Admiral The Hon. Walter Cecil Carpenter (27 March 1834 – 13 May 1904), also known as The Hon. Walter Cecil Talbot until he changed his name by Royal licence was a Royal Navy officer who became a Senior Officer, Coast of Ireland Station.
Walter Talbot was born on 27 March 1834 in Ingestre, Staffordshire, England and died on 13 May 1904 at Westminster part of central London, and he was buried on 15 May 1904 in Bolton-on-Swale, North Yorkshire, England. He was the second son of Henry Chetwynd-Talbot, 18th Earl of Shrewsbury and Lady Sarah Elizabeth, the daughter of Henry Beresford, 2nd Marquess of Waterford, by his marriage to Sarah Carpenter where upon he took her surname by royal licence. He played first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1851, making a single appearance against Middlesex at Lord's.
Walter Talbot (then so surnamed) entered the Royal Navy in 1847. Promoted to lieutenant on 22 September 1854, he served on HMS Hannibal as a lieutenant from 24 June 1856 during the Crimean War in the Black Sea and then later in the Mediterranean Sea. He was assigned to HMS Nile on 6 December 1858. Promoted to commander on 16 June 1859, he was on HMS Steady from 18 November 1864 to 2 March 1865 serving in the West Indies and off North America. He was aboard HMS Fawn, in the West Indies, from 2 March 1865 to 14 April 1866.
Promoted to captain on 11 April 1866, he became commanding officer the frigate HMS Royal Alfred in September 1867. He served as commanding officer of HMS Bristol, a naval cadet training ship, from 19 January 1871 to 15 December 1871. He again commanded another naval cadet training ship, HMS Ariadne from 16 December 1871 to 2 September 1873. From 1873 until 1876 he served ashore at Portsmouth Naval Home Command and as an aide to Admiral Edward Fanshawe and he served as flag captain in HMS Duke of Wellington from 16 October 1876.
He was assigned as commanding officer of the battleship HMS Temeraire in March 1880 and became commanding officer of the battleship HMS Belleisle in March 1881. In addition he was cited as "Naval aide de camp" to Queen Victoria from 1880 to 1882.
Walter Carpenter (then so surnamed in 1868) was promoted to rear admiral on 29 December 1882 and was assigned as the Senior Officer, Coast of Ireland Station on 1 January 1887 before being promoted to vice admiral on 8 November 1888 and going on half pay in December 1888 due to illness. Promoted to full admiral on 28 May 1894, he fully retired on 11 March 1896.