| Earldom of Orford | |
| Creation: | Third |
| Peerage: | Peerage of the United Kingdom |
| First Holder: | Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford (first creation; 1742) |
| Last Holder: | Robert Horace Walpole, 5th Earl of Orford |
| Remainder To: | the 1st Earl's heirs male of the body lawfully begotten. |
| Subsidiary Titles: | Baron Walpole |
| Status: | Extinct |
| Extinction Date: | 27 September 1931 |
Earl of Orford is a title that has been created three times.
The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1697 when the naval commander Admiral of the Fleet Edward Russell was made Earl of Orford, in the County of Suffolk. He was created Baron of Shingay, in the County of Cambridge, and Viscount Barfleur at the same time, also in the Peerage of England. A member of the influential Russell family, he was the son of the Honourable Edward Russell, a younger son of Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford and younger brother of William Russell, 1st Duke of Bedford (see Duke of Bedford for earlier history of the Russell family). Lord Orford had no children and the titles became extinct on his death in 1727.
The title was created again in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1742 for Robert Walpole, de facto acknowledged to have been the first Prime Minister of Great Britain, who at the same time was created Viscount Walpole and Baron Walpole of Houghton. At the time, the family seat was Houghton Hall, which was owned and commissioned by Robert Walpole.[1] The titles became extinct on the death of the 4th Earl in 1797.
It was created a third time in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1806 for Horatio Walpole, 4th Baron Walpole of Walpole, a cousin of the 4th Earl of the 2nd creation. The title became extinct in 1931.[2]