In 1835, at the age of 21, Orford was returned to Parliament as one of two representatives for Norfolk East, a seat he held until 1837.

He referred to the famed advocate of women's rights Mary Wollstonecraft as "a hyena in petticoats".

[3] Lord Orford married Harriet Bettina Frances, daughter of Admiral the Hon.

Lord Orford survived her by eight years and died in December 1894, aged 81.

Lord Orford had an illegitimate child, Horatio Walpole, by the Lady Susan, wife of the 5th Duke of Newcastle and daughter of Alexander Douglas-Hamilton, 10th Duke of Hamilton.