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Arthur Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington

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Lieutenant-General
His Grace
The Duke of Wellington
KGPC
The Duke of Wellington,c. 1870
Master of the Horse
In office
21 January 1853 – 21 February 1858
MonarchQueen Victoria
Prime MinisterThe Earl of Aberdeen
The Viscount Palmerston
Preceded byThe Earl of Jersey
Succeeded byThe Duke of Beaufort
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
14 September 1852 – 13 August 1884
Hereditary Peerage
Preceded byThe 1st Duke of Wellington
Succeeded byThe 3rd Duke of Wellington
Member of Parliament
forNorwich
In office
24 July 1837 – 7 July 1852
Preceded byWilliam Murray
Succeeded byEdward Warner
Member of Parliament
forAldeburgh
In office
May 1829 – 8 December 1832
Preceded byWyndham Lewis
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born(1807-02-03)3 February 1807
Harley Street,Soho,London, England
Died13 August 1884(1884-08-13)(aged 77)
Brighton Railway Station,Brighton,Sussex
Spouse(s)Lady Elizabeth Hay
(1820–1904)
Parent(s)Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Hon. Catherine Pakenham
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford
Trinity College, Cambridge

Lieutenant-GeneralArthur Richard Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington,KG,PC(3 February 1807 – 13 August 1884), styledLord Dourobetween 1812 and 1814 andMarquess of Dourobetween 1814 and 1852, was a British soldier and politician. The eldest son ofArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington,victor ofWaterlooand Prime Minister, he succeeded his father in the dukedom in 1852 and held minor political office asMaster of the Horsefrom 1853 to 1858. In 1858, he was made aKnight of the Garter.

Background and education[edit]

Wellesley was born atHarley Street,Marylebone,London, the eldest son ofArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington,and the HonourableCatherine Sarah Dorothea "Kitty" Pakenham,daughter ofEdward Pakenham, 2nd Baron Longford.Lord Charles Wellesleywas his younger brother andLord Wellesley,Lord MorningtonandLord Cowleyhis uncles. He was educated atTemple Grove School,Eton College,Christ Church, Oxford,andTrinity College, Cambridge.[1]He became known by thecourtesy titleLord Douro when his father was created Earl of Wellington in 1812 and as Marquess of Douro in 1814 after his father was elevated to a dukedom.

Military career[edit]

Lord Douro became anensignin the81st Regiment of Footin 1823[2]and in the71st (Highland) Regiment of Footin 1825,[3]acornetin theRoyal Horse Guardsin 1825,[4]a lieutenant in the Royal Horse Guards in 1827,[5]acaptainin the Royal Horse Guards in 1828 and in theKing's Royal Rifle Corpsthe same year,[6]a major in the King's Royal Rifle Corps in 1830 and in theRifle Brigadein 1831,[7]alieutenant-colonelon the unattached list in 1834,[8]a brevetcolonelin 1846,[9]a lieutenant-colonel in the Victoria (Middlesex) Rifle Volunteer Corps in 1853 and amajor-generalin 1854.[10]

Political career[edit]

Lord Douro was elected to parliament for therotten boroughofAldeburghin 1829, a seat he held until its abolition by theReform Actof 1832.[11]He was out of parliament until 1837, when he was returned forNorwich.[12]In 1852 he succeeded his father in the dukedom and entered theHouse of Lords.In early 1853 he was sworn of thePrivy Council[13]and appointedMaster of the HorseinLord Aberdeen'scoalition government,[14]a post he retained whenLord Palmerstonbecame prime minister in 1855. He resigned along with the rest of the Palmerston government in 1858. The latter year he was made aKnight of the Garter.[15]

In 1863, Wellington inherited theearldom of Morningtonon the death of his cousinWilliam Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley, 5th Earl of Mornington.From 1868 to 1884 he wasLord-Lieutenant of Middlesex.

Family and personal legacy[edit]

"The son of Waterloo". Caricature byCecionipublished inVanity Fairin 1872

Wellington marriedLady Elizabeth Hay,daughter ofField MarshalGeorge Hay, 8th Marquess of Tweeddale,in 1839. They had no children. The marriage was not a happy one although Lady Elizabeth was a great favourite with her father-in-law.[16]On succeeding his illustrious father he was said to have remarked: "Imagine what it will be when the Duke of Wellington is announced, and only I walk in the room."[This quote needs a citation]The relationship between father and son is often described as the classic case of the son of a famous father who cannot match such fame.[17]Wellington died at Brighton Railway Station,Brighton,Sussex, in August 1884, aged 77, and was buried at the family seatStratfield Saye House,Hampshire. His probate was resworn six years later at£171,356(equivalent to about £22,600,000 in 2023).[18]He was succeeded by his nephew,Henry.The Duchess died at Bearhill (Burhill) Park (House),Hersham,Surrey,in August 1904, aged 83, and was buried at Stratfield Saye. Her probate left assets of £13,997.[18]

He owned 19,000 acres of these 15,000 acres in Hampshire.[19]

In literature[edit]

TheBrontë familyportrayed the first Duke of Wellington and his two sons in their imaginary games about the colonisation of Africa. They wrote many stories about Arthur, with Charlotte assuming the character of Charles as the "author" of these stories. As Charlotte and Branwell moved into their teenage years and usedLord Byron's writings as inspiration, they focused on Arthur as a romantic, heroic figure. He was known to them as the Duke of Zamorna, and later as Emperor Adrian of Angria. Elements of his character formed the basis forEdward RochesterinJane Eyre.[20][21][22][23]

Thomas Raikes( "the Younger" ), a British merchant banker, dandy and diarist, was a close childhood friend, travelling and gambling companion of Arthur Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington. His journalsTwo volumes of Private Correspondence with the 2nd Duke of Wellington and other Distinguished Contemporarieswere published in 1861.[citation needed]

Styles[edit]

  • 3 February 1807 – 26 August 1809:Arthur Richard Wellesley, Esq.
  • 26 August 1809 – 28 February 1812:Hon. Arthur Richard Wellesley, Esq.
  • 28 February 1812 – 3 May 1814:Lord Douro
  • 3 May 1814 – 14 September 1852:Marquess of Douro
  • 14 September 1852 – 7 February 1853:His GraceTheDuke of Wellington
  • 7 February 1853 – 25 March 1858:His GraceThe Duke of Wellington PC
  • 25 March 1858 – 13 August 1884:His GraceThe Duke of Wellington KG, PC

References[edit]

  1. ^"Wellesley, Arthur Richard, Marquess of Douro (WLSY825AR)".A Cambridge Alumni Database.University of Cambridge.
  2. ^"No. 17911".The London Gazette.5 April 1823. p. 540.
  3. ^"No. 18147".The London Gazette.18 June 1825. p. 1071.
  4. ^"No. 18147".The London Gazette.18 June 1825. p. 1068.
  5. ^"No. 18381".The London Gazette.24 July 1827. p. 1589.
  6. ^"No. 18493".The London Gazette.5 August 1828. p. 1494.
  7. ^"No. 18832".The London Gazette.2 August 1831. p. 1562.
  8. ^"No. 19181".The London Gazette.12 August 1834. p. 1480.
  9. ^"No. 20660".The London Gazette(1st supplement). 10 November 1846. p. 3990.
  10. ^"No. 21564".The London Gazette.22 June 1854. p. 1933.
  11. ^Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 1)
  12. ^Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "N" (part 3)
  13. ^"No. 21409".The London Gazette.8 February 1853. p. 330.
  14. ^"No. 21404".The London Gazette.21 January 1853. p. 163.
  15. ^"No. 22118".The London Gazette.26 March 1858. p. 1575.
  16. ^Longford, Elizabeth.Wellington-Elder Statesman.Weidenfeld & Nicolson London 1972.
  17. ^Longford op.cit.
  18. ^abhttps://probatesearch.service.gov.ukCalendar of Probates and Administrations
  19. ^The great landowners of Great Britain and Ireland
  20. ^Elizabeth Gaskell,The Life of Charlotte Brontë.Smith & Elder, 1857. Entire text online at Gutenberg.
  21. ^Fannie Elizabeth Ratchford,Legends of Angria.New Haven: Yale University Press, 1933.
  22. ^Fannie Elizabeth Ratchford,The Brontës' Web of Childhood.Columbia University Press, 1941.
  23. ^Charlotte and Branwell Brontë,Miscellaneous and Unpublished Writings.Shakespeare Head edition, 1932.

External links[edit]

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