Dear david24-ga
The first Prime Minister, Robert Walpole married his first wife
Catherine Shorter in 1700. The marriage soured and he had a long term
affair with Maria Skerrett whom he married after the death of his
first wife in 1737. They had one illegitimate child by the
relationship and she was granted precedence of Earl's daughter upon
marriage of parents. There is a reference to his son Horace looking
like his father’s illegitimate children, but I can find no further
reference to another child.
Sources:
"Mrs Walpole, as she then still was, had been a Miss Catherine
Shorter, beautiful granddaughter of a former Lord Mayor of London. She
had brought Walpole a dowry of £20,000 (well over £1m in early–2000s
terms) but died in late summer 1737. His mistress Maria Skerrett or
Skerritt was also beautiful and rather richer, being possessed of
£30,000 (over £1.5m in early–2000s terms). He had lived with her while
his wife was still alive at both Richmond and Houghton, his Norfolk
mansion . They married early in 1738 but she died of a miscarriage
three months later. On taking an earldom after retiring from the
Premiership, Walpole got Catherine, his bastard daughter by Maria,
granted the rank and precedence of an earl’s daughter, so that she
became ‘Lady Catherine’."
http://www.burkes-peerage.net/sites/common/ejournals/pm_walpole.asp
Extensive biography with reference books for recommended reading:
"These years, too, were darkened by private grief as well as public
anxiety. His wife, with whom he had been on indifferent terms, died in
1737, and he was married by March 3, 1738, to his mistress of
long-standing, Maria Skerritt, a woman of great charm and wit. Three
months later she died in childbirth."
http://www.hfac.uh.edu/gbrown/philosophers/leibniz/BritannicaPages/Walpole/Walpole.html
It is speculated that one of his sons Horace / Horatio may not have
been Robert’s. There is also reference to his father’s illegitimate
‘children’. Apart from Catherine, I could find no other reference to
the other illegitimate children.
"Horace Walpole was born in London, 24 September 1717, the third
surviving son of Sir Robert Walpole and his wife Catherine. Given the
contrast between his effete vivacity and his father’s robust
forcefulness, there has always been a rumour that he was in fact the
product of an adulterous liaison of his mother’s, but he also bore a
strong resemblance to one of his father’s illegitimate children.
Walpole lived primarily with his mother, who was in effect separated
from his father.”
http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4587
"Although Horace Walpole is famous for being the son of the
longest-serving Prime Minister in British history, Robert Walpole, it
is likely that he was in fact the son of Walpole's wife, Catherine,
and ! her lover, Lord Hervey. Horace was over ten years younger than
his older brothers and he looked nothing like them. Moreover, Robert
and Catherine Walpole had been estranged for years. Fortunately Horace
seemed to be ignorant of these rumours and was devoted to his parents
all of his life, especially his mother,"
http://members.fortunecity.es/agustinirissou/walpole_biography.htm
Charles Wentworth, Marquess of Rockingham.
I could find no reference to affairs or illegitimate children.
"Rockingham married the 16-year old Mary Bright on 26 February 1752.
The couple were extremely close: it seems to have been a love-match
rather than an arranged marriage. They had no children and on
Rockingham's death in 1782 the estates went to his nephew, the fourth
Earl Fitzwilliam."
(Contains an extensive bio and recommended reading)
http://65.107.211.206/history/pms/rocky.html
The web sites I accessed concentrated of the political careers of both
men. I believe your best source of information would be a published
detailed biography where their private life would have been researched
and presented in greater detail than found on web sites. Examples are:
Sir Robert Walpole
B W Hill
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0241127386/qid=1052586869/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_0_1/026-5681524-5542828
Marquis, The: Study of Lord Rockingham,1730-82
Ross J.S. Hoffman
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0823209709/qid=1052587429/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_0_1/026-5681524-5542828
I hope this answers your question. If it does not, or the answer is
unclear, then please ask for clarification of this research before
rating the answer. I shall respond to the clarification request as
soon as I receive it.
Thank you
answerfinder
Search strategy
All relevant names and variations on children, child, illegitimate,
affairs, mistress, mistresses, scandal.
Examples:
"Sir Robert Walpole" AND mistress OR mistresses
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22Sir+Robert+Walpole%22+AND+mistress+OR+mistresses&btnG=Google+Search
"Charles Wentworth" Marquess children
://www.google.com/search?q=%22Charles+Wentworth%22+Marquess+children&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&start=0&sa=N
"Charles Wentworth" rockingham
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22Charles+Wentworth%22+rockingham |
