{{Short description|English politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} [[File:PalkArms.PNG|thumb|Arms granted in 1760 to "Robert Palk of Headborough in the county of Devon" (later Sir Robert Palk, 1st Baronet), uncle of Walter Palk (1742–1819): ''Sable, an eagle displayed argent beaked and legged or a bordure engrailed of the second''<ref>Polwhele, Richard, ''History of Devonshire'', 3 Vols., Vol.2, London, 1793, p.181, footnote </ref>]] [[File:Gateposts, Syon Abbey - geograph.org.uk - 1206358.jpg|thumb|Marley House, a Georgian mansion built by Walter Palk (17421819) in the parish of Rattery in Devon, renamed "Syon Abbey" in 1925 when the formerly exiled community of nuns whose antecedents were from Syon Monastery, Twickenham, Middlesex, dissolved by King Henry VIII, took up residence]] '''Walter Palk''' (1742–1819), of Marley House (later renamed Syon Abbey) in the parish of Rattery, Devon, England, was a Member of Parliament for his family's Pocket Borough<ref>"the family seat" History of Parliament biography</ref> of Ashburton in Devon from 1796 to 1811.<ref>History of Parliament biography [http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/palk-walter-1742-1819]</ref> He served as Sheriff of Devon (1791–92) and in 1798 was a Captain in the Ashburton Volunteer Militia,<ref name="auto">History of Parliament biography</ref> one of many such units formed across Devon to counter a possible invasion by Napoleon.
==Origins== He was the eldest son of Walter Palk (d.1801) of Headborough and Yolland Hill, in the parish of Ashburton, a small farmer and clothier, by his first wife Thomasine Withecombe of Priestaford, Ashburton.<ref name="auto"/> His uncle was the wealthy Sir Robert Palk, 1st Baronet (1717-1798)<ref name="auto"/> of Haldon House in the parish of Kenn, in Devon, an officer of the British East India Company who served as Governor of the Madras Presidency, later an MP for Ashburton in 1767 and between 1774 and 1787 and for Wareham, between 1768 and 1774.
==Landholdings== Shortly before 1810 he purchased the manor of Rattery together with several local estates, and built Marley House, a large Georgian country house, as his new seat within the parish of Rattery.<ref>Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, p.380</ref>
==Marriage and children== On 15 February 1782 he married Elizabeth Lyde, by whom he had two daughters,<ref name="auto"/> only one of whom survived: *Elizabeth Palk, only daughter<ref>Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.145, pedigree of Carew</ref> and sole heiress, who in 1806 married Sir Henry Carew, 7th Baronet (1779–1830) of Haccombe in Devon.
==References== <references/>
{{s-start}} {{s-par|gb}} {{succession box | title = Member of Parliament for Ashburton | years = 1796–1800 | with = Robert Mackreth | before = Sir Lawrence Palk, 2nd Baronet<br />Robert Mackreth | after = Parliament of the United Kingdom }} |- {{s-par|uk}} {{succession box | title = Member of Parliament for Ashburton | years = 1800–1811 | with = Robert Mackreth (1800–02) | with2 = Sir Hugh Inglis, 1st Baronet (1802–06) | with3 = Hon. Gilbert Elliot (1806–07) | with4 = Lord Charles Bentinck (1807–11) | before = Parliament of Great Britain | after = John Sullivan <br /> Lord Charles Bentinck }} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palk, Walter}} Category:1742 births Category:1819 deaths Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Ashburton Category:British MPs 1796–1800 Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Ashburton Category:UK MPs 1801–1802 Category:UK MPs 1802–1806 Category:UK MPs 1806–1807 Category:UK MPs 1807–1812 Category:High sheriffs of Devon