20, 27 
 
 Wickmere 24, 27 
 
 Wolterton, Architect of 21 
 
 ,, Building of 22 
 
 ,, Treasures of 23, 35 
 
 Wooton 30. 34 
 
 Wright 29 
 
GETTY RESEARCH INSTITUTE 
 
 3 3125 01451 5056