Wal·pole 
(wôlpōl′, wŏl-), Horace or Horatio Fourth Earl of Orford. 1717-1797.
(wôlpōl′, wŏl-), Horace or Horatio Fourth Earl of Orford. 1717-1797. British writer whose letters and memoirs provide valuable information about his era. With The Castle of Otranto (1764), he established the Gothic novel as a popular literary genre in England.