The First Duke
Arthur Wesley was the third son of Garret Wesley the Earl of Mornington, who subsequently followed his elder brother's example and adopted Wellesley as his surname. (See Earl of Mornington for a note on the origin of the Wesley/Wellesley name.) As a younger son of an Anglo-Irish family Arthur had to make his own way in the world and joined the British Army, and was to enjoy a remarkably successful military career, campaigning in India and the Iberian peninsula and ending with the ultimate victory over Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo in 1815.
A successful military career guaranteed a steady flow of honours from a grateful nation, including the award of a number of titles as follows;
- On the 4th September 1809 the titles of Viscount Wellington of Talavera and of Wellington and Baron Douro of Wellesley
- On the 28th February 1812 the title of Earl of Wellington
- On the 3rd October 1812 the title of Marquess of Wellington together with £100,000 for the purchase of lands to descend with that title.
- On the 11th May 1814 the titles of Duke of Wellington and the Marquess Douro together with another £400,000 to buy yet more land.
Arthur took the name of 'Wellington' from the town of Wellington in Somerset, which lies midway between Taunton and Tiverton. Although the Wesley/Wellesley family originated in Somerset there does not appear to be any specific explanation as to why he chose Wellington.
A number of other nations also saw fit to honour Arthur Wellesley who therefore accumulated a further number of titles as follows;
Subsequent dukes
The 1st Duke was succeeded by his eldest son Arthur Richard Wellesley, who naturally lived in the shadow of his famous father, although he too pursued a military career. It was said of the 2nd Duke that whilst "Possessing excellent natural abilities, and a large share of acquired information, he never took the place he ought to have taken in public life, but wasted, rather than cultivated, (his) talents". His major achievement seems to have been producing a twenty-three volume edition of his father's correspondence.
Arthur Richard married Elizabeth Hay, the daughter of George Hay, the Marquess of Tweeddale, but there were no children and therefore with his death on the 13th August 1884 he was succeeded by his nephew, Henry Wellesley who duly became the 3rd Duke.
The 3rd Duke was another military man, serving in the Grenadier Guards and also briefly as the Conservative M.P. for Andover between 1874 and 1880. He died childless on 8th June 1900 at the age of 54 and was followed by his younger brother Arthur Charles Wellesley the 4th Duke. The 4th Duke again saw service in the Grenadier Guards and on his death in 1934 was succeeded by his son another Arthur Charles Wellesley who fought in both the Boer War and the First World War achieving the rank of Lieutenant.
He was succeeded in 1941 by his son Henry Valerian George Wellesley, but the 6th Duke was killed in action on the 16 September 1943 whilst leading his Commando brigade at Salerno in Italy and was therefore succeeded by his uncle the 7th Duke, a career diplomat who nevertheless was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Grenadier Guards during the Second World War.
The current and 8th Duke of Wellington is Arthur Valerian Wellesley who is also the 12th Earl of Mornington and the 13th Baron of Mornington as well as holding the numerous other titles first granted to his illustrious ancestor the 1st Duke. His son and heir apparent Arthur Charles Valerian Wellesley, is known as the Marquess Douro whilst his son (and grandson of the 8th Duke) Arthur Gerald Wellesley, sports the courtesy title of the Earl of Mornington.
The Dukes of Wellington
WELLESLEY
SOURCES
- A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain at www.thepeerage.com
- Charles Arnold Baker The Companion to British History (Longcross Press, 1996)