Galfridus Walpole
| Galfridus Walpole | |
|---|---|
Charles Jervas portrait of Galfridus Walpole
whose right arm was lost at Vado Bay in 1711 |
|
| Born | 1683 |
| Died | 7 August 1726 (aged 42–43) |
| Buried | St Martin Churchyard Houghton, Norfolk United Kingdom |
| Allegiance |
.svg){kind=small} United Kingdom of Great Britain
|
| Service/branch |
 Royal Navy
|
| Spouse(s) | Cornelia Hays |
| Relations |
|
| Other work | |
Galfridus Walpole (1683 – 7 August 1726) was a naval officer and politician of the Kingdom of Great Britain (and later United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland). He lost his right arm after a naval battle against the French in Vado Bay, Italy, in 1711. He commanded ships for another nine years, was elected a member of parliament and was appointed joint postmaster general, a position he held until his death.
Galfridus was born in 1683, the son of Robert Walpole and Mary Burwell of Houghton, Norfolk, and the younger brother of Sir Robert Walpole. In 1709 he married Cornelia Hays but they did not have any children.
In 1706 he was commander of HMS Solebay, a sixth rate 24-gun frigate, followed by the HMS Feversham and between 1707–1709 he commanded HMS Poole, a fifth rate frigate. From 1710–1714 Galfridus was in charge of HMS Lion, a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line. The last commission was on the HMS Peregrine Galley from 1716–1720, a ship that later became a royal yacht.
While commanding HMS Lion, on 22 March 1711, Walpole's ship was in Vado Bay on the Italian coast in the Mediterranean as lookout cruisers when they sighted four French enemy ships. Amongst those who gave chase and engaged the enemy for about two hours was HMS Lion who lost forty men. Walpole was so badly injured that his right arm was amputated by the ship's surgeon John Atkins who sat up for two nights with Walpole who gave the surgeon no thanks for the attention.
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Wikipedia