26 August: Robert Walpole

Robert Walpole, British statesman, generally regarded as the first Prime Minister of Great Britain, was born on this date in 1676. Here are 10 things you might not know about him.

1. Although he's generally regarded as Britain's first Prime Minister, the term Prime Minister for the job(s) Walpole did wasn't used until 1905 - the first Prime Minister to call himself that was Henry Campbell-Bannerman. In any case, Walpole did the job for over 20 years, making him the longest-serving British prime minister in history.
2. Walpole was born in Houghton, Norfolk. His father was also called Robert Walpole, a member of the local gentry, and his mother was Mary, the daughter and heiress of Sir Geoffrey Burwell of Rougham, Suffolk. He was one of nineteen children.
3. He was the third son, and initially, he wanted to become a clergyman. He went to a private school at Massingham, Norfolk, then Eton and then Cambridge. However, he left Cambridge after two years because both his elder brothers had died. His ambition to enter the church had to be put aside as he was now heir to the family estate.
4. His father was a politician too, the Whig MP for Castle Rising. At 24, The young Robert Walpole won that seat himself, in 1701. He left after about a year in order to represent the neighbouring borough of King's Lynn. At the time, King's Lynn was a "pocket borough" which means most of the electorate were tenants of one person. There were no secret ballots back then so tenants risked getting evicted if they didn't vote the way their landlord told them to. So the fact he kept getting re-elected here for years and years might not have been such a great achievement!
5. Robert Walpole was nicknamed "Robin". His administration was sometimes called the "Robinocracy" or as the "Robinarchy". The nursery rhyme, "Who Killed Cock Robin?" is thought to refer to Robert Walpole's eventual downfall.
6. He was married twice, first to Catherine Shorter, who was described as being very beautiful with good manners. She came with a £20,000 dowry that according to Robert's brother Horatio, was used to pay for the wedding, subsequent christenings and jewellery. Catherine died in 1737 but Walpole had, by this time, already moved in with a mistress called Maria Skerrett, a socialite. He married her within a year of the death of his first wife.
7. Ten Downing Street was a gift to Walpole from George II, which Wapole accepted only as an official London residence for the First Lord of the Treasury (a title held by British Prime Ministers to this day). At first, his successors didn't always live there, often preferring their own larger country houses. However, today, it is the official residence of the Prime Minister of Great Britain.
8. Despite the fact that George II gave Robert Walpole a house, they didn't always get on particularly well. When he first inherited the throne, George wanted to fire him, but was persuaded not to by Queen Caroline.
9. Some of the things Walpole did while in office included consolidating the National Debt, introducing excise duty on Wine, tobacco and Gin (not popular with the merchant classes), bringing in regulation of theatres (not popular with the literary classes). He was committed to avoiding war and even managed to influence George II not to get involved in wars in Europe.
10. When his career as prime minister ended in 1842, he was made 1st Earl of Orford. His retirement only lasted about three years, during which time he enjoyed hunting (though not as often as he would have liked because the weather wasn't always in his favour) and collecting art. He died in London at the age of 68.

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A stable wormhole has been established between Earth and Infinitus. Power Blaster and his friends can finally go home.

Desi Troyes is still at large on Earth - Power Blaster has vowed to bring him to justice. His wedding to Shanna is under threat as the Desperadoes launch an attempt to rescue their leader. 

Someone from Power Blaster's past plays an unexpected and significant role in capturing Troyes.

The return home brings its own challenges. Not everyone can return to the life they left behind, and for some, there is unfinished business to be dealt with before they can start anew.

Ben Cole in particular cannot resume his old life as a surgeon because technology no longer works around him. He plans a new life in Classica, away from technology. Shanna hears there could be a way to reverse his condition and sets out to find it, putting herself in great danger. She doesn't know she is about to uncover the secret of Power Blaster's mysterious past.

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Completes The Raiders Trilogy. 

Other books in the series:

Book One

Book Two