Wellesley family

House of Wellesley
Wellesley modern Arms: Quarterly: 1st & 4th, Gules, a Cross Argent, in each quarter five Plates saltirewise (Wellesley); 2nd & 3rd, Or, a Lion rampant Gules, ducally gorged Gold (Cowley)
CountryKingdom of Ireland, Kingdom of England, United Kingdom
Founded938 (938)
Current headCharles Wellesley, 9th Duke of Wellington
SeatStratfield Saye House
Titles
Estate(s)

The Wellesley family is an Irish noble family of Anglo-Saxon origin from Somerset which derived its name from the town of Wells in that county, with which they had a close association. The family held the office of hereditary standard-bearer to the King.[1] A Wellesley accompanied King Henry II of England to Ireland in 1172 during the Hiberno-Norman Invasion, for which they received large grants of land in County Meath and Kildare.[2]

According to Burke's peerage, the family can trace its unbroken lineage back to Waleran de Wellesley.[3] Waleran was an itinerant justice, and became first itinerant justice in 1255.[4] He was the first member of the family to settle there.[5] Although, it has been suggested that the first known Wellesley, Guy, was made a Thane by Athelstan in 938 and also resided near Wells in Somerset. [6] Waleran's male line descendants went extinct with the death of Garret Wesley in 1728. However, the Wellesley estates and arms were inherited by a cousin Richard Colley, the future Baron Mornington, who descended from this family through female line .[2]

Barons of Mornington

Richard Colley (as he was christened) was born around 1690, the son of Henry Colley (died 1719) and Mary, daughter of Sir William Ussher.[7]{{efn|Wesley had a notable younger brother: Henry Colley (died 1723). He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin with a BA in 1711 and an MA in 1714 and an N.F.P. on 6 July 1740 as Richard Colley.[8] In the intervening year he held the office of Chamberlain of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland).[7]

On 23 September 1728 Colley inherited the estates of Dangan and Mornington, in County Meath, on the death of his cousin, Garret Wesley.[7][a] Less than two months later on 15 November 1728 he legally changed his surname to Wesley.[7]

Between 1729 and 1746 Wesley represented Trim in the Irish House of Commons.[7] He was High Sheriff of Meath in 1734 and he was created Baron Mornington in the Peerage of Ireland on 9 July 1746.[7]

Earls of Mornington

The first earl was the eldest son of Richard Wesley, the first Baron Mornington. Richard Wesley, born Richard Colley, was elevated to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Mornington, of Mornington, in 1746.[9] He had inherited the Dangan and Mornington estates in County Meath on the death of his first cousin Garret Wesley in 1728. In the same year he was granted by Royal licence the new surname of Wesley (see below for earlier history of the family).

His son, the second Baron, was made the first Earl of Mornington in 1760, and at the same time also became Viscount Wellesley, of Dangan Castle in the County of Meath, also in the Peerage of Ireland.

Four of the first earl's sons gained distinction. The third son was Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 (see Duke of Wellington), while the fifth was the diplomat Henry Wellesley, 1st Baron Cowley (see Earl Cowley).

Portrait of the Marquess Wellesley by Thomas Lawrence, 1813

The first earl was succeeded by his eldest son, Richard, the second earl. He used the original family surname of Wellesley in lieu of Wesley. He was a prominent soldier, diplomat and politician. In 1797 he was created Baron Wellesley, of Wellesley in the County of Somerset, in the Peerage of Great Britain, which entitled him to a seat in the British House of Lords. In 1799 he was further honoured when he was made Marquess Wellesley, of Norragh, in the Peerage of Ireland. However, he was said to be bitterly disappointed at not receiving a dukedom or at least an English peerage of high rank. He referred to his Irish marquessate as a "double-gilt potato". Lord Wellesley had several children by his French mistress, Hyacinthe-Gabrielle Roland (they were married in 1794 after the birth of their children). One of them, Anne, married as her second husband Lord Charles Bentinck. They were great-great-grandparents of Queen Elizabeth II.

William Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley, 4th Earl of Mornington

As Lord Wellesley had no legitimate children, the English barony of 1797 and the marquessate became extinct on his death in 1842. He was succeeded in the other titles by his younger brother William Wellesley-Pole, 1st Baron Maryborough, who became the third Earl of Mornington. He was also a politician and notably served as Chief Secretary for Ireland between 1809 and 1812 and as Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer between 1811 and 1812. Born William Wesley, he assumed by Royal licence in 1781 the additional surname of Pole on succeeding to the estates of his cousin, William Pole. In 1798 he assumed by Royal licence the surname of Wellesley-Pole in lieu of Wesley-Pole. In 1821 he was raised to the Peerage of the United Kingdom as Baron Maryborough, of Maryborough in the Queen's County. He was succeeded by his son, the fourth Earl. He married Catherine, daughter and coheir of Sir James Tylney-Long, 7th Baronet (see Tylney-Long Baronets). She was known in London society as "The Wiltshire heiress" and was believed to be the richest commoner in England. On his marriage he assumed by Royal licence the additional surnames of Tylney and Long.

Lord Mornington is chiefly remembered for his dissipated lifestyle which brought about the destruction of the Tylney family estate of Wanstead House. He was succeeded by his eldest and only surviving son, the fifth Earl. He had been the subject of a bitter custody battle between his father and his two maternal aunts (who had wanted him to be placed under the guardianship of his great-uncle the Duke of Wellington) and later fought a legal battle with his father over the sale of contents of the family seat Draycot House. Lord Mornington died unmarried in 1863 when the barony of Maryborough became extinct. He left all his landed property to his father's cousin Henry Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley. He was succeeded in his Irish titles by his first cousin once removed, Arthur Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington. The title Earl of Mornington is now used as a courtesy title by the heir apparent to the Marquess of Douro, himself the heir apparent to the Duke of Wellington. As of 2015, the title is held by courtesy by Arthur Wellesley, Earl of Mornington, son of Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Douro and grandson of Charles Wellesley, 9th Duke of Wellington.

Dangan Castle, c. 1840

The Wesley or Wellesley family descended from Sir Richard de Wellesley (15th century). His grandson Sir William Wellesley (died 1602) lived at Dangan Castle, County Meath. The family estates passed down the male lines. One of Wellesley's daughters, Alison, married John Cusack. Their son Sir Thomas Cusack served as Lord Chancellor of Ireland between 1551 and 1554. His daughter, Katherine, married Sir Henry Colley (or Cowley) (16th century), of Castle Carbery, County Kildare. Their grandson Sir Henry Colley represented County Monaghan in the Irish Parliament. One of Sir Henry's sons, Dudley Colley (or Cowley), was a member of the Irish Parliament for Philipstown. His son Henry Colley (or Cowley) was the father of Henry Cowley, who represented Strabane in the Irish House of Commons, and of Garret Wesley, 1st Baron Mornington. The aforementioned Garret Wesley (died 1728) was a descendant of Sir William Wellesley (died 1602) as well as the son of Elizabeth, daughter of the aforementioned Dudley Colley, also the paternal grandfather of the first Baron Mornington.

The country seat of the Wellesley family was Dangan Castle, near Summerhill, County Meath. The Dublin residence of the family was Mornington House, Merrion Street.

Earls Cowley

This section is an excerpt from Earl Cowley.[edit]
Henry Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley

Earl Cowley is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1857 for the diplomat Henry Wellesley, 2nd Baron Cowley. He was Ambassador to France from 1852 to 1867. He was made Viscount Dangan, of Dangan in the County of Meath, at the same time as he was given the earldom.[11] This title is also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Lord Cowley was the eldest son of Henry Wellesley, 1st Baron Cowley, who like his son served as Ambassador to France. In 1828 he was created Baron Cowley, of Wellesley in the County of Somerset, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.[12] A member of the prominent Wellesley family, Cowley was the fifth and youngest son of Garret Wellesley, 1st Earl of Mornington, and the younger brother of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, and Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley.

The first Earl was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Earl. He was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Coldstream Guards and fought in the Crimean War. His great-great-grandson (the titles having descended from father to son), the sixth Earl, served as a Lord-in-waiting (government whip in the House of Lords) from January to March 1974 in the Conservative government of Edward Heath. He was succeeded in 1975 by his uncle, the seventh Earl, who was the eldest son from the fourth Earl's second marriage and the half-brother of the fifth Earl. As of 2017, the titles are held by the latter's son, the eighth Earl, who succeeded in 2016. As a male-line descendant of the first Earl of Mornington, he is also in remainder to this peerage and its subsidiary titles, which are now held by his kinsman, the 9th Duke of Wellington.

Dukes of Wellington

The titles of Duke of Wellington and Marquess Douro were bestowed upon Arthur Wellesley, 1st Marquess of Wellington, on 3 May 1814 after he returned home a hero following Napoleon's abdication.[13][14] He fought some sixty battles during his military career. He was considered "the conqueror of Napoleon". He stands as one of the finest soldiers that Great Britain and Ireland has ever produced, others being the 1st Duke of Marlborough and the 2nd Duke of Argyll.

Following his victory at the Battle of Talavera, Wellesley was offered a peerage. The question was what title should he take. His brother, Richard Wellesley, Earl of Mornington, looked around and discovered that a manor in the parish of Wellington, Somerset, was available. It was also reasonably close to the family name. Because Arthur was still in Spain in command of the army fighting the French, Richard oversaw the purchase. By this process Arthur therefore became Marquess of Wellington. According to the book Wellington as Military Commander by Michael Glover, Arthur Wellesley first signed himself 'Wellington' on 16 September 1809. At the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, Arthur Wellesley was already further elevated to the peerage rank of the Duke of Wellington. At the time he became Ambassador to France, The London Gazette of 4 June 1814 refers to him as having that title but suggests that it was granted by warrant on 25 August 1812.

The subsidiary titles of the Duke of Wellington are Marquess of Wellington (1812), Marquess Douro (1814), Earl of Mornington (1760 – but only inherited by the Dukes of Wellington in 1863), Earl of Wellington (1812), Viscount Wellesley (1760 – inherited in 1863), Viscount Wellington (1809), Baron Mornington (1746 – also inherited in 1863), and Baron Douro (1809). The Viscountcy of Wellesley and the Barony and Earldom of Mornington are in the Peerage of Ireland; the rest are in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.

Apart from the British titles, the Dukes of Wellington also hold the titles of Prince of Waterloo (Prins van Waterloo, 1815) of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo (Duque de Ciudad Rodrigo, 1812) of the Kingdom of Spain with Grandeeship, and Duke of Victoria (Duque da Vitória, 1812), with the subsidiary titles Marquess of Torres Vedras (Marquês de Torres Vedras, 1812) and Count of Vimeiro (Conde de Vimeiro, 1811) of the Kingdom of Portugal. These were granted to the first Duke as victory titles for his distinguished service as victorious commanding general in the Peninsular War (in Spain and Portugal) and at the Battle of Waterloo (in what is now Belgium).

The family seat is Stratfield Saye House, near Basingstoke, Hampshire. Apsley House, in London, is now owned by English Heritage, although the family retain an apartment there. He also has a large estate outside Granada, Spain, which was granted to the first duke by Spanish King Ferdinand VII as a reward for his services in the Peninsular War.

Five Dukes have been created Knights of the Garter, the most senior British order of knighthood.

Prominent members

Notes

  1. ^ In his Tour in Ireland (1752) Richard Pococke described Dangan Castle, Mornington's home, as follows: "We soon after came to Dangan the seat of Lord Mornington situated on a most beautiful flat, with an Amphitheater of hills rising round it, one over another, in a most beautiful manner; at the lower end is a very large piece of water, at one corner of which is an Island, it is a regular fortification, there is a ship a sloop and boats on the water, and a yard for building; the hill beyond it, is improved into a beautiful wilderness: on a round hill near the house is a Temple, and the hills round are adorned with obelisks: Pillars and some buildings, altogether the most beautiful thing I ever saw".(Pococke 2010, p. 235)

References

  1. ^ William Lynch, A View of the Legal Institutions, Honorary Hereditary Offices, and Feudal Baronies, Established in Ireland During the Reign of Henry the Second: Deduced from Court Rolls, Inquisitions, and Other Original Records , p.94
  2. ^ a b Maxwell, Life of Wellington, p.6
  3. ^ Burke's Peerage (1887)
  4. ^ Ball, F. Elrington, The Judges in Ireland 1221-192 , pp.46-7
  5. ^ Longford, Elizabeth, Wellington - the Years of the Sword, pp.27-8
  6. ^ Stephenson, George, Memorials of the Wesley family, pp.17-18
  7. ^ a b c d e f Cokayne 2000, p. 235.
  8. ^ Alumni Dublinenses: a register of the students, graduates, professors and provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593–1860), George Dames Burtchaell/Thomas Ulick Sadleir p. 164: Dublin, Alex Thom and Co, 1935
  9. ^ "No. 8550". The London Gazette. 1 July 1746. p. 5.
  10. ^ Wellesley, Jane (2008). A Journey Through My Family. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-0-297-85231-5.
  11. ^ "No. 21986". The London Gazette. 7 April 1857. p. 1264.
  12. ^ "No. 18433". The London Gazette. 18 January 1828. p. 122.
  13. ^ "No. 16894". The London Gazette. 3 May 1814. p. 936.
  14. ^ Elliott, George (1816). The Life of the Most Noble Arthur, Duke of Wellington. London: J. Cundee. p. xiii–xiv.
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