Portrait of Walter, 1st Viscount Chetwynd, three-quarter-length, in a dark gown and brown cloak

Walter Chetwynd (d.1735/6), of Rudge and Ingestre, Shropshire, having supported the Hanoverian succession, was elevated to the peerage of Ireland in 1717 as Baron Rathdowne, Co. Dublin, and Viscount Chetwynd, of Bearhaven, Co. Cork. In May 1703 he married Mary, daughter and co-heir of John Berkeley, 4th Viscount Fitzhardinge and Baron of Rathdowne, who was Treasurer of the Chamber and Teller of the Exchequer to Queen Anne.

He was the first Governor of The London Assurance Corporation from 1720-1723, and at that time the corporation was often referred to as 'Chetwynd's Bubble'.