He was born at
Warfield Park, near
Bracknell in
Berkshire, the only son of
Sir John Walsh, 1st Baronet, and
Margaret Benn. His mother and father were named Benn but had assumed the surname of Walsh in lieu of his patronymic in 1795, in accordance with the will of his wife's uncle
Sir John Walsh (1726–1795), who left him a fortune made in India, including estates in Berkshire and Radnorshire, and also large holdings in Ireland, mainly in Cork and Kerry. Under the terms of the will, the Walsh fortune was to be managed by his parents until he came of age. He was educated at
Eton and
Christ Church, Oxford, matriculating in 1816. He inherited the Radnorshire from his mother on attaining his majority in 1819 and also inherited his father's Cumbria estates on his death in 1825. By 1874 his total acreage in Radnorshire had reached 12,500. He also visited his Irish estates regularly over 40 years, and made great efforts to increase the profits. He had the reputation in Ireland of being a harsh and exacting landlord, but his diary shows that he saw himself as a benevolent overseer of his tenants, whom he rewarded for hard work, while ruthlessly evicting those who would not work. ==Political career==